Petroc Taylor
Research expert covering global developments in the use of data
Servers - statistics & facts
As emerging technologies continue to shift digital habits, hardware vendors are looking to ensure that digital infrastructure keeps pace. Servers lie at the heart of these efforts, acting as the critical hardware at the core of any computer network. A server is defined as a computer that provides resources, data, programs, or services to other computers, known as clients, over a network. Server manufacturers produce a range of specialized devices to meet specific applications, including web servers, file servers, network servers, game servers and database servers, with the recent rise of artificial intelligence (AI) also prompting the development of specialized AI servers. Almost 14 billion servers were shipped across the globe in 2023, with the market bringing in more than 90 billion U.S. dollars in revenue.
Servers designed specifically for AI purposes will continue to dominate the sector over the coming years, with demand set to surge alongside broad adoption of AI applications. In fact, forecasts expect the market for AI servers to expand tenfold in the decade up to 2033, underlining the tremendous opportunity facing server manufacturers.
From small server rooms to hyperscale data centers
The headline trend impacting the server industry in recent years has been the broad adoption of cloud computing models. Traditionally, many organizations have hosted and managed their own servers, often in a dedicated room within the workplace. However, the advent of cloud computing has allowed businesses to do away with on-premises servers by making storage and computer resources accessible remotely via the internet. In adopting cloud computing, many businesses look to public cloud software as a service (SaaS) providers, which offer the dynamic scaling of resources with pay-as-you-go pricing. To offer these services, cloud providers operate large data center facilities in which multiple servers are hosted in racks, with the facilities designed to optimize energy efficiency via innovative cooling solutions and software defined power systems.HPE joins forces with Nvidia
The global server market is highly competitive. Texas-based Dell Technologies is among the leading players, with the firm’s infrastructure solutions segment generating over 33 billion U.S. dollars over its 2024 financial year. Dell has sought to pitch its PowerEdge range of servers to a broad range of clients, including the expanding high-performance computing (HPC) market. Meanwhile, rival vendor Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has sought to gain the edge in the AI server space by establishing a major partnership with chip giant Nvidia. Nvidia has enjoyed remarkable success amid the rise of AI, and HPE hopes that the partnership will streamline the deployment of generative AI applications for its enterprise clients.Servers designed specifically for AI purposes will continue to dominate the sector over the coming years, with demand set to surge alongside broad adoption of AI applications. In fact, forecasts expect the market for AI servers to expand tenfold in the decade up to 2033, underlining the tremendous opportunity facing server manufacturers.
