A data centre building, its power systems and its cooling are long-lived assets, measured in decades. The AI servers inside are measured in years, and newer, more efficient chips arrive often. Owning both in one business means mixing a slow, steady asset with a fast-ageing one. Some companies do; many keep them separate, with one party owning the building and another owning and operating the chips.
How long things last, according to the companies
| Company | Buildings | Servers and similar equipment |
|---|---|---|
| Equinix | 12 to 60 years | Personal property 3 to 10 years; core systems 3 to 40 years |
| Digital Realty | Buildings and improvements 5 to 39 years | Machinery and equipment 7 to 15 years |
| Meta | 25 to 30 years | Servers and network assets 5 to 5.5 years |
| CoreWeave | Leases third-party data centres | Computing equipment 6 years (from 2023) |
These are the periods over which each company spreads the cost of its assets in its accounts, as stated in its annual report.
Technology moves faster than buildings
Companies revise server lives as technology changes, in both directions. Microsoft increased the estimated useful lives of server and network equipment from four to six years from fiscal year 2023. Amazon, by contrast, shortened the life of a subset of its servers and networking equipment from six to five years from January 2025, citing an increased pace of technology development, particularly in the area of artificial intelligence and machine learning. CoreWeave lists among its risks the need to cycle out older components and replace them with the latest technology.
Owning both, or not
Owning both lets one company control the whole system and capture more of the value. Separating them lets each owner match its money to its asset: long-term finance for buildings with long leases, shorter-term finance for servers backed by computing contracts. CoreWeave, for example, says it finances its infrastructure mainly through asset-level debt supported by take-or-pay customer contracts.
What is not certain
- Accounting lives are estimates chosen by each company; they are not measurements of how long equipment actually works.
- How fast AI chips lose value depends on demand for computing, which can change quickly.
Sources and method
- Equinix, Inc., Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended 31 December 2025, filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1101239/000110123926000032/eqix-20251231.htm
- Digital Realty Trust, Inc., Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended 31 December 2025. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1297996/000110465926015365/dlr-20251231x10k.htm
- Meta Platforms, Inc., Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended 31 December 2025. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1326801/000162828026003942/meta-20251231.htm
- Microsoft Corporation, Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended 30 June 2024. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/789019/000095017024087843/msft-20240630.htm
- Amazon.com, Inc., Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended 31 December 2024. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1018724/000101872425000004/amzn-20241231.htm
- CoreWeave, Inc., Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended 31 December 2025. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1769628/000176962826000104/crwv-20251231.htm
Method: each link was opened on 29 October 2026 and every figure was taken from the page or filing cited beside it, in the currency stated there. No figure was estimated. Company examples describe what those companies report about themselves; they are not recommendations.
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This article provides general information, not investment advice or an offer of securities.