Every forward-thinking data center should have a meet-me-room (MMR).
First, MMRs enable data centers to provide reliable, low-latency connections to customers. On top of that, they help lower network costs.
This post examines meet-me-rooms and their relevance to data centers and colocation providers.
What is a Meet-Me Room?
A meet-me-room is a secure room inside a data center that allows organizations to connect to one or multiple carriers.
More specifically, an MMR enables internet service providers (ISPs), cable companies, cloud service providers, and other tenants to cross-connect.
A typical MMR features cabinets and racks with the tenant’s hardware for fast data transfer.
Meet-me-rooms allow ISPs and organizations hosted in the same data center to connect, enabling them to exchange internet physically.
An MMR reduces traffic travel distance by ensuring data stays inside the colocation facility. MMRs eliminate local loops because data packets don’t have to travel to and from the ISP’s network.
As a result, data exchange is cheaper and more secure — which ushers in our next point.
Data center interconnection uses multiple (at least two) data centers for the company’s information needs. These data centers must be connected to share their resources and exchange information. Most data centers are connected through a Virtual Private Network (VPN). Other connection types are POP – Point of Presence and MMR – Meet-Me-Room.
Colocation providers that use multiple data centers can host numerous company servers. With interconnectivity and cross-connectivity between the data centers, other service providers, or companies, your business will gain a significant advantage from having a reliable, scalable, and secure system.
How Does Data Exchange Work?
First, you need to connect to an ISP to send data to the internet.
Two companies located hundreds of miles apart — think different countries or continents — rely on a global ISP for data exchange. This means that data must be exchanged with the ISP for the two systems to communicate.
The global ISP facilitates data exchange by routing data packets to the target system. That way, the two companies can enjoy a stable traffic flow between each other.
The scenario is different when the organizations are located close to each other – think same country, state, etc.
By leveraging a meet-me-room in a data center or hotel carrier, two organizations can physically connect to each other, enabling their systems to exchange data directly.
Designing a Meet-Me Room
The design and size of one MMR to another can differ significantly depending on the data center.
Still, the ideal MMR should offer enough space to accommodate new carriers. In fact, one of the most critical considerations organizations make when looking for a data center is the facility’s ability to house new internet service providers.
A typical MMR should provide the following;
- At least 45U cabinets to accommodate network providers and carriers’ infrastructure
- High-performance cooling units to help regulate the temperatures
- Two power options — AC and DC. MMRs with one power option must be designed in a way that allows them to house more carrier infrastructure
Other elements to factor in when creating a meet-me-room include;
Carrier’s Entrance
The best practice is to allow carriers to enter a meet-me-room through a fiber cable coming into the cross-connect room from the street.
You can leverage meet-me vaults, also known as meet-me boxes, to connect carriers to your MMR. The idea is to ensure the carrier’s entrance allows you to bring as many providers as possible to your data center.
Meet-me Vaults
A meet-me vault is a concrete box through which a carrier’s fiber optic cable enters a data center. Large data centers and carrier hotels may need several vaults to ensure optimal redundancy.
Meet-me vaults are located at the outer edge of a data center, buried a few feet under the ground.
Ideally, you’ll want your meet-me vaults to be as close to your facility as possible to minimize connection costs. On top of that, you’ll want to have several strategically placed vaults to draw more providers.
The more meet-me vaults a data center has, the easier it is to offer fair colocation prices for prospects.
In addition, multiple entry points allow fiber cables to go straight into the cross-connect room via reinforced trenches. That way, each provider can have a dedicated duct, enabling them to lodge high bandwidth connections.
The Cross-Connect Room
As the name suggests, a cross-connect room (CCR) is where the connection between carriers and customers occurs.
The fiber optic cable may run from the CCR to the carrier’s infrastructure in the MMR or another place in the facility.
A cross-connect room can double up as a carrier’s fiber entry point, with the hardware already in the meet-me room.
Cross-connect rooms are protected areas with restricted access.
Benefits of a Meet-me-Room in a Data Center
The benefits of having a meet-me-room in a data center can be summed as the “3Cs” of control as follows;
Control: An MMR enables data centers to guarantee customer security and business continuity. Security is achieved through unauthorized access, generator, and battery backup protection.
Choice: Good management for a meet-me-room revolves around providing the right choices to prospects. For colocation providers, this may be a juggling act to strike the right carrier balance, each with adequate space for cross-connect equipment and communication.
Cost: An MMR minimizes traffic distribution costs by helping customers avoid local loop communications fees. Besides, MMRs enable high-bandwidth connectivity to users within the room.
One more thing — Meet-me-rooms can help spur a data center’s growth because of the facility’s ability to offer more connection options for customers.
Volico Meet-me-Room – Helping You Make Connections
Volico understands that giving customers the freedom to decide who they want to connect to is the true meaning of interconnection.
Once your team identifies a network you want to connect to, our meet-me room will facilitate a seamless physical connection, fast.
Volico meet-me-rooms have a dynamic design that allows multiple providers to bring in high-bandwidth connections without sharing ducts.
That way, tenants and carriers can enjoy uninterrupted internet exchange and smooth data transition.
Connecting to other networks through Volico allows your company to route digital traffic to avoid “local loops” charges. Consider our MMR as a shortcut for providers to deliver traffic exchange to customers at a lower cost.
All our meet-me-room in the Miami Metro Area, Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta, and Chicago data centers connect to every major carrier and service provider in the region. That way, we can implement and manage multi-state and high-capacity networks.
Moreover, our MMRs are under round-the-clock surveillance and fitted with security cameras to monitor every activity.
Only authorized persons with multi-factor authentication can access a meet-me room.
In addition, they have fire-proof walls and biometric scans to reduce the probability of security breaches to zero.
Besides, our MMRs are staffed 24/7 to limit the likelihood of downtime or physical connection damage between providers.
Getting Started is Easy
Would you like to learn more about Volico’s meet-me-rooms and how they can help improve data and internet exchange for your organizations?
Reaching us is easy. The expert will ask you a few questions to determine your specific needs and help map out the best interconnection strategy for your organization.
You can call us at 888 865 4261 or Chat with one of our MMR experts to discuss your specific situation further.
