Balance Sheet Components - Carrying Amount of Goodwill by Geographical Regions (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Balance, Beginning	$ 1,063,200	$ 1,002,129
Purchase accounting adjustments		112,629
Asset held for sale adjustments	1,605	(5,000)
Impact of foreign currency exchange	(343,143)	(46,558)
Balance, Ending	2,986,064	1,063,200
Reportable geographical components \| Americas
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Balance, Beginning	460,203	463,902
Purchase accounting adjustments		17,192
Asset held for sale adjustments	0	0
Impact of foreign currency exchange	9,235	(20,891)
Balance, Ending	469,438	460,203
Reportable geographical components \| EMEA
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Balance, Beginning	374,070	404,093
Purchase accounting adjustments		0
Asset held for sale adjustments	1,605	(5,000)
Impact of foreign currency exchange	(358,771)	(25,023)
Balance, Ending	2,281,306	374,070
Reportable geographical components \| Asia-Pacific
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Balance, Beginning	228,927	134,134
Purchase accounting adjustments		95,437
Asset held for sale adjustments	0	0
Impact of foreign currency exchange	6,393	(644)
Balance, Ending	235,320	$ 228,927
Telecity Group plc
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Purchase accounting adjustments	2,215,567
Telecity Group plc \| Reportable geographical components \| Americas
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Purchase accounting adjustments	0
Telecity Group plc \| Reportable geographical components \| EMEA
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Purchase accounting adjustments	2,215,567
Telecity Group plc \| Reportable geographical components \| Asia-Pacific
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Purchase accounting adjustments	0
Digital Realty
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Purchase accounting adjustments	48,835
Digital Realty \| Reportable geographical components \| Americas
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Purchase accounting adjustments	0
Digital Realty \| Reportable geographical components \| EMEA
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Purchase accounting adjustments	48,835
Digital Realty \| Reportable geographical components \| Asia-Pacific
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Purchase accounting adjustments	$ 0

Amount after accumulated impairment loss of an asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35741047&loc=d3e13816-109267

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6388280&loc=d3e13770-109266

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64834752&loc=SL49117168-202975

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Amount of increase (decrease) from adjustments after acquisition date under purchase accounting of an asset representing the future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 10
-Section 25
-Paragraph 16
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=73531572&loc=d3e961-128460

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
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Amount of transfers into (out of) an asset representing the future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

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Amount of increase (decrease) from foreign currency translation adjustments and purchase accounting adjustments of an asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (g)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35741047&loc=d3e13816-109267

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 10
-Section 25
-Paragraph 16
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=73531572&loc=d3e961-128460

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-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
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-Section 50
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-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35741047&loc=d3e13816-109267

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