Voxel Expands in Equinix Data Centers

Voxel dot Nethas expanded operations in Equinix data centers in Singapore, Amsterdam and Dallas, and now has infrastructure deployed with Equinix (EQIX) in seven different markets. Voxel, which provides managed hosting and content delivery solutions, currently operates within Equinix IBX data centers in Secaucus, NJ, northern Virginia, Chicago and Silicon Valley.

“As we continue to grow our global network and service offerings further into Asia and Europe, Equinix continues to be a valuable partner because they give us the worldwide footprint that is pivotal to our service-oriented mission,” said Zachary Smith, president of Voxel dot Net. “Equinix provides us with the best interconnection and peering solutions needed for delivering massive amounts of rich content in the most reliable manner possible.”

Earlier this year Voxel expanded its content delivery network (CDN) with new installations in data centers operated by Switch & Data (SDXC) in Palo Alto, Calif. and 111 Eighth Avenue in New York. Voxel was founded in 1999 and now has more than 1,000 clients.

Equinix Launches New Brand, Logo

Equinix (EQIX) is marking its 10th anniversary by launching a new corporate brand and new logo, which the company says will provide a common identity across the three continents where it does business. The new logo “represents a fortress structure, symbolizing the critical role that Equinix plays in safeguarding its customers’ information assets.”

As part of the rebranding, Equinix is launching a new web site featuring video tours, including a facility tour in which co-founder Jay Adelson (also CEO of Digg) serves as a virtual guide.

Ten years after Equinix was founded on the groundbreaking idea that the infrastructure of the Internet and modern IT operations needed a centralized and high performance physical environment in order to grow, Equinix has now become a critical element in the information-driven world and is relied upon by thousands of businesses around the world,” said Steve Smith, president and CEO of Equinix. “As the world is more connected and dependent on information than ever before, this company initiative will build upon Equinix’s current leadership position and our continued commitment to anticipating the needs of our customers and delivering a consistent and premium customer experience worldwide.”

Equinix: Demand ‘As Strong As We’ve Seen’

The management of Equinix (EQIX) has been closely monitoring data center demand throughout this year’s global financial crisis, but says it has seen no change in customers’ appetite for mission-critical space. That continued strength helped Equinix deliver third-quarter earnings that exceeded Wall Street’s expectations, and has prompted the company to invest in new construction to meet demand in several key markets.  

“The fundamentals of this business remain as strong as we’ve seen them,” said Steve Smith, the CEO of Equinix. “Year to date, we’ve seen virtually no impact to our pipeline or bookings. We’ve just don’t see any letup in the demand for this offering.”

Smith said data center spending from the financial sector and enterprise companies remains strong. ”This stuff is mission-critical,” he said. “It’s very clear that our services are not considered discretionary spedning, but are essential to the operation of our customers’ businesses.” 

While the crisis hasn’t dampened demand, Equinix said it expects to lose $1.5 million from losses at the Primary Fund, the huge money market that froze withdrawals in mid-September after its shares “broke the buck.” Equinix also said that the strengthening dollar reduced its revenues from international operations by about $2.5 million.

Huge Equinix Expansion in London, Singapore

In a sign of continuing data center demand in key global business centers, Equinix(EQIX) said today that it will build new facilities in the London and Singapore markets. The London facility will be an enormous 300,000 square foot data center in Slough, a suburb that is quickly emerging as a data center hub. Equinix expects to spend between $125 million and $135 million to complete the London project and a new 110,000 square foot data center in Singapore.

The Slough project will be the fifth Equinix data center in London, and will be built out in phases on land adjacent to an existing Equinix facility known as LD4. The new LD5 center will feature a first phase that expands capacity by 1,400 cabinets, and when completed will house 5,500 to 6,000 cabinet. Capital expenditures for the initial phase will be between $80 million and $90 million, Equinix said, with $60 million to be spent by the end of 2009.

Equinix described the London market as “constrained” as demand continues to outpace supply.  “These two new fully funded builds, in addition to our recently announced build in Paris, represent Equinix’s longstanding strategy of measured expansion in strategic markets where demand is strong,” said Steve Smith, president and CEO of Equinix.

Slide Uses Equinix to Speed Widget Delivery

In the latest sign of how the Facebook ecosystem is boosting infrastructure providers, Slide will deploy infrastructure in the new Equinix (EQIX) data center in Ashburn, Virginia. Slide is the leading developer of application widgets for social networks, which are widely used on Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and Hi5.

With its distributed user base, Slide can make use of Equinix’ peering infrastructure for linking directly to its social network partners and the global networks used by its more than 150 million users around the world. Peering allows two providers exchanging large volumes of traffic to save money by connecting directly, rather than routing traffic through their paid Internet connections.

“Slide requires fast and reliable connectivity to our partner social networking sites to ensure the best possible user experience with our applications,” said Ken Brownfield, Director of Operations at Slide. “Equinix’s Washington, D.C. area campus is one of the most well-connected data centers on the East Coast and it made the top of our list when we evaluated options for our East Coast expansion.”

LinkedIn Expands in Equinix Chicago Data Center

The fast-growing professional social network LinkedIn has expanded its data center infrastructure by leasing space in a brand new Equinix Inc. facility in the Chicago market. LinkedIn already leases space in two of Equinix’s data centers in Silicon Valley.

The new Chicago space expands LinkedIn’s infrastructure and provides the ability to peer with the large number of network providers in the Equinix data center. LinkedIn says its network is currently used by more than 25 million professionals. Unlike MySpace and Facebook, LinkedIn has focused on business users.

Equinix Executive Backaus to Depart

Equinix, Inc. (EQIX) said that chief business officer Margie Backaus has decided to step down and will leave the company at the end of the year. Backaus plans to take some time off and then pursue new opportunities. Equinix will initiate a search for an executive to fill Backaus’ role.

Backaus has led the development of the Equinix product offerings and brand, as well as the company’s communications and investor relations program. Backaus joined the company in 1999, and was part of the executive team that led Equinix through the technology downturn and successfully restructured the company.

Equinix Raises 2008 Guidance (Again)

Equinix (EQIX) has once again exceeded Wall Street’s revenue expectations and raised its guidance for the third quarter and full year 2008. That’s a repeat of the first quarter, when the company’s earnings were followed by similar strength from other colocation and interconnection specialists.

Equinix also announced that it is moving ahead with phase 2 of its NY4 data center in Secaucus, New Jersey, which will add space for another 1,100 cabinets with a density of 5 kilowatts apiece.

Equinix added 144 new customers in the quarter, including NASDAQ, bringing the total number of customers worldwide to 2,090. Equinix executives said they continue to see strong demand for data center space in major markets, a trend which includes financial companies. As a result, the company once again raised its revenue guidance and now expects total revenues in the range of $700 to $710 million for 2008. In April Equinix raised its guidance to $685 million to $700 million, up from its prior view of $650 million to $665 million. The company also projects third quarter revenues of $180 to 184 million, compared to the Wall Street consensus of $178.5 million. UPDATE: In early trading Thursday, shares of Equinix declined more than $6 a share to $86.54, a drop of 6 percent.

“Equinix delivered another strong quarter and, as demonstrated by our increased guidance, is positioned for a very strong second half,” said Steve Smith, president and CEO of Equinix. “With our continued focus on business execution and delivering on customer needs, we have a solid foundation to fully capitalize on our market leadership position.”

Meebo Leases Space With Equinix

Equinix, Inc. (EQIX) said today that it has added another major customer from the social media sector. Instant messaging provider Meebo has established operations at an Equinix data center in the Silicon Valley. Meebo provides instant messaging and group chat to over 35 million people and partner sites across the Web. The average person at Meebo.com spends over two hours on the site per day, and Meebo handles more than 5 billion messages per month.

“As Meebo continues to grow, we need a data center that can meet our ever-growing demands to scale,” said Sandy Jen, co-founder and vice president of engineering of Meebo. “Equinix is a great partner and ensures that our users all around the world experience great reliability and uptime from Meebo.”

“Meebo’s platform is another example of an innovative solution thatharnesses live interactive technology to enhance communications,” said Margie Backaus, chief business officer of Equinix. “At Equinix, Meebo can operate within a high-reliability environment that ensures the most streamlined delivery of these services to end-users.”

Equinix also provides peering services to MySpace.

Equinix Expands Peering in Zurich

Equinix, Inc. (EQIX) is expanding its Equinix Exchange service to its Zurich data center, creating a peering environment with more than 60 members. The Zurich facility is among the 14 European data centers Equinix acquired last year with its $55 million purchase of IXEurope.

Peering allows two providers exchanging large volumes of traffic to save money by connecting directly, rather than routing traffic through their paid Internet connections. Peering is often free as long as the amount of traffic exchanged is not out of balance, providing substantial cost savings for bandwidth for high-traffic sites and networks. Public peering exchanges allow participants to peer with other providers connected to the exchange.

“The growth of video and other low-latency applications is placing increasing demands on network infrastructure and requires that data be exchanged between networks as quickly and efficiently as possible,” said Eric Schwartz, president of Equinix Europe. “Equinix Exchange provides a platform for ISPs, content companies and enterprises to implement a high-performance, highly versatile, yet low cost IP interconnection infrastructure within a secure, network-neutral environment.”