vXchnge Launches Philadelphia Data Center It Wants to Turn into Interconnection Hub

vXchnge, a data center provider formed by former Switch & Data executives that targets second-tier US markets, announced completion of its Philadelphia data center.

This is the 15^th data center in the company’s portfolio, which it has grown through both construction and acquisition. Its biggest expansion move to date was the acquisition of eight Sungard data centers announced in May.

vXchnge markets itself as an “edge data center” provider. Edge data centers are facilities in densely populated tier-two metros where demand for internet services is growing rapidly. They are facilities where major network carriers, ISPs, and most of the major web content and cloud service providers interconnect to exchange traffic. Content providers cache popular content at these locations so it can be served to end users in the surrounding metros cheaper than delivering it over long distances.

Read our recent in-depth feature on edge data centers here.

How many such players interconnect in vXchnge’s new Philadelphia data center the company doesn’t say. “We are not disclosing that information at this time,” vXchnge CEO Keith Olsen said in an emailed statement. He declined to say how many carriers or local ISPs are in the facility today.

It will be a carrier-neutral data center, however, and the company positions it as a place from which customers can reach the end-user eyeballs in the metro. Whether it can deliver on that positioning will depend on its ability to bring the key players into the facility.

Inside vXchnge's Philadelphia data center (Photo: vXchnge/Nell Hoving Photography)

The provider chose to expand in Philadelphia because of its population density, and because it is a major point of network interconnection between Washington, D.C., and New York City, Olsen said. With population of about 1.5 million, Philadelphia is the fifth-largest city in the US.

More on vXchnge's reasons for choosing Philly here.

vXchnge’s Philadelphia data center is a 70,000-square-foot facility with total power capacity of 2 megawatts. Olsen declined to disclose how much of that capacity is live and available for consumption today.

Stylish interior design in vXchnge's Philadelphia data center (Photo: vXchnge/Nell Hoving Photography)