Los Angeles Colocation Facilities
July 7th, 2006Recently, we’ve been researching datacenter colocation facilities in the Los Angeles and San Fernando Valley area. Here are some of our findings.
There are quite a few places that are full and/or out of available power around town, however there are still plenty of facilities available. As we do quite a bit of development, our trips to install or upgrade equipment at the datacenter are more frequent than many companies, so for us, geographic location was important and therefore, any facilities south of LAX were not considered.
So a brief listing:
[ We visited the first three facilities. ]
- IS West: A lesser known ISP based in Auguora Hills, just west of the San Fernando Valley, right off the US-101. While they’re a bit smaller than the Tier-1 providers, they peer with several Tier-1 networks, and they employ some intelligent routing systems to dynamically choose the best route. The early result in our tests on their network is that their routes perform better than our current Tier-1 provider’s. They also have a solid facility with all the expected resources: Redundant fiber, Diesel backup generator, UPSes, Locked cabinets, 24/7 biometric access, and 24/7 support. They have space and power available and are building a second facility nearby. Contact Phil Walker at IS West at (877) 735-9969.
- Vitalstream [links to NSCG]: Downtown LA. While primarily a streaming company, they have dedicated colo facilites staffed 24/7, power and lots of bandwidth. We found them to be the most competitive for price and the most flexible in what they could offer colo customers. Contact Mike Clark for info (see below)
- Internap: Downtown LA. Of the facilities toured, we felt Internap provided the strongest overall colocation package, especially for high-availablity platforms. As an example, they provided dual ethernet/fast ethernet crossconnects for HSRP, whether you plan on using HSRP or not; it’s standard, not an option. Also, when we walked into their datacenter, the room felt “cold,” even for a datacenter. They provide some basic PDUs (compared to most facilities that just give you an outlet). They have two NOCs, one on each coast. For the product they offer, we felt their pricing was quite competive.
[ We did not visit these last two facilities. ]
- Qwest: Burbank facility. They currently are building an addition to their facility, but until then, they do not have space available. That is supposed to be completed around September. Contact Mike Clark for info (see below)
- Level 3: Downtown LA. Supposedly they don’t currently have extra power, though they are working to add more supply. Expected completion date is “soon.”
Finally, we’ll make a referral for you. We’ve been working with a networking broker for years and he has helped us and several of our clients with all things Internet. If you’re interested, contact:
Mike Clark
Network Services Consulting Group
619-546-6802