CDN (opens in new tab) provider Akamai is expanding its global footprint with the addition of around 12 new Linode data centers across North America, APAC, LATAM, and Europe by the end of 2023.
Equipped with Linode’s full product suite, the first data center location will be in Ashburn, Virginia, with a launch scheduled for later this year, with the others to follow in the first half of 2023.
Akamai (opens in new tab) says that the exact number of data center sites, locations and dates of operation are currently being worked on.
Akamai expansion
Along its with Ashburn facility, Akamai has also secured locations in Amsterdam, Chennai, Chicago, Delhi, Jakarta, Los Angeles, Osaka, Miami, Paris, Rome, São Paulo, Seattle, and Stockholm.
Akamai is prioritizing the new sites based on increased customer demand for colocation (opens in new tab) services, market analysis, and existing and predicted compute and delivery volume.
“We also looked at locations that open Akamai Linode cloud services to new markets (for example, Miami and São Paulo are strategic to serving customers in the LATAM market) and assessed what was technically feasible to make sure each location can support our growth now and into the future,” the company said in a blog post (opens in new tab).
In March 2022, Akamai completed the acquisition of cloud and web hosting (opens in new tab) firm Linode for $900 million to simplify accessibility for developers to consume cloud computing.
Linode’s infrastructure-as-a-service platform is deployed across 11 global markets from its data centers around the world, and the new data center locations will enable Linode (opens in new tab) to further develop availability zones for application resiliency.
As cloud computing companies typically have multiple worldwide availability zones, the expansion plans from Akamai and Linode does not come as a surprise.
Akamai also plans to introduce a new concept designed to get basic compute capabilities into difficult to reach locations currently underserved by traditional cloud providers by 2023.
Named “Distributed Sites,” the cloud computing provider says it has identified over 50 cities where it would like to place them.
