Business Acquisition, Equity Interest Issued or Issuable, Ratio of Shares Acquired

No definition available.

Name:	eqix_BusinessAcquisitionEquityInterestIssuedorIssuableRatioofSharesAcquired
Namespace Prefix:	eqix_
Data Type:	xbrli:pureItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Payments to Acquire Businesses, Per Share Acquired

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	eqix_PaymentstoAcquireBusinessesPerShareAcquired
Namespace Prefix:	eqix_
Data Type:	num:perShareItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Value of equity interests (such as common shares, preferred shares, or partnership interest) issued or issuable to acquire the entity.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)(4)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35744584&loc=d3e6927-128479

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionEquityInterestIssuedOrIssuableValueAssigned
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Number of shares of equity interests issued or issuable to acquire entity.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionEquityInterestsIssuedOrIssuableNumberOfSharesIssued
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:sharesItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Aggregate dividends declared during the period for each share of common stock outstanding.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 505
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.3-04)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27012166&loc=d3e187085-122770

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_CommonStockDividendsPerShareDeclared
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:perShareItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Gross amount of debt extinguished.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ExtinguishmentOfDebtAmount
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The cash outflow associated with the acquisition of business during the period. The cash portion only of the acquisition price.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Glossary Investing Activities
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6516133

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 13
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=56944662&loc=d3e3213-108585

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_PaymentsToAcquireBusinessesGross
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The cash inflow during the period from additional borrowings in aggregate debt. Includes proceeds from short-term and long-term debt.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ProceedsFromIssuanceOfDebt
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The cash inflow from the sale of land held for use; excludes sales of land held as inventory or investments.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 12
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=56944662&loc=d3e3179-108585

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Glossary Investing Activities
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6516133

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ProceedsFromSaleOfLandHeldForUse
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Detail information of subsequent event by type. User is expected to use existing line items from elsewhere in the taxonomy as the primary line items for this disclosure, which is further associated with dimension and member elements pertaining to a subsequent event.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_SubsequentEventLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ShortTermDebtTypeAxis=us-gaap_BridgeLoanMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_SubsequentEventTypeAxis=us-gaap_SubsequentEventMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis=eqix_TelecityGroupplcMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis=us-gaap_LineOfCreditMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_CreditFacilityAxis=eqix_USDTermBLoanFacilityMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_CreditFacilityAxis=eqix_SterlingTermBLoanCommitmentMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Subsequent Events - Additional Information (Detail) £ / shares in Units, $ / shares in Units, ¥ in Millions								1 Months Ended
	Feb. 18, 2016 $ / shares	Jan. 15, 2016 USD ($) shares	Jan. 15, 2016 USD ($) £ / shares	Oct. 28, 2015 $ / shares	Jul. 29, 2015 $ / shares	May. 07, 2015 $ / shares	Feb. 19, 2015 $ / shares	Feb. 25, 2016 USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2016 GBP (£)	Jan. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 JPY (¥)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2015 JPY (¥)	Oct. 31, 2015 USD ($)
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
Dividends declared per share (in dollars per share) \| $ / shares				$ 1.69	$ 1.69	$ 1.69	$ 1.69
Bridge term loan [Member]
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
Proceeds from issuance of debt											¥ 19,200	$ 159,744,000	¥ 27,260	$ 226,803,000
Subsequent Event [Member]
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
Dividends declared per share (in dollars per share) \| $ / shares	$ 1.75
Sale price of parcel sold								$ 23,557,000
Subsequent Event [Member] \| Telecity Group plc [Member]
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
Acquisition price (in pence per share) \| £ / shares			£ 5.725
Acquisition price, company shares issued per share acquired		0.0336
Purchase price		$ 1,683,000,000
Purchase price (in shares) \| shares		6,853,500
Value of shares issued		$ 2,078,000,000	£ 2,078,000,000
Subsequent Event [Member] \| Bridge term loan [Member] \| Telecity Group plc [Member]
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
Debt terminated									£ 875,000,000	$ 1,289,000,000
Subsequent Event [Member] \| Line of Credit [Member] \| USD Term B Loan Facility [Member]
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
Proceeds from issuance of debt										250,000,000
Subsequent Event [Member] \| Line of Credit [Member] \| Sterling Term B Loan Commitment [Member]
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
Proceeds from issuance of debt									£ 300,000,000	$ 442,020,000