infoTECH Feature

September 23, 2014

Data Center Demand Drives Expansion in Ohio; Switch Supernap Pioneers in the Industry

When you think access to the right location for your data center, do you think Ohio? Not many would, but the state has some pretty exciting things going on that could persuade you otherwise. If cheap power, a healthy support of fiber-optic cable and a safe environment are appealing, you may just want to pay attention to the growth around Cleveland.

The Columbus Dispatch recently reported on the growth for data center development based on these main attributes. ByteGrid, for instance, is investing millions in the area to convert a small data center located close to downtown Cleveland into a large center capability of using enough electricity to power roughly 20,000 homes.

Companies using a lot of data are attracted to the area and its Department of Economic Development is hoping that the boom in this area will expand the city’s health-tech corridor. Cleveland is now home to data centers for the Cleveland hospital, University hospitals, Rosetta and Brandmuscle. With a robust fiber trunk running through the city, excellent connectivity is readily enabled.

Some consider it ironic that a city like Cleveland, once named the Rust Belt city, is so well-suited for the age of the Internet. This once hub for manufacturing was quickly brought to its knees by disruptive technologies and advanced business models that changed the focus. One thing realized in the build-out to support next gen technologies is the same rail lines used to expand this country make the ideal conduit for routing fiber-optic cable.

In short, Cleveland is providing an infrastructure legacy to build out the new approach to business in information technology. Fiber offers a wealth of room to transfer information, room that every data center manager needs. Plus, given the amount of electricity these data centers consume, access to low-cost power is essential.

And, while Ohio isn’t set to give worrisome competition to Silicon Valley as of yet, it will create significant opportunities for the area, especially in terms of economic development. As the demand for data continues to expand, growth is assured in any area conducive to the expansion of support for the data center, especially as it supports the cloud.

Switch Supernap is one company focused on leveraging opportunities in this space, seeking to change the opportunities in the data center by building out technology ecosystem. While their focus isn’t in Ohio, it is pioneering new strategies. To learn more, check out this interview from ITEXPO (News - Alert). Switch Supernap’s Jason Mendenhal was on hand to give the update on why this company is a pioneer in this space. 




Edited by Maurice Nagle
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