Digital Realty Business Solutions
Global data center, colocation, and interconnection services.
TechSellers International is an independent technology advisor. Provider information is neutral and factual; availability varies by location.
About Digital Realty
Digital Realty is one of the largest data center operators in the world, structured as a real estate investment trust (REIT). It owns and operates a large portfolio of facilities across major metro markets in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and beyond, and it grew significantly through acquisitions — including Telx, which added its interconnection business, and Interxion, which substantially expanded its European presence.
What Digital Realty sells is data center capacity and the connectivity around it. That ranges from retail colocation (cabinets, cages, and private suites for enterprises) up through wholesale colocation (large powered shell and build-to-suit capacity aimed at cloud providers, hyperscalers, and large enterprises). Layered on top is interconnection: cross connects within a facility, exchange access, and fabric-based connectivity to carriers, cloud on-ramps, and other enterprises in its ecosystem, delivered under its PlatformDIGITAL framework and ServiceFabric connectivity offering.
Its customer base is weighted toward enterprises with real infrastructure footprints, cloud and network service providers, financial services firms, and content companies — organizations that need space, power, and dense connectivity rather than a single rack of servers. A business with one or two small racks can colocate at Digital Realty, but smaller footprints are often better served by regional operators; Digital Realty's value concentrates in ecosystems where many networks and clouds meet.
Digital Realty is not a network carrier and not a cloud provider. It provides the physical and interconnection layer; the circuits, clouds, and compute you reach inside its facilities come from the carriers and platforms also located there. That neutrality is the core appeal — but it also means network services are quoted and contracted separately.
Digital Realty solutions
Retail Colocation
Cabinets, cages, and private suites with contracted power, cooling, and physical security, available across many of Digital Realty's metro facilities. This is the typical entry point for enterprises moving infrastructure out of an on-prem server room or consolidating distributed racks. Minimum commitments, power densities, and per-rack pricing vary significantly by market and facility — a dense market like Northern Virginia or Frankfurt prices differently than a smaller metro.
Wholesale & Hyperscale Capacity
Larger blocks of space and power — from multi-megawatt suites to full build-to-suit developments — aimed at cloud providers, SaaS platforms, and enterprises with substantial footprints. Digital Realty also pursues hyperscale development through joint ventures with institutional capital partners. This tier is typically irrelevant for small buyers but central for companies planning large, long-lived infrastructure commitments.
Interconnection
Physical cross connects between customers inside a facility, access to internet exchanges and peering ecosystems in many markets, and fabric-based connectivity (ServiceFabric) for provisioning virtual connections to carriers, cloud on-ramps, and other participants without waiting for physical cabling. For many buyers, interconnection density — how many networks and clouds you can reach directly — is the main reason to choose a facility.
Cloud & Carrier Access
Direct, private connectivity to major public clouds and a broad roster of carriers, available inside Digital Realty facilities. This enables hybrid and multi-cloud architectures where compute in colocation reaches cloud regions over private connections rather than the public internet. Specific on-ramps and carriers vary by facility — always verify which are present at the exact site you're considering, not just in the metro generally.
Edge & Remote Hands Services
On-site smart-hands support for routine physical tasks (cabling, reboots, media swaps) so customers don't need staff at every facility, plus deployments suited to latency-sensitive and edge workloads in markets close to end users. Scope and pricing of remote-hands work varies by facility and contract — clarify response times and hourly rates in writing.
Data Center Operations & Compliance
Facilities are operated with redundant power and cooling, physical security, and the audit and compliance documentation enterprises typically need from a colocation provider. Specific certifications and redundancy designs vary by facility — ask for the compliance reports and design documentation for the exact site you're evaluating rather than relying on portfolio-level claims.
Who Digital Realty is a good fit for
- Enterprises consolidating on-prem infrastructure into professionally operated facilities
- Companies that need dense carrier and cloud access — hybrid cloud, multi-cloud, or network-heavy architectures
- SaaS platforms, content companies, and financial firms that benefit from peering ecosystems and low-latency interconnection
- Organizations planning multi-market footprints that want one operator across regions
- Businesses requiring large power-dense deployments (AI/ML, HPC) where wholesale capacity matters
- Companies with compliance-driven hosting requirements that need documented controls and audit support from their data center provider
Coverage and availability
Digital Realty operates facilities across major metro markets in the Americas, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific — hundreds of data centers globally. The footprint is deliberately concentrated in connectivity-rich metros (places like Northern Virginia, Dallas, Chicago, New York/New Jersey, London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Singapore, and others), not spread evenly across every city. Whether it has capacity that fits you depends on the specific metro, facility, and current availability.
Availability inside the portfolio is the real constraint. Even in a market where Digital Realty operates multiple buildings, the specific power density, space configuration, or suite size you need may be sold out or on a waiting list, while a different facility nearby has room. Quotes are facility- and configuration-specific, and lead times for larger deployments can be months.
Interconnection value also varies by site. Some Digital Realty facilities are dense carrier hotels and exchange points; others in the same metro are primarily wholesale buildings with thinner ecosystems. An advisor can help you match your connectivity requirements to the specific facility rather than assuming the brand name guarantees ecosystem depth. And for organizations weighing colocation against public cloud, the honest answer is often a mix — which is precisely where a facility with rich cloud on-ramps earns its premium.
Common use cases
- Moving production infrastructure out of an aging on-prem data room into colocation with redundant power and cooling
- Hybrid cloud architectures: colocated systems connected to public clouds over private on-ramps instead of the public internet
- Disaster recovery — a secondary footprint in a geographically separate Digital Realty market
- Interconnection-heavy deployments: peering with carriers, exchanges, and partners inside one facility
- AI/ML and high-density compute requiring power and cooling beyond what older enterprise facilities can deliver
- Multi-market rollouts standardized on a single data center operator for consistent contracts and operations
Questions to ask before choosing Digital Realty
- Which specific facility are you quoting, and what is the current available capacity for my space and power requirements?
- What is the committed power density per cabinet, and what are the rates if I exceed the committed draw?
- What is the full cost picture — space, power, cross connects, remote hands — and how does pricing change at renewal?
- What is the contract term, and what are the ramp, expansion, and early termination provisions?
- Which carriers, internet exchanges, and cloud on-ramps are physically present in this specific facility?
- What uptime SLA applies, and what are the documented power and cooling redundancy levels (N+1, 2N) for this site?
- What are the remote-hands scope, response-time commitments, and hourly rates for work beyond the included scope?
- What is the deployment timeline from signature to operational, including any build-out work required?
Digital Realty alternatives
- Equinix — the other global colocation and interconnection giant, with particular strength in retail colocation and network-dense facilities
- Regional operators (e.g., 123NET in Michigan, Flexential, QTS, CyrusOne) — often better pricing and attention for single-market or mid-size footprints
- Public cloud only — for workloads that don't need owned hardware, though egress and long-run costs should be modeled honestly
- Carrier-neutral carrier hotels in your specific metro — sometimes the connectivity-rich option isn't a global brand
- Vantage Data Centers, NTT Global Data Centers — strong alternatives for wholesale and hyperscale-scale capacity
How SmashByte helps
TechSellers International is an independent technology advisor — we're not Digital Realty, and we don't sell its services. When you bring us a colocation or interconnection requirement, we map it across the providers that actually fit: Digital Realty, Equinix, regional operators, and carrier-neutral facilities in your target markets, so you see real options rather than one operator's pitch.
We help you compare the details that colocation quotes bury — power pricing structures, cross-connect fees, remote-hands rates, renewal escalators, and SLA language — and we manage the evaluation and deployment process: site tours, contract redlines with your team, and the ordering and delivery coordination with carriers going into the facility. If Digital Realty is the right answer for your footprint, we'll say so; if a regional operator or a different global provider fits better, we'll say that instead. Our advice is free to you; advisors are compensated by the provider ecosystem, which is exactly why our incentive is a correct fit rather than a specific logo.
Frequently asked questions
Is Digital Realty a good fit for a small business?
Usually not as a first choice. Its strengths — ecosystem density, scale, multi-market consistency — matter most to enterprises and service providers. A business needing one or two cabinets is often better served by a regional operator with lower minimums, though small footprints are possible in many Digital Realty facilities.
Does Digital Realty provide internet connectivity?
No — Digital Realty is carrier-neutral. It provides the facility and the interconnection to reach carriers, but circuits are contracted separately with the network providers present in the building. That separation is a feature: you can choose and change carriers without moving equipment.
What's the difference between retail and wholesale colocation?
Retail colocation is smaller footprints — cabinets, cages, or private suites with shared facility infrastructure. Wholesale is larger blocks of space and power, often multi-megawatt, typically sold on longer terms to large enterprises and cloud providers. Pricing models, contract terms, and negotiation dynamics differ substantially between the two.
How do I reach the public clouds from a Digital Realty facility?
Through private cloud on-ramps and fabric connectivity available in many of its facilities, or through carriers offering cloud connect services. Which clouds are directly reachable varies by facility — verify the specific on-ramps at the site you're considering before signing.
How is colocation pricing structured?
Typically a recurring charge for space plus committed power, with additional charges for cross connects, remote hands, and overage power. Structures vary by market, facility, and deal size — always compare total cost including the add-on fees, and get the renewal escalator terms in writing. Quotes are negotiable, especially for larger or longer commitments, so treat the first proposal as a starting point.
Does Digital Realty guarantee uptime?
Facilities are designed with redundant power and cooling, and contracts include SLA terms, but the specifics — redundancy level, SLA remedies, maintenance windows — vary by facility and agreement. Review the SLA and the site's documented design tier for the exact facility, not the brand-level marketing.