This audio was created using Microsoft Azure Speech Services
In the fifth of our “8 Megatrends” series, we sat down with Josh Snowhorn, VP & GM at CyrusOne, to understand the various ways data centers are connecting to everything — especially the cloud.
CyrusOne is an enterprise data center and colocation provider to many of the top Fortune 1000 companies via a portfolio of more than 30 data centers across the U.S., Europe and Asia, comprising over 3 million square feet of total net rentable square footage.
Using a carrier neutral approach, CyrusOne ties connectivity platforms with business requirements; either via multiple Metropolitan Area Network (MANs) carriers for point-to-point and dark-fiber connectivity; across CyrusOne facilities and telecom carrier hotels; or to the cloud through a single port via MegaPort.
According to Josh, as more parts of the business move to the cloud, connecting is still a pain point for most companies, yet the right connectivity is critical to avoid latency issues. Here’s an example.
“Let’s say you have a large server farm for production work on one side and another production center hundreds of miles away; they have to actively replicate within five milliseconds to meet standards,” Josh explains, “To achieve this speed, you must link them together directly with the right route — not fiber that bounces from tower to tower.”
In fact, CyrusOne helps customers source the proper circuits to ensure important diversity of fiber. Josh says, “We source network services for the biggest enterprises in world. Even though they have their own teams, by leveraging our bulk purchasing power, we can meet their connectivity needs at a lower cost and make sure they have the best solution possible.”
CyrusOne has created a fabric across many metro areas and also across the country by implementing its National Internet Exchange (IX) platform. “Using large scale wave capacity across the country linking all our data centers together,” Josh explains, “allows customers to have instant on access for capacity between different states, different markets and completely different need sets.”
Connecting to the Cloud
Josh has a unique take on how the cloud is affecting the data center market. The cloud is growing so fast it’s hard for providers to keep up. “So now, providers are housed in our data centers,” he says. “This provides a huge advantage when it comes to scalability and cost. We provide all the infrastructure quickly, with no capital outlay for the customer and we connect it all together.”
He predicts this growth trend will continue, and that in the future, 25 to 30 percent of the Fortune 100’s infrastructure will be in the cloud.
You can find out much more about the intricacies of data center connectivity in this video interview with Josh.
Learn more about these important data center megatrends.
