Friday, October 06, 2006

Forget the East & West Coast

Continuing my curiosity for why companies select various locations for their data center, here is a good article on why Chicago is an equal if not better place than the primary spots on either coast.

LA has One Wilshire, Florida has Peak10 and the NorthEast coast is littered with hot spots. I think all of these facilites have amazing bandwidth, carriers and security; so you would hope that the companies that offer better customer service and accomodations would win out. I (for one) am just glad to see the Midwest talked up so nicely. A look at any map of the U.S. that outlines natural disasters and I wonder why anyone would locate on either of the coasts.

Disclaimer: if not already very apparent, I am from and still live in the Midwest. :)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

EVERY location is a compromise of some sort. There is no "perfect" location for a datacenter. Every place has benefits and drawbacks, you just pick the place that has the best mix for your company.

As for natural disasters, the midwest has their share, they just come in a different form, namely severe weather: electrical storms, tornadoes, and the occasional blizzard. They happen at a MUCH greater frequency than earthquake or volcanic eruption.

--chuck

Anonymous said...

EVERY location is a compromise of some sort. There is no "perfect" location for a datacenter. Every place has benefits and drawbacks, you just pick the place that has the best mix for your company.

As for natural disasters, the midwest has their share, they just come in a different form, namely severe weather: electrical storms, tornadoes, and the occasional blizzard. They happen at a MUCH greater frequency than earthquake or volcanic eruption.

--chuck

John said...

I think you are probably right - the location is picked on what people know and are sold on, regardless of location. I'm not so sure about electrical storms and tornadoes would have to get to an F5 level to make an impact on my data center. The map we show clients shows tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding, seismic activity, terrorism threats and rolling blackouts (i.e. Aug.14,2003).

Anyway...I'm just happy to see the Midwest press for a change.

-John