Logo_Nebraska_Colocation_Centers_Lincoln_Nebraska

Who would have guessed that a building constructed in 1929 would become a hub for Lincoln’s technology growth in 2014?  In October of last year, Nebraska Colocation Centers, or NCC, opened the first phase of “raised floor” data center space in the Sharp Building, located at 206 S. 13th Street.  Local, regional and national interest has been growing since.  With this expansion, NCC now owns and operates two fully-featured colocation centers in Omaha and Lincoln.  The two data centers are interconnected with diverse fiber transport lines offering unique primary and disaster recovery solutions for computer networks.

What is Co-lo-ca-tion?

Colocation Centers provide space, power, cooling, fire suppression and physical security for the server, storage, and networking equipment of other firms—and connect them to a variety of telecommunications and network service providers.  With economies of scale, colocation centers can offer their customers a more advanced environment to host computer equipment. Most colocation centers offer:

• Lockable rack cabinets, cages or private suites
• Power (including emergency back-up batteries and generators)
• Access to expanded network connectivity
• Cooling & atmospheric management
• Physical security (video surveillance, biometric and badge access)
• Real-time live monitoring for failures

“We have been working hard to connect with area businesses to explain the benefits of utilizing our data centers”, said Roger Willey, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for NCC.  “A fully-featured colocation center is new for Lincoln and we are doing our best to communicate the benefit of using our services as well as scheduling tours to show the quality of our facility.”

Interest has not only been gaining from local businesses, but nationally as well.  “Part of our motivation for developing this beautiful building into a data center was to help Lincoln establish a technical infrastructure that will encourage and sustain growth” said Willey.  “We are excited about the interest we are getting from national companies who are now considering Lincoln as an option for hosting their network equipment”.   “Besides lower power rates, there are a lot of advantages for hosting their network in Lincoln rather than other parts of the country.”

Another benefit of the NCC facility in Lincoln is that it is attracting interest from additional communications carriers.  “We have about ten different communications companies that have discussed coming to Lincoln to serve our customers”, said Willey.  NCC owns the “Carrier Hotel” in Omaha which hosts over 34 carriers.   “The good news is that through our facility, there are many local, regional and national carriers that want to serve the needs of Lincoln businesses,” said Willey.  “That only helps the community attract other businesses and jobs into the community.”

So why do businesses colocate their computer equipment and networks?

More Cost Effective – Sharing the cost of space, power infrastructure, cooling and security with other businesses offers economies of scale and lower’s overall costs.  In addition, many businesses prefer to pay monthly fees rather than invest capital in constructing and maintaining their own data center infrastructure.

Lower Costs of Connectivity – Having your network located inside of a colocation center can save on communications costs since carriers are already located within the facility.

Advanced Security – Colocation centers have strict access guidelines and advanced security features that are difficult to justify for a single business.

Advanced Fire Suppression – Colocation centers provide “clean agent” fire suppression capable of suppressing electrical fires without damaging expensive customer hardware with water-based sprinkler systems.

Improved Network Reliability – Redundant power and connectivity sources that is difficult to cost justify for a single business.

More Efficient Use of IT Staff – Colocation centers provide professional staff to monitor security, network up-time and data center atmospherics thus allowing the IT staff to focus on business needs and applications.

Better Use of Office Space – Moving the data center offsite allows for more efficient use of space to support business operations.

Improved Network Performance – Being “on-net” with carriers who are in a colocation facility can offer lower latency and faster wide area networks

Risk Mitigation – With the combined benefits mentioned here, colocation centers allow IT and business managers to mitigate the risks associated with data center outages that result in loss of revenues, customers, and increased expense.


NCC offers affordable colocation services within the Lincoln area that improve network reliability, security and connectivity.

To find out if colocation is right for your business or organization, or to schedule a tour of the Lincoln or Omaha facility, call (402) 342-2656 or email NCC at info@connectncc.com.

www.connectncc.com


Cover photography courtesy of Shane & Sunny Photography

402-488-4289

www.ShaneandSunny.com