Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Colocation and Data Centers : Is it absolutely important to be in a carrier neutral DC?

[Mfjp]

The subject pretty much says it all. I'm not talking about small DC, I'm talking about carrier own DC. Something like MFN's SJC, and XO Irvine facility.

[pmabraham]

Greetings:

If you feel that it is important to be able to bring in whatever carriers you want to use (providing they are in the DC), then carrier neutral can be the way to go.

Be prepared to do you own negotiation with the carriers; though sometimes a DC will have pre-made arrangements with certain carriers in their building.

Thank you.

[cbtrussell]

I wouldn't go into a carrier's facility in any circumstance; I've seen horror stories where the carrier has a problem (network, financial, whatever) and you're completely at their mercy for service. Once you sign that deal, you're a hostage.

Brandon

[mgphoto]

carrier neutral is the only way to go. One of our two colos has over 40 providers. It takes less than 1/2 hour to add or drop one. We also get much better terms than if we went into a carriers own facility.

[Brad @ Xiolink]

Carrier neutral offers better diversity and often better bandwidth as you either have choices or if the facility offers a managed network connection it is often more redundant with redundant connections.

There are carrier neutral facilities out there built as well and better than carrier's facilities. Often pricing and hands on service can be better too!

[Rackpoint]

I will toss my 2 cents in here as well.

We played on the concept of these large carriers (ie Worldcom) about 2 years ago, the idea was that the biggest and best won't have the issues that some smaller carriers started to have. We couldn't have been more wrong as you might have seen Worldcom turned in to one of the worst names to have to speak to a potential client. When things got rough we were forced to move on and prevent our company from being dragged through another company's mud. Since that change we went carrier neutral and couldn't be happier, the same goes for our customer base. Having the ability to serve someone whatever the need is a very big advantage and the security it lends will help you sleep at night.

The moral of my little story is that nobody is untouchable, being in a neutral facility gives you some options to react to these situations. As Brad mentioned above, you will find that if you walk through some of these neutral facilities you will see that they can offer an overall better service than some of the larger carriers.

Better Service, More Options - What more could you ask for?

Nick

[Mfjp]

thanks for the opinion.

Carrier neutral is what i prefer too, but sometimes it comes down to the cost of operation. Being in a carrier neutral facility is more expensive. What I want to hear is if the benefit in a carrier neutral facility would offset the cost of being there. Bandwidth from the carrier and space in the carrier neutral facility kind of hurt. I can't post the numbers here, but if anyone want to know the difference in cost per month, feel free to send me a PM.

[robinbalen]

Carrier neutral all the way... I'm not sure what the difference would be price wise for you, but unless it's obscene, it'll be worth it. IYKWIM

[Brad @ Xiolink]

Originally posted by Mfjp
...but sometimes it comes down to the cost of operation. Being in a carrier neutral facility is more expensive.

Not necessarily. Being a smaller company than a MCI or AT&T most carrier neutral facilities have more flexibility and can operate much more nimble than big guys. Also, once you are in a facility, the carrier has you by the kahunas and you don't necessarily have options. With carrier neutral, you always have options.

We have our own dc and also have racks in other data centers. We would only consider carrier neutral. First, most carrier neutral facilities are designed for IT companies. Most carrier facilities are designed for telco companies. They lease space for colo to help cover their costs and hopefully make money.

Example: We have OC48's from five different carriers and smaller pipes from others. I doubt any single colo customer would ever need more speed than that, so what is the benefit. And, if they did, I guarantee the carrier would jump on an agreement to install a bigger pipe.

[Mfjp]

Okay, The carrier offer the space for free. I don't know how I could get a carrier neutral facility to offer the same thing. I was concern about connectivity and diversity of connection, but they went ahead and offer 2 free gige transport. One onto the MFN backbone, and another onto the Level3 backbone. Bandwidht rates in their DC is also lower. Is there any specific I should work out in the contract if I go with them?

[Daver]

In my experience I would say Carrier Neutral, however recently I know of quite a few ISPs which will let you have a line brought in from outside for say a backup T1, etc from another provider. That is something you have to ask the sales person when you signup though. This way if the ISP has network trouble your not isolated, you can just kill your path through them and use the backup

[Mfjp]

Daver,

They already agreed to have gige transport over to MFN and Level3, but i'm a bit wary if those will ever get setup.

[Daver]

Well if you have doubts and don't want to get your own line from another provider setup to the colo (t1, etc for backup) I would say for you a carrier neutral facility is the best bet. Since everyone is setup there already..

[mpope]

I think that the carrier neutral facility can actually turn out cheaper in the long run. Costs for actual floor space is typically more expensive, however the cost for the bandwidth is usually less. (My opinion is that this is because providers just need one huge line going into the facility, and can then just run ethernet drops to 1,000's of customers instead of having to run T1's to customers) Also... there is more competition in a carrier neutral DC... more competition means cheaper prices!

[Mfjp]

Bandwidth from the carrier themselves happens to be cheaper in the carrier facilities. The reason being is they don't have to backhaul into the carrier neutral DC. They're also more positive you would stay with them. It is a very difficult decision to make.