Scranton-area Data Center Creates Frantic Customers, Mass Colocation Migration In Northeast

21 Mar Scranton-area Data Center Creates Frantic Customers, Mass Colocation Migration In Northeast

By Jonathan Bentz, Marketing Manager

Scranton-area data center customers who utilize a local data center for their colocation received a surprising email yesterday morning informing them that the company is raising their prices AND moving their flagship data center – with all of its tenants – to a new facility in North Carolina by April 1.

The email cited cost increases in electricity and other expenses related to the colocation business as the reason for the rate increases and the move.

Per Web Hosting Talk, which first publicly published the email sent to customers yesterday…

Over the years the cost for electric has consistently gone up, as well as many other expenses surrounding the COLO business. We, up until now, have been absorbing the cost spikes. Also, this Scranton-area data center is one of the only providers that does not require a 36 month contract and does not charge the average $399.00 set up fees.

…

These changes will go into effect on your next billing cycle and your servers will be moved on Sunday March 30th 2014. You will receive another update with service downtime to accommodate the move. Assume your servers will be offline from 9PM ET Sunday March 30th until Monday March 31st 9AM ET.

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So What’s The BIG Deal? This Isn’t The First Data Center To Relocate, Right?

Fair question. And I’ll admit that occasional data center relocation in and of itself is not an uncommon phenomena. What is extremely alarming and seemingly far too optimistic about this move is the timing. According to the email sent to their Dunmore customers, the plan is to move all of the servers within one day with a mere 12 hours of downtime – for EVERY customer.

Now, I’m a glass half-full kinda guy… but C’MON!

Let’s do some quick guesstimating here…

• There is a total driving distance of at least 500 miles between the new data center state and the current Dunmore location – more if you go to a big city like Charlotte
• Estimated drive time is over 8 hours – and I will give benefit of the doubt that they don’t stop for bathroom breaks 🙂
• That then leaves 4 hours to:
  • setup each customer’s hardware into racks
  • connect power and ports
  • establish IPs
  • test and deploy

As you can see by my job title above, I’m not a member of the Infrastructure team at Netrepid – but I’m pretty sure their estimated downtime is almost impossible. And if the “marketing guy” is smart enough to see their projections are too good to be true, you think IT buyers can’t? 🙂

And Who Doesn’t Love A 10-Day Notice, BTW?!

Apparently every customer who uses a message board.

While the downtime clearly seems too optimistic, I didn’t even get into the short notice – the email alerting customers of the move came with a 10-day notice.

General response to the news on sites like Web Hosting Talk, LowEndTalk and vpsBoard of this move are none too pleasant, either. Needless to say – many current Scranton-area DC customers are now in a pinch to find a new colocation hosting solution. 

Oh… and they only have 5 business days to do it!

How Netrepid Is Helping Data Center Refugees Stranded By The Move

With a special, limited time offer to Stay In PA!

Starting today and running through April 30th, Netrepid is proud to offer our “Stay In PA” Colocation Special to displaced customers of PA-based data centers. Take advantage of our BEST RATES EVER to keep your data colocated in the Keystone State.

Here’s how it works: simply provide proof of your server’s former residence in Pennsylvania, and Netrepid will:

• Waive ALL setup fees for server hosting
• Cut our term lengths by OVER 30%
• Beat published competitor rates by as much as 20% PER MONTH with
  • Full Racks starting at $675/month
  • Half Racks starting at $375/month
  • Quarter Racks starting at $225/month
  • Single Servers starting at $75/month

While we understand data center relocation happens from time to time, the team at Netrepid doesn’t believe you should have to relocate your servers unless YOU want to.

To learn more about our Stay In PA Colocation Special, submit an RFP, contact us, or call 800.577.6981 and one of our team members will be happy to assist you.

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