data center space

Thu Apr 20 03:25:25 UTC 2006

Marty Said...
> At 08:11 PM 4/19/2006, Alex Rubenstein wrote:
> 
> 
> >>On many of the public colo houses earnings calls, they told
> >>analysts that they are trying to keep contracts to one year
> >>so they can raise prices year over year, that power pricing is
> >>fluid and many facilities are being expanded both space and
> >>environmental, that most locations really are full or being held
> >>down by lack of cooling for existing dense rack space. Basically
> >>get ready to hold out your wallet.

Well, Peter Van Camp of Equinix was asked this during the (extremely
informative) Equinix call for Q1 and said that many contracts being signed
are still 2-year. The analyst who asked it made the (correct) assertion that
shorter contracts are more advantageous now (for IDC providers), considering
the tight data center market. And the market is really tight, especially in
particular areas. I expect to see many more NANOG postings "where can I find
good colocation in area X" over the next year.

Of course, the colocation companies must raise their prices - for one thing,
many folks got sweetheart deals during the lean years. For another, energy
prices are way up, as we've all noticed, and IDCs use lots of juice.
Finally, its supply and demand. 

> >
> >Is it that?
> >
> >Or, is it some of these companies no realising that charging $250
> >for a 20 amp outlet is less than their cost, even three years ago?
> 
> 
> I don't know, but I was selling only measured power in 2001 and people
> liked
> it. Granted, power was cheaper, but pay as you go was a good model. You
> still
> had to cool to breaker density, but it was nice to have no power risk and
> I
> would recommend that anyone who can, should convert to measured power
> billing.

If energy prices keep going up, one would think that submetered power would
be the wave of the future, so that colos can pass through electricity prices
- both direct electrical power consumed by the equipment, and the HVAC
needed to dissipate the heat. The move to super-dense server platforms is a
real killer. Anyone know of many colos currently submetering individual
tenants?

> 
> Remember when folks thought Exodus was crazy for 220w per square foot?

Well, in hindsight that aspect of their plan was visionary. I don't suppose
if anyone knows if the Exodus designed were seeking to future-proof in
general, anticipated these dense server platforms, or just wanted to build
more bigger?

- Dan

BTW, for the folks who like this stuff, there will hopefully be some great
datacenter-related talks at NANOG this time, thanks to Josh Snowhorn. Its
not too late to make a submission... :)