Jump to content

Switch (company)

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Cecibell (talk | contribs) at 19:47, 5 February 2015 (adding info about Rob Roy). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Switch
Company typePrivate
IndustryTechnology
Founded2000[1]
Headquarters
Enterprise, Nevada
,
United States
Key people
Rob Roy (CEO, founder, chairman)
Websitesupernap.com

Switch is a privately held company based in Enterprise, Nevada. The company is the developer and operator of the SUPERNAP, data center facilities, and provides colocation, connectivity, cloud services, and content ecosystems.[1][2]

History

Switch Communications began in 2000 as a government contractor, owning and operating data centers throughout Southern Nevada and providing off-site server services.[1] Rob Roy, CEO and founder of Switch, is the organization's principal inventor and chief engineer.[3] Rob Roy holds 218 patents or patent-pending claims for SUPERNAP designs and engineering that have been Tier IV certified by the Uptime Institute.[4]

SUPERNAP Facilities

In 2008, the company opened SUPERNAP 7, a 407,000-square-foot (37,800 m2) facility.[1] As of 2014, Switch has built and is operating two data centers spanning more than 750,000 square feet (70,000 m2) and covering SUPERNAP phases 1 through 8. In 2014, SUPERNAP 8, a 350,000-square-foot (33,000 m2) facility,[5] received the Tier IV Construction certification from the Uptime Institute, the first certification given to a colocation facility.[3][6] Later in 2014, SUPERNAP 8 received Uptime's Tier IV Gold certification for Operational Sustainability.[3] That same year, Switch formed SUPERNAP International with Orascom TMT Investments to build data center ecosystems worldwide based on designs from the Tier IV-rated SUPERNAP facility.[4] The company is constructing another facility planned at 600,000 square feet for its SUPERNAP 9 and 10 phases.[4][7] Switch is in the process of building a 600,000-square-foot (56,000 m2) facility adjacent to its other site.

In January, 2015 Switch announced a $4 billion expansion plan to build two new facilities, the first a 3,000,000-square-foot (280,000 m2) facility on 1,000 acres (400 ha) at the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center and the second, a second in the Las Vegas area. The company also announced a 500-mile (800 km) long fiber optic network to connect the naps to each other and directly to Los Angeles and San Francisco.[8][9][6]

Customers

Switch has more than 1,000 clients, including Fortune 1000 companies.[3][10] Users include Sony, Google, and eBay.[7][10]

Switch developed a purchasing cooperative to allow customers to collectively purchase connectivity and other services from the ten phases of its campus.[4] SUPERNAP facilities 1 through 6 have been sold, with network buying available for SUPERNAP 7 through 10. SUPERNAP 9 and 10 are under construction.[4][7]

Supercomputer Cherry Creek

In 2014, Switch announced collaboration with Intel and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas to give university researchers access to a powerful supercomputer. iSupercomputer Cherry Creek will be housed on Switch's campus, with researchers accessing the computer through SUPERNAP's connectivity network to work in fields that include genetics and medicine.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Jennifer Robison (21 September 2011). "Switch Communications data center expanding to 2.2 million square feet". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  2. ^ Overgaard, Kristi "Switch SUPERNAP Named as the First and Only Registered Hosting Center for Online Gaming by the Nevada Gaming Commission" Nevada Business. May 31, 2013
  3. ^ a b c d Miller, Rich "SuperNAP 8 Earns Tier IV Gold Status for Operations" Data Center Knowledge. August 5, 2014
  4. ^ a b c d e Luxford, Hollie"SuperNAP Data Centers Branches Out of the US" Data Center Dynamics. March 13, 2014
  5. ^ "Switch Plans Massive $1 Billion SUPERNAP Data Center in Reno".
  6. ^ a b "Switch Plans Massive $1 Billion SUPERNAP Data Center in Reno". January 16, 2015. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  7. ^ a b c Miller, Rich "Shutterfly Deploys 1,000 Cabinets at Switch SUPERNAP" Data Center Knowledge. October 16, 2014 Cite error: The named reference "Miller2" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  8. ^ "$1B Switch data center near Reno will be world's biggest". The Associated Press. January 16, 2015. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  9. ^ "$1B Switch Data Center Near Reno Will Be World's Biggest". ABC News. January 16, 2015. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
  10. ^ a b Brodkin, John "Meet Rob Roy, the man who built the SuperNAP data center" Network World. Jan. 22, 2009
  11. ^ Schmidt, Will "UNLV Awarded the Use of Intel's World-Class Supercomputer Cherry Creek" Tech Cocktail Las Vegas. Oct. 13, 2014
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Switch_(company)&oldid=645787201"