Acquisitions - Preliminary Purchase Price Allocation (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands				12 Months Ended
	Feb. 03, 2017	Jan. 15, 2016	Nov. 02, 2015	Dec. 31, 2017	Oct. 09, 2017	Oct. 06, 2017	May 01, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Aug. 01, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Goodwill				$ 4,411,762				$ 2,986,064		$ 1,063,200
Itconic
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents					$ 15,659
Accounts receivable					16,429
Other current assets					1,885
Property, plant and equipment					68,051
Goodwill					125,112
Intangible assets					99,993
Deferred tax assets					0
Other assets					4,025
Total assets acquired					331,154
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities					(15,846)
Other current liabilities					(12,374)
Capital lease and other financing obligations					(30,666)
Mortgage and loans payable					(3,253)
Deferred tax liabilities					(2,389)
Other liabilities					(7,515)
Net assets acquired					$ 259,111
Zenium data center
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents						$ 692
Accounts receivable						198
Other current assets						6,430
Property, plant and equipment						53,749
Goodwill						23,077
Intangible assets						6,400
Deferred tax assets						0
Other assets						5,494
Total assets acquired						96,040
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities						(1,012)
Other current liabilities						(451)
Capital lease and other financing obligations						0
Mortgage and loans payable						0
Deferred tax liabilities						(1,969)
Other liabilities						(614)
Net assets acquired						$ 91,994
Acquired intangible assets, Estimated useful lives (years)				15 years
IO UK's data center
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 1,388
Accounts receivable	7
Other current assets	1,082
Property, plant and equipment	40,251
Goodwill	15,804
Intangible assets	6,252
Deferred tax assets	6,714
Other assets	3,396
Total assets acquired	74,894
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities	(439)
Other current liabilities	(168)
Capital lease and other financing obligations	(33,091)
Mortgage and loans payable	(4,067)
Deferred tax liabilities	0
Other liabilities	(828)
Net assets acquired	$ 36,301
Acquired intangible assets, Estimated useful lives (years)	10 years
Verizon
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents							$ 1,073
Accounts receivable							2,019
Other current assets							7,319
Property, plant and equipment							840,335
Goodwill							1,095,262
Intangible assets							1,693,900
Total assets acquired							3,639,908
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities							(1,725)
Other current liabilities							(2,020)
Capital lease and other financing obligations							(17,659)
Deferred tax liabilities							(18,129)
Other liabilities							(5,689)
Net assets acquired							3,594,686
Digital Realty
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents									$ 4,073
Accounts receivable									1,507
Other current assets									794
Property, plant and equipment									143,972
Goodwill									48,835
Intangible assets									11,758
Other assets									81
Total assets acquired									211,020
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities									(2,044)
Other current liabilities									(2,798)
Deferred tax liabilities									(42,395)
Other liabilities									(755)
Net assets acquired									$ 163,028
Telecity Group plc
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents		$ 73,368
Accounts receivable		24,042
Other current assets		41,079
Assets held for sale		877,650
Property, plant and equipment		1,058,583
Goodwill		2,215,567
Intangible assets		694,243
Deferred tax assets		994
Other assets		4,102
Total assets acquired		4,989,628
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities		(84,367)
Accrued property, plant and equipment		(3,634)
Other current liabilities		(27,233)
Liabilities held for sale		(155,650)
Capital lease and other financing obligations		(165,365)
Mortgage and loans payable		(592,304)
Deferred tax liabilities		(176,168)
Other liabilities		(40,021)
Net assets acquired		$ 3,744,886
Bit-isle
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents			$ 33,198
Accounts receivable			7,359
Other current assets			51,038
Long-term investments			3,806
Property, plant and equipment			308,985
Goodwill			95,444
Intangible assets			111,374
Other assets			22,981
Total assets acquired			634,185
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities			(15,028)
Accrued property, plant and equipment			(465)
Other current liabilities			(8,689)
Capital lease and other financing obligations			(108,833)
Mortgage and loans payable			(190,227)
Deferred tax liabilities			(32,192)
Other liabilities			(3,384)
Net assets acquired			$ 275,367
Customer relationships | Itconic
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Acquired intangible assets, Estimated useful lives (years)				15 years
Customer relationships | Verizon
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Intangible assets							$ 245,300
Acquired intangible assets, Estimated useful lives (years)				15 years
Customer relationships | Telecity Group plc
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Acquired intangible assets, Estimated useful lives (years)		13 years 6 months
Customer relationships | Bit-isle
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Acquired intangible assets, Estimated useful lives (years)			13 years