I never will dissuade any entrepreneur but any business that relies on power needs to be seriously given a hard though on.

Diesel is pricey and a data center MUST have uninterpreted power supply.

Also, you need two data centers for load balancing and in case of natural disasters, especially if the main one is in Lagos - coastal community.

I currently manage a data center (one of 3) in the US for one of the largest hospitals in the country, hit me up if you have solid questions in the later stages.

EuroMeko:

I never will dissuade any entrepreneur but any business that relies on power needs to be seriously given a hard though on.

Diesel is pricey and a data center MUST have uninterpreted power supply.

Also, you need two data centers for load balancing and in case of natural disasters, especially if the main one is in Lagos - coastal community.

I currently manage a data center (one of 3) in the US for one of the largest hospitals in the country, hit me up if you have solid questions in the later stages.

Euromeko, I think you might have some more knowledge on this area. I'd like to know more about your datacenter and the experiences you have had. How do I reach out to you?

my email is joshuaotuonye@yahoo.com   08037971139

.NET

.Net, love the username.

I can be reached at EuroMeko@Me.Com, I am currently in the US for the next 5 months so I can be reached on my US phone number

One thing I will caution you on though is that when we discuss please realize that I've been out of the country for a continuous 30 years so I don't want to Americanize Nigeria but instead I want to make what we have in Nigeria work for our own individual environment. For example we run our data center on UPS 100% and just alternate between generator and Edison (local Nepa equivalent) to recharge the batteries. We're dabbling with solar power (again to recharge the batteries) currently but it's not solid yet. So for Nigeria this may be a great option. Do we still have a battery manufacturing plant in Nigeria?

I will email you though I prefer to discuss in an open forum just in case others can participate.

Hi EuroMeko,

It's nice to see this interesting thread re-activated again. So, many things have changed in the nigerian I.T industry since the beginning of this thread. 2 major submarine cables have landed in the country bringing to a total of 3 fibre-optic submarine cables that bring about a large quantity of bandwidth needed to connect Nigeria to the outside world.

1. Maine One 1.28 Tbit/s

2. Glo-1 2.5 Tbit/s

3. SAT-3 120Gbit/s

With the landing of these 2 new cables, prices of bandwidth have reduced considerably. A datacentre will benefit greatly immensely form conncetivity to thses cables. Furthermore, if we are to really start thinking of building a data centre, a good location will be near a PHCN substation where power can be guaranteed via a dedicated line. What do you think ?

As long as the sub-station is not a generating station, it won't make a difference. What we need is a working system.

samir101ng:

Hi EuroMeko,

It's nice to see this interesting thread re-activated again. So, many things have changed in the nigerian I.T industry since the beginning of this thread. 2 major submarine cables have landed in the country bringing to a total of 3 fibre-optic submarine cables that bring about a large quantity of bandwidth needed to connect Nigeria to the outside world.

1. Maine One 1.28 Tbit/s

2. Glo-1 2.5 Tbit/s

3. SAT-3 120Gbit/s

With the landing of these 2 new cables, prices of bandwidth have reduced considerably. A datacentre will benefit greatly immensely form conncetivity to thses cables. Furthermore, if we are to really start thinking of building a data centre, a good location will be near a PHCN substation where power can be guaranteed via a dedicated line. What do you think ?

Trying to understand so please bear with me.

The primary location deciding factor for a data center is security. Are you saying that in Nigeria, that proximity to a NEPA (sorry a devil with a different name is still a devil) substation guarantees more reliable power supply?

Additionally, what is the status of home and office internet connection in Nigeria? Is it cellular or wired (T1, DSL, Fiber?)?

nateevs:

As long as the sub-station is not a generating station, it won't make a difference. What we need is a working system.

I concur . Still trying to understand both of you folks relating power supply to location for a DC. Again, just trying to learn the Nigerian system.

Personally, I think NEPA should only be used as a backup. Over 50% score on my performance appraisal is based on availability or system to end user, so I tend to think a lot about uptime.

@Euromeko.

For the power demands of a data-centre, I am not quite convinced that there is wide-spread technology for alternatives to PHCN and where it can be implemented, there are severe cost implications. I am not averse to implementing alternatives to main-stream power sources for data-centres.

Uptime as well as quality of service are words that are foreign in Nigeria and I don't know if any company is willing to commit to any sort of service level agreement.



Secondly the state of of internet in Nigeria is still way below acceptable. I will be very surprised if anyone can get T1 without annual costs equivalent to building a house. I hear only a handful of enterprise networks have the luxury of DSL lines. I once heard of a company called Surburban Networks who had a MAN around the island, not sure if it's on a fibre backbone. Not even sure if the company still operates. I heard MTN may have bought them.

Most people still rely on cellular access to the internet.

Thanks for the link. Good reading.

EuroMeko:

Thanks for the link. Good reading.

Your welcome

So, what do you think about my idea ??

Galaxy Backbone http://www.galaxybackbone.com/

Suburban Telecoms http://www.suburbantelecom.com/

21st Century Technologies http://www.21ctl.com/

All companies have deployed fibre networks and data centres and have offices in Lagos and Abuja. Will post a few more with links.

You certainly Nigeducated me on quite a few things on this thread.

I now have a better idea on why you recommend setting up shop near a power facility.

These are things I would never have given a thought to here in the US.

How much will an unlimited internet access (depending on what type of link is available in Ibadan for example) cost monthly?

The other question I have is what are the expected clients for a data center in Nigeria?

It seems that most large companies will have their own (again based on US). Is the market for data storage that prominent for the middle sector and perhaps SOHO?

EuroMeko:

How much will an unlimited internet access (depending on what type of link is available in Ibadan for example) cost monthly?

The other question I have is what are the expected clients for a data center in Nigeria?

It seems that most large companies will have their own (again based on US). Is the market for data storage that prominent for the middle sector and perhaps SOHO?

1. Very few products in Nigeria give you unlimited internet access as operators always place a bandwidth limit on such plans. However, there are a few options. I am not much familiar with the ISP landscape in Ibadan but i believe that most Lagos based ISP's also have operations in Ibadan. An example of an unlimited internet access in Ibadan is the ADSL service from MTN Nigeria called HyConnect. However, you must confirm with MTN that the service is available in your area. I have attached the price list for you. Prices however are as of 2009. Will get the current price list for you from a friend that works at MTN.

2. State Governments, Universities, I.T Training Institutions, etc are among the expected client lists. With good marketing and awareness, there is a large consumer market in Nigeria.

3. The CBN and Payment Systems like Interswitch, Etranzact all deal with large volumes of data. Banks and Other financial institutions also have large data needs. However, the middle sector mostly will need hosting facilities and backups for their data. SOHO are crippled by the lack of a stable, affordable internet connection. But will make more research.

The views expressed above however are mine, any errors or omissions are deeply regretted.

Wow those are some insanely huge monthly prices. I see that we have a long way to go to increase subscribers so that costs can decrease. Though I realize those were prices of almost 3 years ago.

Thanks for your continuing contribution, I am learning in leaps and bounds. For me, even as a regular home user I need constant internet connection but the cost is outlandish.

I wonder what biz models that the TELCOs are doing to reduce this cost.

BTW, this is still on topic since, IMHO, we cannot rely only on big business to utilize data centers. I foresee a need in the future for middle markets such as Doctors, Lawyers, Architectural offices.

I think I need to carve out some time to come and spend 3 continuous months on the ground in Nigeria. It seems that their is much to be garnered on the ground level.

Dude you are one big education. Thanks for those links. I am overwhelmed by the amount of info you've downloaded on one page. Thank you very much. I am particularly impressed with Phase3 telcomms, how far they've come and their plan to lay 14,000km of fibre. One smart thing is the overhead laying of cables. and opposed to the underground laying Glo are deploying.

More info if you find mate. . . but good lord how expensive are those MTN rates? My ADSL connection will probably cost 500k with MTN.

I am in Nigeria in the next few weeks and I hope to gather as much info as I can.

Simir you made some interesting points there but however power is not the major when it comes to our having a Data center. The major issue is the bandwidth, reliability (uptime), and of course security. Thousands of Transmission Towers run 24/7 for a year in this country and my personal system has not gone off for approximately two years (have no patience for booting time).
There is significant improvement in the power situation in the country and even oversees some data centres don't depend on the local stations. They sometimes generate their own power source.

Djcn:

Simir you made some interesting points there but however power is not the major when it comes to our having a Data center. The major issue is the bandwidth, reliability (uptime), and of course security. Thousands of Transmission Towers run 24/7 for a year in this country and my personal system has not gone off for approximately two years (have no patience for booting time).
There is significant improvement in the power situation in the country and even oversees some data centres don't depend on the local stations. They sometimes generate their own power source.

I don;t see how one can guarantee up-time without supplying their own power, but still have to talk to Maintenance Engineers on the ground.

Additionally I don't see Lagos proper being a secured area due to the proximity to water and all the flooding nonsense that abounds.

But yah'all are contributing very positively and I am enjoying this discussion.

EuroMeko:

I don;t see how one can guarantee up-time without supplying their own power, but still have to talk to Maintenance Engineers on the ground.

Additionally I don't see Lagos proper being a secured area due to the proximity to water and all the flooding nonsense that abounds.

But yah'all are contributing very positively and I am enjoying this discussion.

Whenever i think of data center, i think of redundancy, so there should always be options, if you're think of power, think of at least two options that will run simultaneously, same goes for every other thing.
As far as i'm concerned, Lagos remains the most suitable location for a data center. most companies have their HQs there, and it also boasts of the best network services.

nateevs:

Dude you are one big education. Thanks for those links. I am overwhelmed by the amount of info you've downloaded on one page. Thank you very much. I am particularly impressed with Phase3 telcomms, how far they've come and their plan to lay 14,000km of fibre. One smart thing is the overhead laying of cables. and opposed to the underground laying Glo are deploying.

More info if you find mate. . . but good lord how expensive are those MTN rates? My ADSL connection will probably cost 500k with MTN.

I am in Nigeria in the next few weeks and I hope to gather as much info as I can.

Well, when you find out how much these companies are spending on infrastructure and the hostile Nigerian environment, its not eazy. Check out the MTN Hynet Wimax Service https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-501321.0.html. Its currently available in some select cities. Many companies are deploying fibre networks but the pace is slow. check out these ISP's and their products :

1. http://www.swiftng.com/

2. http://www.ipnxnigeria.net/

3. http://www.directonpc.com/home.aspx

As you can see, wireless is the major technology deployed by these ISP's. Directonpc however, deploys VSAT and Wimax. Infact, its the only other ISP apart from MTN Hynet which offers Wimax Technology. Will let you know more.

Djcn:

Simir you made some interesting points there but however power is not the major when it comes to our having a Data center. The major issue is the bandwidth, reliability (uptime), and of course security. Thousands of Transmission Towers run 24/7 for a year in this country and my personal system has not gone off for approximately two years (have no patience for booting time).
There is significant improvement in the power situation in the country and even oversees some data centres don't depend on the local stations. They sometimes generate their own power source.

Hi Djcn,

Haven't been seeing you around. Welcome back. The 3 issues you mentioned are valid but i think those are of secondary importance considering the big challenge of power to the data center. Power also, will determine the location of your data centre. OK guys, instead of talking in the abstract let us try putting some flesh to our ideas. I propose that our data centre should be in Lagos for obvious reason. Its the nerve of the country. Second, finding a location in Lagos that provides dedicated power supply. If possible, i would have loved it to be located at the Eko Distribution or Lagos Independent Power Stations. With that, security and power are solved in one blow. If located at Eko Distribution, it would have access to Phase 3 Telecoms Aerial fibre network. SAT-3 access at NITEL House, Marina is also possible. The Nigerian Internet Exchange Point http://www.nixp.net/ also has a POP there making inter-connectivity possible. What do you think ?!

Brilliant locations suggested. Other locations though still under construction could be the Eko Atlantic and Energy City in Lekki. My understanding is that these locations will have their own internally generated power and also because of the status of Eko Atlantic for instance, all ISP will be scrambling to have POPs in there. Security pretty much handles itself. Think Canary Wharf in London. The only set back I can think of is cost of space rental.

Does this sound like something feasible?

why all this talk about power? At least for a start, Someone who wants to invest in this venture should take a strong look at the latest Solar power technologies and virtualization. Virtulization would take care of having a number of power hungry servers! Consolidation

OK, lets start building our virtual server.
Having agreed on Lag to be the choice location preferably Lekki, depending on the needs or requirements, we can build a 500kw solar generator which will solve our power needs for the next 30 years (current prices is less than a $1/watt) or have a generator of similar capacity going for about $50,000.

Nice one people. Good locations also. The V/I - Lekki Axis is a good location. Most ISP's and Fibre networks have POP in that area. So, we have tackled location, connectivity and power. The use of a solar generator combined backup generators should handle the power requirements. Now, what kind of services do we offer and what type of hardware is needed ? Taking into consideration the nigerian Market.

alexflash:

why all this talk about power? At least for a start, Someone who wants to invest in this venture should take a strong look at the latest Solar power technologies and virtualization. Virtulization would take care of having a number of power hungry servers! Consolidation

You cannot rely on a single source of power generation if you are serious about Data centres. All single points of failure must be eliminated. I recently did some work in a Barclays Bank Data Centre in Slough, they had regular power source backed up by generators which also are backed up by back-up generators. Three layers of redundancy.

And that's why we are talking about power.

Virtualization is a different topic on it's own. Virtualization can only work for certain purposes.
Virtualization cannot work for co-location of Routers, Switches and others devices that cannot be virtualized. So yes you will those power hungry devices humming away.

Our infrastructure will depend upon the services to be rendered.
We hope the data centre will cater for

Colocation
Dedicated hosting
Shared hosting
VPS
Off site backups
Cloud Hosting
Managed Hosting
Application server, game server,
Virtualization e.t.c

Well a 5000sqm of floor space will be modest and of course the structure will be more than blocks and mortar, state of the art fire protection systems, fire detection systems, fire prevention systems, cctv, Biometric security systems (voice and fingerprint, iris), battery banks, and of course Air conditioning Systems are some of the equipments that will be installed.

Djcn:

Our infrastructure will depend upon the services to be rendered.
We hope the data centre will cater for

Colocation
Dedicated hosting
Shared hosting
VPS
Off site backups
Cloud Hosting
Managed Hosting
Application server, game server,
Virtualization e.t.c

Well a 5000sqm of floor space will be modest and of course the structure will be more than blocks and mortar, state of the art fire protection systems, fire detection systems, fire prevention systems, cctv, Biometric security systems (voice and fingerprint, iris), battery banks, and of course Air conditioning Systems are some of the equipments that will be installed.

Thanks Djcn for that awesome list. Have googled some of the services listed above. But could still use a little explanation. Also, can any one help with the T1/E1 bandwidth thingy ?! Thanks !!!

Hey How did we abandon this thread. .? Come on guys don't go to sleep.
Let's get back.

I could bring clients for IDC service in Nigeria, acutually from my recent trips to Lagos. Found lots biz opportunities blocked by Internet connection (both wireless and cable),

Most clients could come from Mobile vendors, I am from China.

Probably also reasonable investor on this topic, Put me in the loop then.

richardma.shanghai@gmail.com