Ohio Data Centers Increasingly Call Cleveland Home

An increasing number of companies are choosing to develop Cleveland data centers in the hopes of benefiting from of a variety of industry advantages including easy access to fiber optic cable, cheap power and a climate with little extreme weather. The abundant rail lines that cover Cleveland are a big draw for data center providers, as they have been shown to be an ideal conduit through which to route fiber optic cable.

So advantageous are the rail lines, in fact, that ByteGrid CEO Ken Parent said his company is expanding and spending millions to renovate a data center on the edge of downtown Cleveland specifically to access the connectivity the city provides. Canton, Ohio-based SecureData 365 is expanding its operations into Cleveland for the connectivity as well, buying space in ByteGrid's data center for an initial $2 million.

Expedient Communications also announced in September that they will be building their second data center in 2015 in nearby Dublin, Ohio to take advantage of the access to fiber optic cable. When complete, the facility will cover a total of 60,000 square feet and cost $52 million.

IT companies like Rosetta and Brandmuscle are making entries into the Cleveland market in large part because of the city's high-speed Internet connections and fiber optic data, according to Tracy Nichols, director of Cleveland's Department of Economic Development. The city is also ideal for data center providers because it is home to a variety of industries that create vast amounts of data. Organizations in the healthcare sector, such as the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals, are major Ohio data center customers.

Inexpensive Power, Calm Weather Other Big Draws 
?Along with the convenient access to fiber optic cables, Cleveland is an attractive data center location because of the city's low cost of energy. While energy in the Northeast may cost between 13 and 16 cents per kilowatt, it only costs between 5 and 6 cents in Cleveland.

Cleveland's relative lack of extreme weather or natural disasters also makes it a reliable place to store digital information. Located in the Midwest, the city doesn't experience hurricanes or earthquakes, and other harmful occurrences like tornadoes and flooding are rare.