Brightlio Blog

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the City of Brotherly Love, is steeped in rich history and cultural significance. It has also emerged as a prominent technology hub, driving growth for the Philadelphia data center market. Philly’s robust connectivity infrastructure, strategic location, and affordable energy drive demand for Philadelphia data centers.

Dive in as we explore the many advantages of data center colocation in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia Occupies a Strategic Location

Philadelphia, PA, is the 6th largest city in the US. With a GDP of almost $500 billion, the region’s economy rivals countries like Thailand and Austria. The city is home to 13 Fortune 500 companies, including global communications provider, Comcast.

Philadelphia’s favorable geographic location places it at the crossroads of major East Coast markets. Nestled halfway between New York City and Washington, DC, Philadelphia serves as a gateway to two of the world’s most important and populace cities. Direct routes between Philadelphia and these key markets make the city an ideal disaster recovery and business continuity location.

Philadelphia’s inland location gives it a geographical advantage when considering potential natural disasters. Cities directly on the coast or in known flood zones are at a higher risk of being affected by hurricanes, storm surges, and flooding. Being more sheltered from the immediate brunt of such coastal events means Philadelphia data centers offer greater reliability.

Philadelphia is a Cost Effective Data Center Location

Philadelphia’s affordability advantage in the colocation market springs from its relative real estate and operational costs. While it boasts many of the infrastructural benefits of major metropolitan hubs, the city doesn’t carry the same premium price tag as neighbors like New York City or Washington, D.C. Land, construction, and maintenance costs are notably lower, which directly impacts the cost structure of establishing and running a data center.

With overhead reduced, colocation providers can offer competitive prices without compromising on service quality. Moreover, the general living expenses in Philadelphia mean lower salaries compared to cities with a higher cost of living. This translates to more affordable operational costs for colocation services, as human resources constitute a significant portion of ongoing expenses.

Philadelphia Provides Reliable and Sustainable Energy

Reliable power is the lifeblood of any colocation data center. In Philadelphia, the power infrastructure is notably robust, supported by a mix of traditional and increasingly renewable energy sources. This ensures that there is a consistent power supply and diverse sources of energy to draw from, minimizing risks associated with outages or disruptions from a single source.

Furthermore, the region has invested in its grid infrastructure, making it resilient from disruptions. For businesses, especially those that operate mission-critical applications, the continuous availability of power without interruptions is crucial.

Philadelphia, like many other cities across the globe, has been working towards a more sustainable and greener future. The city’s approach to green energy and sustainable infrastructure reflects both its commitment to environmental stewardship and its recognition of the economic and societal benefits of clean energy.

In 2021, the Philadelphia Energy Authority launched initiatives to amplify the city’s green energy efforts. Their endeavor towards achieving energy sustainability has created a conducive atmosphere for data centers to thrive, as these hubs can now access cleaner, reliable, and cost-effective power sources. The increased emphasis on green energy solutions reduces data center operational costs in the long run, ensuring businesses can align with eco-friendly practices and potentially benefit from energy tax incentives.

Philadelphia Offers a Robust Digital Network Infrastructure 

Philadelphia’s status as a significant network hub ensures that multiple major carriers and ISPs maintain a presence in the city. This diversity offers colocation providers the flexibility to forge peering arrangements or to switch providers if needed, ensuring optimal service delivery.

For their clients, this translates to customizable connectivity solutions, better resilience in the face of potential network issues, and, often, more competitive pricing. For colocation services, this means the ability to offer clients optimal performance and speed, especially when serving audiences in the densely populated Northeast Corridor.

Philadelphia houses several significant data centers and carrier hotels. Additionally, the presence of Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) within the city facilitates more direct and cost-effective data exchange between different networks. This reduces the need for data to travel longer, potentially more circuitous routes, ensuring lower latency and faster speeds.

Philadelphia Is Home to a Skilled Tech Workforce

At the heart of Philadelphia’s tech growth is its education system. The city has over 80 higher education institutions, including the prestigious University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University, and Temple University. These institutions have been the cornerstone of research and have consistently produced top-tier tech talent.

A recent report highlighted that the region has over 100,000 individuals employed in the tech sector, underscoring the depth of expertise available. These tech professionals make up about 5% of the city’s hired labor in 2023. Furthermore, Philadelphia’s tech ecosystem is saturated with multiple innovation centers, incubators, and tech meetups to foster a culture of continuous learning and collaboration. Organizations such as Philly Tech Week and Philly New Tech Meetup offer professionals opportunities to hone their skills, keep up with industry trends, and network with peers.

For data centers, this presents a dual advantage. They access a vast pool of skilled professionals in a city that continually nurtures its talent, ensuring the workforce stays technologically advanced.

Leading Philadelphia Data Center Options

With over 8,000 data center locations worldwide, finding a suitable data center can be challenging. If you are exploiting colocation pricing in Philadelphia, here are some highly recommended providers.

Netrality Data Centers

Netrality’s Philadelphia data center is located at 401 North Broad Street. The site boasts a sprawling 1,400,794 sq. ft. area, housing over 90 network operators. 

Integral to its design is its advanced cooling system, with a condenser water capacity of 3,600 tons (N+1), backed by generators.

Why we like Netrality:

• With diverse feeds from the Callowhill substation, they offer a robust 40,000 kW utility power.
• Compliance certifications like SSAE 16 SOC 1 & 2, HIPAA, and PCI assure optimal data protection.
• A 24/7 network operations center and extensive cooling system guarantee seamless operation.
• NetConnect IP transit connects to over 4,600 networks, including Azure and AWS.

365 Data Centers

365 Data Centers operates 20 colocation centers across the US, including Atlanta, Miami, Detroit, Chicago. Their Philadelphia, PA data center is located in the Penn Medicine Science Center, walking distance from both the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University. The site measures up to 20,500 square feet with 400 pounds per square feet of load capacity.

365 data centers is designed with a 150-ton cooling plant with N+1 redundant cooling system and a double-interlocked fire-suppression system.

Why we like 365’s Philadelphia data center:

• Their 24/7 surveillance, biometrics system, and robust infrastructure guarantee data safety.
• Energy-efficient operations, systems, and infrastructure make for a greener data center choice.
• They operate a nationwide fiber network and four cloud regions, supporting Fortune 500 companies and other mid-range businesses. 
• They also adhere to industry standards like HIPAA, PCI DSS, SOC 1 Type 2, and SOC 2 Type 2.

Equinix

Equinix stands as a titan in the data center market, facilitating colocation across the globe. With 200 facilities across 52 markets, covering 21 million square feet, they stand out as top-tier leaders in colocation excellence. Their Philadelphia data center is located at 401 North Broad Street in center city.

Equinix focuses on key internet hubs, establishing strong data center clusters in places like Northern Virginia, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, and Dallas.

Why we like Equinix:

• Equinix’s carrier-neutral stance allows clients to choose from many network providers, ensuring redundancy and optimized connectivity.
• Their data centers often have N+1 or 2N redundancy for power and cooling, ensuring high availability. 
• They provide backup generators, UPS systems, and high-density power configurations to ensure a consistent power supply.
• Equinix offers rapid data transfer rates of 20 milliseconds or less to all key metro regions across the globe.
• Vast tech ecosystem that includes cloud and networking solutions from almost all major providers.

Brightlio Delivers Solutions for Colocation in Philadelphia

If you’re looking into colocation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Brightlio can help. As a leading telecommunications and colocation broker, we use our extensive data center network to offer our customers competitive pricing tailored to their. Whether your business needs a partial rack, full rack, cage, or suite, we have services that meet your needs.

In addition to colocation, Brightlio offers cloud services, network connectivity, unified communications, and advisory services. This allows us to deliver a comprehensive portfolio of technology services for your business.

Ready to bolster your business’s tech strategy? Contact the Brightlio team to get started today!