OnLight Aurora Establishes Presence in ByteGrid Data Center

Press release from BYTEGRID.

OnLight Aurora, a fiber optic network ISP and "middle mile" provider of dark fiber and lite wave connectivity within Aurora, IL today announced it has established a key point of presence (PoP) in BYTEGRID's new data center in Aurora, IL. Sometimes referred to as the "fourth utility," OnLight will provide BYTEGRID customers with access to OnLight Aurora's high-availability fiber network including multi-homed Metro Ethernet service and low latency wave interconnection to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the world's second-largest financial exchange for futures and options.

"OnLight Aurora is the focused leader in interconnection and connectivity for the city of Aurora, the second largest city in Illinois," said Don Goodwin, EVP Marketing and Leasing for BYTEGRID. "In addition to the CME and access to the financial trading community, OnLight Aurora's advanced fiber optic ring creates endless possibilities for any enterprise or Government organization with high-bandwidth applications requiring compliance and industry leading speed, reliability, latency and redundancy."

BYTEGRID is Chicago's newest Tier 3 multi-tenant data center provider. Its Aurora/Chicago (CH1) facility is a purpose-built data center that has been built and tested for the compliant and high availability needs of the financial services sector. The property benefits from proven data center operations, a highly reliable power grid, and rich fiber connectivity.

In January, BYTEGRID announced the acquisition of the 70,000 square foot Aurora facility that features 34,000 square feet of raised floor computer room space and is generally regarded as one of the premier enterprise data centers in the Chicago market. It was built by one of the country's largest commercial insurance companies in 2007 to meet the emphasis it placed on business resilience and the need for increased capacity and scale over time, as well as the stringent financial services industry regulatory and compliance requirements.

"BYTEGRID is rapidly emerging as a leading provider of compliant-grade critical data center solutions with a rapidly growing national footprint," said Peter Lynch, President, OnLight Aurora. "OnLight is establishing its presence in CH1 based on BYTEGRID's highly interconnected fabric of dynamic capacity, connectivity, and ecosystem community encompassing large enterprises, service providers and government organizations."

Since its acquisition BYTEGRID has converted the facility into a multi-tenant data center and is leasing approximately 25,000 square feet of enterprise-class, Tier 3 data center colocation space featuring 6 megawatts of power capacity available to serve enterprise, government and service providers.

BYTEGRID's data centers are highly secure, compliant business platforms serving some of the world's largest companies and government agencies, including, among others, a Fortune 15 global financial services company and a Fortune 50 global security and aerospace firm.

Technical Specifications of BYTEGRID's CH1:

• 70,000 ft2 secure data center facility featuring over 34,000 ft2 of conditioned raised floor space on a 5+ acre campus

• Tier 3 facility provides redundancy, resiliency, and multi-factor security protocols required for achieving industry specific physical security compliance such as PCI, HIPAA and FISMA • 2N UPS power, N+1 mechanical systems

• Fiber-rich environment convenient to multiple carriers

• 6MW utility power

• Available technical office space

Overall, BYTEGRID owns and operates six data centers in five geographically dispersed markets encompassing more than 700,000 square feet of premier multi-tenant colocation data center space meeting the highest standards for security and reliability. The Company is currently leasing space in most of these centers while pursuing the acquisition of additional facilities this year and beyond.

About BYTEGRID®

BYTEGRID Holdings LLC, is a privately-held company headquartered in Northern Virginia focused exclusively on the nationwide acquisition, development and operation of premier data center facilities. The company serves the growing need for mission-critical data center space by providing highly secure, interconnected, carrier-neutral, and density-robust data centers that serve commercial, government and service provider markets. BYTEGRID currently owns and operates data centers in the Washington, D.C., Atlanta, GA, Cleveland, OH, Chicago, IL, and Ft. Worth metro markets with plans to acquire additional facilities in 2014. The company is led by industry veterans with significant experience in data center operations, design and construction; data center sales and marketing; real estate development and finance; and telecommunications. For more information, please visit www.BYTEGRID.com

OnLight Aurora Partners with the City for Better Connectivity in Illinois

Written by Lisa Gonzalez. The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website.

Nine years ago, Aurora officials decided it was time to reduce telecommunications costs and upgrade to a faster, more reliable network. The local government built a fiber network to service municipal government, but developed long-term ideas for the network to benefit the entire community.

Nonprofit OnLight Aurora now uses the City’s fiber optic network to provide high-speed connectivity to educational institutions, businesses, healthcare facilities, social service entities, and major non-profits. The organization leases fibers from the City’s fiber optic network and provides Internet access at affordable rates.

Aurora is the second most populous city in Illinois. The municipal government spans 52 buildings over 46 square miles. Before the city’s fiber network, connections were a patchwork of varying speeds and capabilities. Employees in a building with a slow connection would need to travel to City Hall to access a high-speed connections to use the city’s bandwidth intensive applications. The network was old, unreliable, and expensive. The Director of Onlight Aurora recently spoke with Drew Clark from Broadband Breakfast :

“In 2005-2006, we came to the conclusion that we were paying $500,000 a year [to telecommunications providers] for leased line expenses,” said Peter Lynch, Director and President of Onlight Aurora.

The 60-mile network, constructed from 2008 – 2011, cost approximately $7 million to deploy. At the beginning of the process, payback was estimated at 10 years. While the short-term goal was to cut municipal connectivity costs, community leaders intended to expand its use in other ways. The City now saves approximately $485,000 each year from having eliminated leased lines. From a Cisco case study on Aurora [PDF]:

“With local governments increasingly facing limited resources, you have to be able to find efficiencies in operations.” Although the cost savings are gratifying, [Ted] Beck,[Chief Technology Officer] notes that that was just the beginning: “The priority for the fiber optic network was initially cost savings; however we’re realizing that the benefits don’t end there. We’ve had some super wins with this technology, and we’re going to keep leveraging the infrastructure.” Mayor Weisner confirms these successes: “Pretty quickly, we saw a return on investment, both financially and otherwise. We have a much greater capability and fewer problems.” 

In 2011, Aurora received a Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) grant from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) administered through the Illinois Department of Transportation. When the FHWA sought communities for the pilot program and accompanying grant, Aurora’s existing fiber network was a plus. During construction of the city network, Aurora had installed extra fiber strands in its conduit. City traffic engineers used several strands to synchronize intersections to improve traffic flow. The grant, of approximately $12 million, upgraded 60 traffic signals. It also allowed Aurora to eliminate all remaining debt on the network.

From the Broadband Breakfast article:

“We have been able to see better movement of traffic, which alleviates congestion and air quality,” said Eric Gallt, the city’s Traffic Engineer. The fiber loop enables city traffic officials “to see what is going on remotely, and it decreased the cost of the project by 50 percent or more.”

That same year, Mayor Tom Weisner formed a broadband task force to field specific ideas for best utilizing the fiber optic network. In 2012 the group created non-profit OnLight Aurora. The organization received a $25,000 grant and a three-year $150,000 loan from the City. OnLight and Aurora entered into a 20-year agreement for OnLight to lease network fiber strands from the City. OnLight would then lease access to the fiber backbone to other entities at affordable rates.

In 2012, OnLight Aurora received a $1 million Illinois Gigabit Communities Challenge award. The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity awarded the grant as seed money. OnLight Aurora also received another $1 million in matching public and private funds. The organization used the funds to offset costs of connecting customers and to expand to better reach developing business parks and healthcare facilities. Schools, medical centers, social services agencies, arts & entertainment entities, and businesses now connect to the network at speeds of up to 10 Gbps.

In August 2013, Indian Prairie School District 204 announced its plans to expand its technology program. The connection allows the District to connect two of its data centers. District 204 obtains a 10 Gbps connection from OnLight Aurora for $39,600 per year. OnLight provides ample bandwidth for the district’s bring-your-own-device initiative. A portion of the $1 million Illinois Gigabit Communities Challenge grant paid for the cost of connecting the fiber.

OnLight also offers wireless connections as an economical way to serve small- and medium-sized businesses. OnLight uses city-owned towers and buildings that are already connected to the fiber for wireless point-to-point connections. The wireless complement will connect schools, businesses, and other entities when a lengthy fiber connection is too costly.

Businesses in Aurora are connecting to the fiber. An August Beacon-News article on the wireless plan also tells the story of security company Alarm Detection Systems (ADS). The company went from T1 connections at 1.5 Mbps to 20 Mbps connections from OnLight for approximately $500 per month. From the article:

While cases vary based on a number of factors, the upfront installation cost for Alarm Detection Systems offices to connect directly to the fiber network are about $19,000, according to [company IT Manager Mark] Schramm. But the reliable and fast connection will save the company money in the long run.
“We’re saving money and believe we’re getting a better product,” he said.

According the a recent Beacon-News article, OnLight Aurora is now reaching out to local businesses through seminars. An article about the January 29th seminar quoted a city official:

“Attendees will receive the necessary tools to better understand and employ the OnLight Aurora network resource for their businesses and organizations,” said Clayton Muhammad, Aurora Director of Communications.

OnLight Aurora’s three year plan includes doubling it’s current length to 100 miles. The network is completely underground and any carrier has access to the infrastructure.

 

About Lisa Gonzalez: 
Lisa Gonzalez researches and reports on telecommunications and municipal networks’ impact on life at the local level. Lisa has worked in politics, education, and as a freelance journalist. In addition to her contributions at ILSR.org, Lisa writes for MuniNetworks.org and produces the Broadband Bits podcast.

Rush-Copley Joins City's Fiber Optic Network

Rush-Copley Medical Center has become the first healthcare facility to utilize Aurora’s 60+ mile fiber optic network through a partnership with OnLight Aurora, a not-for-profit organization which brings the advantages of the network to the City’s community anchor institutions.

Rush-Copley Medical Center is a 210-bed hospital providing a comprehensive array of health and wellness services in the greater Fox Valley area. Rush-Copley is a leader in state-of-the-art healthcare in Illinois' second largest city and its adjacent communities with dynamic centers of excellence – each designed to meet the needs of a growing and diverse population.

Rush-Copley joins a multitude of Aurora businesses, non-profits and educational institutions enjoying an alternative path to the internet made possible by the fiber optic ring. 

“When we tested and demonstrated their connectivity to the internet, Rush Copley was impressed with the speed and latency,” said Mark McCoy, OnLight Aurora Board Member. “When we demonstrated the speed connecting to other OnLight Aurora customers they could see the endless possibilities.”

The connectivity positively impacts Rush-Copley’s service to patients and increases opportunities to collaborate with other organizations in Aurora.

"Rush-Copley prides itself on being a technology leader with the high level of medical care we provide the community, according to Rush-Copley Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer John Diederich.  He added, “The OnLight initiative is in total keeping with our commitment to advanced medicine and our promise of extraordinary care to our patients and guests.  The speed and reliability of the fiber optics is enhancing real-time patient care efforts and bringing direct Internet access to those that make daily use of Internet access throughout our facility," he said.

In this current age of portable technology and instant connectivity, bandwidth needs are increasing both from internal staff needs as well as the patients and their families in the waiting room.

Connectivity to the fiber optic network will allow Rush Copley access to two-way audio and video conferencing which has the potential to provide both patient and medical service providers with a very efficient tool to diagnose and treat patients. In addition, the hospital will have access to the network’s data center to store volumes of information in an approved secure setting.

"The OnLight Aurora connection is a critical, redundant Internet access tool for us, ensuring that patients, guests and caregivers are connected immediately. The OnLight Aurora project has incredible potential for our future growth and technology needs," said Dennis DeMasie, Vice President, Information Technology and Chief Information Officer at Rush-Copley.

Rush-Copley will also have direct and immediate access to schools, social service agencies, and businesses that are also connected to the network which will result in collaborative education and training that will benefit the entire community.

“To be able to connect the current high school Health Care curriculum with a world-class, respected organization like Rush, will transform education as we know it and provide our students will the tools necessary to advance their studies in ways we never thought possible,” said Don Ringelstein, Director of Technology for West Aurora School District 129.
“Rush-Copley has been a significant part of the fabric of the Aurora community for generations. Its use of cutting edge technology as a regional healthcare and research institution is further enhanced by its connectivity to the fiber optic network ring,” said Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner. “While the hospital will benefit from faster broadband connections at lower costs, patients will benefit from greater access to information and education, and the area business community will see that Aurora is not just the City of Lights, but the City of light speed,” Weisner continued. 

In 2013, OnLight Aurora has provided connectivity to educational institutions, non-profit organizations, and an array of businesses including West Aurora School District 129, the Illinois Math and Science Academy, Aurora University, Alarm Detection Systems, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and PDS. Aurora Christian Schools, Indian Prairie School District 204, and a number of Downtown Aurora are expected to be connected in the near future.

OnLight Aurora Shows How to Leverage the City of Aurora's Fiber Network

by Drew Clark, Publisher, BroadbandBreakfast.com

Just over a year ago, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn announced the first of four awards under the state’s “Gigabit Communities Challenge,” an effort to raise the bar on broadband speeds in the nation’s heartland. Of the four awardees named thus far, the Gigabit Network created by OnLight Aurora here is perhaps the most advanced. This is owing to a unique public-private partnership in the state’s second-largest city.

Other awardees in Illinois are Gigabit Squared and the University of Chicago; the City of Evanston and Northwest University; and Frontier Communications, Connect Southern Illinois and Southern Illinois University.

But the example of OnLight Aurora provides an important window into the way Gigabit Networks can help a multiplicity of purposes. These include government cost-savings, traffic solutions, and economic development options for business retention and growth.

On Wednesday, November 6, 2013, Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner will address the state of OnLight Aurora during a panel discussion at the Broadband Communities Conference on “Making Broadband Projects Sustainable: Fostering Economic Growth is Key to Building Robust Revenue Streams.”

Originally a Cost-Saving Measure

“In 2005-2006, we came to the conclusion that we were paying $500,000 a year [to telecommunications providers] for leased line expenses,” said Peter Lynch, Director and President of OnLight Aurora.

The city proposed to build a city-owned fiber-optic network, at a cost of $7.5 million, he said. At the time, the city was forecasting a minimum of 10 years payback period.

Instead, the city has leveraged:

  • A $13 million grant under the Federal Highway Administration’s Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program
  • An additional $1 million in funding under Gov. Quinn’s Gigabit Communities Challenge
  • Increasing opportunities for business revenue through add-on services available to business users.
“I can joyfully say, that we are now paying that off for its third or fourth time,” said Lynch.

Alleviating Traffic Congestion

The traffic congestion grant, which was administered through the Chicago Metropolitan Area for Planning, is a great example of leveraging a network originally designed for city communications for another purpose entirely.

The traffic grant occurred because the city had the foresight to install large number of fiber strands into conduits that it laid to build out the city network, said Lynch.

That in turn opened an opportunity when the FHA was seeking pilot cities to design programs that would alleviate auto emissions. The means for reduced emissions was to be an enhanced traffic flow because of better traffic light synchronization.

By granting the city’s traffic engineers with “access to several strands of fiber, they were able to prove out their concept on a much bigger scale,” said Ted Beck, the city’s Chief Technology Officer. “That helps the quality of our community.”

“We have been able to see better movement of traffic, which alleviates congestion and air quality,” said Eric Gallt, the city’s Traffic Engineer. The fiber loop enables city traffic officials “to see what is going on remotely, and it decreased the cost of the project by 50 percent or more.”

Planning for Broadband Success

Later, when Gov. Quinn announced the Illinois Gigabit Communities Challenge in the February 2012 State of the State address, the city of Aurora was ready to take the challenge to the next step.

Quinn’s challenge grant offered private providers and communities the opportunity to obtain between $1 million and $4 million in funding by working together to promote the highest-speed connectivity available. The goal was to “unleash the savvy of our entrepreneurs, the brainpower of our academics, and the creativity of our innovators,” Governor Quinn said in the speech.

In Aurora, Lynch and Beck recounted, Mayor Weisner empaneled a broadband roundtable, from business and the government, to brainstorm how the city’s fiber-optic network could benefit community broadband centers like schools, hospitals, and libraries. The plan enables these institutions to link up to the fiber network as they contribute to its financial strength.

“Technology plays a huge part in retaining the businesses that you want to keep and targeting the companies that you want to recruit,” said Beck. “Our core vision was community-based. Our schools are in critical need of technology, but you have to have a model that is sustainable.”

OnLight Aurora’s next step is to move beyond education, health care and social services to significant commercial resale of ultra-high-speed broadband services.