Saturday, September 13, 2008

Synacor / Internap P.R. - some comments

Synacor, Inc. was created in 2001, with company headquarters established in Buffalo, NY. Synacor has become a leader in progressive corporate culture and is a beacon for a burgeoning growth among U.S. technology and Internet companies. Synacor's forward thinking enabled us to build a flexible provisioning platform, enabling comprehensive delivery to Internet broadband service providers like you.

Being headquartered in Buffalo, Synacor went for Switch and Data:

>>August 22, 2005 – Tampa, Florida – Switch and Data today announced that Synacor, a provider of technology supporting the delivery of bundled online services, will use Switch and Data’s Buffalo data center as part of its network.

“We are a mission-critcal content provider serving many of the largest broadband providers in the country. We have found Switch and Data to be a proven leader,” said Adam Howell, Manager of Network Engineering at Synacor. “With several million users on the Synacor network and stringent service level agreements with its clientele, Synacor needed to ensure that its Network Operations Center (NOC) would have conditioned diverse power and not have to worry about HVAC disasters. Switch and Data was Synacor’s logical choice. Synacor needed a company that could accommodate its rapid growth and allow it additional options for facilities nationwide.”

In its IPO filing, Synacor mentions only one data center, but in other filings they committ themselves to a Disaster Recovery data center:

>>The following disaster recovery plan is specific to Client and must be implemented/undertaken by Synacor as described herein.

Overview:
Synacor must back up all data, software, and configurations every twenty-four (24) hours to an offsite location at least one hundred (100) miles from Synacor’s primary data center/the location at which the Disaster (defined below) is expected to occur, is occurring or has occurred such that should a Disaster occur, such data, software, and configurations can be installed on hardware at a new data center. The new data center will initially be a third-party managed hosting provider.

A similar agreement:

>>Overview:
All data, software, and configurations will be backed up every twenty-four (24) hours to an offsite location such that should a disaster occur, they can be copied to and installed at a new data center. The data center could be an Adelphia data center with appropriate hardware available or at a third party location such as Rackspace.

>>Data Center Facilities
We currently operate and maintain a data center, which is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and a network operations center. Both our data center and network operations center are located in a shared facility operated by Switch & Data Facilities Company, Inc. in Buffalo, New York. The network operations center houses all production and development systems that represent the operations center of the services and products delivered to our customers. All systems are fully monitored for reporting continuity and fault isolation. The data center and network operations center are in a physically secure facility using monitoring, environmental alarms, closed circuit television and redundant power sources.

From the P/R:

>>Synacor is a high-growth business and the company could not afford the intermittent network reliability, low-power data center space and price escalations found with some providers, said Adam Howell, director of networks and IT operations for Synacor. We evaluated 26 data centers in seven states before selecting Internap. With Internap, we get an integrated solution from a trusted company that saves us money and improves the reliability of our Web portals and Internet tools. Switching to Internap is the most important IP operations project we will complete this year.

The "price escalation" comment is interesting. Geeting a sweeter deal with Internap?

Let's also have a look at the outage comment:

>>
There isn't a lot in Buffalo, however there are a few:

Switch & Data
ShatterIT
Matrix Telecommunications
Digicon (out of business?)
Ronco Communications

The main carrier hotel for Buffalo is the Main Place Tower at 350 Main St. All of those except for one are hosted there.

Switch & Data recently had a power outage (15-30 minutes, during a generator test) and as a result a few of their large customers are looking elsewhere. Depending on your view and uptime needs, it's either a chance to negotiate good terms or a reason to stay away.

05-03-2008, 05:38 PM

The We evaluated 26 data centers in seven states before selecting Internap" comment is very nice, however, Internap does not specify if the data center(s) chosen is one of Internap "own" data centers or just a partner site (you might assume it's an Inap center, as obviously a comment indirectly saying that an Equinix or Main 365 data center is a great one wouldn't be put on a P/R, but sometimes some more disclosure would help. Old problem with Internap). Just as a small reminder, margins are different depending on the fact that the customer is using a partner or own Internap site.

Uwink blog update - Mt. View

I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted, but that doesn’t mean exciting things aren’t happening at uWink, it just means that there’s a lot going on and most of it we can’t talk about just yet. Since we last updated this blog, we opened uWink Hollywood (see the press release for more info on how cool it is), hosted a couple of press nights, and had Nolan talk at various conference around the world. We are working on installing our technology in a senior center, and we are working night and day to open uWink Mt. View.

uWink Mt. View will be located on


Castro Street

in the heart of Silicon Valley. It’s a great location and we are training the staff now. We’ve had a lot of buzz around the Mt. View location, not from the press but from the folks on the street who pass by the location and see pictures of the terminal. You all should know that Mt. View is home to Google, and Apple is just 10 minutes away.

Castro Street

is known as a place to go for lunch as well as dinner in the area. On

Castro Street

you can find almost any kind of Asian food: Korean, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, etc. uWink will be the American Food restaurant on the street and for that we are excited.

Anyway, we’ll try to keep you all updated more consistently on this blog, but please forgive us if we are heads down working. Happy Back to School!

Alissa

Friday, September 12, 2008

KPN - Equinix

KPN is the leading telecommunications and ICT service provider in the Netherlands, offering wireline and wireless telephony, internet and TV to consumers and end-to-end telecom and ICT services to business customers.

At March 31, 2008, KPN served over 35 million customers, of which 27.5 million in wireless services, 5.3 million in wireline voice, 2.4 million in broadband Internet and 0.6 million in TV. With 25,925 FTEs (43,409 FTEs including Getronics), KPN posted revenues of EUR 3.6bn and an EBITDA of EUR 1.2bn in Q1 2008. KPN was incorporated in 1989 and is listed on the Amsterdam and Frankfurt stock exchanges, having recently delisted from the New York and London stock exchanges.

Dallas GigE Exchange:
206.223.118.75 dlls-s1-rou-1001.US.eurorings.net

Ashburn:

206.223.115.182 ahbn-s1-rou-1001.US.eurorings.net

Chicago:

206.223.119.95 chg-s1-rou-1001.US.eurorings.net

S. Jose:

206.223.116.99 sjca-s1-rou-1001.US.eurorings.net

How Haptics Will Change the Way We Interact With Machines

Popular Mechanics:

>>
Moving haptics out of the lab can be challenging. Tactile feedback in consumer electronics must be both convincing to the user and appropriate for the device.

The medical application of haptic technology is perhaps the most compelling. Immersion and SensAble Technologies create several training machines that give tactile feedback to surgeons as they learn procedures such as endoscopy and laparoscopy.

If the current wave of haptic innovation is any measure, reaching Okamura’s goal is only a matter of computer processing power and time. Engineers developing tactile feedback systems believe that current products are only the beginning of a much larger trend. “In general, I think haptics today is where the Internet was in the early ’90s,” says Tom Anderson, the CEO of Novint. “Not that many people know about it, but it’s one of the few technologies we’ll see in our lifetime that fundamentally changes computing.”

Click to enlarge
+ Click to enlarge

The Nokia Haptikos Web pad prototype uses piezo actuators mounted beneath its touchscreen to produce vibrations and pulses. The screen has a 0.1-mm movement that is independent of the device body itself, allowing for highly accurate feedback. When the screen is touched, it can produce sensations that mimic the different stages of pressing a physical button, from pushing down to letting go. Nokia expects to include the technology in a product coming this year. (Diagram by Gil Ahn)

Inuk and Move Networks Partner to Take Internet TV to the Next Level

via CDN Evangelist:

>>Inuk Networks, the triple-play service provider, and Move Networks, the leader in Internet television services, today announced a strategic partnership that aims to revolutionize the Internet television experience for service providers, content owners and consumers.
Under the agreement, Inuk will integrate Move Networks' video publishing system, including Move Simulcode and Move Adaptive Stream, to deliver a combined solution using Inuk's igloo virtual Set-Top Box solution for PCs and Macs. Inuk will also offer a complete wholesale solution for content owners and platform operators, including the combined technology solution plus hosting, systems integration, billing, play-out, support and CDN services.
This will mean content owners and platform operators can not only offer an Internet television experience with high-fidelity video images and a near-instantaneous start, but now can add a standalone TV application offering a full Electronic Programme Guide (EPG), channel change using keyboard or IR/Bluetooth remote, on-screen overlays and picture in picture features.

Datacentre d’Equinix à St Denis

>>Parmi les réponses à l’appel d’offre la proposition d’Equinix, bien que n ‘étant pas la mieux placée sur le plan financier, s’est distinguée sur plusieurs critères, d’abord par une réponse précise aux besoins exprimés puis par son expertise et son service à la carte et enfin par l’emplacement et la qualité technique de son Datacentre de St Denis. Autre point positif le site d’Equinix est raccordé à de multiples réseaux d’opérateurs télécoms, de plus Equinix est certifiée ISO9001 :2000 pour tous ses Datacentres

Après avoir réservé en décembre 2007 une surface privative de 60 m2, Nerim s’est installé dans le nouveau Datacentre d’Equinix à St Denis bénéficiant d’infrastructures modernes et performantes en avril 2008.

« Après l’installation de nos premiers serveurs, nous avons apprécié, le haut niveau d’équipement qu’il s’agisse d’électricité, de refroidissement, de sécurité et la réalité des prestations de service offerte par Equinix. Nous avons donc rapidement pris la décision de faire évoluer cette salle en site backbone » indique Christophe Carel président directeur général de Nerim

Aujourd’hui Nerim a installé une infrastructure réseau de 10 gigabits sur une boucle en fibre noire reliant les différents Datacentres hébergeant ses serveurs, l’ensemble étant relié au backbone constitué de routeurs Cisco 7600 installés entre autre chez Equinix. Cette nouvelle infrastructure va permettre à Nerim d’accompagner la croissance de ses clients et leurs besoins en connectivité.

Nerim qui a installé à ce jour 6 baies de serveurs et d’équipements réseaux prévoit d’accroître rapidement son implantation chez Equinix car il dispose d’une capacité d’installation d’une trentaine de baies. Cette organisation permet donc à Nerim de se concentrer pleinement à son métier d’opérateur et d’assurer un service de qualité à ses clients en bénéficiant d’une infrastructure fiable et sécurisée, surveillée 24/24h, 365j /an.

Les exigences de Nerim en matière de qualité de service et de disponibilité du système ont pu trouver très largement réponses auprès des services qu’offre Equinix. Nerim reconnaît en Equinix un partenaire qui a su s’adapter à ses contraintes métiers.

« Notre premier retour d’expérience nous permet de confirmer notre satisfaction d’avoir choisit Equinix, la qualité des prestations la disponibilité et la flexibilité de ses services répond parfaitement à nos attentes. » Précise Christophe Carel

Internap Somerville facility

from American City Business Journals, Inc:

>>
“They are less interested in a greener environment than having their power costs go down,” said Mike Frank, vice president for data center services at colocation firm Internap Network Services Corp., which provides data centers worldwide, including a facility owned by CRG West in Somerville and one being built nearby.

Frank said that data center customers are concerned about saving on energy costs — 40 percent of which goes to cooling — and ensuring that a colocation firm is able to provide enough power and space to grow their applications.

Frank said the new, 50,000-square-foot Somerville facility will take advantage of Boston’s cold weather, drawing cold air into the building rather than relying only on air conditioning. The roadblock in the past had been that cold air is dry, leading to static electricity. The evolution of ultrasonic humidification equipment now allows Internap to more efficiently add moisture to outside air. Other new technologies allow Internap to draw hot air from the ceiling, cool it with air conditioners and move it down through walls to where it can blow out across the floor.

Accuray - news and comments

Yesterday, Aray announced that the CFO resigned. Although this is usually perceived as bed news by the financial community, there are comments in the opposite directions on the Yahoo board.

This is an interesting post from a long time follower of the Company, posting under the nickname PauvrePapillon, describing also a meeting with Aray CEO:

>>Meeting with Dr. Thomson... Moving Forward with Ms. Grey.

First a brief word about our so-called competition. No, neither RapidArc nor Novalis are comparable to CyberKnife. They are both gantry-mounted machines. These devices do not have the six-degrees of freedom necessary to create the complex treatment patterns necessary for optimum delivery of radiation and compensation for patient movement during treatment. When they say 360 degrees, they are actually referring to 180 degrees within a single plane. CyberKnife can fire from 180 degrees within multiple planes, basically from any direction to any direction although as a practical matter, beams are generally not fired from beneath the patient.

Yes, these bogus reports absolutely do affect the share price… and not for the better.

I met with Dr. Thomson one-on-one for about an hour week before last in Sunnyvale. It was a very cordial and informative meeting. Dr. Thomson gave me additional background and detail on a variety of issues.

You might find it interesting that Dr. Thomson started out as an advocate for CyberKnife working in the therapeutic radiation department of a hospital. He participated (as a CyberKnife customer) at the first meeting of the CyberKnife Society at which the total attendance was eight persons including Dr. Adler.

Dr. Thomson did not show up on Accuray’s doorstep trying to figure out how best to cash in. After getting to know him through the CyberKnife Society, he was recruited by Dr. Adler because he understands the technology and has a resume that fits in very nicely with what is required to head up Accuray. The fact that he came to the company first as a CyberKnife user, not only gives him credibility as a advocate for the technology, it also gives him the perspective of seeing Accuray from the customer's point of view.

One of the reasons why Accuray’s business model has developed along the lines of an R&D partnership with its end users stems from Dr. Thomson’s hospital experience. He knew that upgrades would be a big issue. Hospitals put off buying new technologies when they fear that important upgrades are just around the corner.

Dr. Thomson turned this problem into an opportunity by setting up the service/upgrade program that enables end users to keep their equipment state-of-the-art while providing a recurrent income stream for Accuray. He strengthened end users’ commitment to the program and enhanced Accuray’s R&D effort by establishing a strong clinical development program that partners with end users to assist in the further development of the platform.

This approach has been extremely successful not only in terms of developing Accuray’s recurrent revenue as well as enhancing its R&D program but has also resulted in a higher and more uniform standard of care throughout the CyberKnife network worldwide.

One of the first issues that Dr. Thomson attempted to address, even before he was an Accuray employee, was that of standardized protocols. The consensus at the time was that you would never be able to get all these cutting edge CyberKnife teams to agree to standard protocols. They were all experimenting trying to find the best treatment patterns. Dr. Thomson correctly understood that without standardized protocols, excellent results would not be able to be easily reproduced. After numerous heated discussions, the consensus began to shift and today we operate with standard protocols throughout the system so that good results can indeed be replicated.

One of CyberKnife’s significant advantages over DaVinci is that treatment patterns can be replicated exactly. Yes, DaVinci helps but at the end of the day still relies on the surgeon to execute the operation. CyberKnife is completely automated. Once the optimum treatment patterns are discovered, they can be replicated at any CyberKnife Center independent of the skill (or lack thereof) of the individual surgeon.

One of the first major issues that Dr. Thomson needed to address after coming over to Accuray as its CEO was that of manufacturing time and consistency. We were bringing in components from various vendors, testing them and assembling them in Sunnyvale. One problem was that we were doing too many activities in a linear fashion. We needed to do subassemblies in parallel. Further, we were having problems with component failures to such an extent that our manufacturing times, slow as they were, had also become totally unpredictable.

Dr. Thomson revisited both the component assembly schedule and Accuray’s relationships with its vendors. Each major component would now be assembled independently. Further, instead of taking in units that were not up to speed, testing them at Sunnyvale and then sending them back for replacement, Dr. Thomson set up a new system whereby the vendors were given a stringent set of tests that they were required to perform before shipping the units to Accuray. The units are still tested again at Sunnyvale but now the failure rate is nil. This is better for Accuray and better for the vendors as well. Now, this may seem like an obvious move, a lot of moves seem obvious after they are completed, but the point is it hadn’t been done, it needed to be done and Dr. Thomson got it done.

Another refinement was that teams were set up to concentrate on each component of the system such that one group was focused on the imaging system, another on the linac and so on. This has resulted in a stepped up rate of innovation as well as a smoother manufacturing process.

One particular success is that of increasing the power of the linac. Schoenberg, the original designers of the miniature linac, created that technology for a non-medical industrial use. They were making money off their design in that field of use and had no real interest in applying the sort of energy, expense and focus necessary to further the linac’s development along the lines that would be of greatest benefit to CyberKnife. Not only that, they didn’t really believe that the power output of their miniature linac could be significantly increased. Schoenberg was getting royalties from Accuray, to whom they had licensed the medical field of use, and they were content with that deal.

Solution: Buy out Schoenberg and take their medical version linac, both ownership and development, totally in house.

Why did Schoenberg agree to sell out to Accuray? I don’t know. That’s something I’ll try to get into with Drs. Thomson and Adler perhaps at this year’s annual meeting.

The bottom line here is that, under Dr. Thomson’s leadership, Accuray was able to obtain outright ownership of its linac technology and, subsequently, improve the design such that the output was significantly increased. Further, we now have a manufacturing system that is highly reliable in terms of quality control as well as efficiency and predictability of output. This is called measurable and substantive progress and Dr. Thomson is, and has been, right in the middle of it.

We also discussed the whole financing issue. Here are a few details that I feel appropriate to disclose at his juncture.

One, I know of one very credible group that is interested in assisting Accuray with financing for their CyberKnife placements. They had met with McNamara but those discussions were going nowhere. I remember when I decided that there was no way that McNamara was going to work out. It was during one of those meetings at which I was present.

Just to keep both sides on track, I asked McNamara if it would be helpful for Accuray if the group, represented by another gentlemen seated at the conference table, would be willing to come into certain transactions with an equity investment that would bring the credit worthiness of certain shared-ownership system operators up to a level where they could then get more or less conventional lease financing to buy Accuray out of these deals… pretty simple and straightforward question, right, the sort of question that makes sense to ask when you are trying to find common ground and bring two parties together on a deal, right? You would figure that question would get either a simple “yes” or a “no” followed by an explanation of why it wouldn’t work, right?

What McNamara did was go off on a convoluted, round Robin Hood’s barn analysis that was only marginally related to what we were even talking about. No “yes”. No “no”. Not even a hint really as to whether he was leading to a yes or a no.

Now, as he was going through this, let’s call it a process, it dawns on me. He’s not really trying to piss me off. He’s not consciously trying to be evasive. It’s just his basic instinct to be evasive. It’s just who he is. Now, to test this theory, I, literally, let him go on for as long as he wanted and I discretely, I hope, timed him... for nearly 12 minutes.

Then, I politely but firmly returned to the question and, after several repeats, and about 20 minutes out from the original question, I finally got a simple “yes”. At which point, I said to him, and from memory, I believe this is more or less verbatim, “Look, this is exactly how you alienate the analysts in these conference calls. Look at what just happened. I asked you a simple question and you went off on a tangent that just reeks of evasiveness. Do you really have to do that? Do you really see that as working? Why couldn’t you have just said 'yes' in the first place and then, if you felt a more detailed answer was necessary, follow up with your qualifiers and contingencies?”

His response? A very curt, and again, I believe this is more or less word-for-word, “The answer was too obvious.”

Oh, so you figure it’s beneath you to clarify exactly where Accuray stands on certain issues so that we can move a discussion forward with less chance of a misstep or misunderstanding? No, I didn’t say that. But everyone at the table thought it. And it was right then and there that I also said to myself, this guy is never going to work out, not at Accuray and probably not anywhere at least in terms of the CFO chair at a publicly traded company.

And, yes, I went through this whole scene with Dr. Thomson and others and, yes, I’m feeling really good about getting Ms. Grey into and Mr. McNamara out of that CFO position.

It’s not only the conference calls. It’s also the financing. Now that McNamara is out, I believe that certain deals will be revisited and, ultimately, put together with the end result being more financing options for CyberKnife buyers.

Now, to the issue of the hospitals versus the freestanding centers and the related financing issues. When you make a sale to a hospital, it’s not just a question of getting the physicians on board. That’s just the first step. Then you need to get a whole host of constituencies on board as well. So what was happening was that Accuray’s sales people would get the docs on board but as soon as they encountered resistance at any administrative level, they would go straight to plan B which was, why not just set this up as a freestanding center? And that seemed to be the easiest way to do it.

But then the billing and reimbursement arrangements became problematic in that regulators began cracking down on hospitals billing directly for offsite diagnostic procedures and, even though CyberKnife is a therapeutic and not a diagnostic procedure, there were concerns, particularly from financing sources, that these CyberKnife deals might be effected and, if they were, then they might not make economic sense.

Now, the short-term solution, which management discussed two conference calls ago, was to redirect their sales force to focus on in-hospital deals… and to scrub these freestanding deals from their backlog. And that’s what they’ve done.

But the reality is that these are still viable deals. There is still both a patient demand and a physician interest in doing these deals. So there are two ways to go. Get back into process with hospital management, solve the issues and close the deals is one. The other is to restart these deals as freestanding centers once the regulatory environment has been clarified.

Now you don’t have to necessarily pick A or B. You can work on A and go to B if A gets held up or if B just becomes too attractive not to pursue. But the point is these are still viable deals and, sooner or later, one way or the other, these locations are going to have their own CyberKnife Centers. So it is my opinion that at least the contingent portion of the backlog is actually undervalued and to a significant degree.

After going through all these issues, and others, with Dr. Thomson, I am convinced that we have an excellent fit here for both Accuray and Dr. Thomson. He has a sincere passion for the technology and especially for the benefits, both immediate and future, that CyberKnife brings to the patient. He is very, very good at explaining the technology and can take it down to whatever level of detail you want. He is also an astute businessman with a very unique and insightful point of view as to how to make this company work as a business. He has already added enormous value to both the operational structure and the business model and beyond that he has the right instincts both in terms of how to deal with people and how to make things work. Yes, he was loyal to a fault in that he continued to give McNamara way too many second and third and fourth chances. But we’re past that now and moving on.

I guarantee you that not only is the next conference call going to be handled much differently, you are going to start to see a sea change in the way that analysts relate to this management team. As I said to Dr. Thomson, you come out and make a very open and convincing, concise and compelling case for Accuray and CyberKnife and then McNamara takes the floor and immediately casts doubt, suspicion and confusion over everything that you have just worked so effectively to establish. So that’s over with. Hallelujah! And, yes, it’s going to make a huge difference.

And we won’t even have to wait for the next conference call. Dr. Thomson and Ms. Grey are going to present at the ASTRO investor conference and at the UBS conference two days later. Last year, we got a bump, as we always have when Dr. Thomson presents, even though we had McNamara following up with his usual routine. This year, even if we only get a neutral performance out of Ms. Grey, that will be an improvement but I have sources and even though I have never met Ms. Grey, based on my sources both within and outside Accuray, I am predicting an outstanding performance on her part. So now with a true one-two punch, we are finally going to get the full benefit out of these investor conference opportunities.

Now I’m still pressing for that animated video. I would really like to have it ready for ASTRO.

If you want to help, send Tom Rathjen an email and tell him you want to see this CyberKnife versus gantry-mounted device thing cleared up once and for all. Tell him that you are damn sick and tired of seeing these bogus press releases out there confusing the market as to what SRS is and what sort of equipment you need to have in order to do it. Tell him that Accuray has actually made great progress since the shares were bid up over $30 by investors that correctly understood the technology to be unique and that we can get some if not most of that back if we can only reestablish the understanding that CyberKnife holds a unique technological advantage in this market. Tell him that you are excited to see the CFO issue finally resolved and are anxious to see both Dr. Thomson and Ms. Grey get off to a great start (or restart at the case may be) and that ASTRO is the perfect venue for that and the animated video will help immensely

And, by the way, also tell Tom that we need Dr. Thomson to get to as many investor conferences as will have us. He does a great job at those. We have seen a bump in our share price, literally, ever single time he has presented at an investor conference. Especially now that we have jettisoned our anchor, we need him out there promoting our stock and our technology.

So that’s my pitch. No, I’m not taking credit for getting rid of McNamara but, yes, that was part and parcel of my activist shareholder agenda so, wherever you want to lay the credit or the blame, fine with me. I am just real pleased to see that change finally happen.

Now, we need that video. So let’s keep the pressure on.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

inQ - Equinix

>>While employing carrier-grade hosting facilities at Equinix, Inc. that can support tens of thousands of simultaneous chat sessions 24/7, inQ offers its customers quick and easy integration compatible with any Internet browser.

ABOUT INQ
inQ is the world leader in pay-for-performance chat solutions. Its live chat solution humanizes the online experience by engaging with targeted online shoppers and replicates a quality in-store assisted shopping experience. By utilizing state-of-the-art, proprietary technology as well as trained and experienced online representatives, inQ offers sales and support solutions that are completely customized and continuously optimized to meet each client's specific needs. Increases in overall online revenue are between 20% and 30% within 90 days of launch of the inQ solution. inQ clients include AT&T, Sprint, Virgin Media, Vonage, Rogers, Wyndham Hotels, Gamefly, Guthy Renker and other leaders in the telecom, cable, retail, travel, media, and financial services industries in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom. More information can be found by visiting www.inq.com.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

We now offer Internap bandwidth standard with all of our servers.

QuickPacket Bargain Servers Sale! - Dedicated Servers

QuickPacket is located in the CyberWurx data center at 56 Marietta in Atlanta, GA. We now offer Internap bandwidth standard with all of our servers. We also have TeliaSonera and CyberWurx for redundancy, but all traffic goes to Internap by default.

[QuickPacket]
Virtual & Reseller Hosting, Data Backup, Dedicated Servers, Co-location
Located in 55 & 56 Marietta in Atlanta, GA
Now offering Internap bandwidth!

QuickPacket was founded in July 2003, and later incorporated as a Limited Liability Company in October 2004. QuickPacket is a privately owned and operated company with no long term debt. Our team is made up of industry veterans with years of experience in business and telecommunications.

CDN update

two articles from Telecom Rumblings, both worth a look:

>>Which IP Network Will Enter the CDN Biz Next?

So far, there are four IP network providers which have entered the CDN business. AT&T has its own offering whose effect remains hard to gauge. Level 3 bought Savvis’s CDN assets and has made lot of noise lately. Internap bought VitalStream and Reliance Globalcom partnered with them. Yesterday, Tata unveiled its new CDN and increased its ties with BitGravity. That makes two of the top 10 IP backbones, two Indian carriers, and a tier-3 boutique specialist.

>>Tata Enters CDN Space Via BitGravity


It remains to be seen just how Tata will attack the CDN space, so the effect of this announcement on the market leaders is still quite unclear. However, it seems certain that we should not discount the Indian carriers - they mean business and they have money to spend.

Why BitGravity Attracted Tata

a BusinessWeek article on Bit Gravity and TATA (emphasis added):

>>Tata joins a growing number of communications providers in seizing on CDN.
Until last year, market leader Akamai Technologies (AKAM) had scant competition, except from rival Limelight Networks (LLNW). But then Level 3 Communications (LVLT) joined the fray in 2007, followed by AT&T (T) in June of this year. A month later, Reliance Globalcom, another big Indian carrier, cut a deal to tap the CDN operated by Atlanta-based Internap Network Services. On the heels of the Tata BitGravity hookup, analysts say, are British Telecom (BT) and Verizon Communications (VZ).

Akamai, for instance, caches the more popular content close to the people who want it. The Cambridge (Mass.)-based company has well over 50% of the market and more than 30,000 servers in locations around the world to handle everything from iTunes downloads for Apple (AAPL) to NCAA hoops tourney clips for CBS (CBS).

Akamai wannabes such as BitGravity take a different, more centralized approach. Rather than focusing on the actual miles traveled by data, these companies employ heavy-duty gear and sophisticated software to ensure content takes the most efficient path, however distant its destination.

Tata's investment may presage a shakeup in the industry that results in many providers being purchased outright by carriers, Vorhaus [Yankee Group analyst] says. Carriers are likely to begin lumping in CDN services to help land big corporate accounts, at far lower prices than standalone technology outfits will charge, partly because the carriers don't have to pay for the bandwidth that makes up the biggest costs for small CDN specialists. Valuations will likely fall along with prices, making many CDN companies attractive takeover bait.

Limelight may become particularly alluring from a cost perspective if it loses an appeal on a patent-infringement case won by Akamai, Vorhaus says. A probable buyer is AT&T, he speculates. "The brand would take such a hit, that it would make too enticing a target," he says. Limelight would not comment on the takeover rumors, and AT&T was not available for comment.

While Akamai's network is built around 36,000 garden-variety servers at thousands of locations all around the globe, BitGravity designed its own more powerful gear, which resides in just five places.

A look at both Bit Gravity and TATA peering points:

Company Information
Company Name TATA Communications
Also Known As Teleglobe / VSNL International
Company Website http://www.tatacommunications.com
Primary ASN 6453
IRR Record
Network Type NSP
Approx Prefixes
Traffic Levels 100+ Gbps
Traffic Ratios Balanced
Geographic Scope Global
Looking Glass URL http://lg.teleglobe.net
Route Server URL
Notes Teleglobe Inc. was acquired by VSNL international Inc. in February 2006.
AS6453 remains as the global AS with worldwide reach. VSNL International changed name to TATA Communications in Feb 2008.
Public Peering Exchange Points
Exchange Point Name ASN IP Address Mbit/sec
AMS-IX 6453 195.69.145.167 10000
Any2 LAX and SJC 6453 206.223.143.83 1000
DE-CIX 6453 80.81.193.114 10000
Equinix Ashburn 6453 206.223.115.81 1000
Equinix Chicago 6453 206.223.119.81 1000
Equinix San Jose 6453 206.223.116.81 1000
Equinix Singapore 6453 202.79.197.19 1000
Equinix Tokyo 6435 203.190.230.26 1000
ESPANIX 6453 193.149.1.21 100
ESPANIX 6453 193.149.1.149 100
HKIX 6453 202.40.161.224 1000
LAIIX 6453 198.32.146.60 1000
LINX 6453 195.66.224.51 10000
NetNod Stockholm 6453 194.68.123.162 10000
NIX 6453 193.156.90.54 1000
NOTA 6453 198.32.124.116 1000
NYIIX 6453 198.32.160.115 1000
PAIX Atlanta 6453 198.32.182.25 10000
PAIX New York 6453 198.32.118.67 10000
PAIX Palo Alto 6453 198.32.176.196 10000
PAIX Seattle 6453 198.32.134.67 2000
PARIX 6453 198.32.247.92 1000
PIPE Networks Sydney 6453 218.100.2.39 1000
SFINX 6453 194.68.129.242 1000
TorIX 6453 198.32.245.65 1000

Private Peering Facilities
Facility Name ASN City Country SONET Ethr ATM
165 Halsey Meet-Me Room 6453 Newark US
Ancotel Frankfurt 6453 Frankfurt DE
CANIX Montreal 6453 Montreal CA
Digiplex Oslo 6453 Oslo NO
Equinix Ashburn (DC1-DC4) 6453 Ashburn US
Equinix Chicago (CH1/CH2) 6453 Chicago US
Equinix Dallas (DA1) 6453 Dallas US
Equinix San Jose (SV1) 6453 San Jose US
Equinix Singapore 6453 Singapore SG
Equinix Sydney 6453 Mascot (Sydney) NSW AU
Global Switch Singapore 6453 Singapore SG
Harbour Centre Vancouver 6453 Vancouver CA
InterXion Brussels 6453 Brussels (Zaventem) BE
InterXion Frankfurt 1 6453 Frankfurt DE
InterXion Frankfurt 2 6453 Frankfurt DE
InterXion Madrid 6453 Madrid ES
LDCOM Netcenter Paris (Courbevoie) 6453 Paris FR
MEGA iAdvantage Hong Kong 6453 Hong Kong HK
Netscalibur Milan 6453 Milan IT
One Wilshire Los Angeles 6453 Los Angeles US
PAIX Palo Alto 6453 Palo Alto US
SARA Amsterdam 6453 Amsterdam NL
Switch and Data New York (111 8th) 6453 New York US
Switch and Data Toronto 6453 Toronto CA
TATA Communications Stratford (formerly VSNL) 6453 London UK
TelecityGroup Paris (Courbevoie Cedex) 6453 Paris FR
TelecityGroup Stockholm 6453 Stockholm SE
Telehouse London (Docklands East) 6453 London UK
Telehouse London (Docklands North) 6453 London UK
Telehouse Paris 1 (Jeûneurs) 6453 Paris FR
Telehouse Paris 2 (Voltaire) 6453 Paris FR
Telehouse Tokyo 6453 Tokyo JP
Telvent Carrierhouse 2 Madrid 6453 Madrid ES
Telvent Carrierhouse Barcelona 6453 Barcelona ES
Telvent Carrierhouse Lisbon 6453 Sacavem PT
TelX Atlanta 6453 Atlanta US
TelX New York 6453 New York US
Terremark Miami 6453 Miami US
Westin Building Seattle 6453 Seattle US

Company Information
Company Name BitGravity, Inc.
Also Known As BitGravity
Company Website http://www.bitgravity.com
Primary ASN 40009
IRR Record AS-BITGRAVITY

Public Peering Exchange Points
Exchange Point Name ASN IP Address Mbit/sec
Equinix Ashburn 40009 206.223.115.169 1000
Equinix Ashburn 40009 2001:504:0:2::4:9:1 1000
Equinix Chicago 40009 2001:504:0:4::4:9:1 1000
Equinix Chicago 40009 206.223.119.43 1000
Equinix Dallas 40009 PENDING / Sometime 1000
Equinix Los Angeles 40009 2001:504:0:3::4:9:1 1000
Equinix Los Angeles 40009 206.223.123.5 1000
Equinix San Jose 40009 2001:504:0:1::4:9:1 1000
Equinix San Jose 40009 206.223.116.127 1000
LINX 40009 195.66.225.38 10000
LINX 40009 2001:7f8:4::9c49:1 10000
PaNAP 40009 2001:860:0:6::4:9:1/64 1000
PaNAP 40009 62.35.254.131 1000
WAIX 40009 198.32.212.26 1000

Private Peering Facilities
Facility Name ASN City Country SONET Ethr ATM
Equinix Ashburn (DC1-DC4) 40009 Ashburn US
Equinix Chicago (CH1/CH2) 40009 Chicago US
Equinix Dallas (DA1) 40009 Dallas US
Equinix Los Angeles (LA1) 40009 Los Angeles US
Equinix San Jose (SV1) 40009 San Jose US
Telehouse London (Docklands North) 40009 London UK