What is a carrier-neutral data center?

Carrier-neutral data centers are colocation data centers or hyperscale data centers that interconnect with a large range of connectivity suppliers. By using this type of data centers, businesses can outsource costly IT processes, freeing teams up to concentrate on other tasks.

When searching for data centers, companies should check if they are able to interconnect with customers and partners, have access to the preferred carriers as well as check the availability of other network providers in case of service expansions.

A carrier-neutral data center with a high density of networks can offer options based on your company-specific requirements.

What can a carrier-neutral facility offer?

Every business has connection requirements such as telecommunications, ISPs and more. Usually, most network providers are already present in the carrier-neutral facility. This allows companies to choose carriers that fit their unique needs. As such, carrier-neutral connectivity has several key benefits.

Carrier-neutral data center benefits

1. Efficiency

Using carrier-neutral data centers is usually more cost-efficient than having on-site servers or one’s own data center. Customers have the freedom to choose a range of network providers, allowing them to pick based on their requirements such as connectivity and security; instead of being in a non-carrier-neutral environment where an enterprise only has a few options for connectivity and for that reason, it can easily fall victim to limited bandwidth and high prices.

Data plays an increasingly important role in the world of business, and so enterprises need to know that their data will remain secure whatever the circumstances. More and more businesses are now hosting applications and storing data in carrier-neutral data centers. As physical security becomes a greater organisational priority, colocation in a carrier-neutral data center allows companies to safeguard business-critical data and hardware from loss, theft or damage.

However, the main benefit of carrier-neutral data centers is connectivity. Customers can connect to the servers of likeminded businesses in the same data center. This mitigates the risks of using the public internet and creates communities of interest.

Additionally, we see network effects for both the enterprise and the network. As companies with similar business goals connect to the same data center, more people benefit from these ‘points of presence’.

2. Dependable service

As well as improving efficiency, another crucial mandate of IT infrastructure is to avoid single points of failure.

In a modern, connected world where uptime is critical, carrier-neutral colocation facilities give businesses peace of mind. Customers can connect to other suppliers with agreed SLAs, benefiting from 99.999% uptime. By combining multiple ISPs and network providers, carrier-neutral colocation data centers offer redundancy and reliability – ensuring maximum uptime even if one supplier is experiencing issues.

There is also the added assurance of cross-connects. If your business depends on high speeds to react to ever-changing situations, cross-connects offer direct connections between servers. This helps to support interconnection requirements without increasing costs. Likewise, cross-connects allow businesses to bypass public internet, making their connection quicker and more secure.

Companies using carrier-neutral data centers benefit from a much more dependable service, protecting their revenue and reputation.

3. Freedom of choice

As businesses grow, their IT and connectivity needs change. Carrier-neutral data centers give companies the choice of using network providers that most suit those needs. When requirements change, companies can add additional network connections to be able to extend their services.

The overall benefit of carrier-neutral facilities is that they put the power in businesses’ hands. They have the freedom to choose suppliers based on investment, reliability, or scalability.

What Interxion carrier-neutral data centers provide

At Interxion, all of our data centers are carrier-neutral. We also have the highest density of connectivity providers of any European data center operator, giving our customers unrivalled access to a range of partners across all of our locations. The majority of network carriers are present in at least one of our data centers – if you’d like to find out more about specific carriers, you can request a connectivity list from us.

With more than 700 network carriers to choose from, you have the freedom to pick a supplier based on cost, reliability and reputation. We’ll even help you make your decision. You can find all our colocation data center specifications in our handy factsheets. Simply head over to our resource library, where you’ll also find information on sustainability, cloud migration and much more.

Learn more about Interxion on our website, or contact us today for more details.

Why choose Interxion

Connectivity - Connect how you need to whom you need with a single data center provider.

Coverage - Deploy where you need and Improve business performance by leveraging global digital ecosystems.

Control - Implement and operate the way you need to remove Data Gravity barriers.

Capacity - Host what you need how you need with consistent security and resilient performance.

*This content was originally published by Interxion: A Digital Realty Company.

What is a Carrier-neutral Data Center?