Segment Information - Revenue Information on Services Basis (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	$ 1,261,943	$ 1,066,421	$ 2,477,820	$ 2,015,946
Recurring Revenues [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	1,187,749	1,010,048	2,338,378	1,908,488
Recurring Revenues [Member] | Colocation [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	913,585	782,231	1,794,969	1,473,753
Recurring Revenues [Member] | Interconnection [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	197,613	165,684	392,612	313,744
Recurring Revenues [Member] | Managed infrastructure services [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	69,207	58,193	140,608	112,802
Recurring Revenues [Member] | Other [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	7,344	3,940	10,189	8,189
Non-recurring Revenues [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	74,194	56,373	139,442	107,458
Americas [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	618,275	533,608	1,220,902	970,055
Americas [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	588,887	509,920	1,164,879	926,023
Americas [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Colocation [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	433,895	374,764	861,020	674,037
Americas [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Interconnection [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	131,720	116,248	260,973	217,098
Americas [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Managed infrastructure services [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	18,292	17,005	36,827	32,066
Americas [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Other [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	4,980	1,903	6,059	2,822
Americas [Member] | Non-recurring Revenues [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	29,388	23,688	56,023	44,032
EMEA [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	383,168	322,944	762,798	637,791
EMEA [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	359,582	304,581	715,072	601,188
EMEA [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Colocation [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	293,518	259,684	581,579	512,938
EMEA [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Interconnection [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	33,969	23,655	68,946	46,006
EMEA [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Managed infrastructure services [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	29,731	19,205	60,417	36,877
EMEA [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Other [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	2,364	2,037	4,130	5,367
EMEA [Member] | Non-recurring Revenues [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	23,586	18,363	47,726	36,603
Asia-Pacific [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	260,500	209,869	494,120	408,100
Asia-Pacific [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	239,280	195,547	458,427	381,277
Asia-Pacific [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Colocation [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	186,172	147,783	352,370	286,778
Asia-Pacific [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Interconnection [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	31,924	25,781	62,693	50,640
Asia-Pacific [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Managed infrastructure services [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	21,184	21,983	43,364	43,859
Asia-Pacific [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Other [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	0	0	0	0
Asia-Pacific [Member] | Non-recurring Revenues [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	$ 21,220	$ 14,322	$ 35,693	$ 26,823