Debt Of The Operating Partnership (Global Revolving Credit Facility) (Narrative) (Details) (Global Revolving Credit Facility [Member], Digital Realty Trust, L.P. [Member], USD $)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012		Aug. 10, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011		Nov. 03, 2011
Debt of the Operating Partnership [Line Items]
Revolving credit facility borrowing capacity	$ 1,800,000,000		$ 1,500,000,000			$ 850,000,000
Revolving credit facility maturity date	November 2015
Revolving credit facility commitments extension (years)	1 year
Revolving credit facility basis spread on variable rate	125
Basis rate for unused portion of the credit facility	25
Line of credit facility interest rate description	As of September 30, 2012, borrowings under the global revolving credit facility bore interest at a blended rate of 1.79% (GBP), 1.56% (Singapore Dollars), 4.83% (Australian Dollars) and 1.55% (Hong Kong Dollars), which are based on 1-month GBP LIBOR, 1-month SIBOR, 1-month BBR and 1-month HIBOR, respectively, plus a margin of 1.25%.
Interest rate basis spread	1.25%
Capitalized financing costs related to global revolving facilities	11,200,000
Principal outstanding	526,372,000	[1]		275,106,000	[1]
Letter of credit security amount	22,400,000
GBP [Member]
Debt of the Operating Partnership [Line Items]
Blended interest rate	1.79%
Variable rate basis description	1-month GBP LIBOR
Principal outstanding	447,018,000	[2]		49,892,000	[3]
SGD [Member]
Debt of the Operating Partnership [Line Items]
Blended interest rate	1.56%
Variable rate basis description	1-month SIBOR
Principal outstanding	21,183,000	[2]		28,151,000	[3]
AUD [Member]
Debt of the Operating Partnership [Line Items]
Blended interest rate	4.83%
Variable rate basis description	1-month BBR
Principal outstanding	39,021,000	[2]		3,063,000	[3]
HKD [Member]
Debt of the Operating Partnership [Line Items]
Blended interest rate	1.55%
Variable rate basis description	1-month HIBOR
Principal outstanding	19,150,000	[2]
Accordian Feature [Member]
Debt of the Operating Partnership [Line Items]
Revolving credit facility borrowing capacity	$ 2,250,000,000

[1] 2) Balances as of September 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011 are as follows (balances, in thousands): Denomination of Draw Balance as of September 30, 2012 Weighted-average interest rate Balance as of December 31, 2011 Weighted-average interest rate US ($) $ - 0.00% $ 194,000 1.54% British Sterling (£) 447,018 (a) 1.79% 49,892 (b) 1.99% Singapore Dollar (SGD) 21,183 (a) 1.56% 28,151 (b) 1.56% Australian Dollar (AUD) 39,021 (a) 4.83% 3,063 (b) 5.89% Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) 19,150 (a) 1.55% - - Total $ 526,372 1.99% $ 275,106 1.67% (a) Based on exchange rates of $1.62 to £1.00, $0.81 to 1.00 SGD, $1.04 to 1.00 AUD and $0.13 to 1.00 HKD, respectively, as of September 30, 2012. (b) Based on exchange rates of $1.55 to £1.00, $0.77 to 1.00 SGD and $1.02 to 1.00 AUD, respectively, as of December 31, 2011.

[2] Based on exchange rates of $1.62 to £1.00, $0.81 to 1.00 SGD, $1.04 to 1.00 AUD and $0.13 to 1.00 HKD, respectively, as of September 30, 2012.

[3] Based on exchange rates of $1.55 to £1.00, $0.77 to 1.00 SGD and $1.02 to 1.00 AUD, respectively, as of December 31, 2011.