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The Data Center Rundown

Mar 13, 2026

 
Hyperscaler capital expenditure surge

Microsoft and Meta have committed an additional $50 billion towards data center leases in the last quarter, increasing the total future commitments for hyperscalers beyond $700 billion.

Read at Data Center Dynamics→

Investors are expressing concern over potential overbuilding and weak returns as United States hyperscaler capital expenditure is projected by Moody's to exceed $700 billion in 2026, representing a six-fold increase since 2022.

Read at Data Center Dynamics→

 

Do you believe US hyperscaler capex growth will lead to weak ROI by 2026?

The majority of data center returns are explained by a combination of power, land, capital, demand, and strategic sequencing, with other factors representing secondary details.

Read at Global Data Center Hub→

Oracle alleviated concerns regarding data center resource demands by reporting stronger-than-expected financial results in its latest earnings release.

Read at Bisnow→

 
UK data center planning reforms

A study by Broadband Genie indicates that broadband subscribers in Scotland experience the highest frequency of long-running service failures in the UK, with BT customers generally reporting the fewest interruptions.

Read at The Register→

 

Should the UK government grant data centers priority grid access over housing projects?

A proposed 1 gigawatt data center development in North Lincolnshire, United Kingdom, which could involve an investment of up to £7 billion, has received necessary planning permission.

Read at Data Center Dynamics→

 
Optical interconnects for AI

This company profile outlines BRIGHTRAY's prefabrication strategy, detailing their approach to building data center infrastructure adapted for the demands of the artificial intelligence era.

Read at Data Center POST→

Ayar Labs and Wiwynn are collaborating on the development of co-packaged optical infrastructure for artificial intelligence workloads to overcome the limitations posed by traditional copper interconnects.

Read at Data Center Dynamics→

Ayar Labs is collaborating with Wiwynn to develop a photonic rack system reference design capable of integrating over a thousand graphics processing unit accelerators into a single large server unit.

Read at The Register→

Ayar Labs is collaborating with Wiwynn to develop a reference design for a photonic rack system capable of integrating 1,024 graphics processing unit accelerators, significantly exceeding the scale of current large server systems from Nvidia and AMD.

Read at The Register→

 

Advanced artificial intelligence-driven networks and robust infrastructure systems are identified as essential components for enhancing the fan experience and maintaining reliable operations within stadium data centers.

Read at Data Center Knowledge→

 

Australia is implementing a new regulatory framework that links the expansion of data centers directly to their energy and water consumption impacts, shifting infrastructure growth bottlenecks from capital investment toward mandatory governmental compliance.

Read at Data Center Knowledge→

 

Is the skilled labor shortage the single greatest constraint on data center expansion?

 

opinion

Peter Linneman provides an expert assessment arguing that the overall economy is demonstrating greater health than recent perceptions might suggest, particularly in the context of artificial intelligence developments.

Read at Bisnow→

 
Chatter
The view from Reddit
“How I nuked the network at a small gaming facility with one line.”

A junior technician recounts the harrowing experience of accidentally erasing a crucial VLAN via a simple command on a Cisco switch, only to discover the entire site network was dependent on a poorly configured VTP environment left by prior consultants.

Read at r/sysadmin→

“Unlabelled SMR hard drives are a cancer”

A technician recounts a month-long debugging saga involving inconsistent RAID performance, ultimately tracing the issue to secretly installed, unadvertised SMR drives from Seagate that were likely donated by an unaware previous owner.

Read at r/sysadmin→

“My AWS L4 Data Center Technician Loop Interview Experience (Just got an offer)”

A candidate details their four-loop AWS interview process, sharing specific hardware and networking technical questions encountered, while questioning the financial trade-off of accepting an L3 offer instead of the L4 position they interviewed for.

Read at r/datacenter→

 

Photonics startup Lightmatter claims its new optical engine can reduce the quantity of fiber optic cabling required in modern data centers by half without relying on co-packaged optics solutions.

Read at The Register→

 

Should military target selection timelines be drastically shortened by commercial AI tools?

 

A security compliance plan for data centers should integrate essential standards, audit schedules, and the forthcoming 2026 requirements for artificial intelligence governance and sustainability reporting.

Read at TechTarget DC Tips & Advice→

 

Savills is proceeding with the acquisition of Eastdil Secured for a total consideration of $1.1 billion.

Read at Bisnow→

 

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