RCN opens new high-density colo site

RCN (NASDAQ: RCNI) today announced a new high-density collocation site at 165 Halsey Street in Newark, N.J., aimed in part at offering connections to major financial exchanges which are moving their data centers to New Jersey.

“We have 11,000 square feet at this facility, and what we have done is carved out about 3500 square feet as a high-density collocation site, with unique equipment for cooling and powering,” said RCN President Felipe Alvarez.

That equipment, known as Hot Aisle Containment Systems, enables a higher density of colo equipment to be deployed and, by combining that capability with high-bandwidth fiber connections, RCN is offering financial exchanges and what amounts to a high-speed extranet for connections.

“This allows the placement of the equipment, which is one integral component,” Alverez said. “Having a low-latency network with the most direct fiber route you can find into exchange locations, including data centers in New York City and the ones evolving out in northern New Jersey for trading engines and full production data centers for exchanges, is another important component.”

One financial exchange has already signed up for the collocation space, said Maura Mahoney, vice president of sales and marketing for RCN, and RCN has proposals in front of others. In addition, content and media companies, with their high-bandwidth traffic, are among the other customers being targeted.

The HACS technology has been used in private data centers, Mahoney said, but RCN believes it is first to use the technology in a public collocation spot in the U.S.

RCN is planning HACS deployment in other key sites, where it anticipates customer demand, Alvarez said. “It’s an expensive proposition, so we want to use this technology where it makes the most sense,” he said.