Datacentre outages lowering in frequency, Uptime Institute Intelligence knowledge reveals

Energy provide issues stay the most typical reason behind “impactful” datacentre downtime incidents, however ransomware assaults are the main reason behind main public outages, analysis from Uptime Institute Intelligence reveals.

The datacentre market watcher’s Annual outage evaluation report 2025 tracks the frequency and severity of datacentre outages suffered by respondents to its surveys.

Uptime Intelligence reported an total decline within the frequency and severity of outages for the fourth consecutive yr in a row, with on-site energy distribution failures remaining the most typical trigger of significant outages.

Its knowledge reveals that 54% of respondents to its surveys cited energy provide points as the reason for their datacentre’s most up-to-date, impactful outage, with uninterruptible energy provide (UPS) points probably the most frequent supply of issues.

On this level, 42% of respondents cited UPS failure as the reason for the power-related datacentre outages they’d skilled, 36% stated they’d suffered a switch swap points, whereas 28% stated they suffered a generator failure. Cooling points, after power-supply issues, have been the most typical reason behind datacentre outages with 13% of respondents experiencing one.

“That is in keeping with earlier years and underscores the vulnerability of IT gear to even transient energy disruptions – together with voltage sags, switching occasions and complete energy loss,” the Uptime report acknowledged. “Cooling-related failures are much less frequent than these attributable to energy points, however they constantly account for roughly one in eight impactful outages yearly.”

The market watcher stated there’s a danger that cooling-related incidents could turn into frequent within the years to return as will increase in datacentre rack densities could lead to increased failure charges.

The report steered that the growing demand for synthetic intelligence (AI) could result in extra energy and cooling-related datacentre failures within the years to return, whereas the geopolitical instability may additionally result in extra outages.

“Hovering demand for AI is straining current infrastructure designs – particularly round energy and cooling – whereas electrical energy grid limitations and international commerce tensions introduce new uncertainty in provide chains and growth plans,” the report added. “Collectively, these pressures may ultimately have an effect on the soundness of present reliability traits.”

Uptime’s outage evaluation additionally contains knowledge about main, high-profile downtime incidents, of which there have been 119 that it tracked throughout 2024. That is the second-highest variety of public incidents it has tracked because it started amassing public outage knowledge in 2016, with 2019 being when probably the most public outages occurred, with 165 going down that yr.

In keeping with the report, cyber assaults – significantly ransomware – have been the main publicly reported reason behind outages in 2024: “The rise in cyber assaults displays a number of elements: elevated reliance on digital infrastructure throughout industries, increasing assault surfaces as a result of advanced hybrid IT environments  and distant administration instruments, and escalating dangers from third-party software program and provide chains.”

Andy Lawrence, founding member and govt director of Uptime Intelligence, stated that whereas outages stay part of life for datacentre operators, failure charges are enhancing and the frequency of incidents has slowed down.

“Datacentre operators are dealing with a rising variety of exterior dangers past their management, together with energy grid constraints, excessive climate, community supplier failures and third-party software program points,” he stated. “And regardless of a extra risky danger panorama, enhancements are occurring.”