Equinix, the Internet’s Biggest Landlord

Data-center giant Equinix Inc. is hardly a household name, but it’s hard to find a household that isn’t in some sense a customer.

With a string of network hubs from Shanghai to Dubai, the company has become the Internet’s biggest landlord, renting slices of its air-conditioned floors to virtually every company that operates online. That commanding presence has made it a flashpoint in the debate between purists who see the Internet largely as a utility and companies like Equinix, which built its business on the commercialization of the Web’s connective tissue. It has also led an unlikely group of engineers from companies like Netflix and Comcast to launch a nonprofit association they hope will spur cheaper alternatives.