A closer look at the factors impacting data center pricing
By Donna DonnowitzFebruary 26, 2015
Demand is high while prices stay competitive
According to Enterprise Tech, major data center hubs like Dallas and Minneapolis are seeing such strong demand for storage that they can barely keep up. At the same time, the abundance of strong industry players in these cities is keeping price levels at a competitively low level across the board. Secondary markets are simultaneously exploding - new projects popping up in Portland, Ore. and Reno, Nev. point toward continued growth in these areas as well. Like in the major markets, the quick accumulation of competitors has helped to prevent massive upswings in cost. While a median price is difficult to determine, the resource did say that price movements appear to have leveled out in 2014.
Location, as always, is key
Part of the reason that major and secondary data centers are so impacted by location, and are willing to compete in such close proximity, is access to resources like fiber-optic cables. Even small cities like Chattanooga, Tenn. have famously coaxed business nearby by promising affordable access to better connections. Data centers on the edges of fiber communities can benefit from the technology as well, thanks to tools like fiber-to-Ethernet hardware which makes it easier and cheaper to introduce fiber-optic cables to facilities with legacy copper lines.
The skies the limit as services combine
Data center pricing certainly doesn't seem to be getting any cheaper. The uncertainty over price trends instead revolves around how much more expensive these services could become, and how much that price increase is likely to be drive by the convergence of services. Data Center Knowledge pointed out that extra services will determine how much a data center can charge its clients as storage becomes even more commoditized.
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