Re: [cobalt-users] Need advice on Colocating or Self Location

[Jeff Lasman <jblists@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Grant Stern wrote:

> So you wanna colo at home . . . .
> Come to Miami!  We have a nice new nap here, and the colo prices have been
> dropping.  Telco prices are dropping and the land near our nap is still
> cheap, you could get a 10k sq facility that needs a tech-makeover for 3-5k a
> month for purchase.

I'm not sure I understand.  Most of us don't want to live in a 10,000
sq. ft. colo center, even if we do get highspeed access as a perk.

And even if I had millions of dollars to invest, I sure wouldn't do it
in a new hosting center; there are too many empty colocation centers
around, too many empty buildings around that either used to house
colocation centers or were built to be colocation centers.

> I'm a web designer more than an internet host (at least earning more from
> the former than the latter).  However, I took a shot at home hosting, to be
> foiled by a partner's greed.  What I learned though is,
> 
> Downtown Miami is an ideal place to start a hosting company.
> 
> The real estate is dirt cheap for the downtown of a major metropolitan city,

You'd be surprised; a lot of downtowns are dirt cheap.  Because of all
the empty buildings and companies leaving them.

> and zero loop=speed at low cost (ie. T1 for 700 a month and at blazing low
> latency).

Again, true in a lot of downtowns.  I don't remember the financial
details but we had several buildings in downtown Los Angeles (where we
managed to lose millions of dollars in the blue-jean business not that
many years ago), for all the same reasons.

> You can buy a cabinet at the Miami Nap for an incredibly reasonable amount.
> I'm talking about the real NAP too, not the Terramark hosting center that
> everyone talks about down the road, but the actual POP for all the big boys.
> However, the price on both is reasonable, and at Terramark's "nap" is
> getting cheaper by the day (though they are struggling having opened in june
> 2001, but just got more financing yesterday), I had an isp offer me co-lo at
> the nap for 1300 a month, but I forgot at this point weather it was for a
> box or a cabinet of my own.

Do you think that most of us with one or two RaQs should be buying
(renting actually) cabinets?

That turns you from a designer/hoster to a colocation company.  It's not
a step to be taken lightly; I studied it for about three years before I
did it, and I've been in the hosting business since 1994 (Clascom was
one of the earliest hosting companies, back when we offered 10 meg sites
for us$30/month and the address was
"http://www.clascom.net/~yoursite";).  I began RaQ consulting three years
ago, and I've only been selling colocation for about three months.

> But, there are opportunities to buy here as well.  For those who don't know
> (I assume most folks on the list), there is a nasty neighborhood attached to
> downtown Miami that is being rebuilt at the moment.

I grew up in Miami (NY expatriats).  My family owned Wolfies (there's
only one left, 21st & Collins, MB; we sold out years ago).  Graduated
Miami Norland '62; this past fall went to our 39th reuinion.  Miami's
downtown has gone up and down for years, but sadly it's suburbs have
gotten so bad that now the entire family still in So. Florida is living
in Ft. Lauderdale or even further north and west.

I went back to Florida in '94 for a while, but was back in Riverside by
'97.  Is it time to go back again <smile>?

> Have you called them and asked how much an install is?  When I asked, it was
> only 1400 for install, and then monthly fees.  Of course I was at zero loop,
> so the install didn't have to go to far.

I don't know how you or they measure zero-loop for fiber, but it
shouldn't be too expensive; their pipe runs not fifty feet from our
front gate.

> If you could stomach cross-country co-lo.  I have a nice deal on my box at
> spidergate.net.  They do support sites and marketing for citigroup and
> burger king and lots of other stuff and would love to have another co-lo.
> They are going to be there, and have a nice dual t3 backbone, yadayadayada.
> Just tell him I sent u if u mail him.

Let's take this offlist.

> Yup. Or find a commercial cable provider.  I just spoke with cogent, and its
> 3000 a month if you're a service provider (host, asp, etc.) only 1000 for
> end users (offices, wan).  They do things like list jacksonville as a
> serviced city, but only service one building there.  They do service the
> Miami NAP though, so you'd be paying around 5500 for co-lo and bandwidth
> here, until cogent bites it.

Why in the world would anyone pay $5,500/month for colo and Cogent
bandwidth in Miami when I can get it in downtown Los Angeles, total
$2,000/month.  One rack, 100 mbps.  Cogent.  Priced and verified.  Of
course I won't touch Cogent.

> Good luck and pipe dreams,

pipe dreams?  Again, what in the world are you talking/writing about?

Jeff
-- 
Jeff Lasman <jblists@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Linux and Cobalt/Sun/RaQ Consulting
nobaloney.net
P. O. Box 52672, Riverside, CA  92517
voice: (909) 778-9980  *  fax: (702) 548-9484