MySpace Expands Data Center Infrastructure

The fast-growing social networking site MySpace is expanding its infrastructure, and has leased data center space in a brand new Equinix facility in Los Angeles. Once MySpace is fully installed, the agreement is expected to generate approximately $6 million in annual revenues for Equinix.

MySpace.com regularly ranks in the top 10 most visited sites on the Web with more than 75 million users, and is using the connectivity at Equinix's data centers to expand its high-performance infrastructure. At Equinix, MySpace has access to a critical mass of network service providers, providing flexibility in managing traffic surges and high-bandwidth features such as multimedia streaming.

"By offering a unique, network-rich environment with access to more than 200 networks, Equinix enables us to directly interconnect with the networks serving our end-users, providing a more streamlined path between content and users," said Aber Whitcomb, CTO of MySpace. "This model not only enhances our site performance, but also enables MySpace to peer with end-user networks and exchange traffic in a way that circumvents the traditional method where content providers were required to pay for transit to reach end-users."

Peering allows two providers exchanging large volumes of traffic to save money by connecting directly, rather than routing traffic through their paid Internet connections. Peering does not provide access to the entire Internet, only the other provider's customers. Peering is often free as long as the amount of traffic exchanged is not out of balance, providing substantial cost savings for bandiwdth for high-traffic sites and networks. The best way to peer is to find a facility like Equinix's data centers, point where multiple networks run through the same data facility and can easily exchange traffic.

"MySpace is an excellent example of the new generation of digital content and media providers that seek a more streamlined and efficient approach to the network infrastructure that provides the critical link between them and their end-users," said Peter Van Camp, CEO of Equinix. "Equinix is committed to providing solutions to this market that help them directly reach their network partners through peering relationships that improve performance and eliminate the costs of intermediate network backbones."

The Los Angeles area center opening today, located in El Segundo, represents Equinix's third IBX center in the Los Angeles area, providing Equinix with additional data center space to respond to strong customer demand within the rapidly growing digital media and entertainment industry in the region. The expansion doubles Equinix's Los Angeles area cabinet capacity.