Of course building a DC from the grounds up could these days cost less in the long run than taking over an old one and bringing it up to code.

That's not always true - with real estate remaining generally distressed.

Just found this article related to building data centers - comparing Digital Reality Trust to Dell and Walmart.

Steve I'll give you, it was a very interesting and unique article. It would be interesting to see this in action. However, taking $50 million down to $25 million doesn't necessarily increase your target market. lol

Found these calculators on APC's website - check out the cost calculator.

A lot of money is at risk =P, I know a few DC are going bankrupt. Right now is not the time to build a DC ^^

Right now is the time to buy a bankrupt data center. If you have the cash and your in need, there is a lot of good deals if your flexible on location. You can pick up some at 80 to 90% off.

You also need to remember that being situated across multiple power grids is all very well and good but you need to check the fibre connectivity in the area you want - is there a multiple carrier presence nearby or will you have to pay to have routes laid in.

Fiber is huge right now and prices have dropped dramatically - at least in Saint Louis. Our eyes are always open for opportunities to purchase distressed data centers.

I always thought of making a data center. Im thinking in another way though. What i want to do is buy land then make a little building and just have about 14 racks in the basement with cooling systems and more and on the 1st and 2nd floor I will be running my own hosting company have staff come in to work. More like something like that i would need to start planing now. Im only 15 and im looking to start this datacenter thing out around 27.

Imo 14 racks is not enough to warrant a full data centre - your better off with a large cage or custom suite.

I love that you're thinking ahead and have set goals. Have you formulated a business plan on how to get from today to what you dream of when you're 27?

Mainly what im thinking of is going to school now im in H.S 10 Grade last year I took Cisco as a class and i liked it so that got me into the computers and Online hosting industry and now my plan is to get a good small shared and reseller hosting company running then when i get big and have a big income ill save the money and by the time im 27 and im still interested in the hosting industry im going to build a building for my Company and run staff members out of there and my own datacenter in the basement with high tech stuff. Then the 1st floor of the building would be just for support for phone support, live support and even ticket support.

Then the 2nd floor will be for the Management in my company I will be also running top of the line computers for my staf and i.

Thats why people colocate or sub out space from facilities... They get the same benefits but don't have to shell out all that Capex.

Data Centers are also evolving, as more and more companies are switching to blade servers and using virtualisation technology, to reduce costs. In the future you won't need large data centers.