I have a pretty good size building, 3600 sq ft in an extremly high class area of town in Orange County California. Heres what I am thinking, since I can get a ds2, ds3 line or whatever ran, converting the entire warehouse area of my place to a colocation area?

Building some raised floors etc etc etc. Im just curious, would it be profitable for me? I mean, I have the lease on my building paid for for another 12 months, and I can get the lines inexpensively. I have access to A/C temp control units, servers, and the floors arent hard to build, so, in your trusted opinion, would this be something you would recommend for someone like me?

I just figure maybe it will be somewhat of a return in the end because right now I dont use the space. Its just empty, nice looking warehouse space, that could so easily be built into a colocating facility. Maybe I could be an Orange County, or LA colocator? Because my size is enough, and Im in the heart of the area. So clients can come visit thier machines.

I dunno, but I would love to hear good opinions.

Yeah, well, say IF I had a DS2 or DS3 line, would it be profitable? Thats what im interested in??

Thanks,
Jason Schultz


after the post ----
power is not problem. my place has backup gen's.
the question Im asking is "NOT", what else do i need, it is WOULD IT BE PROFITABLE TO MAKE THIS KIND OF DECISION???

It has the potential to be profitable.

Jazon007,

Keep in mind it does take more than just a building and hardware to operate a co-location NOC you will also need to have many full time Techs and Admins for any problems or questions that may occur

i think you have to agree with DigitalXWeb
once you have the building running then it takes ALOT more effort to keep it running.
Do you have the building for more than 12 months ? or is it 12 months then you loose it?
it would make people severely peeved off if you closed on them 12 moths later.

If you didnt get the staff you would be another *****, big building, nice facilities, crap system.

And look at the attention thats got ***** on here!

I'm glad you added the information about generators and such. I'll focus on the question of profit.

Yes, of course it could be profitable, and may very well be. However, you are looking at a big investment and initial cash outlay. It seems everything in tele communications carries a big price tag. Your profit will come over time.

It's really beyond the scope of this forum to give you the guidance you need. The power problems California is having may be a factor, at least in the perception of potential clients. That aside, there are many factors that could affect the issue of profitability.

The fact that you are asking us suggests you haven't done your homework and perhaps should be spending your time elsewhere, formulating a proper business plan.

Good luck with it, whatever your choice. Of course, good luck often comes about only through a great deal of effort and talent.

Maybe before you start thinking about this venture you should learn about the field first. THere isnt a such thing as a DS2 line that im aware of. And there are a ton more things that go into a running a colocation facility then just the building.

Send me a email sometime I would be willing to help you learn, and to give you some of our personal experiences, might help you to build yours.

I agree with cbaker

I was wondering what he meant by DS2 line, lol

I mean a 1 DS3 line isnt the greatest thing anyway, only 45megabit, but it'd be ok.

Free business consulting...

If you are new at the game, maybe get an existing ISP that is looking to expand to a second facility? You could manage the facility but they provide all the expertise... and work out some contract terms that give you an option to take over the business as time goes on... assuming you like doing it and want to stick with it.

Originally posted by node9
I was wondering what he meant by DS2 line, lol


A DS2 is 4 multiplexed DS1s (plus some extra carrier bits), or about 6mbps.

THere is no standerdized term called a ds2, so I dont know how you came up with that,

are are T1, DS3 or T3, OC3, OC12, and I think oc48 I think

There is a T2 line, it is 6.312 Mbps... and "t2" is often called "ds2".

http://www.quadron.com/speed/speed.html

According to that page, "ds" is International Standards Organization (ISO) naming convention.

From a PBX perspective, I think it is 96 ISDN channels :) Otherwise used as 56K modem hosting lines...

Hmm never new that I know if you buy fiber most companys dont even reconize a ds2 standard....

Originally posted by jazon007
I have a pretty good size building, 3600 sq ft in an extremly high class area of town in Orange County California. ... . I have access to A/C temp control units, ...



As I alluded to in your other thread on this topic -- http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=73956#post73956 -- pay attention to the air conditioning. Having access to the A/C temp control units is one thing, having enough cooling capacity for all those servers is quite another thing.

DS2 is not very popular, cost about as much as a DS3. Pretty much like a Fractional T1 @ 768K tends to cost almost as much (if not more) than a T1.

Originally posted by StephenRS
DS2 is not very popular, cost about as much as a DS3.

I think in most cases it costs more, simply because of the very small demand for T2 interface adaptors. DS2/T2 really doesn't have any advantages now that electronics can easily run at 45MHz -- it can't even be run over a lower quality of cable (according to spec, that is).

Rather like an OC1 in that regard... it exists but if you ask for one people will wonder what drugs you're on.