[nycbug-talk] Datacenter Question

[alex at pilosoft.com]

> > make sure to ask some hard hitting questions in the area of The Big
> > Blackout etc. Ask how many kilowatt hours they have of backup juice.  
> > If they can't say, they didn't buy anything.... it's just building
> > power. Ask if you can see their bandwidth stats from their ISPsesses
> > website. ask to look under the floor to see if the cabling sucks ask
> > to look at the modems, muxes or whatever where their feeds come in.
> > Ie, if they say they have 8 redundant connections to teir-1 backbones,
> > then take a look. There needs to be at least 8 pieces of equipment
> > going to 8 lines.
> >
> > If anything is impressive it's expensive. Go for people who know what
> > they are doing, not a white room.
> 
> All very relevant issues, Jesse. . .
> 
> A few of us have visited a number of colo sites around Manhattan & Bk
> over the past several months. . .
> 
> Many have been impressive. . .but for brilliant design and attention to
> details Internap is second to none. . .I highly recommend visiting their
> facilities in downtown Manhattan and listening to their sales engineer
> type spiel.
Yep. Internap at 75 broad is *pimp*. The only other site that spent as
much money per sqft is Tyco at 32 AoA.

Nevertheless, there's a point of diminishing returns, I think.

> Apparently, they were reselling power back to ConEd during either the
> blackout or 9/11, I can't remember which one. . .That how amazing their
> generators are. . .and they're not sitting up on the roof either. . .a
> well-thought out and comprehensive setup.
I wouldn't trust their claim about reselling power but there's no doubt
they were up. During big blackout, everyone who had gensets was up. During
9/11, only Telehouse went down (on 9/13) because their gensets overheated
because debris were clogging the heat escape louvers.

> I have been to many many places over the years too, and find something
> neat and clean about Globix's setup. . .sure, lots of warts, but still
> an interesting approach considering they are a tier iii isp. .  
> .Although haven't been to the Centre street facility in a few years. .
Globix is alright. So is Telehouse/25B'way. So is TelX @ 60Hud or MFNX at
111 8th, etc. Frankly - all facilities you'll see in the city will have
the required things:  generator[s], UPS[s], air conditioning, etc.

Question is how flexible they will be working with you when you need
something special...

> Also, be sure to meet with Alex at Pilosoft.com. . .He's the patron
> facility of the user groups in NYC, and truly insightful in discussions
> on the matter.  I've cc'd him if he's not yet on the talk list. .  
> .(which he *should* be already!)
I am now ;)

Come by anytime to 55 Broad St, our facility that was previously owned by 
EMC. It isn't big, but we've got the works ;)

--
Alex Pilosov    | DSL, Colocation, Hosting Services
President       | alex at pilosoft.com    (800) 710-7031
Pilosoft, Inc.  | http://www.pilosoft.com