What are the pros and cons of choosing an NJ colocation provider over a data center based in New York City?
For CIOs who are tasked with finding the ideal data center within this region, the differences on either side of the Hudson River might be more noticeable than you'd think.
Demystifying the differences between the two locations can help your organization mitigate unnecessary costs and unwanted issues. When you're choosing between New Jersey and New York City, how can you know that you're selecting the right location for your servers?
Why Organizations Choose NJ Colocation Providers over NYC Alternatives
The biggest draw for those looking to colocate in New Jersey is the price.
Data center providers such as Equinix, Datapipe, and others have chosen to build facilities in New Jersey as it provides several strategic advantages. A few reasons businesses seek out NJ colocation services are:
- Infrastructure Accessibility - NJ data centers lack the physical constraints that plague NYC data centers.
- Energy - Power costs less in New Jersey than it does in NYC.
- Proximity to Financial Services - Banking organizations that interface with the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ can colocate servers in the same data centers that these organizations use to house their central operations.
- Proximity Just Across the Hudson River - 49% of New Jersey's colocation providers are in Hudson County, a short drive away from Manhattan.
What About NYC Colocation Services?
The biggest barrier for data centers in New York City continues to be infrastructure constraints.
Data centers must pay higher energy costs, receive special permits, and deal with higher real estate costs in order to build a data center within the New York City region.
Remember Superstorm Sandy?
Did you know that the outer edges of Manhattan are considered a "Zone A" flood zone?
Datagram, which provides colocation services within this zone, was severely impacted by Superstorm Sandy. Organizations that colocated their servers in Manhattan reported significant downtime during this unprecedented weather event.
New Jersey DCs Remained Online; NYC DCs Reported Significant Downtime
Notable websites such as the Huffington Post, BuzzFeed, Gizmodo, and others colocated their servers in this flood region. Consequently, these websites suffered from significant downtime due to Sandy.
Rich Miller, formerly of Data Center Knowledge, writes, "While data centers in New York were struggling with water damage and utility outages in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the situation was much better in New Jersey, where many facilities switched to generator power, but remained online."
New Jersey Colocation Providers Are Flourishing
New Jersey provides premium connectivity to Europe, Canada, and the continental United States. As a result, the market for colocation services in New Jersey is rapidly expanding.
Organizations begin looking to colocate their servers in the Northeast and typically find themselves choosing between New York City and New Jersey.
Given the resiliency of New Jersey colocation providers during Superstorm Sandy, many enterprises have skipped the Big Apple and elected to host their workloads a short drive away in New Jersey.
Also see:
- 3 Ways NJ Data Centers Address Site Selection Challenges
- New Jersey Colocation Options for Virtualization
- Which New Jersey Data Centers Embrace Managed Services?
Does your organization have servers hosted in New York City or New Jersey? Tell us about your experiences in the comments section below.
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