[olug] Cox Issues Was: Cox sucks

[Daniel Linder]

On Thu, July 19, 2007 09:05, Dan Clough wrote:
> If I recall correctly, CoSentry used to be IP Revolution.  Their
> datacenter is in Bellevue on Fort Crook Rd and looks like it was a mall
> at one point.

Right on all accounts.  (I was one of the first two network engineers who
built the original facility.)

The name change from IPRevolution.net to CoSentry came about when the
telephone side of IPR was sold (that happened after I left).

Yes, the building is an old mall -- there are still some business inside
the mall.  The CoSentry side is actually part of the old parking garage
that was there in the 70's.  Thus, the cement floor is quite a bit thicker
(important when you have customers with rows of fully loaded 42U racks),
and slightly sloped (the raised floor above the cement is flat obviously).

It's tempting to say just charge "$XX per U" and be done with it, but the
math behind that number is complicated.  Building costs (heating,
electricity, rent, taxes), equipment maintenance (UPS batteries, AC
test/repair, fire suppression certification/test/repair), not to mention
the cost of the Internet connections (Have any of you priced what
connection from Qwest/Sprint/Cable&Wireless/Level3/etc cost!) all add up. 
And those are just the fairly consistent and budget-able costs.  You want
someone on call 24x7 to get the page when something breaks?  (And let me
tell you, you want more than two of those guys -- it's murder knowing that
when Engineer-A was up all night working on a BGP problem, the remainder
of the days duties have to be picked up by Engineer-B.)

Sadly, the cost that the basic "rack and pipe" solution was right at the
break-even point.  Once the hardware was paid for, the recurring cost of
power, Internet, AC, and salary really made up most of that cost.  When
you started getting customers who wanted to use the entire 100Mb
connection 24x7, then you had to raise their cost because they were taking
up 50% of an OC3.  In 2001, the cost of an OC3 (155Mbit) was over $30,000
per month!  If that customer wants to pony up $15,000 every month for
their 100Mb to the Internet I'd let them.  (Sam, if you know more current
rates for other providers at T1/DS3 rates, I'd be glad to know.)

Dan


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