This millennium has seen the most advanced technological developments in human history, and the latest shift towards cloud-based technologies has changed the landscape and forced companies to develop. Now, more than ever, vast amounts of data are being processed; millions upon millions of pieces of information are being uploaded, downloaded and stored each second. Switch is a company whose aim it is to grow the Internet both intelligently and sustainably, and with the opening of its latest campus it demonstrates it really does mean what it says.

Globally, the average data centre has occupied a space of around 100,000 sq ft, but with a surge in demand for online tools, particularly over this past year, 100,000 sq ft units are now considered to be small. Switch’s latest offering places a 1.3 million sq ft warehouse among many other large buildings in its 17.4 million sq ft campus, dubbed The Citadel, a name which hints at the tech giant’s focus on security and innovation. The park lies adjacent to Tesla’s Gigafactory, a company with which Switch has worked alongside in order to bring a new lease of life, albeit high-tech, to the desert.

The campus’ largest building, Tahoe Reno 1, gained the title of the world’s largest colocation centre, dethroning the 1.1 million sq ft Lakeside Technology. The site was expected to cost upwards of $1 billion, but after building everything from the ground up the cost quickly tripled.

Inside The World's Largest Data Center