20 ms·

At svtix, a tier3 data center in downtown san jose, Not at the top end of the price scale, but not at the bottom, I can get 2 20a 120v circuits and a full locki

At svtix, a tier3 data center in downtown san jose, Not at the top end of the price scale, but not at the bottom, I can get 2 20a 120v circuits and a full locking rack for around $1100 a month. I can buy two or three racks full of power. As long as that space is available. To guarantee business capacity you'll probably need to buy a large block of rackspace at one time. Of course, capacity availability varies based on the current local business climate, but that's something you have to plan for too. If I wanted to pull a gig connection to another nearby data center, say, because I couldn't get more at svtix, we are talking something like $500-$1000 a month Upwards of $1000, but note that GigE is a fairly small link for data center cross-connection and will still usually have a large lead-time. Not only do you need to be able to guarantee sufficient capacity either at svtix or at the other colo, but you need to be prepared to wait to get that capacity allocated for your use.

lsc 17y ago
you have a very good point that you pay much higher prices (or just massively overbuy, which is similar) if you want guaranteed capacity right now, right were you are. My model is such that it's not that big of a deal to just get an unconnected rack at a new data center and buy transit there. When I was blocked on new power at SVTIX, I slapped a few new servers in at rippleweb.com, which is in Sacramento. If I had a big, expensive san I couldn't replicate, well, then I'd have a different model. (rippleweb has awesome prices on high-power 1U server co-location, but it's not as good as getting a full rack elsewhere.) But yes, the observation that you pay more if you want your stuff provisioned right now is very correct. At prgmr.com, well, I wait for the deals, so I end up paying a lot less than I would otherwise. (but then, sometimes the 'we are out of space, come back later' message is up for longer than I'd like, as well. It's definitely a compromise.)
jacquesm 17y ago
The use case for a company like backblaze though allows you to buy bandwidth very cheap because it will be mostly upstream, the direction in which datacenters are normally not seeing much traffic.

lsc 17y ago

you have a very good point that you pay much higher prices (or just massively overbuy, which is similar) if you want guaranteed capacity right now, right were you are. My model is such that it's not that big of a deal to just get an unconnected rack at a new data center and buy transit there. When I was blocked on new power at SVTIX, I slapped a few new servers in at rippleweb.com, which is in Sacramento. If I had a big, expensive san I couldn't replicate, well, then I'd have a different model. (rippleweb has awesome prices on high-power 1U server co-location, but it's not as good as getting a full rack elsewhere.) But yes, the observation that you pay more if you want your stuff provisioned right now is very correct. At prgmr.com, well, I wait for the deals, so I end up paying a lot less than I would otherwise. (but then, sometimes the 'we are out of space, come back later' message is up for longer than I'd like, as well. It's definitely a compromise.)

jacquesm 17y ago

The use case for a company like backblaze though allows you to buy bandwidth very cheap because it will be mostly upstream, the direction in which datacenters are normally not seeing much traffic.