The St Cloud Times recently ran an informative article on data centers. I suspect most people reading this article know what a data center is – but the highlight is that it’s a global industry with nothing but room to grow and a great use of fiber.

Here’s what the article says about date centers and infrastructure…

A data center also needs to be relatively close to a fiber optic network to allow access to multiple service providers.

The Corporate Center has access to more than a dozen fiber optic service providers. And striving to be a carrier neutral data center, Unger said potential clients will have access to most network providers.

“There is a 10-foot fiber ring around the area (around the Corporate Center),” Unger said.

This, coupled with the strong structural integrity of the building, made the Corporate Center the logical place for Unger to expand Vaultas in St. Cloud.

Something to think about as you look for partners in your community to support a fiber build out or help make better use of fiber. The article is a quick primer on the basics of a data center – a potentially persuasive resource for your toolkit. The article points out that Minnesota has some advantages over other parts of the world due to lack of natural disasters. We’ve seen Eagan and Duluth make good homes to data centers.

For a community, a data center can be a good anchor tenant for the infrastructure.