Data centers are critical, but not in isolation

In its first Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) designation in more than a decade, the UK government has now announced that data centers should be afforded the same mission-critical status as energy and water systems in a bid to safeguard them against potential threats. This important step aligns with broader European policy, acknowledging the essential role these facilities play in safeguarding data, powering cloud services, and driving technological innovation. 

As reliance on digital services continues to grow, particularly with the surge of AI tools and cloud-based applications, ensuring the security and resilience of data centers has become a top priority for governments and businesses alike. The UK's focus on boosting protections against cyberattacks and system failures highlights the increasing recognition of their role in maintaining societal and economic stability.

However, securing data centers alone is not enough. These facilities are part of a much larger networked ecosystem. Without robust interconnection and network infrastructure linking them together, the data they store and process cannot flow effectively across borders, industries, or platforms. As the world becomes more dependent on digital services, the ability to ensure uninterrupted, high-performance connectivity between data centers and networks is critical – not only for organizations or communities, but for entire economies.

Is protecting data centers alone enough?

We are currently seeing a massive boom in data center absorption and new construction projects, driven by recent innovations in AI. In the US, for example, our recently published study shows that current construction projects and plans for future projects will see megawatt (MW) capacity in the market grow by 160% in the next couple of years to around 28,000 MW, up from a little over 11,000 MW today. And that doesn’t include any new construction plans from colocation providers or hyperscalers that might be announced next month! We see similar booms all over the world, including the UK.

Data centers house everything from critical business data to the applications that power daily life. But as industries shift more toward AI, machine learning, and cloud services, it’s not the data centers alone but rather in combination with connectivity that are quickly becoming indispensable. This is because the seamless exchange of data is one of the most effective economic drivers in the modern world. The surge in demand for cloud computing, combined with the increasing reliance on AI-driven services, has led to exponential growth in the amount of data generated, stored, and exchanged. This makes the physical and digital security of data centers vital to the smooth functioning of modern society – a fact which the UK, along with its European counterparts, has now formally recognized.

There’s more to this picture, however. It’s not just about the data housed within these centers – it’s about how that data is moved, accessed, and utilized. The value of a data center providing services to enterprises is directly tied to its ability to connect with others through resilient, high-performance networks. Without effective interconnection, even the most advanced data centers struggle to deliver on their promise of real-time applications and low-latency services. In an interconnected global economy, the failure to prioritize connectivity and interconnection security – as well as data center security – threatens not just technological progress, but economic stability as well.

It's time to talk about interconnection

We’ve established the indispensable role of data centers in our IT infrastructure, but in reality their true value is locked until they are seamlessly interconnected. Interconnection platforms – or Internet Exchanges (IXs) – are hubs that encourage the aggregation of networks and cloud services, housed in multiple data centers, and allows them to connect and exchange data directly, bypassing the public Internet. 

Data center and carrier-neutral platforms are independent of any single provider, enabling organizations to choose the best data centers and the best network routes, without being tied to one specific vendor. They also enable many more options for creating a geographically redundant infrastructure to ensure the greatest resilience in the case of outages. This setup reduces latency, increases reliability, and prevents long-term vendor lock-in, giving businesses the flexibility to adapt and scale their digital connectivity while ensuring continuous, high-performance data flow across different networks.

In Europe, the framework supporting data-center-neutral and carrier-neutral interconnection has set a global precedent. By separating infrastructure from individual service providers, the European model not only boosts resilience but also fosters competition, driving down costs while improving connectivity performance. This neutrality is quickly becoming vital to sustaining the smooth, uninterrupted flow of data that aspirational economies now require.

The US is now following suit. The recently issued "Roadmap to Enhancing Internet Routing Security" is a clear recognition that the strength of a nation’s digital economy hinges not only on data centers, but on secure, reliable interconnection. Over the last decade, the US has adopted a model where data exchange is not dependent on any single provider or location. Instead, neutral Internet Exchanges and interconnection platforms are now able to offer improved resilience and cybersecurity of these data flows. This movement reflects a much broader understanding that vendor-neutral platforms enable more resilient connectivity by enabling organizations to reduce points of failure in their infrastructure and improving redundancy across the network.

Let’s go deep

One of the key drivers of this shift in the US is the nation’s growing concern around the economic and security risks posed by legacy, fragmented, vendor-dependent infrastructure. In a push to alleviate those concerns, more than 80% of US Internet Exchanges are now neutral, enabling multiple data centers and service providers to be woven together, ensuring that even if one path experiences issues, data can still move freely through alternative routes. 

The importance of this cannot be overstated. As AI-driven applications increasingly require real-time data processing and ultra-low latency, any disruptions in connectivity can severely impact business operations and broader economic activity. So even with the most high-performance colocation and hyperscale data centers in the world, progress and innovation will still be hampered without the use of neutral points of interconnection. The decentralized, redundant nature of neutral interconnection platforms creates a more secure and reliable environment for data exchange, bolstering not just national security but also the competitiveness of digital economies on the world stage.

Designating data centers as critical infrastructure is a positive first step by the UK government, akin to protecting vital buildings in a city. But just as a city relies on roads and intersections to function and keep things moving, digital infrastructure depends on networks and interconnection platforms to keep data flowing smoothly. To truly safeguard connectivity, governments must not only secure data centers, but ensure that the entire interconnection ecosystem, including networks and IXs, is robust, resilient, and well-guarded.

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