The new designation from the Uptime Institute provides third-party assurance that the site management satisfies industry-recognized criteria for 24 x 7 uptime. The evaluation criteria was developed by and for the data center industry and validates staffing levels, a training and professional development assessment, preventative maintenance program and processes, operating conditions and housekeeping, and planning management and coordination practices and resources. To have a site awarded the Management and Operations Stamp of Approval it must be an operational data center, have 24×7 uptime, have a significant cost of downtime, be a non-Tier certified design and facility, and have a commitment to excellence in operations.

Equinix

Equinix (EQIX) announced that  it is the first company in the Americas to receive the new Management and Operations (M&O) ‘Stamp of Approval’ Award. Equinix was a key member of the Uptime Institute’s eleven member M&O Coalition that developed the assessment criteria for its new Management and Operations Program and Site Assessment Service. “Equinix’s exceptional uptime is one of the most important reasons our customers choose us and our work with the Uptime Institute helps us become even stronger in the critical area of management and operations,” said John Shultz, vice president, global product management and development at Equinix. The site award was given to the  Equinix Ashburn data center.

Colt

Colt announced that it has been awarded the Management and Operations Stamp of Approval for its London 3 site. Colt underwent an intensive audit which scrutinized every aspect of how it manages and operates its data center site. The audit took into consideration everything from the processes for servicing equipment and investment in training through to the effectiveness of its communications to staff and subcontractors.
“This is a milestone, not only for Colt but for the industry as a whole,” said Guy Ruddock, VP of Operations at Colt. “This standard is industry-led and directly links staffing, maintenance and operations to uptime and through it we have proved our people and processes are world class.”

“Colt’s participation in the coalition went above and beyond our expectations,” said Julian Kudritzki, Vice President at the Uptime Institute, “not only helping clarify those behaviours that need to exist in a data centre, independent of the infrastructure, but opening up access to staff and facilities for hands-on validation.”

Scheduled for completion in Q3 2012, the 6,400 square meter (68,000 square foot) AM3 facility is located in Amsterdam Science Park which, with over 250 networks, is one of the highest-density network zones in continental Europe.

The majority of NL-ix’s 43 sites in the Netherlands are access sites, offering 100 Mbit/s and 1 Gbit/s connections. There are also 24 “core sites” equipped with Brocade MLX switches and interconnected with multiple dark fibers and multiple 10 Gbit/s connections. Of these 24 core sites there are currently two “super-core-sites” which connect all the core-nodes and handle the majority of NL-ix traffic via these 100Gbit/s-capable switches. The AM3 facility will house a third “super-core-site.”

“The new Equinix data center is strategically located in one of the highest-density network zones in continental Europe, so it makes a great deal of sense to establish a high-capacity node in this state-of-the-art facility,” said Jan Hoogenboom, NL-ix CEO. “All of our members, as well as Equinix’s extensive customer base, stand to benefit substantially from the new node.”

“Hosting an NL-ix super-core-node gives our new facility an excellent head start where connectivity providers and their customers are concerned,” said Equinix Netherlands Managing Director Michiel Eielts. “Combined with the dynamic network, cloud and content ecosystems at work in Platform EquinixÔ, the new AM3 facility will be well placed to enable customer growth in one of Europe’s most dynamic, fast-growing and network-rich locations.”

OVH.com to build data center in Quebec.  European hosting company OVH.com announced it is beginning work on its first data center in North America.  The new data centre in Québec represents the first major stage for the independent French company into the North American market. OVH.com is one of the largest web hosting companies in the world, managing over 100,000 servers. The company is also known for their innovative data center design, such as the cube-shaped building in Roubaix, France where the building is treated like an air handler. OVH.com will continue the focus on ecological data centers with the Quebec facility, located in the city of Beauharnois. One hundred jobs will be created on the Beauharnois site and in the company’s Montréal offices. The company expects to house 360,000 servers in the new data center.

Equinix renews Reality Check Network.  Equinix (EQIX) announced that managed hosting provider Reality Check Network will continue to leverage its presence within the Equinix International Business Exchange™ (IBX) data centers to deliver high-end managed hosting services including virtualization, storage, load balancing, VPN and CDN. As part of Equinix’s ecosystem of more than 800 cloud and IT service providers, Reality Check Network offers managed hosting solutions and powerful dedicated servers that are backed by network, server, and application support. “At Reality Check Network, our number one goal is to ensure 100 percent uptime for our customers.  In order to achieve that, it is crucial that our data center service provider offer the stability, security and compliance necessary for us to follow through on that promise,” said Ben Uretsky, CEO of Reality Check Network.  “We specifically chose to work with Equinix because of the company’s superior stability and scalability.  In the many years we have been with Equinix, we have never experienced any outages.  In addition, the company’s unparalleled network connectivity enables us to reach any network provider within the Equinix ecosystem.  Equinix also has the global reach we need as we expand our business both nationally and worldwide.”

QTS transitions SAS 70 to SSAE 16. Quality Technology Services (QTS) announced that all of the company’s data centers previously certified by the Statement on Auditing Standards number 70 (SAS 70) audit program have  successfully transitioned to Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements No. 16 (SSAE 16). Individual, independent SSAE 16 Type II audits were performed at facilities in Atlanta, Ga.; Miami, Fla.; New York, NY; Jersey City, NJ; Overland Park, Kan. and Suwanee, Ga., as well as both data centers on QTS’ Santa Clara, Calif. campus for calendar year 2011. ”Our transition from the SAS 70 program to SSAE 16 is an evolution that mirrors the expanding assurance needs of QTS management, our customers and their external auditors,” said Darryl Cox, director of audit at QTS. “The transition to SSAE 16 will benefit QTS’ customers by further detailing and clarifying the important role that our audit and control team plays in supporting our customers’ risk management activities.”

Colocation provider Equinix continues to enhance its offerings for carrier Ethernet services, an important new market for interconnections and value-added services. Today Equinix (EQIX) announced a partnership with Neutral Tandem (TNDM), another emerging player in the carrier Ethernet ecosystem, that will make it easier for Equinix customers to expand into additional markets.

Customers using the Equinix Carrier Ethernet Exchange (ECEE) can now access Neutral Tandem’s EtherCloud Layer-2 connectivity network, which offers regional operators and multi-national carriers a channel for expansion into over 70 countries, including tier-two and tier-three markets. Using EtherCloud service will allow Equinix customers to save time by using a single source for managing multi-carrier local loop arrangements and other business services in these emerging markets.

Carrier Ethernet is an enhanced standard created to extend data-centric Ethernet networks to exchange data with telecom networks initially designed to carry voice traffic. As such, it’s an important enabler of the convergence between global communications networks – including dedicated connections to support private clouds and interoperability between cloud platforms.

Carrier Ethernet exchanges like the ECEE – which effectively translate between different carrier Ethernet offerings – are seen as an important next phase, making it far easier for networks to connect across geographies.

The planned combination of ECEE and Neutral Tandem’s EtherCloud platform should be especially useful to customers in the network, cloud and financial services markets, enabling them to capitalize on higher-margin Layer 2 and Layer 3 services as they expand into new markets.

“Unlike other offerings, the Equinix Carrier Ethernet Exchange is focused on expanding the buy-sell dynamic between networks and non-network communities, namely the cloud and financial ecosystems,” said Jim Poole, general manager, global networks & mobility for Equinix. “Together with Neutral Tandem, we’re helping solve a very critical problem: how to drive more services into more markets. We’re giving participants in our Ethernet Exchange a single point of contact in Neutral Tandem to manage the delivery of Ethernet and VPLS services on a global scale.”

Neutral Tandem said it selected Equinix to propagate its EtherCloud offering due to the reach of Equinix’s interconnection business across multiple business ecosystems, including financial services and cloud.

“Neutral Tandem’s proven track record with interconnecting carriers, combined with Equinix’s strategic data center locations, will form an attractive combination,” said Surendra Saboo, Neutral Tandem president and COO. “With this planned collaboration, Equinix customers will be able to leverage Neutral Tandem’s expansive network, while our customers will have access to the hundreds of customers in Equinix’s strategic IBX locations.”

Last year Neutral Tandem announced a similar agreement with Telx, another colo and interconnection provider targeting the Ethernet exchange market.

Cabling image by Sugree via Flickr.

Equinix selected by inContact.  Equinix (EQIX) announced that global call center service provider inContact has chosen to expand its offering in Europe with Platform Equinix. inContact will serve its fast-growing European customer base through Equinix’s Frankfurt and Munich IBX data centers. The move follows a recently announced global distribution agreement between inContact and unified communications leader Siemens Enterprise Communications, which meant inContact needed to expand rapidly in Europe with no impact to performance. “Organisations are increasingly looking to the cloud for business-critical infrastructure platforms and software applications, and cloud-based contact center solutions are one of the fastest growing areas,” said Dick Theunissen, CMO, Equinix EMEA. “The fact that a market leader like inContact selected Equinix for such a latency-sensitive platform is testament to the high application performance and the quality of user experience that can be delivered through the Platform Equinix ecosystem in Europe.”

Cisco powers Woodstock medical-grade network.  Cisco (CSCO) announced Toronto, Ontario-based Woodstock Hospital (WH) has selected a Cisco Medical-Grade network for its new facility, providing a highly resilient, innovative and economical solution to improving health services and advancing patient care. Highlights of the WH project included 1,000 IP phones, a 802.11n wireless network to support applications and real-time Location Based Services with RFID tracking, and Cisco products such as Catalyst 6500 series switches, Virtual Switching System 1140, firewall and packet inspection modules and Cisco Aironet 1142 wireless access points. “We applaud Woodstock Hospital’s use of an advanced medical-grade network, allowing them to drive enhanced clinical workflows while delivering the right information with a high degree of security to the right people at the right time, saving time for the staff and speeding up the delivery of care for patients,” said Brantz Myers, director, Healthcare Business Development, Cisco Canada. “Working with our ecosystem partners EllisDon and FlexITy, we are bringing together building design, construction and technology to build a leading-edge facility to advance patient care.”

Jamcracker and KPN partner.  Cloud Services Brokerage company Jamcracker and Dutch IT provider KPN announced they are partnering to create a cloud services aggregator platform for enterprise customers. Delivering on the KPN services aggregator strategy, the platform encompasses Jamcracker’s cloud services brokerage platform, enabling KPN to provide value-added services for their customers. This technology and business partnership is underpinned with a strategically important contract between the two companies. ”The KPN cloud aggregation and delivery platform leverages our telecommunications and IT expertise to help us deliver on our strategy to converging information, technology and telecommunications and to optimize opportunities for our customers,” said Steven van Schilfgaarde, CEO KPN Corporate Market. “By partnering with Jamcracker, we are able to work together on this vision and utilize the JSDN to quickly deliver a platform that sets a standard among enterprises.”

Iomart acquires EQSN.  Iomart announced that it has acquired the entire issued share capital of EQSN.  EQSN is a Glasgow based provider of managed services with two UK data centers in Glasgow and Edinburgh and one in Boston. “The addition of EQSN to the business is a strong strategic and cultural fit and will consolidate our position as a leading player in the managed hosting sector,” said Angus MacSween, Iomart CEO. “The Group will remain focused on providing practical, cost-effective solutions to customers’ IT needs. Customers increasingly demand reliable IT infrastructure-as-a-service as the need for a scalable and flexible way of working grows; with EQSN’s expertise, iomart is even better placed to deliver this.”

Equinix launches online instant test tool.  Equinix (EQIX) launched an online instant test tool with Compuware (CPWR) to help e-commerce providers ensure their sites’ performance will deliver during the busiest shopping days of the year. The site uses Compuware’s Gomez application performance management solution. The instant test tool evaluates the performance of e-commerce and other digital media websites against up to four other URLs, which could include competitors, industry leaders or other pages on a specific website. Research shows that 40 percent of consumers will not wait more than three seconds for a page to load before leaving a website, and this expectation is only increasing. The free instant test is available at: http://www.gomez.com/my-benchmark/partner-equinix/

Multiple customer wins for Peak 10.  Data center operator and managed services provider Peak 10 recently announced several customers had selected the company for services.  Peak 10 announced it is delivering premier data center services to Savant Learning Systems, a Nashville-based company that specializes in developing and delivering powerful online education programs. The company will be served out of Peak 10′s Nashville data center. Peak 10 also announced it is delivering data center services to HedgeFacts LLP, a leading provider of accounting, portfolio management, and performance and risk analytics for the alternative investment community. HedgeFacts is utilizing Peak 10’s hosting services, in the Cincinnati facility. “We chose to work with Peak 10 for its best-in-class facility and quality services to customers,” said Shelby Baird, director of technology and support services at HedgeFacts. “Peak 10 adds value to our expanding business by providing us with reliable access to world-class data center facilities with robust security infrastructures and redundant network pathways, allowing us to confidently focus on other strategic initiatives critical to our growth and success.”  Finally, Peak 10 announced it is delivering data center services to eQHealth Solutions Inc., a healthcare management company that provides a wide range of effective solutions to its clients. eQHealth will use hosting and outbound Internet and Metro Ethernet services from Peak 10′s Tampa, Florida data center.

Possibility of a Microsoft Data Center in South Korea.  The South Korea Herald reports that a Microsoft senior executive met South Korea‘s telecommunications regulator on Thursday to discuss ways to expand ties with South Korea by collaborating on new businesses that may include building a data center. In recent weeks several business leaders have visited the country, including Google’s Eric Schmidt and Qualcomm Chairman Paul Jacobs.  Microsoft’s international business president Jean Philippe Courtois met with Choi See-joong, chairman of the Korea Communications Commission.  The two discussed investment opportunities and ways to collaborate with Korean companies. Microsoft said it is positively considering building and operating a data center in South Korea.

Sanofi joins Platform Equinix.  Equinix (EQIX) announced that Sanofi, a global and diversified healthcare leader, has consolidated its data center operations in Asia-Pacific from six data centers into just one Equinix data center. Sanofi will use the Equinix International Business Exchange (IBX) data center to support business operations from a private cloud in order to provide a stable operating environment with higher levels of collaboration and performance. The 10GB dark fiber connectivity and high power density of up to 8kVA allows Sanofi to deploy a full range of software and business critical applications to its offices from a single location within Asia-Pacific. “We are pleased to have Sanofi join Platform Equinix and help the company to accelerate business collaboration while maintaining a competitive edge in the healthcare industry,” said Samuel Lee, president, Equinix Asia-Pacific..” This clearly demonstrates our capabilities to provide a high level of professional service and connectivity to customers across a wide range of industry verticals. Sanofi can further benefit with access to Equinix Marketplace, which allows businesses to create custom profiles, search for and discover new service providers and partners.”

Power Assure receives $1 million investment.  Power Assure announced that Dominion Energy Technologies, Inc., has invested $1 million in the company, joining ABB Technology Ventures, Good Energies, Point Judith Capital and Draper Fisher Jurvetson as investors in Power Assure. Dominion’s investment completes a $14.5 million round of series B financing, and brings the grand total of funds raised to $29.75 million. The additional funding will be used to expand Power Assure’s sales and marketing for continued growth of its data center infrastructure and energy management solutions. Dominion is the primary electric utility in northern Virginia, where data centers are major consumers of electricity. “Not only is Dominion one of the largest power companies in the country, they are also leading in the area of smart grid innovation,” said Brad Wurtz, president and CEO, Power Assure.  ”In order to help our customers connect to the smart grid and take advantage of the many revenue-generating services offered by the Independent System Operator’s (ISO’s), we have found a partner who can bring the skills and resources needed to execute quickly. Dominion has shown a determination to stay on the cutting edge.”

Radware announces fabric for ITaaS economy.  Radware (RDWR) announced the next phase of its Virtual Application Delivery Infrastructure (VADI) strategy featuring new application delivery controller (ADC) platforms, enhanced data center management and orchestration interoperability, complete support for leading hypervisors, and new AppShape technology to provide the industry’s first application delivery fabric. By implementing Radware ADC Fabric within virtual data centers and replacing traditional ADCs with vADC instances, IT managers can now assign a vADC instance per application, department or customer, essentially creating a fully virtualized application silo. Radware also announced AppShape, a new ADC Service for simplifying and optimizing application deployment with a holistic view from the application perspective. ”Radware recognizes not only the technological, but also the economic demands placed on enterprise and carrier data centers today,” said Avi Chesla, chief technology officer, Radware. “Through our VADI strategy, we now introduce a new application delivery abstraction layer technology which allows organizations to shape our application delivery tools to meet exactly their business needs, removing traditional complexities of ADC administration associated with networking, computing resources, high availability, security and more – letting companies to really focus only on their business’ application.

Savvis completes SSAE 16.  Savvis, a CenturyLink company announced that it has completed its annual Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE) No. 16 and International Standard on Assurance Engagements (ISAE) 3402 combined examination. The SSAE 16 Type II SOC 1 report encompasses selected Savvis systems and the suitability of the design and operating effectiveness of applicable controls. ”Completing the SSAE 16 requirements reflects our commitment to our clients and international security and control standards,” said Jeff Von Deylen, senior vice president, global operations and client services for Savvis. “This reinforces to our clients that we have the highest standards of processes, controls and procedures in place and can safely manage their IT needs.”

IO selected to support large health-care data center. IO announced that it has been awarded a contract with the Chan Soon-Shiong Institute for Advanced Health (CSS Institute), NantWorks LLC and National LambdaRail (NLR), to support the largest health-care data center in the world.  IO will provide private cloud computing services at IO Phoenix. ”In addition to generating massive volumes of information requiring high-performance IT, the regulatory environment of the healthcare ecosystem also requires a highly protected and reliable infrastructure,” said Anthony D’Ambrosi, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer. “IO’s high-density and ultra-secure infrastructure enables healthcare IT to accomplish their goals both today and into the future.” When completed, the central health-care database will securely store patient information, to be accessible nationally and eventually globally and be connected to LambdaRail, a 12,000 high-performance communications network linking major research institutions throughout the United States.

Equinix opens second IBX in Hong Kong.  Equinix (EQIX) announced the opening of the first phase of its second International Business Exchange (IBX) data center in Hong Kong. The $63 million investment in the HK2 facility extends Platform Equinix to 99 data centers worldwide across 38 strategic markets. The expansion in the western part of the New Territories region of Hong Kong was driven by demand from financial services and cloud service providers in the region. “Commercial growth and the continuation of Hong Kong’s dominance as a financial hub in Asia are key drivers of demand for data center services in the local market,” said Alex Tam, managing director, Equinix Greater China. “Data centers are an essential part of the city’s infrastructure and the opening of HK2 ensures the supply of data center availability needed to support the sustainable growth of traditional pillar industries such as financial services and trading.”

CloudSigma launches SSD in Public Cloud IaaS.  During the 2011 Cloud Computing Expo CloudSigma launched the industry’s first solid-state drive (SSD) storage solution for a public cloud IaaS environment. As I/O operations become even more random in multi-tenant, public cloud environments, magnetic storage solutions that rely on physical, spinning disks simply cannot keep up. Using a multi drive-to-server model the ability exists to create a tiered storage system and stage critical application data and files on SSD. “With our new SSD storage product, companies can, for the first time, easily handle the random nature of I/O loads in public clouds while minimizing necessary servers and realizing significant cost savings. Because the storage performance of hard drives has not kept pace with server performance or networking bandwidths, incorporating an SSD storage solution was a necessity, and will significantly expand the breadth of computing tasks that our public cloud can handle effectively,” said Patrick Baillie, CloudSigma CEO.

Virtacore currently leases space in Equinix International Business Exchange (IBX) data centers in four strategic markets – Silicon Valley, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC. Virtacore also plans to move into other Equinix IBX facilities around the world.

Business suites offer enclosed data center suites for customers requiring larger footprints. This marks a change for Equinix, a colocation provider that typically offers space in cabinets and cages in an open data floor. Equinix says its new Business Suites offering represents a middle ground between the retail and wholesale markets, rather than a move to compete directly with wholesale providers like Digital Realty, DuPont Fabros and CoreSite.

Virtacore benefits from the ability to quickly and securely interconnect with network and service partners in order to speed the deployment of its hybrid cloud services to enterprise customers. The company’s offerings are built on VMware’s vCloud Platform and managed through a single integrated portal, as well as Google Apps for Business technologies. Virtacore provides cloud hosting and managed hosting services for start-ups, small and medium sized businesses, developers and enterprises.

“We have been involved with Equinix for more than eight years,” said Virtacore CEO George Naspo. “The expansion with Platform Equinix and the addition of Equinix Business Suites will enable us to reach new customers, grow faster, and help our organization and our customers to improve efficiencies. We are confident this expansion will allow us the flexibility to keep pace with the aggressive growth Virtacore has been experiencing in our cloud services this year.”

“By leveraging Platform Equinix, Virtacore is able to quickly deploy its hybrid cloud services to serve its global customer base,” said Charles Meyers, president of the Americas at Equinix. “The cloud services market has become one of the fastest growing ecosystems in our data centers and companies like Virtacore have benefited as Equinix customers look for partners who can help them quickly migrate to the cloud while assuring the highest security and performance.”

Equinix wants to make it easier for the companies in its data centers to do business with one another. Today it introduced the Equinix Marketplace, a new service that makes it possible for the companies populating its data centers to find business opportunities among the 4,000 other Equinix customers.

Equinix says its marketplace will allow its tenants to offer new services, and enlarge their digital supply chain to improve application performance, reduce cost and generate revenue.

High Performance Business Exchanges

“For many companies and industries, data centers are not just warehouses for storing large amounts of information – they have become high performance business-exchanges where organizations connect with their ecosystem of partners, suppliers and customers in the digital supply chain,” said Jarrett Appleby, chief marketing officer for Equinix.

Equinix (EQIX) isn’t the first company to seek to make introductions between customers within their data centers. Telx, which also provides colocation and interconnection services, has held real-world business exchanges for customers for a number of years, and maintains an online portal to facilitate introductions.

Equinix has somewhat broader ambitions, and considerable scale t can leverage in its effort. As the largest player in the colocation and interconnection sector, Equinix has thrived on the “network effect” in which its data centers serve as magnets for customers with similar needs. Equinix facilities serve as ecosystems for thousands of digital enterprise, including more than 700 SaaS and cloud solution providers, 675 high-performance backbone and mobile networks, 450 online media, content and advertising destinations, and 600 electronic trading and financial market participants.

The Equinix Marketplace allows sellers of services – ranging from network connectivity to private clouds to alternative trading systems- to create a profile and storefront in the Equinix Marketplace through which they can promote their services to thousands of companies that are just a cross-connect away in Equinix data centers. Companies looking to buy services can quickly locate a selection of vendors,compare their offerings, and seek more information.

“Platform Equinix has long provided the foundation for vertical market communities to connect and interact,” said Appleby. “In 2010 interconnections among our customers grew 27 percent, demonstrating the importance of locating internet infrastructure in close proximity to your key ecosystem members. Now the Marketplace makes it even easier for our customers to connect and do business with one another.”