Connectivity benchmarking

Sample data shows the world’s most connected data center facilities have more than 120 enterprise networks present and connect to at least 16 cloud access providers.

  • Tuesday, 19th January 2021 Posted 3 years ago in by Phil Alsop
TeleGeography, a global telecommunications market research and consulting firm, has launched its WAN Geography Benchmark tool to enable users to identify the most connected data center facilities across the globe and choose local and global hubs based on more than a million data points. The WAN Cost Benchmark offers detailed analysis of which data centers are the best fit for an enterprise’s preferences and locations. It offers customized recommendations for optimizing network architecture for the cloud, with a methodology that ranks data centers based on priorities set by the enterprise user. 

 

A sample dataset shared by TeleGeography evaluated data center connectivity and cost using 10 global cities based on their prevalence in real multinational enterprise networks. Cities included were: London, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, New York, Shanghai, Tokyo, Mumbai, Sydney, and Mexico City.

 

In this scenario, Equinix FR5 (Frankfurt), Telehouse London Docklands West (London), CoreSite LA1 (Los Angeles), MEGA-I (Hong Kong), and Equinix HK 1 (Hong Kong) had the highest number of carriers present at their facilities. Equinix FR5 leads the segment with 166 carrier networks available and 37 cloud access providers, offering enterprises a hyperconnected hub for local, global, and cloud connectivity.  

 

“Each data center facility has its own unique characteristics and offers different advantages. Network designers and managers have over 4,000 data centers and hundreds of carriers to consider when growing their international presence. The WAN Geography Benchmark delivers bespoke scoring for each facility based on an enterprise’s individual requirements. It removes the complexity from decision making and enables enterprises to develop business cases with reliable and trusted data,” said Greg Bryan, Senior Manager, Enterprise Research at TeleGeography. “We give enterprises the tools to understand the opportunity in each facility and build the networks they need.”

 

Top data center locations from this sample scenario—based on the model's scoring system, which takes into account distance (location within the metro area), carrier connectivity, cloud connectivity, and price—were: Coresite (in Los Angeles), SUNeVision (Hong Kong and Shanghai), TELEHOUSE (London), GPX Global Systems (Mumbai), and Equinix (London, Frankfurt, Mexico City, New York, and Sydney).

 

The WAN Cost Benchmark is powered by TeleGeography’s extensive research into the geography of carrier point of presence locations, data centers, cloud regions and on-ramps, and global bandwidth pricing.

 

“When it comes to selecting data centers and carriers to support a wide-area network, two major challenges are scale and competing priorities. Network designers and managers need to take a lot of factors into consideration such as office proximity, cost and connectivity. This can be a very timely and costly process without the right tools,” said Tim Stronge, Vice President of Research at TeleGeography. “Our WAN Geography Benchmark simplifies and automates the process and makes mission-critical data and insights immediately available. This empowers enterprises and enables them to find the right facilities for meeting their business objectives.”