» Colocation, Connectivity, Managed Server, CDN, Datacenter – By E-Colo.com

How to Analyze and pick a Colocation Data Center or Managed Hosting Company

admin — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 04:32:23 +0000

Many Organizations struggle with the decision of using a Data Center without support staff,
a Data Center facility with various degrees of technical support including remote hands,
application and hardware support, or using a Hosting Company that handles everything
including hardware.

There are many pros and cons depending on many factors including:

Location:
The Data Center location is very important. To minimize cost, many organizations have chosen
Data Centers located near your offices so their personnel can support it. In small and mid sized Cities
you might have much of a choice. In larger Cities you must consider what part of town you choose
for your Data Center. In Cities like Los Angeles, New York City, or Houston it could take your technical
staff one to two hours to get to the other side of town.

Your choice of City also depends on the available of providers, amount of power outages,
Weather (tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding), and technical resources. Several Companies located their
Backup applications in a different town in most cases out of state. In states the size of Texas or California
You might have a facility in Dallas and Houston, or Los Angeles and Sacramento. This is true for both
Managed Hosting and Data Center Facilities.

Companies:
There are large and small Data Center and Hosting Companies. The Hosting or Data Center Companies
differ in many respects. The size of the Company including Technical support are important because you
do not want to rely on one or two individuals for your important applications.

Technical Staff:
If you use a Managed Hosting Company you do not have to worry about equipment, bandwidth, or
Technical resources because they provide the whole enchilada.
If you use a Data Center or what is commonly known as a Colocation Company their technical staff,
Certifications, and specific expertise with various manufacturers’ hardware, and applications is vitally important.

Equipment Costs:
The cost of equipment including but not including Servers, Blade Servers, Routers, Switches, and Monitors
can cost several thousands of dollars per month to lease or to buy. With the ever changing technologies
many have found leasing their equipment is more cost effective, reduce maintenance issues, and promotes
upgrading equipment when available.

Service Level Agreements:
SLA or Service Level Agreement vary also and in most cases are worth the paper they are written on. Receiving
a few hundred dollars or even thousands or dollars when your downtime could have cost your Company hundreds
of thousands of dollars.

Environments:
Data Center and Hosting Facilities environments should include a minimum of 2X for each including :

Power ( levels of redundancy):
Dual Access to separate power grids insuring there are no terrestrial connections including
In the primary redundancy. Battery Backup, Power Search protection, Generator power for at least 72 hours with multiple trucking
Companies supplying the diesel.

HVAC or Air Conditioning Systems:
Keeping your servers, cabinets, and cages cool is a must. A redundant over subscribed
HVAC system is a must.

Water:
Many providers forget about water but their HVAC systems and some fire suppression systems use water.

Fire Suppression:
Specific area suppression is required. You do not want the whole floor wet because of one server
on the other side of the data center heat up.

Office Space:
In an emergency or natural disaster having a data center that has a cubical, desk, or even workstations available for
your use could be priceless.

Bandwidth:
All Data Centers have various Carriers (ATT, Verizon,Abovenet, Internap, XO, Level(3), Cogent, etc.) build into
Their facility. They generally connect in part of the facility called the Meet-Me room. Access to multiple Internet,
and fiber providers with separate connections leaving the facility will reduce the changes of downtime due
to backhoe or other issues.

Cost:
I put cost last because many people lose their objectivity when they see how much various Organizations
Charge for their services as opposed to how much will it cost our Company if this application, or backup system
Is down. It could be thousands of dollars per minute and could cost someone’s job if there is down time.

Sincerely,

Jim (JR) Regan
Colocation Consultant
713-443-5911

E-Colo.com Worldwide Colocation Facilities

admin — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:24:29 +0000

WORLDWIDE COLOCATION FACILITIES

E-colo.com provides solutions Worldwide. Please find below various Colocations facilities that provide multiple carrier connectivity and smart hands.

Looking for a secure location at an affordable rate?

Look at E-COLO for your colocation requirements. With turn-key service we provide our customers with state of the art facilities with quality Internet solutions.

Call Jim Regan, Colocation Specialist at 713-443-5911.

Browse throughout a few of our locations, and call 888-888-8534 with any questions including any locations or Cities you require.

Location	Address	On-Net Access Provider	Port Types Offered
Atlanta	250 Williams Street, Suite E100, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA	MFS, OnFiber Communications, XO, ALS, Bell South	DS3, ETH10, MAN10, MAN100, MAN10G, MANGIG, POTS, T1, T1BNDL, OC3, OC12, MAN, GIGE, ETH100, ATM, 10GIGE, ATM1
Atlanta	56 Marietta, 2nd Floor, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA	TELX	ETH100, MAN100, GIGE, ETH10, POTS
Atlanta	1033 Jefferson Street NW, Atlanta, GA 30318, USA	AGL Networks	ETH100
Boston	300 Bent St, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA	AAA, ALS, Level 3, MFS, Neon	DS3, T1, OC3, GIGE, T1BNDL, ETH10, ETH100
Boston	70 Inner Belt Road, Somerville, MA 02143-4414, USA	AAA, ALS, MFS, Neon	DS0, ETH10, ETH100, MAN100, MANGIG, OC3, POTS, T1, T1BNDL, MAN50, MAN10, MAN, GIGE, DS3
Chicago	350 E. Cermak Road, 5th Floor, Chicago, IL 60616, USA	ALS, Level 3, MFS, OnFiber Communications, Touch America	DS0, DS3, ETH10, ETH100, GIGE, MAN, MAN50, MANGIG, T1, T1BNDL, POTS, OC3, MAN100, MAN10, 10GIGE
Chicago	1905 Lunt Ave, Elk Grove Village, IL 60007, USA	Equinix	POTS, ETH100
Chicago	111 N. Canal, Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60606, USA	ALS, Ameritech, Level 3, MFS, OnFiber Communications, XO	T1, ETH10, GIGE, MANGIG, OC3, POTS, DS3, ETH100, MAN10, MAN100, T1BNDL
Dallas	1950 Stemmons Fwy, Ste 1032, Dallas, TX 75207, USA	ALS, MFS, OnFiber Communications	T1BNDL, T1, POTS, OC12, MANGIG, MAN50, MAN40, MAN300, MAN10G, MAN100, GIGE, 10GIGE, DS3, ETH10, ETH100, MAN, MAN10, OC3
Dallas	1950 Stemmons Frwy, Ste 1034, Dallas, TX 75207, USA	OnFiber Communications	T1, POTS, OC3, OC12, MANGIG, MAN10, MAN, GIGE, ETH10, DRK2, DS3, ETH100, MAN100, MAN10G
Denver	313 Inverness Way, South, Englewood, CO 80112, USA	MFS, XO	ETH10, ATM1, ATM1.5, ATM11, ATM15, ATM2, ATM22, ATM25, ATM45, ATM8, ATM9, ETH100, GIGE, MAN, MANGIG, POTS, QME40, QME60, T1BNDL, T1, ATM10, ATM12, ATM14, ATM18, ATM20, ATM3, ATM4, ATM50, ATM6, ATM60, ATM7, DS3, MAN10, MAN100, OC3, QME100, ATM
Frankfurt	TeleCity, Gutleutstrasse 310, , Frankfurt am MainFrankfurt, 60489, DEU	Level 3, Sprint, Savvis, MCI, T-Systems Inc., Colt Communications, British Tel, AT&T, Fibernet
Hong Kong	17/F Global Gateway, 168 Yeung Uk Road, Tsuen Wan, N. T., Hong Kong, SAR, HKG	Equinix	E1, ETH10, DS3, MAN10, MAN100, GIGE, POTS, ETH100, 10GIGE, T1
Houston	1301 Fannin St., Suite 1100, Houston, TX 77002-7008, USA	ALS, MFS, Qwest, Time Warner, XO	T1BNDL, ETH10, ETH100, OC3, POTS, DS0, DS3, GIGE, MAN, MAN100, MAN200, MAN40, T1, MAN10
Los Angeles	818 7th Street, 10th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90017, USA	ALS, Level 3, MFS, OnFiber Communications, Pacific Bell, Touch America, XO	T1BNDL, T1, OC3, OC12, MAN70, MAN10G, MAN10, ETH100, DS3, ETH10, GIGE, MAN, MAN/L3, MAN100, MAN600, MANGIG, POTS
Los Angeles	The Garland Center, 1200 West 7th Street, , Lower Level 1, Suite 120 Los Angeles, CA 90017, USA		GIGE, ETH100
Los Angeles	2260 East El Segundo Blvd, El Segundo, CA 90245, USA		DS3, POTS, GIGE, T1, ETH100, ETH10
Los Angeles	1920 East Maple Avenue, El Segundo, CA 90245, USA		GIGE, ETH10, ETH100
Los Angeles	600 W. 7th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90017, USA
Los Angeles	1200 W 7th L2, Los Angeles, CA 90017, USA	Internap Network Services	OC3, GIGE, ETH10, DS3, ETH100, MAN300, POTS, T1
London	Telia Suite, Telecity, 2nd Floor, 8/9 Harbour Exchange Square, London, E14 9GE, GBR	British Tel, Colt Communications, MCI, WCOM	POTS, DS0, DS3, E3, GIGE, MAN10, MAN600, ETH100, 10GIGE, E1, ETH10, MAN100, MANGIG, OC3, T1
London	11 Hanbury Street, London, E1 6QR, GBR	Interxion Limited
Miami	50 NE 9th Street, Miami, FL 33132, USA	ALS, Bell South, MFS, NAP of the Americas, OnFiber, Progress Telecom, XO	ETH10, MAN, MAN10, MAN100, MAN400, POTS, OC3, OC12, MANGIG, MAN300, MAN10G, GIGE, ETH100, E1, DS3, DS0, T1, T1BNDL
New York	25 Broadway, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10004, USA	AAA, ALS, MFS, OnFiber Communications	MAN600, MAN50, MAN200, MAN150, MAN, ETH100, E1, T1BNDL, T1, OC3, OC12, MANGIG, MAN40, MAN100, MAN10, GIGE, ETH10, DS3
Newark	95 Williams St., Newark, NJ 07102, USA	ALS	DS3, T1BNDL, T1
New Jersey	101 Hudson Street, Ground Floor, Jersey City, NJ 07302, USA		DS3, OC3, POTS, T1, ETH10
New York	111 8th Ave.,, New York, NY 10011, USA	OnFiber, XO, Wiltel, Verizon, Time Warner, RCN, Qwest, Con Edison, MFS, Looking Glass Networks, Level 3, Fibernet, AboveNet, ALS	ETH10, MAN100, OC3, POTS, T1, T1BNDL, MANGIG, OC12, MAN10, ETH100, DS3
New York	76 9th Ave.,10th floor, New York, NY 10011, USA	Internap Network Services	POTS, GIGE, ETH100, ETH10, DS3, T1, OC3, MANGIG, MAN10G, 10GIGE
New York	75 Broad St., 14th Floor, New York, NY 10004, USA	OnFiber Communications	MAN, ETH100, DS3, DS0, ETH10, GIGE, MAN10, MAN100, MANGIG, POTS, T1, OC3
Oakland	720 2nd Street, Oakland, CA 94607, USA	365 Main	POTS, OC3, ETH10, ETH100
Santa Anna	1924 Deere Avenue, Santa Ana, CA 92705, USA	XO	T1BNDL, T1, POTS, ETH100, ETH10, DS3, OC3, MAN100, MAN, GIGE
Irvine	17222 Von Karman, Irvine, CA 92614, USA	Cox, ICG, MCI, SBC, Time Warner, XO	T1BNDL, T1, POTS, OC3, MAN100, GIGE, ETH100, ETH10, MANGIG, MAN10, DS3
Osaka	c/o eOsaka, Saiwaiecho Naniwaku, Osaka City, 556-0021, JPN	E-Osakak-Opticom	T1, MAN100, ETH100, ETH10, MAN10, MAN
Philadelphia	401 N Broad, 4th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19108, USA	ALS, XO	OC3, GIGE, ETH100, T1BNDL, T1, POTS, MANGIG, MAN100, ETH10, DS3
Philadelphia	3701 Market St., 5th Fl., Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA		ETH10, T1, DS3, ETH100, MANGIG, POTS
Phoenix	120 East Van Buren St., Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA	Sprint, XO, Wiltel, Time Warner, Cox, Qwest, Level 3, AboveNet, AT&T	T1, MAN600, GIGE, DS3, T1BNDL, POTS, OC3, MANGIG, MAN10, ETH100, ETH10
Phoenix	2121 South Price Road, Chandler, AZ 85248, USA		POTS, OC3, GIGE, ETH100, DS3, T1, ETH10
Phoenix	Carpathia Hosting, 120 East Van Buren St., Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA	Carpathia Hosting
San Diego	5771 Copley Drive, San Diego, CA 92111, USA	XO	OC3, MAN100, ETH10, DS3, POTS, T1BNDL, T1, MAN10, GIGE, ETH100
Seattle	2001 6th Ave, Suite 800, Seattle, WA 98121, USA	ALS, ELI Inc., MFS, OnFiber Communications, Qwest, Touch America	256K, ATM, ATM12, ATM20, ATM25, ATM7, GIGE, MAN10, MANGIG, OC12, OC3, POTS, T1BNDL, MAN100, MAN, ETH100, ETH10, DS3, ATM4, QME10, T1
Seattle	140 4th Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98109, USA	ALS, MFS, OnFiber Communications, XO	DS3, E1, DRK2, DS0, ETH100, MAN100, OC3, POTS, T1BNDL, ETH10, GIGE, MAN10, MAN10G, MANGIG, T1
Seattle	3355 S 120th Place, Seattle, WA 98168, USA	Internap Network Services	DS3, OC3, 10GIGE, ETH10, ETH100, GIGE, POTS, T1
San Jose	611 River Oaks Parkway, San Jose, CA 95134, USA	MFS	T1BNDL, OC3, OC12, ETH10, T1, MAN10, ETH100, DS3
San Francisco	650 Townsend St., Suite 180, Lower Level 1, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA	MFS, OnFiber Communications, Pacific Bell	DS3, ETH10, MAN10, MAN100, OC12, DS0, ETH100, GIGE, MAN, MANGIG, OC3, POTS, T1, T1BNDL
San Francisco	365 Main Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA	AboveNet, IP Networks, MFS, SBC, UFO, XO	DS3, ETH10, ETH100, MAN400, OC12, OC3, GIGE, MAN10, MAN100, POTS, T1, T1BNDL
Singapore	Block 20, Ayer Rajah Crescent, Ayer Rajah Industrial Park, , #05-05/08Singapore, 139964, SGP	Equinix	ETH100, MAN100, DS3, E1, ETH10, MAN10
San Jose	55 S Market Street, Suite 1480, San Jose, CA 95113, USA	AT&T, AboveNet, CRG West, Hurricane Electric, IP Networks, MFS, Netmagic, OnFiber, Optigate, Peer 1, SBC, Time Warner, UFO, Wiltel	ETH10, MAN, MAN100, POTS, ETH100, GIGE, OC3, T1
San Jose	255 Caspian Dr, Sunnyvale, CA 94089, USA		DS3, ETH10, OC3, T1, ETH100, GIGE, POTS
San Jose	1735 Lundy Avenue, San Jose, CA 95131, USA	Equinix	ETH100, ETH10, GIGE, T1
San Jose	11 Great Oaks Blvd., San Jose, CA 95119, USA
Sydney	Unit B, 639 Gardeners Road, Mascot, NSW 2020, AUS	Equinix	E3, MAN10, ETH100, T1, ETH10, E1
Tokyo	NTT-ME Data Center, BEC Building 7F, 3-6-4 Rinkai-cho, Edogowa-ku, Tokyo, 134-0086, JPN	NTT-East, PoweredCom	ATM, ATM1, ATM1.5, ATM10, ATM2, ATM3, ATM50, ETH100, MAN100, MAN300, MAN50, ATM0.5, ATM20, ATM30, ATM5, ETH10, GIGE, MAN, MAN10, MAN600, POTS, MANGIG, T1
Tokyo	Urbannet Kayaba-kabuto bldg, 1-1 Tomizawa-cho Nihonbashi Chuou-ku, Tokyo, 103-0006, JPN		MAN100, POTS, ETH10
Tokyo	4th Floor B-Block of TRC C-Building, 5-1 Heiwajima, 6-chome, , Oota-kuTokyo, 143-0006, JPN		MAN, MAN600, MANGIG, ETH100, GIGE, MAN10, MAN100
Toronto	151 Front Street – Suite 707, Toronto, ON M5J2N1, CAN		ETH10, ETH100, MAN400, MANGIG, T1BNDL, GIGE, MAN10, MAN100
Virginia	1755 Old Meadow Road, McLean, VA 22102, USA	AAA, ALS, Level 3, Looking Glass Networks, MFS, OnFiber Communications	DS3, ETH100, GIGE, ETH10, MAN, T1BNDL, MAN100, MANGIG, OC3, T1
Virginia	21715 Filigree Court, Bldg. F, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA	OnFiber Communications	DS3, ETH10, ETH100, GIGE, MAN100, POTS, 10GIGE, MAN, MAN10, MANGIG, OC3, T1, T1BNDL
Virginia	7990 Science Application Ct., Vienna, VA 22182, USA	ALS, Lightwave, Looking Glass Networks, MFS, OnFiber, Qwest, Verizon, Wiltel, XO	DS3, ETH100, GIGE, ETH10, MAN100, POTS, T1
Virginia	44470 Chilum Place, Building 1, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA		GIGE, ETH100
Washington DC	21715 Filigree Court, Bldg. F , Washington DC, DC 20147, USA
Virginia	21691 Filigree Ct, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA		ETH100, GIGE

Colocation in Today’s Fast Paced Environment

admin — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:16:37 +0000

COLOCATION

Corporate leaders in today’s fast paced e-business environment require a highly available, redundant and secure enterprise infrastructure. E-COLO meets this market need by providing an e-business infrastructure to our clients that is built upon a highly available data center architecture thereby saving our clients on intensive capital and technical resource costs without building and monitoring their own facility. E-COLO vendor-neutral approach provides our clients with the value assurance that their business requirements map directly to a best-in-class managed service utilizing the best Service Providers, Communication Providers, Internet Access Providers, Data Storage Companies, Voice Processing Companies, and Corporate Companies.

Our Internet Data Centers are built upon a Tier 1 Internet backbone providing our clients with redundant, fault tolerant, uninterrupted power, 24X7 security, carrier class environmental controls that providing our clients with the flexibility and scalability for their e-business infrastructure. Our Internet Data Centers enable our clients to receive competitive pricing on colocation services from multiple Service Providers, thus increasing the redundancy for their networked environment. This provides our clients with unparalled network and route diversity with cross-connect capability to other customers and Service Providers. Each Internet Data Center complies with the best practices in data & voice network standards, systems with the highest-level of power availability, temperature control, fire suppression, all housed in a secure access facility.

Clients that leverage E-COLO experience in supporting our clients e-business infrastructure colocation requirements will be able to choose their own connectivity solutions, thereby reducing capital outlays, reducing total cost of ownership, and reduce their time to market. This is backed by a service assurance industry-leading Service Level Agreement guaranteeing network, environment and power availability.

Our least expensive provider of IP resides at these locations. Certain Colocation facilities are now full due to high demand.

Atlanta
56 Marietta St NW 6th Floor Atlanta GA
56 Marietta St NW Atlanta GA

Boston
1 Summer St, 4th Floor Boston MA
300 Bent St – 1st Floor Cambridge MA
500 Rutherford Ave Charlestown MA
1 Cabot Rd First Floor Medford MA
74 West Street – 1st Floor Waltham MA
56 Roland St – 2nd Floor Boston MA

Chicago
350 E CERMAK RD – 5th Floor CHICAGO IL
427 S LaSalle St Suite 405 Chicago IL
427 S LaSalle St Suite 405 Chicago IL
717 S Wells St – 7th Floor Chicago IL
111 N Canal St – Suite 200 Chicago IL
725 S Wells, Suite 300 Chicago IL
800 Jorie Blvd Oak Brook IL

Dallas
3000 Irving Blvd Dallas TX
3180 Irving Blvd – 1st Floor Dallas TX
1950 Stemmons Fwy N Suite 1032 Dallas TX
1950 Stemmons Fwy N Suite 1034 Dallas TX
1950 Stemmons Fwy N Suite 1070 Dallas TX
2323 Bryan St – 14th Floor Dallas TX
1333 North Stemmons Freeway, Dallas TX
4101 Bryan Street – 1st Floor Dallas TX
96 Inverness Drive East First Floor Englewood CO

Denver
910 15th St – Suite 751 Denver CO
1850 Pearl Street – 1st Floor Denver CO
9706 E Easter Ave Suite 160 Englewood CO
12001 North Fwy Houston TX

Kansas City
1025 Grand Avenue Kansas City MO

Los Angeles
818 W 7th St – 6th Floor Los Angeles CA
818 W 7th St – 11th Floor Los Angeles CA
1200 W 7th St Lower Level 1 Los Angeles CA
1200 W 7th St Lower Los Angeles CA
1200 W 7th St – Suite LL2-240 Los Angeles CA
530 W 6th St – Penthouse Los Angeles CA
700 Wilshire Blvd – 1st Floor Los Angeles CA
600 W 7th St 6th Floor Los Angeles CA
650 S Grand Ave – Suite 1000 Los Angeles CA
650 S Grand Ave – 7th Floor Los Angeles CA
626 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles CA

Miami
1 NE 1st St 5th Floor Miami FL
36 NE 2ND ST – 1st Floor MIAMI FL
200 SE 1st St Miami FL
50 NE 9th St. Miami FL
100 N Biscayne Blvd 2nd Floor Miami FL

New Jersey
111 Pavonia Ave- 7th F Jersey City NJ
165 Halsey St – 8th Floor NEWARK NJ
165 Halsey St, 7th Fl Newark NJ
165 HALSEY ST – 5th Floor NEWARK NJ

New York
111 Eighth Ave – Suite 518 New York NY
111 Eighth Ave – Suite 734 New York NY
111 Eighth Ave Suite 809 New York NY
111 Eighth Ave – 3rd Floor New York NY
111 Eighth Ave – 15th Floor New York NY
75 Broad St New York NY
25 Broadway – 5th Floor New York NY
60 Hudson St Suite 1904 New York NY
60 Hudson St Suite 900 New York NY
395 Hudson St First Floor New York NY
882 3rd Ave – 9th Floor Brooklyn NY

Orlando
100 West Lucerne Circle Orlando FL

Philadelphia
3701 Market St 5th Floor Philadelphia PA
401 N Broad St 9th Floor Philadelphia PA
401 N Broad St – 11th Floor Philadelphia PA
401 N Broad St – 3rd Floor Philadelphia PA

Sacremento
1100 North Market Boulevard Sacramento CA
1200 Striker Avenue Sacramento CA

San Diego
8929 Aero Dr – 1st Floor San Diego CA
8929 Complex Drive San Diego CA
9725 Scranton Rd First Floor, San Diego CA

San Francisco / California
185 Berry St Suite 1820 San Francisco CA
200 Paul Ave – 3rd Floor San Francisco CA
200 Paul Ave, 5th Flr San Francisco CA
60 Federal St – Suite ? San Francisco CA
365 Main Street San Francisco CA
3175 Spring St. Redwood City CA
55 S Market St San Jose CA
529 Bryant Street Palo Alto CA
534 Stockton Ave 1st Floor San Jose CA
1380 Kifer Rd – 1st Floor Sunnyvale CA
11 Great Oaks – 1st Floor Santa Clara CA
250 stockton Avenue – 1st Floor San Jose CA
760 Mission Court Fremont CA
529 Bryant St Palo Alto CA
11 Great Oaks-Cage 1940 Santa Clara CA

Seattle
2001 6th Ave Suite 1300 Seattle WA
2001 6th Ave – Suite 1200 Seattle WA
2001 6th Ave – Suite 3205 Seattle WA
2001 6th Ave 2001 6th – 18th Floor Seattle WA
1904-1914 Third Ave Seattle WA
1000 Denny Way – 1st Floor Seattle WA

St. Louis
210 N. Tucker St, Suite 400 St. Louis MO

Tampa
655 N Franklin St 1000 Tampa FL
7901 Woodland Center Blvd – Tampa FL

Toronto
151 Front St. W. Suite 704 Toronto ON

DC/Virgniia
1220 L St NW 500 Washington DC
8502 Tyco Rd- 1st Floor Vienna VA
8619 Westwood Center Dr Suite 200 Vienna VA
21711 – 21715 Filigree Ct – Ashburn VA
1755 Old Meadow – 1st Floor McLean VA
7990 Science Application Ct McLean VA
11513 Sunset Hills Rd – 1st Floor Reston VA

Fiber Optics vs. Copper Cable, Which is better?

admin — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:15:11 +0000

For many years, copper cable was the only option for your network. Your network may still be wired with copper. Should you change to fiber optics? To determine the best course of action, you must consider if the benefits of fiber optics out-weigh the cost required to rewire you network.

Copper wires are fragile and can be difficult to maintain. Copper wiring has a much smaller bandwidth than fiber optic cabling (Copper 1.5 mbs vs. fibre 2.5+gbs). And, copper wires do not move data as far as fiber optic cabling does. While copper wires may break on occasion, it is not difficult to pull and new line to replace the old. Bandwidth limitations are only a problem if you have a need to move large amounts of data. Finally, distance is a consideration only if you need to cover a very large area. Copper effectively manages a distance of 2.5 KM while fiber can handle 200 KM.

If your network is fairly constant and you are not relocating, unless you have bandwidth or distance issues, it makes more sense to maintain the copper wiring. If, on the other hand, you are relocating, growing, or planning to grow, fiber optics make more sense. Faster networks will demand greater bandwidth network capacity. Although Fiber is much cheaper than copper, switching from copper to fiber isn’t as simple as plugging in new wires. You will need new connectors.

Fiber cables transmit pulses of light instead of electrical signals, so the terminations must be much more precise. Rather than simply allowing pins to make metal-to-metal contact as with copper, fiber optic connectors must align microscopic glass fibers perfectly in order to allow for communication.

Optical fibre is known for its reliability and immunity to sources of interference such and it its extremely large bandwidth (ranging from 600 MHz to 1000 MHz), is suited to multimedia applications. Optical fibre cables do not conduct electricity or support ground loops, so will be unaffected by lightning strikes.