DataPipe Recognized for Strong Growth

Managed hosting provider DataPipe has been recognized as one of the fastest-growing companies in New Jersey. The Jersey City company earned the 15th spot on this year’s list of New Jersey’s 50 fastest growing private companies compiled by  NJBIZ magazine.

“DataPipe’s continued drive for excellence has allowed them to achieve a consistent yearly growth rate and profitability over the last three years, clearly demonstrating how vital they are to this state’s economy,” said Thomas Curtin, Publisher of NJBIZ.

The NJBIZ rankings are based on revenue growth from 2005-2007. NJBIZ collects the data from the companies to compile the rankings, but does not publish the revenue info. DataPipe doesn’t publish its financial information, but says the company “continues to experience consistent growth.”

Web Growth Reaches 185 Million Sites

There are now 185 million web sites on the Internet, according to Netcraft’s Web Server Survey for November, which was released today. The survey is the web’s longest-running benchmark for Internet growth, providing monthly metrics dating to August 1995.

This month’s growth of 1.3 million sites continues the established trend of steady increases in new web sites. This trend has been fueled by the emergence of the Internet as an advertising medium, which has enabled “bricks and mortar” businesses to move online and also boosted the growth of domain-based online businesses.

Domain growth appears to be continuing, despite signs that revenues are slipping at  domain networks. ”Pay per click” ad payouts have been declining on parking pages, which has led some in the industry to predict that domain renewals may slow as large portfolios see more parked domains become unprofitable. Others say the ad slump will continue an ongoing shift by domain monetizers to pay-per-action affiliate referral programs.

Apache continues to be the most popular web server, powering 93 million sites while Microsoft IIS is found on 64 million. Google’s GWS web server adds 509,000 sites this month and now has nearly 11 million sites appearing in the Netcraft survey, primarily Blogspot blogs.

Roundup: Data Center Expansions

In this morning’s news roundup, we have items about multiple data center expansions in markets around the country.

• SureWest has doubled its data center capacity with the opening of a new facility in Citrus Heights, Calif. near Sacramento. The expansion was needed for additional capacity after Sure West filled its existing data center in North Highlands.
• Power DNN, which specializes in hosting on the DotNetNuke CMS platforn, has doubled its data center capacity by leasing additional space at a  CoSentry data center in Omaha, Nebraska. “We have now experienced 12 straight quarters of client and revenue growth and see nothing but acceleration in 2009,” said Tony Valenti, CEO and founder of Power DNN. “The CoSentry platform enables us to provide our clients with one of the industry’s best facilities with unparalleled power and network infrastructure.”
• FiberNet Telecom Group, Inc. ( FTGX), a provider of interconnection services, has expanded its network today announced it has extended its network reach by adding nodes at located at 350 East Cermack  Road in Chicago and 50 N.E. 9th Street in Miami. “Network expansion into these critical markets was of prime importance for us,” said John P. Dowd, Vice President of Business Development. “With these extensions, we can now meet our customers’ demand for expanded network reach.” Each network extension is fully interconnected with all of FiberNet’s data centers and colocation facilities, including the 60 Hudson Street Meet-Me-Room in New York.

Nuke Site Converted Into Data Center

The interior of the 1&1 Internet data center in Karslruhe, Germany. The company is building a new data center atop a former nuclear fuel facility in Hanau.

1&1 Internet announced today that it is building a 107,000 square foot data center atop a former nuclear fuel facility in Hanau, Germany. 1&1 Internet, one of the largest web hosting companies in the world, says it plans to fill the facility with more than 100,000 web servers. The data center, which will run entirely on renewable energy, is scheduled to open in late 2009.

The site in Hanau was built in the late 1980s to produce mixed oxide (MOX) rods made from enriched uranium and plutonium. The Siemens AG facility, which didn’t include a nuclear reactor but handled spent nuclear fuel, became the focus of protests and was closed in 1995. Two years ago, the premises were released from nuclear control legislation, clearing the way for commercial use.

“The new data centre in Hanau will further optimise the operational efficiency of our Internet services,” said Oliver Mauss, CEO of 1&1 Internet. “Of course, it is a very pleasing side-effect that a formerly contentious nuclear plant is now being transformed into a green data centre.”

Hosting.com Gets $2M for Colo Expansion

Hosting.com said Friday that it has completed a $2 million round of funding with CapitalSouth Partners, LLC, and will use the money to expand its colocation business. The financing will allow Hosting.com to deploy custom-built micro-data centers of 2,000 to 20,000 square feet inside its five data centers.

Hosting.com is a regional data center firm based in Charlotte, with facilities in Boston, Louisville, San Francisco and Irvine, Calif. The company says it has benefited from companies shifting their data center expansion from company-built facilities to third party colocation.

“We are receiving more calls from enterprises looking to save capital and improve their operational efficiencies by avoiding data center builds,” said Jonathan Erwin, VP of Sales and Marketing at Hosting.com.

Art Zeile Discusses Plans for HostMySite.com

Veterans of the data center industry will remember InFlow, the Denver-based chain of data centers that focused on second-tier markets, and was purchased by Sungard in late 2004. Former Inflow CEO Art Zeile is back in the Internet infrastructure business, being named CEO of HostMySite.com after its acquisition by Wachovia Capital. In a recent interview with Anastasia Tubanos from WHIR TV, Art talks about his career in the data center industry and what’s ahead for HostMySite.com.

For additional videos about the data center industry, check out our DCK video archive and the Data Center Videos channel on YouTube.

The Planet Secures $45 Million Loan

Defying an historic credit crunch, The Planet said today that it has secured a new $45 million credit facility, with Wachovia Bank supplying $30 million while Bank of America chips in $15 million. The Houston-based company, which specialized in dedicated servers and managed hosting, said it will use the funding to expand, perhaps through acquisitions. 

“This financing will fund our demand-driven expansion plans and strategic initiatives over the next few years,” said Doug Erwin, The Planet’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “In the near future, we will make several announcements relative to our strategic areas of investment.”

Mapping Global Hosting Customers

In our previous post we noted the large percentage of international customers at The Planet. They’re not the only large U.S. provider that hosts a large  contingent of overseas customers. SoftLayer recently used Google Maps to present a visual overviewof its global customer base, which includes sites from 111 countries ranging from Christchurch, New Zealand to Lakselv, Norway.  

The Planet Expands Peering with Equinix

The Planet is beefing up its network by adding new nodes in Equinix colocation facilities in San Jose, Calif., and Ashburn, Va., The Planet, one of the largest hosting companies, said the access to additional networks through peering connections at the Equinix data centers will “significantly enhance network performance and latency.”

Network performance is important for large U.S. providers, serving as a major selling point for international customers who seek to host in American data centers because of their superior connectivity. About 42 percent of The Planet’s 22,000 customers are international.

Telus Plans $33M Data Center in Quebec

Telus will invest $33 million in a new data center in Laval, Quebec, which will be designed to meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards and Tier III reliability. The 44,500 square foot facility will have six mega-volt-amps (MVA) of power capacity, and take advantage of Quebec’s cold climate to use “free cooling” (air-side economizers) for two thirds of the year.

“This investment in Quebec will support our clients’ growing need for more powerful IT infrastructure while having one of the lowest carbon footprints of all data centres in North America,” said Karen Radford, president of Telus Québec. Telus is very proud to be leading the way to a healthier and greener future for our team members and our customers in Quebec, and around the world.”

Telus has begun retrofitting the existing structure in Laval, and plane to open the facility in 2010. Telus currently operates eight data centers across Canada.