NEF partner, Hosted Solutions, is hosting a virtualization event that will address how SaaS companies can utilize virtualization to ensure business continuity and disaster recovery.

This event is aimed at IT professionals, network managers, risk assessment managers and anyone involved with business continuity and disaster recovery planning. The goal is to provide an overview of why virtualization is important for business continuity and disaster recovery, while also explaining how someone would create a highly effective disaster recovery plan using virtualization.

The event will also outline several companies and their contribution to virtualization. For example, Hosted Solutions provides space and managed services, ICI provides VMware and other components to virtualize and NEF and Ciena provide the network and gear to connect the key sites.

WHEN:
Thursday.
October 30th, 2008
6pm to 9pm

WHERE:
Hyatt Regency Cambridge
575 Memorial Drive Cambridge
MA 02139
ph. 617.492.1234

Michael Murphy and two other executives leading the Colocation Consortium were invited to lead the presentation, “Capitalizing on Colocation” at the Fall 2008 Channel Partners Conference & Expo in Boston held earlier this week.
 
Murphy, President of NEF, Inc.,  and founder of FindADataCenter.com, along with Aaron Loehr, CEO and President of Bandwidth Advisors and Chris Palermo, Founder of Global Communication Networks, Inc., addressed the trends in data center colocation to the audience comprised of telecommunications agents and media. With questions that focused on market demand, components, suppliers and sales, the three did not stray far from their original intent – to create consistency in the colocation arena.

Murphy spoke specifically about his experience with colocation, using his two organizations, NEF and FindADataCenter.com, as examples. Murphy spoke about how mounting data storage requirements, disaster recovery and business continuity goals are causing an increasing number of companies to outsource their data centers.

Market Demand
According to Murphy, more customers are looking to colocate because they have run out of power and space in their campus data centers. In addition, they are facing stricter regulatory compliance, growing insurance criteria and an increase in real estate costs. 

Although the key market segments for colocation are financial, retail and medical, FindADataCenter.com is seeing demand come from a wide range of companies seeking services as small as single dedicated servers to services as large as 10,000 sq. ft. of dedicated space.

Components
FindADataCenter.com’s goal is to provide for those customers requiring private cages or suites and connectivity, which often requires DWDM metro optical networks to connect to HQ and PoP locations. NEF works with in conjunction with FindADataCenter.com to design end to end solutions that include space and connectivity for such customers.

Murphy also suggested that power has become an important determining factor in choosing the right data center for colocation. High density service architectures drive a large amount of power and cooling and not every facility, even if it has available space, has the power available to support customer applications. 

Network connectivity is also a key component. Data centers that have multiple metro fiber providers tend to be a better fit for FindDataCenter.com customers. The number of IP providers at a site becomes less relevant when designing a WDM network for customers since they typically add a carrier hotel as a node on the network. This affords customers more choices for IP at a lower cost.

Suppliers
NEF and FindADataCenter.com currently work with all the major carriers that have colocation and carrier neutral facilities available. Murphy presented a list of their major multi-location suppliers, which included CRG West, DRT, Switch and Data and a number of regional providers in different areas of the country.  In addition to having a long list of suppliers, FindADataCenter.com boasts a database with nearly 1000 sites from over 100 data center owners, with new sites coming online every day.

As Murphy presented with his Colocation Consortium partners, he stressed that his goal for FindADataCenter.com and NEF is to be able to provide a broad range of services from a variety of providers spanning the globe. Doing so would give agents the ability to use existing contracts, providing them with instant access to solutions and other valuable information.

Colocation Sales
Due to the activity at FindADataCenter.com and NEF, Murphy was quick to point out that colocation is one of the hottest segments of the market. In fact, demand is so high that supply is starting to fall short making the services that FindADataCenter.com and NEF provide very valuable.  If you find yourself looking for supply, Murphy suggests working with any one of the Colocation Consortium members, as they are sure to have the resources to help.

About the Colocation Consortium

The Colocation Consortium was created in April 2008 with the goal to create consistency in colocation agreements. Members believe that by sharing their experiences they can set agreement standards for providers to follow.

With colocation being more popular than ever, the need for better relationships and agreements with providers is imperative for customers. By eliminating inconsistencies the Colocation Consortium hopes to prevent the risk of cut commissions and decreased revenue streams.

Founding Members

Michael Murphy is president of NEF, Inc. and founder of FindADataCenter.com.

Aaron T. Loehr, who has more than 11 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, founded Bandwidth Advisors, Inc.

Chris Palermo is the founder of Global Communication Networks Inc. He has been in the telecommunications field for 17 years.

FindADataCenter.com (FADC) today announced the launch of their new online locator tool for enterprises searching for data centers, colocation and managed services. The new system, powered by a proprietary data center facility database along with Google Maps integration, is the easiest, most comprehensive listing of colocation solutions anywhere on the web.

With more than 1000 data center listings and wide array of managed services, FADC is built to work with companies looking to move their data center off-site or outsource their data and application warehousing needs. The true differentiator of FADC is that their data center selection process includes network connectivity as well as location and amenities searches. Because the cost of a data center solution involves data center space and connectivity, FADC works with searchers to locate the data center that will serve all their needs -- not just bells and whistles of a facility.

"With more and more enterprise customers moving to off-site data centers, it's important for us to offer a tool that will help them make the right decision on data center space," said Michael Murphy, who heads up FindADataCenter.com. "This is especially true in a day and age when making the wrong decision on colocation can be costly."

FADC is able to offer the connectivity information because of their partnership with NEF, a leading high capacity fiber optical and transport services brokerage. NEF has relationships with over 65 carriers and catalogs 80,000+ "lit" buildings across the US, and with their innovative FiberLocator(R) database, they can identify optimal networks to and from data centers at the most competitive prices.

"Over 80% of our customers need to connect to data centers, so we've found FindADataCenter.com to be a very useful resource during high capacity networking discussions," said Steve McCarthy, Vice President of Business Development for NEF. "The new FADC launch takes a great data center locator system and makes it even better."

With the new launch, FADC now offers information and resources for locating data center service providers and reporting on issues close to the industry. For example, FADC now provides two resources for understanding data center power and how it can impact pricing. Users can access the Data Center Power Map to see cents/kilo-watt hour pricing and then search associated listings by clicking on any state. In addition, users can calculate their power requirements to help them find the data center that will serve their needs.

If you're looking for a data center solution for your enterprise or if you're a provider looking to list your managed services, data center or colocation facility, go to www.FindADataCenter.com or call 877-404-FADC (3232).

Mike Murphy, president of NEF, has joined with industry leaders to create a consortium that is focused on establishing standards and consistency in colocation agreements. Together with S. Chris Palermo, president of Global Communication Networks Inc. and Aaron Loerh, president and CEO of Bandwidth Advisors Inc., they make up a “Colocation Consortium”. Currently an informal information sharing group, they believe that by exchanging provider information they can eliminate the wide variance in terms and conditions in colocation agreements.

This comes at a crucial time as colocation sales continue to increase and the need for better relationships and agreements with providers is at an all-time high. The current problem with agreement inconsistencies is that the agent is at the mercy of the providers, who could easily cut commissions when their properties are full, putting revenue stream at risk.

With more than 200 colocation agreements between the three members of the consortium, Murphy, Palermo and Loearh intend to turn their sharing of ideas about desirable terms and conditions into an incorporated entity with a charter and dues. You can read more in the Phone+ article.

NEF can provide your company with robust, scalable and affordable networks and can add measurable value to an organization's search for connectivity. Contact us today, and we will find you a better, faster, cheaper network connection.

Dark Fiber Networks are Providing Cost-Effective Bandwidth Solutions in More Than the Traditional Enterprise Arenas

December 17, 2007 (Framingham, Mass.) Have you ever wondered how that HUGE curved electronic billboard on Times Square in New York City can keep live news and financial data scrolling continuously? The dark fiber experts at NEF, Inc., a Boston-based telecommunications consulting firm, sourced a custom optical network to keep the data live and feeding uninterrupted across one of Times Square’s most notable attractions: the seven-story TV screen.

The enormous screen is visible for several city blocks and helps to make Times Square one of the most recognizable landscapes in Manhattan. The content for that screen is created and managed by a computer in an office in Times Square.  That data and content rides over a fiber optic network to get from the computer where it was created to the big screen you see.

NEF, a leader in enterprise dark fiber solutions, was enlisted to help connect the video CGI equipment to the big electronic billboard, which features live stock quotes and up to the minute news and information.  NEF sourced a dark fiber network to carry the video signal from its point of origin to the screen where it is displayed.

What folks passing by Times Square probably don’t know is that dark fiber is optical fiber infrastructure that is in place but is not presently being utilized. Once used exclusively by large telecommunications carriers who leased the fiber(s) and "lit" multiple circuits over a single path, the cost of dark fiber and the associated electronics required to light fiber have now become much more affordable and easy to manage.

Using fiber to carry the mass quantities of financial data from a remote office to the Times Square electronic billboard was uncharted territory. NEF was able to locate a provider and procure a custom dark fiber network in a short time frame, as well as provide enough flexibility to be able to test the application and projected distance before going live.

The result was streaming information and entertainment on a grand scale. Passersby in Times Square can now have more data than they can imagine on a larger-than-life screen.

Beyond the big screen of Times Square, custom dark fiber networks are becoming increasingly popular as businesses across a wide variety of markets are requiring affordable, scalable network solutions. “Dark fiber is providing benefit to many industries. Having a cost-competitive alternative to the local exchange carrier is important to many businesses to meet their bandwidth needs,” according to Steven McCarthy Vice President of Business of NEF. “Much like the application in Times Square, we have seen companies of all sizes and varieties utilize dark fiber to meet their networking needs.”

Creating custom dark fiber networks is just one of the strategies NEF employs to bring many businesses the best communications network at the most competitive price. NEF has also developed industry-leading database tools such as FiberLocator™ and has partnered on the recently-launched FindADataCenter.com— both used to locate and build custom fiber networks, from the fiber in the ground to the off-site data center to meet the storage and redundancy needs of any business network.

About NEF
NEF, Inc., is one of the nation’s top telecommunications consulting firms, offering 25 years of industry experience and a proven methodology for providing its customers with the best networks, information and pricing available. NEF can provide a broad spectrum of products from dark fiber to high bandwidth, fully managed optical services. Through their partners, such as AboveNet, NEF designs custom connectivity solutions and provides access to over 50 fiber providers in 48 states, 3 million miles of metro and national fiber and over 50,000 lit buildings.

About FiberLocator™
FiberLocator™ is more than a map—it is an invaluable resource guide for businesses developing a custom fiber network. Offering dark fiber maps along with consulting to maximize communications ROI, NEF has developed one of the most comprehensive asset-based telecommunications databases in the industry encompassing over 40 facility-based carriers in over 100 metro areas all over the country. With FiberLocator™, NEF provides the most complete and up-to-date information on optical fiber networks.

With FiberLocator™, businesses have detailed maps and recommendations as well as informative articles and diagrams on important aspects of dark fiber. Because NEF is carrier-neutral, the primary goal is to help businesses identify and develop the optimal fiber network.

About FindADataCenter.com
Migrating to an offsite data center can be critical decision for any enterprise. Several factors can affect the data center selection: location, amenities, security and connectivity, among other factors. FindADataCenter.com is the trusted resource for available data centers across the US, including details about individual data centers to help businesses determine which data center might be the best choice.

More importantly, FindADataCenter.com completes the data center picture by taking into account connectivity information. By using FindADataCenter.com, businesses can avoid costly mistakes in data center selection by researching connectivity before committing to a data center.

###

For more information, please contact:
Joy Milkowski
Access Marketing Company
joy@getmoreaccess.com
303-625-4088

Michael Murphy
NEF President
mmurphy@nefiber.com
(508) 663-1677
(877) DK-FIBER

Owning a fiber optic network has many benefits for enterprise customers.

Heavy hitters such as Ford Motor Co., Bank of America, Bausch & Lomb and Gannett Co., have all found that owning a fiber optic network fits better with their overall telecom strategy.

With an increase in bandwidth, they are better able to deliver additional capacity on demand for any new technology campaign that might present itself in the future. Another benefit these companies have experienced is flexibility. Rather than waiting for months for another carrier to turn up new services, they can see such changes in a matter of hours or days.

Companies that are involved with cutting edge technology campaigns, which might include converging voice, data, and video onto an internet protocol backbone, consolidating data centers or expanding storage area networks, will certainly need to increase their bandwidth.

For such companies, utilizing fiber optic networks is the perfect solution.

NEF can provide your company with robust, scalable and affordable networks and can add measurable value to an organization's search for connectivity. Contact us today, and we will find you a better, faster, cheaper network connection.

Fiber optic experts agree that the best way for a bandwidth-intensive business operation to boost the efficiency of its network is to own its fiber optic network rather than rent them through a local phone company. With companies like Ford Motor Co., Bank of America, Bausch & Lomb and Gannett Co already owning their own optical fiber lines, the benefits of owning versus subscribing to the local phone company are clear.

Traditionally, optical fiber lines were thought of as too expensive to own, and much too difficult to manage. It was also believed that only specially trained optics engineers were able to build and run the networks. However, owning is far cheaper than renting and a short-distance optical network is easy to handle for anyone who is familiar with IP networking gear.

Whether to utilize dark fiber or subscribe to a service from a local carrier often comes down to price. If you are spending from $7,000 to $10,000 per month on telecommunication services, you could potentially save up to 30 percent on your total network costs. But how can you save so much money through dark fiber?

During the 1990’s excessive amounts of fiber optical lines were laid underground, but were not put into use. To lay all of this fiber, phone companies, electric companies and municipalities had to disrupt the lives of their citizens and dig up miles of city streets. This was problematic for the public and thus, all open conduits were packed with as much fiber as possible, so that there would be less of a need to re-open the conduits in the future to install more fiber. 

Now with an oversupply of dark fiber, prices in fiber optical lines have declined and owning your own dark fiber network can cost less than subscribing to an outside service. Because of the decrease in price in dark fiber and newer, less expensive optical equipment, many midsize companies and cost-conscious fields such as education and health care can reap the benefits of dark fiber and buy the equipment required to run their own network on it.

Contact NEF today and to find a better, faster, cheaper network connection.

Connectivity to data centers is becoming increasingly important to businesses who are moving data centers off-site.

With the partnership between NEF and FindADataCenter.com, off-site data center locations will have ample network connectivity as well as the ability to interconnect headquarter locations to the data center. NEF's relationship with fiber connectivity providers will also create strong connections to interconnection sites. This is important because the addition of an interconnection node to your network radically reduces the cost of connectivity to sites outside of your network by offering you a vast number of options.  More carriers competing for the same business reduces cost. It also eliminates the costly last mile.

 

About FADC

Find A Data Center is your trusted resource for available data centers across the US, including details about individual data centers to inform you which might be best for your business. With an extensive network of over 600 facilities, they are bound to find the data center that is right for you.  More importantly, FindADataCenter.com completes the data center picture by taking into account connectivity information. Why choose a data center if you won't have an optimal network to connect your office to the data center location? FindADataCenter.com can help you avoid costly mistakes in data center selection by researching connectivity BEFORE you commit to a data center.

Search for a data center or contact FindADataCenter.com for more information. FindADataCenter.com -- your source for space!

 

5) Look at an interconnection site as well as a data center facility.  Most data center locations have a reasonable amount of connectivity options but no where near the number that interconnection site have.  What's the difference?  Data center locations are made to house servers and network gear, interconnection sites are places where your internal network meets the rest of the world.  Why is it important?  Adding an interconnection node to your network radically reduces the cost of connectivity to sites outside of your network by offering you a vast number of options.  More carriers competing for the same business reduces cost.  It also eliminates the costly last mile.  I would suggest that you look at a site like Telx as an example of a top interconnection facility.

NEF provides a number of tools that may be of assistance to enterprise customers.  Information can be found throughout our site, and at FiberLocator.com and FindADataCenter.com

A significant shift is occurring among enterprises. Because power in their existing space has become difficult to obtain and the cost of retail space continues to escalate, enterprises have begun to move their data centers from corporate or campus locations to
off-site data center locations. NEF, one of the nation's top telecommunication consulting
firm, has taken notice of this shift, and in doing so has noted yet another trend - the
need for reliable and affordable connectivity in those off-site data centers. NEF has
recently announced that it is partnering with Find A Data Center,  the leading resource for available data centers across the US, so that they may supply fiber networking to off-site data centers, while also bringing importance of reliable and affordable connectivity to the attention of
enterprise customers. 

 

When choosing and moving to an off site data center, enterprises often overlook its connectivity. In the evaluation stage, the enterprise will take notice of such familiar features as required square footage, access to the physical location, and power and cooling elements. However, network connectivity if often overlooked. By doing so, enterprise customers can greatly misinterpret their total cost. The cost to connect between different data centers can greatly fluctuate as much as 100%, and as the total cost to lease a data center equals the space plus the network connectivity, it is clear to see why evaluation of network connectivity it so important. In this two part series I will continue to discuss NEF's new partnership with Find A Data Center.