Is there any datacenter in Nigeria, i have look on the internet and i have ask a few people but no info yet, it will be nice to know that you can just buy space or storage, put your servers in and just connect in via the internet or a dedicated connection.
It will be nice to know you don't have to build your own server room or comms rooms, or even worry about Power, Air conditioning or even maintenance.

Any Advise

that'd be a nice business idea. . .thanks

It is a good business idea but trust me not one man can do this as u need to work with nitel or Glo and u need at least N40 million, so it sounds good by make sure u work on your business case properly. and remember Nigeria does have an internet exchange center.

Please Reply if you have any ideas

iseg007:

It is a good business idea but trust me not one man can do this as u need to work with nitel or Glo and u need at least N40 million, so it sounds good by make sure u work on your business case properly. and remember Nigeria does have an internet exchange center.

Please Reply if you have any ideas

why do you need to work with glo and mtn? the most important rqrment would be constant electricity abi? followed by a good internet connection

netotse:

why do you need to work with glo and mtn? the most important rqrment would be constant electricity abi? followed by a good internet connection

"good" internet connection is not enough brotha.

Leave this calling for Dangote please

I will love to see this happen though. I dunno which person will want to invest billions (yes! billions not millions) into a country in its present state of affairs as Nigeria.

Dual Core:

"good" internet connection is not enough brotha.

Leave this calling for Dangote please

I will love to see this happen though. I dunno which person will want to invest billions (yes! billions not millions) into a country in its present state of affairs as Nigeria.

an internet connection like the one you use for your servers would be good enough right? then it should be possible to startup a small one now?

its possible to start at a small scale. but lotsa things are involved in getting a datacenter. I dont even know all of them

Dual Core:

its possible to start at a small scale. but lotsa things are involved in getting a datacenter. I dont even know all of them

thanks sha. . .i googled it and saw it's not beans, it's on a scale entirely diff from what i had in mind

Please share the info you gathered about it, here.

it is plenty o. . .there are even international standards for data centre construction o. . . if u want to read u can start here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_center

Wow Thanks guys, But I can assure you all these slow internet connection we have in Nigeria will end once we can have a datacenter in Nigeria, imagine if our satellite was not lost in space that could have created the possibility.
I think we can have this in a small scale, u may not need billions, Glo and Mtn are laying fibre optics all round Nigeria, imagine getting a deal with them as you are providing this services, that is a lot of money.
We can also have a data center to push more data traffic into Nigeria, as you also may know Nigeria pulls in a lot of data, not just an internet exchange but becoming a major data hub in west Africa, Oh boi e like say my dream too BIG

Please share what you think or know.

Yeah right!
Good luck with that,
Let me see, the minor basics required in order of importance are
* UNINTERUPTED POWER SUPPLY
* Power stabilization
* HVAC systems with greater than 3 tons of cooling
* Couple of backup generators (working generators that is, with plenty of fuel on standby)
* Broadband Internet in excess of T3/E3 speeds
* Dedicated technical support for all the above on call or within 30mins drive away,

The above is just for starters,

Even Dangote with all his money can't guarantee all this, which is why he is in the sugar business

D

This is not feasible in Nigeria at the moment. The Standard $200/month server in the US comes with a dedicated 100mbps uplink connection to the Internet. Try and find out how much that will cost you in Nigeria and dont forget that a Datacenter will be housing thousands of servers.

abhosts:

This is not feasible in Nigeria at the moment. The Standard $200/month server in the US comes with a dedicated 100mbps uplink connection to the Internet. Try and find out how much that will cost you in Nigeria and dont forget that a Datacenter will be housing thousands of servers.

but in nigeria will the servers need an internet connection that fast? i think in a nigerian data cenre, the power supply will be the most important issue, not so? and can someone estimate how much a supa-dupa internet connection will cost?. . .thanks

Come on Guys, why do you all think it impossible, the same thing was said years ago about having a cinema,everybody said no one will watch because you can buy N100 vcd, but now silverbird are topping the charts, also with GSM it was said to be impossible but now we are one of tops in Africa because there is too much money to be made on just phone calls. The very recent is blackberry, everyone has joined the craze and the funny thing is that these BB handset cost about 70K - 100K and you will still pay monthly subscription,

So i don't think it is impossible to build a datacenter and even make it a data exchange for Nigeria.

@Dokki, you are underestimating Nigerians ohhhhh, Be open minded

Let me see, the minor basics required in order of importance are
* UNINTERUPTED POWER SUPPLY
* Power stabilization
* HVAC systems with greater than 3 tons of cooling
* Couple of backup generators (working generators that is, with plenty of fuel on standby)
* Broadband Internet in excess of T3/E3 speeds
* Dedicated technical support for all the above on call or within 30mins drive away,

** Power is a known issue, but where have correct sun in nigeria(33 - 35 degrees) So solar power can be a source of power added with diesel gens and PHCN
**Power stabilization can be easily sorted
** Cooling has never been a problem in naija it just money
**Yes that's where the investment is, even T3/E3 speeds are not enough as that's just 45mps, for a Solid datacenter talking about 1 GB DL 100MB UL
**About Technical support we have capable guys in naija that can do the job, it just to find them and make them in house.

So I believe this can work, Both small scale and in a large way.

Any Comments

@Iseg007, optimistic presentation. I love the high spirit, which is one major component we need in naija to go forward. Will like to see this dicussion intensified, and take from the forum to the table. Pls those with the knowledge and ideas should not hesitate to contribute.

Thanks I need more advise.

iseg007:

Thanks I need more advise.

what more do you need?

who are the possible customers and like how much would an appropriate internet connection cost?

This is getting interesting.

http://forums.devshed.com/web-hosting-12/looking-to-start-up-a-data-center-543718.html

Dual Core:

This is getting interesting.

http://forums.devshed.com/web-hosting-12/looking-to-start-up-a-data-center-543718.html

would the requirements of nigerian companies be as intense as the american ones? cos i dont think nigerians have reached that level yet now. . .

Its better done right than not at all
This is people's data we are dealing with.
In my experience Nigerian clients are harder to deal with when it comes to their data because they don't understand what downtimes are and why they happen. Thank goodness for RAID.

Hmmmm you have a point i guess one has to consider the mindset of nigeria companies, I guess this is where one has to apply think on exactly what they want and not copy the Americas, I will discuss with some other IT pros in naija and see what exactly the require and how the set up their IT infrastructure, i know there is a need for this.

You have to start big, small but make sure your service is relable.

Thanks guys

Hi Gents,

I am interested in this subject, and I think it is very sound idea.
However Is there Fiber connectivity in Nigeria?
assuming there is a data center, how the connectivity could be offered to the companies hosting in it?
is there high speed internet or MPLS ( IP VPN) network?

yep PHCN has fibre cables connecting most of it's stations in nigeria, the cables are licensed to dancom(dangote communications) in the south. . .and 3phase telecoms in the north!

whats the speedmof the internet i can get to the data center customer.
if i have access to a telecom operator ( starcommes for instanse)how would that help me

Hi,
I am certainly intereted in a business plan for a data center in Nigeria.
how can we discuss this topic more in detials.,

Thanks

Well,  We can say never say never,  but Nigeria is not ready for a Data centre,  We do not have the infrastructure in-terms of the power ( Electricity)required.

Also in this day and Age Data centers have multiple transit service providers running 10Gig Ethernet connections . Security is another thing to consider. Fire disaster recovery,  All this cost a lot of money .


The bottom line is how many businesses are willing to pay or can afford a rack space in a Datacener considering the cost of building one,

Maybe we will get there one day but,  now , ( We can only have a building with blocks and some Kva generator and call it Datacener)

This is a very interesting topic. Building a data center cost about $3m USD, I am thinking cloud computing and virtualization may by the easiest and more cost effective.
currently working on a research sponsor by NSF on building Open Source data cloud. This may be helpful for  institutions in Nigeria since its going to be open source.

any question: nred83@yahoo.com

iseg007:

Is there any datacenter in Nigeria, i have look on the internet and i have ask a few people but no info yet, it will be nice to know that you can just buy space or storage, put your servers in and just connect in via the internet or a dedicated connection.
It will be nice to know you don't have to build your own server room or comms rooms, or even worry about Power, Air conditioning or even maintenance.

Any Advise

There are lots of data centers in Lagos(Nigeria), only that most of them are presently filled up as they host most of the servers of clients across the country. I know of a newly built data center around Ikeja, it is well equipped with Door Access Cntrols, Environmental Monitoring Systems, Cooling systems, Regular power supply and a good internet speed.

All things are possible on to him that believes! where there is a will there is a way, Data Center is HIGHLY Possible in Nigeria. Our government is just useless but we can make things work with Extra HIGH spirit.

Any comment

I dont think this is hard to do. In my estimate, you only need a few millions to start.

We have been planning on this business for the past 3 years and we are starting it in January 2012. What a coincidence to see people discuss it here!

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