I want to say 100% this is my last try.. but I'm going 99%

For more then 1 year (2 or 3 if you count conception) I have been working on putting to together a very low cost data center in my area of Denver, CO and it seems I'm finally almost there.. my plan is to proceed regardless of finding some one to help me out..

I will take over the lease on January 1st of 2006 it will be a 2 year lease good until 2008 as part of this lease or responsibility I will have to put in a FM200 system into the room or have a plan ready by October 2006, estimates for this system are 10k and from what I hear doing it yourself doesn't pay (I will confirm this later)

The Data Center size = no bigger then some people's bedrooms exact sqf 149 (with a optional 30 sqf to likely be recovered)

The building = 910 15th St. (Denver's Telco Hotel)

The Providers = Level 3, AT&T (sorta), MCI/UUNET, Wiltel, Qwest, others (that may or may not be significant) Comfluent (a colocation/reseller provider has incoming bandwidth like cogent and others not to mentions connections to most in the building)

The Bandwidth Costs = Small 10 mbit commit direct from wiltel was quoted $60-66 a mbit (with a reseller quoting lower), a big commit of 100 mbit from level 3 was quoted at $28 a mbit Gig-E (this is a resellers quote)

Level 3 and Comfluent both have conduit in the room meaning hooking up to them could be easy.. on the downside hooking up to any one else could cost fee's including a $100 a month for the conduit usage..

The Plan
- Use a software router Zebra/Quagga (to start)
- If in there for a long time do to space constraints maximize space by building custom U racks
- Use Residential 5 Year Warranty type Air Conditioning (at least in testing vs. commercial which would eat up a lot more space/money)

My overall costs estimated
Startup = $300 - 5000
Rent = little less then $200 (20 amp power included of course more will cost)
Bandwidth (see above, bare in mind that some of the quotes I posted are old.. I expect lower numbers but maybe not that much lower, Denver's not a great cheap bandwidth town)
Estimated Monthly = $200 - 800 - 4000

I can provide more details if necessary but I'll try and keep it brief..

So what I need from a partner is what my weakness's our.. (a partner can be virtual and not required in my same area as long as he can cover these)
1. Sales/Marketing and in some ways Billing
2. Web Site Development (Design and Programming)
3. Customer Service
4. Money (though not necessarily)

You can contact me however you want..
Phone = 303-420-7006
email = datacenterpartner@ophelus.net
AIM = Ophelus

1 new detail the rent is now officially $150 ish..

I have experience in this area. We ran a small local datacenter for several years (1700 sq ft) and with all of the 'big guys' that have dropped pricing in the last year, and with all of the costs involved - its not cost-effective and you won't be able to compete. Maybe five years ago you could have pulled this off, but not now.

I'm not trying to dash your dreams, but you have not thought this through. With a maximum of 200 sq ft, you'll fit MAYBE 15 racks + related equipment in there if you're lucky. Now figure a bare minimum of 1 mbps per server (and pray all of your customers never come close to that) and a whole lot of air conditioning, which will drive up your electrical bill like you would not believe. Do not underestimate the amount of heat that servers generate. One rack of servers would be enough to heat a room that size and keep it fairly warm for the winter...with no other source of heat in the building. Now, multiply that by 2 racks, 3 racks, 5 racks....15 racks. You get the idea.

Figure your costs at $20 per server for electrical/air and a minimum of $60 for bandwidth per server and then figure out how much your rent costs you per server. Just to colocate one server for someone and give them ONE mbps of bandwidth, you'd have to charge them at least $100 a month to cover your own expenses without even making a profit. If you think you're going to offer dedicated servers, you'll have to triple that price - for something low-end. Who do you think is going to rent a $300 per month unmanaged AMD 2400?

Unless your local market is willing to pay a huge amount of money for not so stable service, this is not going to work out.

--Tina


(edit) I just went back and read your post again. I notice that you think you can use residential air conditioners for this venture. You are dreaming. A 1/2 rack of servers is going to take at least one 12,000 BTU air conditioner running 24/7. Anyone that has ever run a window unit in their house in the summer knows how costly that can be to the electrical bill. Now, think about how much air conditioning you're going to need if you get more than a few racks in there.

I see an impending train wreck. I hope you don't go through with this. If you want more advice and have questions about the logistical nightmare of this...feel free to contact me directly. (/edit)

I understand your trying to give me a honest assessment but I have to disagree.. and if I learn the hard way as you suggest then I'll learn the hard way but I'm not likely to give up based on your assessment.. (and it isn't the first I've ignored)

Also I've been told and again I can't say from personal experience that your average say 40U rack needs about 1/2 ton of cooling to 1 ton.. to me when I reach the cooling nightmare I'll understand what your talking about.. and take appropriate action to fix it.. offhand my problems with the DC are not cooling at the moment (it's winter here) but connectivity.. power and the fm200 are more prone to my mind..

Residential A/C is just a experiment to my mind.. (as is the DC) if I have to get commercial A/C I will..

I understand your trying to give me a honest assessment but I have to disagree.. and if I learn the hard way as you suggest then I'll learn the hard way but I'm not likely to give up based on your assessment.. (and it isn't the first I've ignored)

Also I've been told and again I can't say from personal experience that your average say 40U rack needs about 1/2 ton of cooling to 1 ton.. to me when I reach the cooling nightmare I'll understand what your talking about.. and take appropriate action to fix it.. offhand my problems with the DC are not cooling at the moment (it's winter here) but connectivity.. power and the fm200 are more prone to my mind..

Residential A/C is just a experiment to my mind.. (as is the DC) if I have to get commercial A/C I will..

(since I can't seem to edit my post any more.. a new post)

I have to go with AH-Tina here, her numbers look correct to me. And this is from a hosting company that has equiipment in Comfluent space in Denver for DR and Comfluent equipment here in Ashburn for the same purpose.

Several years ago this may have flown, but this business has become more and more of a utility service as each day goes by. To properly deal with all the issues that a datacenter requires: power, security, environment, etc it's not cost effective to do it on a small scale anymore. That's why the Equinix's of the world have more business than they can handle. $1200 a month or so can get you 42-45U in a facility that you don't have to worry about a thing except the bandwidth charges and admining the servers. Tier 2 bandwidth I can buy as low as $12 a mb and Tier1 $50'ish based on commit. Not worth it to build my own DC. That said, I have 22 full racks of gear at the moment but even then it's still not cost effective to do it all on my own, but does allow me to bargain price.

You pricing on costs still doesn't account for the switch and routing infrastructure, incidentals, manpower, phone bills, nor servers to go in the racks that I can see.

-Roger

What I don't understand is why he's asking for advice here, when he admits that I'm not the first one, WITH EXPERIENCE IN THIS FIELD, to tell him that he's not being realistic.

I mean, why ask for advice when the only advice you're going to take is the one that you agree with???

--Tina

Sorry if this is a bit dated but didn't notice these posts till now..

I mean, why ask for advice when the only advice you're going to take is the one that you agree with???

I don't recall asking for advice in this thread (maybe I missed it.. I know I have asked at least once before.. each time in 4 consecutive threads going back 1 year I have been given advice whether I asked or not)

None the less I value your consul, I just choose to disagree

Several years ago this may have flown, but this business has become more and more of a utility service as each day goes by. To properly deal with all the issues that a datacenter requires: power, security, environment, etc it's not cost effective to do it on a small scale anymore. That's why the Equinix's of the world have more business than they can handle. $1200 a month or so can get you 42-45U in a facility that you don't have to worry about a thing except the bandwidth charges and admining the servers. Tier 2 bandwidth I can buy as low as $12 a mb and Tier1 $50'ish based on commit. Not worth it to build my own DC. That said, I have 22 full racks of gear at the moment but even then it's still not cost effective to do it all on my own, but does allow me to bargain price.

You pricing on costs still doesn't account for the switch and routing infrastructure, incidentals, manpower, phone bills, nor servers to go in the racks that I can see.

Not all information was posted, you have a valid point globaloffice about it not being worth it but my basic response is every one has to start some where

In all honesty I don't see long term *huge* money in bandwidth or hosting any way.. I see some money but it's not likely to be a fortune for that I have another plan..