Choosing a location for a data center or collocation presence is never an easy one. There is always the balancing act between uptime and affordability. One trend is apparent; however, the Midwest is clearly the most cost-effective location and should at least be considered when evaluating locations. While the Midwest may not be the best location for all businesses due to individual internal goals at a particular company, the region certainly has its merits.
Areas of the U.S. most affected by hurricanes
Locating data centers in the Midwest is popular for several reasons including the lower costs for items such as power, real estate costs, construction, and labor. In addition, the Midwest has advantages in geography itself. Nearly all of the major fiber routes go through the Midwest in order to connect the east and west coasts. That means that many areas have access to a large number of providers within a given area. In addition, since network latency is related to distance, the latency is lower from the Midwest to either coast than it is from one coast to the other. Much of the Midwest is also located away from many of the natural disasters and other data center threats including: earthquakes, hurricanes, wild fires, and rolling power blackouts.
Areas of the U.S. most affected by Tsunamis
When evaluating all of these criteria, it is no wonder that most data center location studies are largely comprised of Midwest locations such as Kansas City in their Top 10 lists. In fact, in the Boyd Group’s 2008 report, Kansas City was listed as the 2nd most affordable major market data center location. As the carrier hotel and internet hub for the region, we welcome the opportunity to discuss how we can help your organization and share what sets our facility apart from others in the Midwest.
Areas of the U.S. most affected by Wildfires
By Darren
