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Secret Las Vegas Supercompany Serves All Major Carriers
Massive low cost broadband data center making plans to rule the world
There is a technology superpower operating in the heart of Las Vegas that almost nobody had heard about until now. Switch Communications is about to launch a massive data center (SuperNAP) which it got eight years ago after winning a bid for the major broadband infrastructure that had been set up by Enron. They got the broadband center for hardly any cost at all in a city where power and real estate are cheap and few locals draw on the bandwidth there (in comparison to larger cities where these data centers normally operate). This has allowed Switch to offer a low price to major businesses and as a result they have attracted business from all of the telecommunications providers in North America.
quote:
"Our biggest customers are saying we are selling space to them at 44 per cent less than all of their connections. And my agreements are not just about Vegas. I can order a link in Germany cheaper than anyone else can. "I can do this because we have some of the world's biggest companies looking to get into the SuperNAP. And the carriers are hearing about this and seeing the volume of bandwidth these customers want. And I can go and price out that bandwidth with a bunch of different carriers. So, carrier X comes and says, 'Okay, we'll play ball.' "You know, you can take wholesale, and we're 30 per cent below that. We are just alone in a very unique spot in the world because of the Enron building. We have clients that come in and save more on connectivity than they pay for the entire data center in a month. So, it almost makes their data center free."
The hope for the company is that a diverse group of businesses will come together in this one data center to move technology partnerships forward. For example, they hope to link casinos, carriers and content providers together for advances in IPTV. Some say that low prices aren’t enough for Las Vegas to be able to compete with major data centers such as those by Google and Microsoft but others are keeping a close eye on what’s to happen with Switch.
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George Kidd
join:2001-08-09
Vancouver, BC

George Kidd

Member

Switch?

Could this be just another "Bait" and "Switch" game?

N10Cities
Premium Member
join:2002-05-07
0000000
Asus RT-AC87

3 edits

N10Cities

Premium Member

Re: Switch?

said by George Kidd:

Could this be just another "Bait" and "Switch" game?
They are apparently legit....Slashdot has a thread going about them and a link to the same Register article as here... Sounds pretty impressive but a bit overkill on the security for simple co-location IMO....would be good for NSA or CIA uses.......

-edit-removed redundant link...

PGHammer
join:2003-06-09
Accokeek, MD

PGHammer

Member

Re: Switch?

Actually, I can understand the hypersecurity (and for private industry, not government). In fact, I can think of three industries that certainly would not mind such security for their offsite data centers:

1. Heath care (insurance companies and hospital groups).
2. Utilities (electric utilities in particular).
3. Law firms.

These are, in fact, the three major industries that have been wracked by scandals involving LACK of security around their data and/or networks. And you are going to gripe about a data center that actually takes corporate security seriously?
vito0910
join:2005-11-08
Orlando, FL

vito0910 to George Kidd

Member

to George Kidd
They are for real. I have dealt with them personally and I know they are no scam. They actually provide better service than most any other company in the space. (at least ones I have dealt with)

dadkins
Can you do Blu?
MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA

1 recommendation

dadkins

MVM

SkyNet?

Aw sh**!

C0deZer0
Oc'D To Rhythm And Police
Premium Member
join:2001-10-03
Tempe, AZ

C0deZer0

Premium Member

Re: SkyNet?

That cracked me up.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd to dadkins

Premium Member

to dadkins

or this!!!!
Would you like to Play a Game....

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

3 edits

FFH5

Premium Member

Switch's web site can be found here

»www.switchnap.com/

It is a private company and does not trade on any stock exchange:
»www.manta.com/coms2/dnbc ··· y_0mqy3x
Some say that low prices arent enough for Las Vegas to be able to compete with major data centers such as those by Google and Microsoft but others are keeping a close eye on whats to happen with Switch.
They have a long way to go to match up with Microsoft and Google:
»Huge # of Servers at the core of the internet
Google is said to operate a global network of about three dozen data centres with, according to some estimates, more than 1m servers. To catch up, Microsoft is investing billions of dollars and adding up to 20,000 servers a month.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd

Premium Member

Re: Switch's web site can be found here

does google offer hosting though? this company in the report is offering hosting, dont google data centers just service the google grid?

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

1 edit

FFH5

Premium Member

Re: Switch's web site can be found here

said by Kearnstd:

does google offer hosting though? this company in the report is offering hosting, dont google data centers just service the google grid?
They don't allow companies to bring in their own servers and then run them from a google data center. But they have just started allowing companies to build their own apps on google servers using a development kit. This is coming out of their labs just now and won't be full blown for months yet.

See this:
»code.google.com/appengin ··· ine.html

This is not the std Google Apps(spreadsheet, word processor, calendar, mail) that most people are familiar with. The APP Engine is a development platform for companies to build their own apps on google servers.

John Galt6
Forward, March
Premium Member
join:2004-09-30
Happy Camp

1 edit

John Galt6

Premium Member

Found It On Google Earth...?

Anyone find the new facility on Google Earth?

This is NOT the site:

4495 E Sahara Ave, Las Vegas, NV 89104-6333

Judging from the pictures on their web site, the facility should have a distinctive overhead footprint with all the cooling towers and generators around the periphery of the building.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd

Premium Member

Re: Found It On Google Earth...?

thats the upside to vegas, every large building has a bunch of cooling towers.
Px
join:2005-04-30

Px

Member

Its a front....

Their security is insane since they a large number of black ops working out of there it does not surprise me. Same with the floor plans and the paint jobs: Efficient and it works military style. And lets not aside the statement that 70% of their employees are former military personnel. I would never of thought to see a huge para/ black ops military complex right in the middle of Vegas.

spamd
Premium Member
join:2001-04-22
Cherry Valley, IL

1 edit

spamd

Premium Member

Switch Comics?!? - Yeah "privatly owned"

Come on really?

»www.switchnap.com/pages/ ··· ades.php

»www.switchnap.com/pages/ ··· high.php

With a P/R campaign like that, who can take them seriously. Sounds good if all you are going to do is collocate/host game servers.

This place screams "privatly owned". Imagine going to work and having to call your boss Core, NOC or Packet. If not you get fired.
spamd

1 edit

spamd

Premium Member

Re: Switch Comics?!? - Yeah "privatly owned"


Security Team
My favorite and most comical part is there crack pot "Security Team". So Super Heroes need security detail.
Yeah these guys are NOT living out a childhood fantasy. LMAO!!!

belawrence
They'll never let you in
join:2000-08-06
Santee, CA

belawrence

Member

not really impressed

Not much different than, say, Equinix.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

Wallet economics...

unless bill by the byte becomes the norm.. there isn't a whole lot of money in the tier-1 market for domestic internet. however, given there are major waves being made in the gasoline prices, food prices, and going on down the line tax increases coming in the form of whack a mole state mail-order gotcha's... the future isn't bright.. and this will over time erode consumption, not expand it.. so hold on,, not only is it going to be bumpy.. but we're gonna lose a few of you along the way.. (sad, but true). Whether it's not being able to afford cable-tv, cell phone, land-line, broadband internet, or other telecom products/services this will affect more and more people as time goes by.

If the conglomerates who own a majority chunk of Las Vegas think they can monopolize the tier-1 game, they're mistaken.. because the Arabs & Asians are investing heavily in the fiber infrastructure very quietly. Telcos & Cableco's are getting wise to this so they're building out peering links so they don't get overtaken by 3rd party companies. I still expect some impact from the downturn in the economy to halt some of this growth in unprofitable areas, so if you live in a black hole.. chances are it may stay that way for a while longer (unless your close in proximity to the top 100 major cities / fiber rights of way).

AnonProxy
Premium Member
join:2001-05-12

AnonProxy

Premium Member

If you are hearing of Switch for the first time...

You might as well hang it up as a "broadband" forum.