Opengate Data Systems Opens Silicon Valley Office – Opengate Data Systems, a Massachusetts company providing data center infrastructure solutions, has opened a new office in Palo Alto, California under the direction of Wenda Puzzo, Regional Sales Manager for Mountain & West Coast Regions. The Palo Alto office has the capability to provide solutions and services that maximize data center utilization as well as improve operational efficiency around today’s critical challenge of power and cooling for owners and builders of high tech facilities, hospitals, government facilities, educational institutions and other mission critical facilities. Press release.

ATI Picks Phoenix NAP for Disaster Recovery - Assessment Technology Incorporated (ATI), a leading provider of online instructional improvement tools and data analysis, has selected the Phoenix NAP data center for its additional disaster recovery (DR) site. The group cited Phoenix NAP’s full redundancy, multiple service providers and timely and professional staff as key influences in its decision to place its DR solution with Phoenix NAP. Press release.

Healthcare Software Firm Picks Immedion – RecordQuest, a Charleston based healthcare software solutions provider,  today announced it has selected Immedion’s Charleston data center to provide data center and managed services as part of an enhanced disaster recovery plan. The Charleston facility will be open early summer 2012. Immedion, with locations in Asheville, NC, as well as Greenville and Columbia, SC, is a leading provider of data center and managed hosting services. RecordQuest provides next generation release of information software and services to the healthcare industry allowing for the secure exchange of patient information between medical facilities and third-party entities including attorneys, insurance companies, other providers and federal and state agencies. Press release.

“Carpathia Hosting has no immediate plans to reprovision some or all of the Megaupload servers,” said Brian Winter, Chief Marketing Officer at Carpathia. “This means that there is no imminent data loss for Megaupload customers. If this situation changes, Carpathia will post a notice at least 7 days in advance of reprovisioning any Megaupload servers at http://www.Carpathia.com and http://www.MegaRetrieval.com.”

Carpathia continues to recommend that Megaupload users seeking to retrieve their data contact Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) by visiting the MegaRetrieval.com to investigate their options for retrieving their legitimate, non-infringing files.

Megaupload’s domain names and data were seized Jan. 19 by the U.S. Justice Department, which alleges that the company enabled users to upload and share pirated TV shows and films. The data seizure created a problem for many users that stored legal content on Megaupload.

BurstNET currently has a primary data center at its Scranton headquarters, with additional points of presence in four locations globally. The company provides a variety of hosting solutions, including cloud computing, dedicated servers, virtual private servers (VPS), and colocation racks and cages.

The growth capital will be used to expand into new geographic markets which are in high demand, as well as expanding into a new 30,000 square foot data center facility that replace its headquarters. The company says it also plans to add more resources to customer service, and boost it software development efforts to better automate its front end and back end platforms.

“Having bootstrapped our business since inception and managing to see such strong growth, we are excited to have our first round of institutional capital to propel us forward,” said Shawn Arcus, CEO of BurstNET stated. “Being properly capitalized gives us tremendous potential, along with a new, much larger, state of the art data center, which will allow us to serve larger complex hosting and colocation data center client opportunities.”

Harbor Ridge Capital was the advisor for BurstNET on the transaction.

“It has been a pleasure advising Shawn Arcus and the team at BurstNET in evaluating and executing this transaction,” said Cyrus Maghami, Managing Director of Harbor Ridge Capital. “Having guided the company in evaluating numerous investment options during the process, we are pleased with the deal and the organization that the company selected.”

“This is an exciting time in the internet infrastructure space, such as data centers and complex hosting, and we expect the amount of M&A activity in this space to grow in 2012,” said Arman Khalili, Operational Partner of Harbor Ridge Capital.

• Rackspace: Sink the Pirates, Not the Internet - A blog post on why Rackspace opposes these bills in their current form. “They are well-intentioned, but would do more harm than good,”writes Rackspace CEO Lanham Napier. “Their enforcement provisions could be easily evaded, and they would undermine the security and stability of the Internet.They are well-intentioned, but would do more harm than good.”
• Q&A: ServInt’s Christian Dawson on SOPA, PIPA and the Hosting Industry – Industry organizations like the Save Hosting coalition may have helped to plant the seed of doubt, but the work is not done yet, according to Save Hosting co-founder and ServInt chief operating officer Christian Dawson to talk about progress on SOPA and PIPA. In an email interview with The WHIR, Dawson talks about a web host’s role in politics and outlines the next steps in the anti-SOPA/anti-PIPA movement.
• SOPA: Bad for Hosting – SoftLayer - Softlayer weighed in on SOPA and PIPA on its company blog, The Inner Layer. “Even with these Dudley-Do-Right, Goody-Two-Shoes titles and their ambitious goals, SoftLayer opposes these bills in their current forms because they expose innocent and law-abiding hosting companies to uncertain liabilities.”
• Namecheap Joins in SOPA Blackout - Namecheap, a domain name registrar and web host, is blacking out its front page on Jan. 18 in protest of pending SOPA and PIPA legislation along with many other websites, including Cheezburger, reddit, Wikpedia and other popular online communities.
• Web Hosting Firm, GreenHostIt.com Denounces SOPA - Web hosting firm, GreeHostIt.com has taken an official stance against the pending legislation.
• Go Daddy Now Opposes SOPA: After a controversy and boycott, Domain registrar Go Daddy reversed its position on SOPA. “Fighting online piracy is of the utmost importance, which is why Go Daddy has been working to help craft revisions to this legislation – but we can clearly do better,” said Go Daddy CEO Warren Adelman in a Dec. 23 statement revising its position.”Getting it right is worth the wait. Go Daddy will support it when and if the Internet community supports it.” That neutral stance has now shifted to opposition to the bill in its current form.

The protest appears to have had an impact. Three co-sponsors of the bill have withdrawn their support.

For those interested in this issue, see the Google statement and petition For a perspective from a supporter of the bills, The Motion Picture Association of America has put out a statement describing the SOPA/PIPA blackouts as a “dangerous gimmick.”

Connectria is a St. Louis-based company that specializes in complex hosting. As a Gold level member of Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN), Connectria has extensive experience hosting Oracle Database and Oracle Real Application Clusters, Oracle WebLogic Server, Oracle Solaris, and Oracle Applications.

“Oracle’s product offerings remove barriers for ISVs to enter and flourish in the SaaS market segment, delivering enterprise grade security, scalability and reliability to their customers,” said Rich Waidmann, Connectria President and CEO. “Oracle’s SaaS for ISVs program makes it easier for Connectria to provide a hosted option at a relatively low cost. The ISV benefits from predictable, fixed monthly pricing and they’re able to focus upon developing and marketing SaaS software, not running servers.”

The Oracle SaaS for ISVs model is appropriate both for ISVs transitioning to SaaS, Connectria said, as well as those seeking to strengthen their existing SaaS offerings. The model also enables ISVs to scale their software license investments as they grow.

The Oracle products available through the SaaS for ISVs model include Oracle Database and Oracle WebLogic Server. Also available are Oracle Database options, including Oracle Real Application Clusters, Oracle Partitioning and Oracle Active Data Guard.

A look at some of the densely-populated racks within the new SoftLayer data center in Singapore.

IT infrastructure service provider SoftLayer Technologies now has more than 100,000 servers running in its data centers, the company said last week. The Dallas-based provider has added 14,000 servers this year, reflecting strong demand for its cloud computing and automated hosting services.

SoftLayer becomes the second hosting company to publicly report more than 100,000 servers, following the lead of French provider OVH.

The growth also leaves SoftLayer tied with OVH for the top spot in our listing of Who Has The Most Web Servers? (which includes cloud computing providers, content delivery providers an enterprise companies as well as hosts).

Here’s the short list of the largest hosting companies:

• OVH: 100,000 dedicated servers (Source: Company forum)
• SoftLayer: Dallas-based SoftLayer now has more than 100,000 servers under management, and is growing rapidly. (Source: Company press release).
• Rackspace: The strong growth of the Rackspace Cloud has boosted the total for this San Antonio-based provider to 78,717 servers as of Sept. 30, 2100 (Source: Company press release)
• 1&1 Internet: German hosting giant 1&1 says it has “more than 70,000″ servers on its company web site, but hasn’t updated that number since early 2010. We suspect it’s somewhat higher by this point, and will revise this if and when 1&1 updates with current numbers.

SoftLayer has significantly expanded its global infrastructure this year, with new network points of presence along with new data centers in Singapore and Amsterdam. The new PoPs will be located in London, Paris, Frankfurt, Moscow, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

SoftLayer had $85 million in revenue in the third quarter of 2011, up from $83 million in revenue in the second quarter of 2011, and $78 million in the first quarter.

mindSHIFT provides cloud computing and data center services to more than 5,400 clients and 25,000 managed desktops in key markets throughout the United States. The company says it hosts 13,000 managed servers and 2.2 petabytes of storage in distributed data centers across the United States.

Best Buy says it will sell mindSHIFT ‘s offerings through its retail stores, Geek Squad services and Best Buy For Business operations.

“There’s no question that acquiring the skills, capabilities and clients of mindSHIFT has the potential to help expand Best Buy’s global services capabilities in the vast small and mid-sized business market,” said George Sherman, senior vice president of Best Buy Services. “As important, the mindSHIFT team will bring added experience, talent and resources to the remote support capability we have been building within our multi-channel tech service unit Geek Squad.”

mindSHIFT will continue to operate under its current name, management team and capabilities, which currently include 500 employees at offices in Boston; Long Island, N.Y.; Minneapolis; Morrisville, N.C.; New York City; Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

A look inside one of the server pods at Server Central's data center in Elk Grove Village, Illinois.

As Jordan Lowe walks the lengthy corridors of a facility near Chicago, it takes time to navigate the expanse of data center space operated by his company, ServerCentral. Deep inside a new section of the building, the colocation and managed hosting company is creating a “monster pod” of data center space, combining two data halls to create a raised-floor environment supported by 2.6 megawatts of power.

When the new space opens in the first quarter of 2012, ServerCentral will operate more than 40,000 square feet of raised-floor space and 5.5 megawatts of critical power within the multi-tenant data center operated by DuPont Fabros Technology (DFT) in Elk Grove Village, Illinois.

That’s a huge change from the days when ServerCentral was running off a server in Lowe’s college apartment. That’s where ServerCentral got its start in 2000, when Lowe was building web sites and seeing huge demand. “We said ‘why don’t we sell servers?’” said Lowe, now the CEO of ServerCentral. “We just grew and grew, and the last couple of years things have exploded.”

The company now operates acres of space filled with servers in several of the world’s largest data centers. ServerCentral is an example of a local company bootstrapping its way to growth in a capital-intensive industry, moving up the value chain in the process to emerge as a significant regional player in the Chicago market. The company has expanded its service offerings along with its data center footprint, and now offers colocation, managed hosting and cloud computing services.

From Domains to Managed Services

In its early years, the ServerCentral grew quickly, boosted by offers that bundled hosting with cheap domains. In 2003, the company leased colocation space with Equinix in downtown Chicago at 350 East Cermak, the immense Internet hub on the shores of Lake Michigan. Within 18 months, it was running 150 racks of gear at Equinix.

The ServerCentral team got into the network services space with nLayer Communications, which owns and operates its own global OC-192 infrastructure. The company also spun off its shared hosting business as Wing Six, which was later acquired by UK2.

In 2009 ServerCentral leased 10,000 square feet of wholesale space in a new data center built by DuPont Fabros Technology (DFT) in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. The company became one of the anchor tenants in the first phase of the facility, serving as the primary retail colocation provider in the building – a status that often results in referrals of customers who may need colo space but not be large enough to lease an entire pod directly from DuPont Fabros.

In August, ServerCentral expanded its space in Elk Grove Village, adding a 2,000 square foot room for high-density cabinets and taking 20,000 square feet of space in Phase II of the building. The company now has 60 employees, with more than half focused on engineering. It also operates colo space in northern Virginia, Amsterdam, Silicon Valley and Tokyo to support international users.

Growth in The Cloud, and the Enterprise

Lowe says ServerCentral is experiencing strong demand, and sees an opportunity in the growth of cloud computing. “We have some interesting cloud ideas,” says Lowe, particularly involving private clouds.

“We think cloud is a complementary technology to our colocation and managed services,” said Peter Berg, ServerCentral’s vice president of sales and marketing. “We think that in the next 24 months, it could be 30 percent of our revenue.” For now, Berg says, colocation inquiries predominate in the company’s sales pipeline.

“We’ve now got some marquee customers,” said Berg. “We’re not just the hosting companies. We’re squarely in the enteprise space. The secret is getting out.”

A look at the cabling in the network connection area inside Server Central's data center.

]]> http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2011/10/28/servercentral-expands-as-growth-continues/feed/ 2 http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2011/10/27/cosentry-acquired-by-private-equity-firm/ http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2011/10/27/cosentry-acquired-by-private-equity-firm/#comments Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:00:27 +0000 Rich Miller http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/?p=59560 Private equity firm TA Associates has acquired CoSentry, an Omaha-based provider of colocation and managed hosting services, the companies said today. TA partnered with CoSentry management to acquire the company from two Omaha-based investment firms, McCarthy Capital and WaittCorp Investments. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 2000, CoSentry offers colocation and managed hosting services, with a focus on business continuity and disaster recovery. CoSentry has facilities in Nebraska, Missouri and South Dakota.

“As a profitable and rapidly growing technology company with a seasoned management team, CoSentry is precisely the type of business in which TA seeks to invest,” said Harry Taylor, a Principal at TA Associates who will join CoSentry’s board of directors. “CoSentry has been repeatedly recognized as one of the country’s fastest growing Internet infrastructure businesses. We will work closely with management to continue that growth and help realize CoSentry’s full potential.”

Founded in 2000, Focused on Midwest

CoSentry was founded in 2000 through a partnership with management and Waitt. In 2006, Waitt recruited Michael Steffan to lead it. Shortly thereafter, Joe Urzendowski joined the management team as Chief Administrative Officer. McCarthy Capital subsequently made an investment in CoSentry in 2008.

Since 2008, CoSentry expanded its three existing data centers, built a new $25 million Tier IV data center in the Omaha market, added a number of managed services, and more than quadrupled its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA).

“TA Associates has a well-earned reputation as a successful investor, helping businesses create substantial value for the future,” said Steffan, President and CEO of CoSentry. “This partnership is validation of the soundness of our business model and prospects for continued success. With their financial support, experience investing in technology companies, strategic guidance and significant network of contacts, we anticipate a fruitful and mutually beneficial relationship with TA.”

TA Associates has more than four decades of investing experience, focusing on profitable growth companies. TA’s prior investments in the telecommunications and software sectors include AboveNet, IntraLinks, McAfee, MetroPCS Communications, NetScout Systems, Network Appliance, Sophos Plc and WIND Telecom S.p.A.

Second Industry Exit for McCarthy

“McCarthy Capital has enjoyed its partnership with CoSentry,” said Patrick Duffy, Partner at McCarthy Capital and former CoSentry Board Member. “It has been a great and meaningful experience for us to support and enhance CoSentry management’s vision to grow the business from a local operation into a nationally recognized company. We wish the management team and company continued success.”

This was McCarthy Capital’s second successful  exit from an investment in the data center and managed services industry. In 2010, McCarthy exited an investment in Peak 10, Inc., a Charlotte-based operator of data center facilities in 10 markets.

“It’s been a pleasure working with such a terrific group of people. I’m proud of what this partnership has been able to accomplish over the past 12 years and grateful for the contributions of many along the way,” said John Schuele, President of Waitt and CoSentry Board Member. “This is a tremendous achievement for a local company as numerous jobs were created here and many of the employees were owners.”

“CoSentry management is very grateful for the partnership approach of McCarthy and Waitt,” said Steffan. “They provided equity capital when we needed it and more importantly they added tremendous value through their expertise, resources and relationships.”

The current management team will continue to operate CoSentry and has retained a material ownership interest in the company. Signal Hill Capital Group LLC initiated this transaction and provided financial advisory services to CoSentry and Koley Jessen P.C., LLO served as legal counsel to CoSentry. Goodwin Procter LLP provided legal counsel to TA Associates.

The investment in its European operations will allow SoftLayer to offer improved performance and features to its customers, will officially go live at the beginning of November. Nearly half of SoftLayer’s 23,000 customers are outside the United States, hailing from coming from more than 140 countries.

“This launch strengthens our foothold across Europe by bringing our services closer to our existing and expanding customer base,” said Lance Crosby, Chief Executive Officer for SoftLayer. “Proximity to our customers is crucial to driving innovation and improving a better end-user experience. Currently more than 50 percent of our business is done outside North America. Our continued expansion into international markets gives our customers more control and flexibility in the way they manage and build out their cloud infrastructures and services.”

With the opening of the Amsterdam data center, SoftLayer will have 13 data centers and 16 PoPs worldwide. The company’s global network fully integrates three distinct and redundant network architectures – public, private, and data center to data center – for maximum accessibility, security, and control.

“The market opportunity for providing hosting and cloud solutions is still in its infancy,” said Melanie A. Posey, IDC Research Vice President, Hosting & Managed Network Services. “Companies like SoftLayer are taking the lead in establishing a globally accessible network that is helping push the adoption of these computing models to a broader mainstream audience. The addition of the new data center and capabilities will provide a foundation for users to securely run a complete gamut of solutions and services based on SoftLayer’s unique Intellectual Property (IP) and turnkey offerings.”