We’re fortunate at RagingWire to be part of the global data center platform of NTT that reaches 20 countries. These data centers are in some of the great cities of the world, including: Amsterdam, Bangalore, Frankfurt, Jakarta, Johannesburg, London, Madrid, Mumbai, Paris, Sydney, Tokyo, Vienna and Zurich. It’s time to add Dallas to that list of great cities where big business meets high tech to create world-class data centers.
We opened our Dallas Data Center Campus in 2017 and made it “Texas-sized” – 42 acres with plans for more than 1,000,000 square feet of data center space and 144 megawatts of power. Phase 1 of the development included the TX1 Data Center with 230,000 square feet of space and 16 megawatts of power.
We also designed the campus with flexibility so that it can support a mix of hyperscale cloud deployments that are opening in Dallas, large enterprise IT shops which have been the bedrock of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex (DFW), and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, and big data.
We’ve made a good start in Dallas. TX1 gained worldwide recognition for its majestic blend of form and function, thanks to a global data center poll and awards conducted by Datacenter Dynamics.
What makes Dallas a great data center city? It meets all the requirements on your RFP short list for data center site selection. Power is low cost, reliable, and delivered on a dedicated power grid – one of only three in the U.S. There is excellent fiber and carrier connectivity (our data center is located in the famed “Telecom Road District” of DFW), two airports and extensive roads (RagingWire is off of the President George Bush Turnpike, a 52-mile highway with the latest phase delivered in 2011), and a business-friendly government and diverse economy. In addition to these “tangibles,” Dallas has the intangibles of a “can do” attitude and a culture that welcomes outsiders to give them a chance to make it in Texas.
Let’s take a deeper dive into some of the most popular aspects of Dallas, which stands today as the third-largest data center market in the U.S. behind Northern Virginia and Silicon Valley.
POWER: LOW-COST, RELIABLE, AND RENEWABLE
At around 4.2 cents per kWh, Dallas offers some of the lowest power rates available, especially compared to markets like New York and San Francisco which are over 13 cents per kWh. Data center customers in Dallas can choose from several options for power, which is a great benefit when compared to other locations where only a single provider is available.
Another huge advantage is that the power grid in Texas, managed by ERCOT (the Electric Reliability Council of Texas), is independent, which essentially reduces the risk of rolling power outages, enables higher reliability, and stabilizes energy prices. In addition, renewable energy packages are available in Dallas. Texas leads U.S. states in adding renewable energy capacity from wind and solar sources. Incredibly enough, Texas has enough wind capacity to rank No. 5 globally if it were an entire country.
ECONOMY: NOT JUST BUSINESS-FRIENDLY – IT’S BUSINESS-GENERATING
Texas has been named the best U.S. state for business by Chief Executive magazine for 14 years in a row, since the inception of the survey. Why? The people here believe they can solve any problem. “Yes sir, we can do that” is the most common reply to any business challenge.
There are hard financial attributes to Dallas as well. There is no state corporate income tax and real estate is affordable. In fact, the cost of doing business in Dallas is 4% lower than the national average, and exponentially lower than New York and San Francisco, according to Moody’s.
Companies looking to grow their business find encouragement around every corner. Forbes named the Dallas-Plano-Irving area as the No. 1 best U.S. city for job growth. The Kauffman Foundation put Dallas in the Top 10 in its Index of Growth Entrepreneurship. There are over 100,000 businesses in the area, and a deep labor pool of 3.8 million people is available for businesses looking to expand.
CONNECTIVITY: SEAMLESS ACCESS TO WORLD-CLASS CLOUD AND TELECOM
Dallas data center customers can easily connect to Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and the Google Cloud Platform using direct connections. Approximately 75 telecom providers are available through two major carrier hotels. There are more than 40 fiber providers in North Texas alone.
With this concentration of cloud, fiber, and bandwidth, data center customers can deploy the latest hybrid IT strategies with confidence. Performance is assured through private networks and multiple, configurable bandwidth options.
INNOVATION: A PERFECT SETTING FOR ADVANCED DATA SCIENCE COMPANIES
Advanced data science companies, particularly those in the fields of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data, are finding that Dallas is the place to be to foster their culture of innovation. As an example, we have a data analytics company using our TX1 Data Center to power its artificial intelligence (AI) platform for more than 125 clients around the world, and touts a 137% average client ROI. Could other data science companies achieve similar results by launching their platform in Dallas? Yes sir.
Clearly Dallas is a smart choice for data centers, whether your business is located in Texas or somewhere else in the country. So if it’s time to sunset your current data center, or you’re looking to expand into a new facility, take a good look at Dallas – it’s a cosmopolitan city where big business and high tech meet to create world-class data centers.