Monday, July 8, 2013

5 Site Selection Criteria That Will Earn VIP Status for Your Data Center




We often get asked if there are drivers for site selection of a new data center that would push the particular project to the super-marketable-forefront of favorite data centers. 

Well, there are several factors that are cooked into the formula, but here are 5 basic parameters which would give VIP status to any potential site:

1. Cost of Power. Think why Quincy, Ashburn, Prineville etc... attract big data center names. A fraction of difference in utility costs (cents!) make a difference when selecting a site.
2. Availability of Power.  Can the utility absorb 20 MW to 30 MW easily?
3. Size of the incoming electrical feeds. What is the voltage that the utility can provide to the site?
4. Telecom Connectivity. How many telecom providers are available within the vicinity of the site.
5. Tax incentives. Are there any federal, state, or local municipal tax incentives to attract  you to move to the site.

There you go. 

In a nutshell, if you have these five essential parameters working in your favor, you will earn VIP status for your data center pretty quickly!

3 comments:

  1. Ramzi,

    Good summary. Actually sounds like you are describing the QTS Richmond VA data center.
    http://www.qualitytech.com/data-centers/northeast/richmond-va
    (6.5cent power, 110MW available-scalable to 220MW, two on site substations, Fiber built to local telco hotels, 5 carriers already built out in DC continuing to grow, an most importantly free tax for any hardware purchased for use in this facility.

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  2. Really good points, thanks for sharing this will definitely implement this and i've bookmarked it for future reference.

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  3. Great post, Ramzi. I work in data center management training and we often focus on these factors and several others. In my mind I believe that the most important driver for data center development is the cost of power. This will often determine viable locations for new data center development.

    Jackie

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