Data Center Grows

It's a good time to be offering business services. We talk to a company that just expanded its data center.

by Alex Goldman ISP-Planet Managing Editor [July 20, 2006]

The corporate press releases we receive often talk about expenditures of millions of dollars by big companies. The scatterblasted PR messages take no note of the fact that ISP-Planet covers the independent ISPs, not the telcos.

So we are pleased to hear about Portland, Ore.-based opus:interactive, who had just spent $312,000 on a data center upgrade. Finally, a story about products that ISP-Planet readers might actually be considering!

So, what did you buy?
The company purchased a 10 ton Liebert air conditioning system, upgraded its electric power supply from Portland General Electric (PGE), added a 217 kVA Onan diesel generator, increased security including adding cameras, and purchased an e-mail protection system from IronPort (in a redundant setup with a backup in another Portland data center).

Why did you buy it?
Eric Hulbert, opus:interactive director of technology, says that the company is seeing more demand for powerful, dense server deployments, such as blades. Blade servers provide power savings when measured on a power per server basis, but such deployments are nevertheless dense and hot.

Another key purchase, APC InfrastruXure, allows the company to manage power remotely and to direct it where it's needed. "We can satisfy any combination of power requirements. When we get a lead, we're able to win, even if they want a blade infrastructure and have demanding cooling requirements. In some data centers, high density can overwhelm the cooling capacity. We now have in row cooling, so if the customer wants a rack full of blades, we can deliver a lot of cooling to a small space."

The biggest sign of the company's increased confidence in its own data center is this: the company upgraded its SLA to guarantee 99.99 percent uptime, up from 99.9 percent.

The history
The company started out in 1994 as a web design firm called opus:creative. The company soon began hosting websites as well.

"We took a risk in late 2001," says Hulbert. "We took a back closet data center and built the data center we now have."

The data center opened in April of 2002.

It upgraded security last year. "We added card readers and access points to all entrances," explains Jason Nuss, director of ISP operations. "We added cameras, and a fence to separate the core backbone and managed services area from our dedicated 24/7 colocation offering. Now we offer a secure colo condo with a combination lock. Customers can card swipe their way in. We offer full, unescorted 24/7 access."

"But they're on camera at all times," we ask.

"We have motion reporting at all points."

The investment in the data center comes after some city lobbying, and after the acquisition of the building that houses the data center. "We recently closed on the purchase of the building," says Nuss. "We were then able to put money into the data center knowing that we were not at the mercy of a lease."

In addition, the company lobbied the City of Portland to include the data center in an E-Commerce Zone, designed to bring jobs and tax dollars to Portland. "We committed to investing in the building and creating jobs and bringing tax dollars to the city if they moved the boundary of the zone to include our building," says Nuss. "We were the first company accepted into the recently expanded E-Commerce Zone."

When we ask if the company helps its community in any other way, Nuss points to its relationship with the Oregon Food Bank, where it donates, "$40 to local food banks for each new qualifying DSL account, and $10 for every new dialup internet access account."

Other recent activities across Oregon, a press release says, include "donations to Grant Watts Elementary and Columbia County Christian School, title sponsorship of a Little League Baseball field in St. Helens, and signature sponsorship of Campfires & Canoes, a commemorative celebration of Lewis and Clark's journey along the lower Columbia River."

Go to page two: Plans for the future >