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Old 05-25-2005, 06:37 PM
kjbaudry
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You sound like you know something about data centers and the costs that you are hearing haven't scared you away, so if you are really intent on doing this, I'd suggest that your first come up with a business plan (if you haven't already done so) and identify among other things:

How much demand there is?
How much of the demand you can capture (i.e. How much competition there is?)

Convert this demand to a number racks and amount of power.

Convert racks and power to floor space.

APC's infrastructure arrangement looks good. They present it as scallable which is good for cash flow. There is probably some point (size) that large systems are better. I see smoe potential shortcomings as the data cenetr gets larger. I think it's definately applicable up to several rows @ 20 cabs each and probably less applicable at 10,000 sf and above. These are just guessess as I haven't put the pencil to teh paper and analyzed it. SO don't get them stuck in your head. Just be aware that how much power you need will determine what "solution" is best for you.

I don't know what it costs or if the long term maintenance cost is more or less then other systems. If you buy it with the idea of upgrading as you go, make sure you get a long term pirce agreement for the upgrades. Go to their site and download their white paper on "oversizing" and scalable architecture.


Whether you go with APC or not, you will still need a generator and chiller, power distribution, fire protection, etc..

Make sure the building you select is close to fiber.

Get a ground floor location (It's a lot simpler).

Make sure that your landlord will provide space for your generator & fuel tank and verify if it's in your lease or an extra? If you don't get these kind of things netotiated into the lease then you are at thier mercy and they can be quite disagreeable after teh lease is signed.

Leases can be quoted in a variety of ways. Annually/Monthly, NNN or Gross. What are the common area maintenance charges and annual taxes? Who pays for energy?

Keep in mind that a lease is just like a mortagage. It's a commitment that's not easily broken.

There are a lot of considerations. Before you buy anything get commercial broker to represent you, get an engineer on board, and make sure that it all works. You don't want to end up owning a bunch of brand new equipemnt that doesn't fit or work for you or a space that you can't get a generator or ups into......
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