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  1. #26
    I hope OP is trolling. Please, please let it be a troll. But, just in case it's not...

    There's a few things wrong with what you're thinking about doing...

    Quote Originally Posted by evil_dan2wik View Post
    Im 15 and im thinking of starting a medium-large data centre.
    This is a terrible idea. I don't care how much money you have. A 15-year-old is not mature enough to handle a mission critical business like a data center.


    I have over $3M available to me for when im 18 and i see a lot of money in the server biz.
    This market is over-saturated as it is. It's going to be very hard to gain any sort of footing in this industry, and there's a huge chance that you'll fail. It would be better to invest that money into the industry instead of starting up another data center.

    Could i get a list of everything i need? hardware, software, planning etc.
    Alucasa is right: you've already failed. You shouldn't need to be asking perfect strangers on an internet forum about what you need for your business.

    Im very skilled with programming, building and fixing computers. I have upgraded/fixed the school's network 7 times already after they get new systems. I have about 30 people who said would be able to come and work with me.
    Pics or it didn't happen.

    Please do not ask me why not do co-location because that is something i have always despised.
    What did colocation ever do to you? Did it have sex with your wife or something? How could you hate a whole sector of the hosting industry at the age of 15?
    My personal blog -- rubiverse.net

  2. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by flam316 View Post
    Alucasa is right: you've already failed. You shouldn't need to be asking perfect strangers on an internet forum about what you need for your business.
    It's not so much this, there's lots of people around here who have a clue what they're talking about.

    There's three issues that spring to my mind with this thread:

    Firstly $3m isn't enough to build a small DC much less a medium/large one and kit it out and a bank wouldn't (shouldn't) go within 1000 miles of you because you don't have the relevant experience to pull off a DC - which is precisely why you're asking here.

    Secondly if you did have enough cash there's plenty of consulting companies who design and build data centers that people here will happily recommend, and they should be your first port of call when you're old enough to do it and you manage to get the cash together.

    Third - there isn't much *profit* in data centers without some major value add anyways, most are owned by carriers or companies that need them because they have large businesses that require lots of DC space already and are looking to reduce costs and/or improve the quality of their service in some way - which frankly that should be where you enter the business, which you can do without a data center of your own, and would be a better use of your $3m.

  3. #28
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    You guys are mean, you ran him off

    I know there is a lot of cynical posts in this thread but they all truly do share a sliver of truth.

    Regardless of how much money you have or how good you are at fixing a schools computer network the best advice I can give you is get a job working in the industry first.

    Most of the other posters are correct, 3million will not get you very far into building out a DC.

    Not when generators can run anywhere from 150-500k by themselves. Not to mention UPS equipment, racks, raised flooring, cable trays etc. Ontop of that then you have staffing needs. If you plan to start fresh then you will need to staff it and plan on running in the red for 1-3 years before you even see a profit if your just building a brand new center with no customers.

    If I were you and had that kind of cash I would find a reputable fund manager and invest it all. With 3million and a typical investment return of 2-5% that's a return of anywhere from 60,000 to 150,000 a year in returns which can be free cash or re-invested.

    Sure you could invest in riskier options with higher returns but I'd play my money safe. With that kind of cash buy a house, get a girl and never work a day again in your life.

    If you invest the 3mil in the DC chances are you may never see that type of money again in your life.

    My vote is to play it safe, invest that money and work in the industry.
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  4. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by DanielP View Post
    I know there is a lot of cynical posts in this thread but they all truly do share a sliver of truth.

    [...]

    My vote is to play it safe, invest that money and work in the industry.
    Like I said, if you've got money to invest, put it in something that will some day need a DC. It'll get you experience and it'll at some point cure your need for an "I own a DC" e-penis. Actually to be honest the whole industry is worth staying well away from unless you have something really special to offer - the whole game is about racing to see who can bankrupt themselves first and people who believe that some day they can sell their companies based on revenues - which is never going to happen.

  5. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by DanielP View Post
    You guys are mean, you ran him off
    He can't answer because he's in school right now

    My serious response to the OP is: when you turn 18 and get the inheritance, save it all. Go for further education in the mean time, and then figure out what you want to do later in your life.
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  6. #31
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    Hey, I never said it couldn't be done, I just said there were better things to do with it. You can most definately build a DC with 3 million.
    Aaron Wendel
    Wholesale Internet, Inc. - http://www.wholesaleinternet.net
    Kansas City Internet eXchange - http://www.kcix.net

  7. #32
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    Quote Originally Posted by WII-Aaron View Post
    Hey, I never said it couldn't be done, I just said there were better things to do with it. You can most definately build a DC with 3 million.

    Depending on what your target market is.. i.e. high(enough) end that there is actually some profit in it.. you could
    have DLR build it to spec, ramp the power and you could have a fully operational DC for nothing more than a monthly payment and with proper planning it would be possible to be profitable from day one.

    Speaking of that, you guys have any space left in KC at a good price?
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  8. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by WII-Aaron View Post
    Hey, I never said it couldn't be done, I just said there were better things to do with it. You can most definately build a DC with 3 million.
    I would agree, it definitely CAN be done, but there are better ways to spend the money. Why put your first bunch of money into a relatively low margin business when there are so many ways to build higher margin businesses with that $3m.
    Karl Zimmerman - Founder & CEO of Steadfast
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  9. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by bqinternet View Post
    $3 million is enough to build a very small data center, but once you've built it, then what? I started my business when I was 16 (I'm 28 now), and one thing I didn't realize back then is that getting customers is tough. Customers don't start pouring in just because you built something.

    I know you don't want to hear it, but I would really consider starting with colocation. You're trying to skip a few steps, which is why people are making so many jokes in this thread. There's a lot to learn between "building computers" and running a data center.
    I'd use the "like button" in this post.

  10. #35
    Give your $3M to a financial adviser and tell him you'd like to invest in datacenters. It's probably not a great investment right now given the glut of white space but maybe in 3 years. Regardless, it'll be far safer than _trying_ to build a datacenter with no industry, technical, or construction knowledge and experience.

  11. #36
    Quote Originally Posted by WII-Aaron View Post
    3M? Two words of wisdom, my son:

    Hookers and blow.
    this forum needs a reputation system... stat. or a like button.
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  12. #37
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    It seems like the TS got blown away with all the responses . After his reply (second post on forum) he didn't even bother checking in anymore.

    Another one bites the dust.

  13. #38
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    Feb 2011
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    607
    Don't touch your money. Convince some other fools to invest money into your datacenter, run it to the ground as you will in either case. You'll come out of this with both experience and your money.

  14. #39
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    Sep 2010
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    I'm going to go for blunt and honest...

    OP, I had a friend in a similar situation. Slightly less money, and he couldn't get until he was 19 (I think). But basically the same general idea.

    The first day he was eligible to get his money, he went to go see the lawyers, got his money, and started spending it on all of his grand ideas. Ideas that everyone told him were nuts, and not worth spending the money on, but he did it anyway.

    Couple of months go by, he's pissed off all of his friends, and half his family won't talk to him anymore.

    2-3 months later, money's gone. Completely gone, along with whatever savings he had, and everything that he spent it is defunct. (Even the hookers 'n blow are gone -- actually he never had them -- sad, I agree)

    Even today (5 - 10 years later), he still has some of that 'sense of entitlement', a large number of people in his family won't talk to him, and not a day goes by where he doesn't think about how he wasted what was given to him (and how he could have used it in much better ways today).

    He learned the exact same lesson the hard way.

    --

    Also, just a couple of other thoughts:

    First: I too, used to fix computers for my school (I feel old). Stuff's a lot different when you leave academia-land. And believe it or not, you still have much to learn. And by 'much', I mean **** ton.

    Second: There are two reasons to build a data center. Either for your own company's use, or for others to colo with you. One, you don't have a company. Two, with your attitude, do you really expect others to colo with you?

    Third: It sounds like you'd rather be a techy. If so, save the data center building for people in the real estate business.

    Last: Being 4 (maybe 5) 'start-ups' in now, I can't think of a case where I would ever start a business by alone again. Ever. Even just to have some one to bounce ideas off of. Also, no one will ever know everything. Not that you said you were going to do this by yourself, but wanted to throw it out there. Especially since I can't see any 18 year old with $3M listening to experienced people telling him to not follow his dreams.

    Last #2: Did you know for only 6.7% of your $3M ($200,000), you can GO TO SPACE! Yes, as in 3-2-1-BLAST-OFF, out of this world! Just saying, I'd go to space instead. (And then invest the other $2.8M, responsibly.)

    But that's just my $0.02M...

  15. #40
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    With $3M I'd be living off of its interest in a Caribbean hotel or the likes...

  16. #41
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    Quote Originally Posted by WII-Aaron View Post
    3M? Two words of wisdom, my son:

    Hookers and blow.
    Community Guide

    Seems legit

  17. #42
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    May 2007
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    If I were you I'd rent a VPS ( a cheap one) and learn the nuts and bolts.
    You can then start scaling up until when your prostate has grown big enough you can then worry about how to make use of the money you earned by yourself ( forget about the money you already have or be about to have).

  18. #43
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    May 2009
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    USA
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    Quote Originally Posted by Patrick View Post
    Don't listen to them Dan. None of them know what they are talking about, especially Zimmerman and Aaron - those two are always popping into data center threads trying to crush peoples dreams with logic. I'll tell you how to build an epic data center for cheap:

    Find a 3 bedroom apartment in your town that has power included in the monthly rate. Get a handful of surge protectors and cheap UPS's. Seal off the windows to insulate the place. You're going to need to find an apartment that also has an AC hookup or get a portable unit and pipe it out the window. That will take care of your power and cooling requirements.

    As for the internet, get the fastest connection you can. Actually, get a mix of cable and DSL if FIOS isn't available. You can find a cheap appliance that will provide failover if one of the connections drop - there's your BGP. No need to get some Cisco gear that's going to cost more than a house, that's for suckers like Zimmerman. Speaking of brands, I really like D-Link but Netgear isn't bad either. Stay away from Linksys, their products are garbage IMO.

    Whether you want to go rackmount or tower is up to you. When you fill up your mini data center, rent another 3 bedroom apartment elsewhere. You can then advertise that you have multiple locations. It's a totally plausible idea, I know a few guys who are doing it and I've been thinking about doing it myself. You don't need to spend much on this, just cater to the budget crowd on WHT and you'll be OK.
    http://youtu.be/LcOTcJUh8gA check this video out.

    Patrick, i been part of wht since i was 16 to be exact. I ran a popular gaming forum that generated over $3k every months 70% i been shut down by ignorant people here in wht i really appreciate the fact that you believe in young people like us who wish to endeavour. I also wish to start a datacenter in the not so distance future. I managed to obtain hand on experience and managed to save up and buy a a half a rack of DL g7 over the past 2 years. Working and going to college full time just to show some of the people that shut me down in the past what i will achieve in the future.

  19. #44
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    Quote Originally Posted by elvis1 View Post
    If I were you I'd rent a VPS ( a cheap one) and learn the nuts and bolts.
    You can then start scaling up until when your prostate has grown big enough you can then worry about how to make use of the money you earned by yourself ( forget about the money you already have or be about to have).
    That is exactly what I'm doing even though i have all the server, firewall, ups, switches and routers i decided to just get a reseller account. once i have 500 customers i will transfer all those clients into my servers and scale up from their. i was paying way to much money for internet and electricity i managed to get a good hand on experience during the time but i figured that it will be better starting with a reseller account.

  20. #45
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    Quote Originally Posted by cresci View Post
    With $3M I'd be living off of its interest in a Caribbean hotel or the likes...
    And after your spend all your money whats next? A shoe polisher for a living lol.

    Investing into IT (datacenter) is always a good idea targeting the proper niche of course.

  21. #46
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    With 3M, I would say invest that with EIG and never leave your bed again.

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