Cleveland is not Silicon Valley. But, with more and more companies building data centers in and around the Cleveland area, it just might become Data Central in the not too distant future. Currently Bytegrid, a data center company centered in Virginia, Maryland and the Washington, D.C. area that provides private, secure data center hosting, is investing millions converting a small, downtown data center into one that government and private companies can use for their data center operations. More and more companies are looking into moving their server farms and data centers to the Cleveland area.
Why Cleveland? There appears to be three reasons. First, Cleveland has a very large and fast fiber optic network throughout most of the city. Meaning connectivity is really fast. Much faster than can be had in must US cities. Secondly, servers and computers in general, tend to run hot and require a lot of electricity to keep them cool. And that power can cost 13 to 16 cents per kilowatt in the Northwestern U.S. but only 5 or 6 cents in Cleveland. The third reason is Cleveland’s location. Cleveland is central to the geographic epicenter of corporate America. With 22 Fortune 1000 companies headquartered in Northeast Ohio, 91 Fortune 1000 within 200 miles of Cleveland and 56 percent of Fortune 500 companies within 500 miles, the city is in a pretty good location for businesses.
Top off the connectivity and location factors with the fact that server farms are located in thick, reinforced concrete and steel structures and one can see where security comes along with the rest of the package. Security in the data center world means the promise of impenetrable firewalls, intrusion detection and protection programs to thwart hackers. And, as we’re all learning more and more, hackers continue to be a growing threat to us all.
So, more power to you, Cleveland (pun intended). I hope your business keeps growing and your data centers prosper, while keeping company data and the rest of us more secure.
Sources: Newsfactor.com/ABC News.com
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