Uptime Institute Global Data Center Survey 2022 (12th annual) - press release

Overview

This document is the press release for Uptime Institute's twelfth annual global data center survey, run in the first half of 2022. About 800 data center owners and operators took part, together with 700 suppliers. The release highlights a handful of headline findings that indicate where the industry is heading: average PUE, investment in redundancy, outage costs, readiness for environmental reporting and the difficulty of finding qualified staff.

On energy efficiency, the average annual PUE was reported as 1.55 in 2022, slightly below the 1.57 recorded in 2021. There is therefore no dramatic jump in efficiency; improvement remains slow. On resiliency, about 40% of respondents said they had raised redundancy levels at their primary data centers over the previous three to five years. Read together, the two findings suggest operators are more willing to add capacity for continuity than to chase efficiency gains.

The outage findings are the most frequently quoted part of the release. The share of respondents reporting an outage in the past three years fell to 60%, down from 69% in 2021 and 78% in 2020. Yet the share of outages costing more than $1 million rose from 15% to 25%, and more than two-thirds of outages cost over $100,000. Outages are becoming less frequent but more expensive.

The sustainability and workforce findings point to a readiness gap. Only 37% of respondents collect and report carbon emissions and 39% report water use. Those reporting difficulty finding qualified staff rose to 53%, from 38% in 2018.

Key points

1. Average annual PUE was 1.55 in 2022 versus 1.57 in 2021.
2. About 40% raised redundancy levels at primary data centers in the past three to five years.
3. Outages costing over $1 million reached 25% of the total (15% in 2021); more than two-thirds cost over $100,000.
4. 60% reported an outage in the past three years (69% in 2021, 78% in 2020).
5. Only 37% collect and report carbon emissions; 39% report water use.
6. 53% report difficulty finding qualified staff (38% in 2018).
7. Survey ran in H1 2022 with about 800 owners/operators and 700 suppliers.

Using it in design

• Use the outage-cost distribution to justify redundancy upgrades: over $100,000 is common and over $1 million occurs in roughly one in four to five outages.
• In the cost module, compare the expected cost of an outage with the capital cost of the proposed redundancy increase.
• Benchmark PUE targets against the 1.55 industry average to set a realistic reference line.
• Plan metering and sub-metering at design stage to support carbon and water reporting, since most of the industry does not yet report.

Who should read it

Data center investors, operations managers and design engineers preparing a redundancy or investment case.

Publication details

Authors

Uptime Institute; J. Davis; D. Bizo; A. Lawrence

Publisher

Uptime Institute

Year

2022

Document language

English

Source type

Industry body

Access

Free to read

Licence

Copyright retained; citation only — the publisher’s terms apply to the original document

Citation