From acquiring land to securing power supply, building data centres globally is a detailed operation.
“I seems like it’s effortless and it’s not,” Amazon Web Services vice-president of global data centres Kevin Miller told Markets with Madison in Las Vegas.
“There’s a lot of effort every day, adding network capacity, adding data centre capacity, bringing in more servers.”
Amazon was one of three hyperscalers, alongside Microsoft and Google, who together held most of the data centre market share globally.
They had been building hundreds around the world for almost 20 years, with Microsoft’s centres in New Zealand opening last week and Amazon’s due to open next year.
Servers stacked inside an Amazon Web Services data centre.
Data centres could use between two and 60 megawatts of energy annually, and that was always taken from the grid, Miller explained.
However, Amazon and other hyperscalers were investing significant amounts into the development of nuclear energy to power their centres internationally.
“We see a lot of opportunity with that new nuclear and the next generation of nuclear reactors.”
Watch Kevin Miller discuss data centres in-depth in today’s episode of Markets with Madison above.
Get investment insights from executives and experts on Markets with Madison every Monday and Friday here on the NZ Herald, YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.
Sponsored by CMC Markets.
Madison travelled to Las Vegas courtesy of Amazon Web Services.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this programme is of a general nature, and is not intended to be personalised financial advice. We encourage you to seek appropriate advice from a qualified professional to suit your individual circumstances.
Madison Reidy is host and executive producer of the NZ Herald’s investment show Markets with Madison. She joined the Herald in 2022 after working in investment, and has covered business and economics for television and radio broadcasters.
