Data Centre Finder helps you explore UK data centres and compare the information that matters when choosing a facility. These standards explain how we source information, review our guides and listings, and keep them up to date.
Who writes our guides
Jan Ross covers UK data centres, colocation and infrastructure selection for Data Centre Finder. The guides bring together published information and practical questions to help readers compare their options.
We use AI tools to support research, drafting and checks. Each guide is reviewed against our editorial standards and approved before publication. Material that falls short is revised and checked again.
How we list and compare data centres
Each listing describes one data centre or campus.
Every listing is compiled from the operator's own published information. No operator has supplied or confirmed the information on any of our listings.
Floor space is shown in the operator's own units, and power in kilowatts (kW) or megawatts (MW).
If an operator does not publish a detail, we leave it out of the listing or mark it "Not published by operator".
If an operator lists certifications without saying what they cover, the listing says the scope is not stated. Check the scope with the operator before you rely on it.
If an operator states a Tier rating but does not name who certified it, we say that the tier status is not confirmed. If a listing says a site is aligned with a Tier, for example "Tier 3 aligned (not certified)", the site is not certified to that Tier.
Each listing shows the date we last checked it against the operator's published information. If we have not recorded a check yet, the listing shows "Not yet reviewed".
Our directory does not yet list every UK data centre, and we add more over time.
A listing is not an inspection. Unless a listing says otherwise, we have not visited the site, tested its systems or checked its certificates. Before you decide, confirm anything that matters to you with the operator in writing.
Where our market figures come from
Market figures, such as how many data centres the UK has or how much electricity they use, come from primary sources: government departments, regulators, official statistics and the original research reports.
We may mention directories, research firms or press reports as context. When we do, we name them, say if a figure reached us through another publisher, and show it next to the official figure where one exists.
We state the scope of each figure clearly, for example Great Britain or the whole UK, IT load or total power, operating or planned.
How we check figures
In our guides, every figure is cited, with its source and date listed in the Sources note at the end of the guide.
We re-check every figure against its source before a guide is published. The date we last did this is listed in the Sources note at the end of each guide.
When a guide compares sites, we say what we compared them on and why, and we keep sites measured in different ways in separate tables.
How often we review guides
We review every guide at least every six months.
We review any guide sooner when we see that one of its sources has published new figures.
When a guide's content changes, we update the "Last updated" line in its Sources note and add a "What changed" note at the end of the guide saying what changed, with the note's date listed in the Sources note.
How we make money
Data Centre Finder is free to use, and so is our enquiry service, which introduces organisations to data centre operators.
We may receive a referral fee or commission when we introduce a customer or when an introduction results in business, so we have a commercial interest in introductions. Our Terms and Conditions explain this.
We also plan to offer operators paid listings, including featured listings. These are not live yet. When they start, every featured listing will carry a visible label, any other paid placement will be clearly identified, and we will explain next to the results how payment affects which sites appear and in what order.
Paid and featured listings will affect only where a listing appears in our directory. They will never affect our guides: operators cannot pay to change what a guide says, which sites it includes or how it ranks them.
Before we share your enquiry, we tell you which operators will receive it. If we later suggest other operators, we share your enquiry with them only after you confirm, as our Terms and Conditions explain.
Images
Our charts and diagrams are made by DCF, and our maps use OpenStreetMap data (© OpenStreetMap contributors). We do not use operator logos or photographs without the operator's permission, and we do not use generated images of real facilities.
Corrections
If we get something wrong in a guide, we correct it and add a correction note at the end of the guide saying what changed, with the note's date listed in the Sources note. If a listing is wrong, we correct it or remove the information.