Vantage Data Centers is a leading global provider of hyperscale data center campuses. The company develops and operates data centers that meet the unique requirements of hyperscale customers, including the world’s leading cloud service providers and large enterprises.
What services does Vantage Data Centers provide?
Vantage Data Centers offers a comprehensive set of data center services to support the needs of hyperscale customers. Key services include:
- Data center development – Vantage works closely with customers to customize data center campuses to meet unique capacity, resiliency, efficiency, and sustainability goals.
- Infrastructure deployment – The company handles all aspects of data center infrastructure deployment from site selection and procurement to installation and commissioning.
- Facility management – Vantage operates and maintains data center facilities 24/7, providing critical infrastructure monitoring, maintenance, security and access control.
- Connectivity – Data centers are carrier-neutral and support access to multiple network service providers. Vantage coordinates fiber and network infrastructure.
- Compliance – Facilities comply with key security and data protection standards needed to support customer compliance requirements.
In essence, Vantage provides a complete data center outsourcing solution, from initial design through ongoing management, enabling customers to focus on their core business.
What types of data centers and facilities does Vantage operate?
Vantage Data Centers focuses exclusively on developing and operating hyperscale data centers. The company’s global footprint includes data centers in North America and Europe:
- United States – Data centers in Santa Clara, California; Quincy, Washington; Chicago, Illinois; Ashburn, Virginia; Goodyear, Arizona
- Canada – Montreal, Quebec data center campus
- Europe – Frankfurt, Germany data center campus
The data centers are massive in scale – ranging from 60 to 110 megawatts and spanning up to 1.2 million square feet. They are designed for optimal energy efficiency, flexibility, and reliability. Key features include:
- High power densities exceeding 1,500 Watts per square foot
- Hyperscale, open-floor layouts up to 940,000 square feet
- Highly redundant power on two unique power paths and backups
- Slab-to-slab containment to isolate and manage hot/cold aisles
Additionally, facilities utilize advanced cooling methods such as chilled-water thermal storage and evaporative cooling to improve efficiency. The data centers are rigorously designed to achieve excellent Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) and Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE).
Who are Vantage’s major customers and markets?
Vantage Data Centers predominantly serves hyperscale users with massive scale and rapid growth requirements, including:
- Cloud service providers such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud
- Social media companies like Facebook, Twitter, TikTok
- Streaming media leaders such as Netflix, Hulu, Disney+
The hyperscale data center market is projected to grow at around 13% CAGR through 2025 as adoption of cloud computing, big data analytics, IoT, and streaming services continues to accelerate. Vantage is a leader in developing data centers aligned with hyperscale customer requirements.
Though focused on hyperscale users, Vantage Data Centers also serves select large enterprises such as banks, retailers, and technology companies that need flexible, secure data center capacity.
Why do customers choose Vantage Data Centers?
There are several key reasons why hyperscale companies and large enterprises select Vantage Data Centers for their data center needs:
- Proven expertise – Vantage’s executive team has decades of experience building data centers for hyperscale users.
- Customer focus – The company develops custom data centers aligned with each customer’s specific requirements.
- Speed – Vantage can deliver ready-to-use data center capacity faster than customers building themselves.
- Flexibility – Phased campus approach supports expanding capacity as customers grow.
- Efficiency – Facilities are designed and operated for optimal PUE and WUE.
- Reliability – Redundant, resilient infrastructure minimizes the risk of downtime.
- Sustainability – Vantage has comprehensive programs to minimize environmental impact.
By outsourcing data center requirements to Vantage, customers can focus on their core business initiatives and scale capacity quickly while controlling costs.
How does Vantage design and build data centers?
Vantage utilizes a phased design-build approach to rapidly deliver new data centers aligned with customer requirements:
- Planning – Vantage works closely with the customer to define capacity, availability, efficiency, and sustainability goals. Detailed project plans are developed.
- Design – Utilizing its in-house engineering expertise, Vantage creates a customized data center design maximizing reliability, scalability, and efficiency.
- Construction – Leveraging trusted general contractors, Vantage oversees coordinated ground-up construction of data center facilities.
- Fit out – The Vantage team handles procurement, installation, and integration of all critical data center infrastructure.
- Commissioning – Prior to turnover, the new data center undergoes comprehensive testing and commissioning.
This phased approach allows construction to begin while later phases are still being designed and engineered. It enables Vantage to deliver facilities faster to meet customers’ accelerated capacity demands.
How does Vantage operate and manage data centers?
Vantage utilizes best-in-class practices to operate and maintain data center facilities on behalf of its customers:
- Staffing – Facilities are staffed 24/7 by trained data center technicians and engineers for hands-on infrastructure management.
- Monitoring – Vantage utilizes advanced DCIM platforms to monitor infrastructure and building systems in real-time.
- Maintenance – Preventative maintenance programs minimize critical system failures. Vantage handles all maintenance activities.
- Emergency response – Experienced operators perform emergency repairs to restore any lost capacity quickly and safely.
- Upgrades – Vantage continually evaluates and implements infrastructure upgrades to improve capacity, efficiency, or resilience.
- Security – Robust physical security and access control procedures are followed, supported by video surveillance.
- Compliance – Policies and controls are maintained to adhere to key standards such as SOC2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, and HIPAA.
These best practices enable Vantage to meet demanding availability targets greater than 99.9999% uptime while optimizing capacity.
How does Vantage ensure reliable and redundant data center infrastructure?
Vantage utilizes an array of redundant, fault-tolerant infrastructure designs to minimize the risk of system failures leading to application outages:
- Power – Concurrently maintainable power with two fully independent power paths and backups via utility service, generators, and UPS systems.
- Cooling – Overlapping cooling zones and N+1 CRAC units allow unit failure with no impact.
- Network – Two separate meet-me rooms with diverse fiber paths provide redundant connectivity.
- Fire suppression – Pre-action sprinkler systems prevent accidental discharge while controlling fires.
Additional redundancy best practices include:
- Dual-bus electrical topology for A & B power feeds to each rack.
- Load-sharing between power units to avoid single points of failure.
- Concurrently maintainable equipment to enable maintenance without shutdowns.
- Real-time monitoring and automated failover of redundancies when needed.
Vantage also evaluates and mitigates risks from weather, seismic events, flooding, and other force majeure scenarios specific to each data center location.
How does Vantage design data centers for optimal energy efficiency?
Vantage leverages numerous innovative design practices and features to maximize data center energy efficiency and achieve ultra-low Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE):
- High-efficiency UPS systems with greater than 96% efficiency at full load.
- Modular, scalable UPS capacity right-sized for actual critical load.
- Cold aisle containment to isolate and contain cooling air.
- Variable speed fans on CRAC units to optimize airflow and fan power.
- Variable-speed chilled water pumps matching cooling capacity to real-time demand.
- Free cooling via plate-frame heat exchangers when outdoor conditions permit.
- Thermal storage tanks using chilled water to shift cooling demand.
- Evaporative cooling technologies minimize compressor usage.
- Advanced monitoring and analytics to continuously tune and optimize efficiencies.
Leveraging these and other efficiency innovations, Vantage data centers consistently operate at industry-leading PUE levels under 1.20.
How does Vantage address sustainability in data center design and operation?
Alongside efficiency, sustainability is a major focus in Vantage’s design, construction, and operation of data centers. Key elements of the company’s sustainability programs include:
- Energy source – Procuring renewably-generated power when available to reduce carbon emissions.
- Water use – Employing water-saving cooling technologies to achieve ultra-low Water Usage Effectiveness.
- Materials – Using sustainable, low-impact materials during construction.
- Landscape – Native, drought-resistant landscaping requiring minimal watering.
- Monitoring – Tracking key sustainability KPIs including energy, water, and emissions.
- Certifications – Achieving Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for facilities.
Vantage also considers sustainability impacts when selecting data center locations. Overall these efforts aim to minimize the environmental footprint of hyperscale data centers.
Year | Power Capacity (MW) | Campuses |
---|---|---|
2018 | 300 | 5 |
2019 | 425 | 7 |
2020 | 555 | 9 |
As illustrated in the table above, Vantage Data Centers has experienced rapid growth in recent years, nearly doubling its power capacity and number of campuses between 2018 and 2020.
What are the key milestones in Vantage’s history?
Some notable milestones and achievements in Vantage’s company history include:
- 2010 – Vantage Data Centers launched with initial acquisition of data centers in Santa Clara, California.
- 2013 – Expanded to the Pacific Northwest with data center campus in Quincy, Washington.
- 2015 – Entered Canadian market with development of 45MW Montreal campus.
- 2017 – Added second Santa Clara campus and broke ground on Northern Virginia campus.
- 2018 – Expanded to Phoenix, Arizona and opened largest Santa Clara data center.
- 2019 – Launched development in Frankfurt, Germany – Vantage’s first European campus.
- 2020 – Surpassed $2 billion in committed customer contracts.
- 2021 – Completed joint venture for 220MW London campus – Vantage’s largest worldwide.
From its foundation in 2010, Vantage Data Centers has experienced tremendous growth, becoming a leading global hyperscale data center provider. The company continues pursuing strategic expansion opportunities.
How is Vantage Data Centers structured and funded?
Vantage Data Centers is a privately held company owned by a group of leading investors and strategic partners including:
- DigitalBridge – A global digital infrastructure investor
- PCCP – An institutional real estate investor
- Colony Capital – A global digital infrastructure investor
- Access Industries – A privately held industrial group
The company has raised significant capital to fund its rapid growth:
- In 2019, Vantage raised $675M in additional equity funding.
- In 2020, it raised an additional $1.5B in debt and equity.
- Vantage completed a major refinancing in early 2021 to support expansion.
This investor backing and financial strength enables Vantage’s continued data center campus development around the world.
How does Vantage give back to the community?
As part of its corporate values, Vantage supports the communities where it operates and enables customers and employees to give back through:
- STEM education initiatives – Providing technology grants to area schools and supporting STEM programs.
- Charitable partnerships – Organizing volunteer events and fundraisers for local charities.
- Workforce development – Partnering with colleges and technical schools on data center job training programs.
- Sustainability outreach – Working with community and environmental groups on sustainability initiatives.
- Economic development – Collaborating with agencies and officials to promote local economic growth.
Vantage also has an employee-led Community Action Council that helps direct corporate philanthropy efforts.
Conclusion
Vantage Data Centers has emerged as a leading designer, builder, and operator of large-scale data centers tailored specifically for hyperscale computing. The company sets itself apart through deep technical expertise in hyperscale requirements, a solutions-oriented approach leveraging flexible designs and efficient operations, and a focus on accelerated delivery of scalable capacity. With robust funding and a growing global footprint, Vantage Data Centers is well-positioned to continue enabling the rapid growth of cloud infrastructure and services.