Some data centers house Meet-Me-Rooms (MMR) within their facility. These MMRs allows telecommunication carriers and network service providers to cross connect their networks. They can then exchange data with other major carriers housed within the same facility. These rooms act as gateways to the Internet, making it possible to transmit information around the world to individual computers.
MMRs allow quick, reliable, and cost-effective connections between the buildings’ tenants. Voice circuits, data circuits, and Internet protocol services are all provided across connections in the facility. An MMR allows both telecommunication carriers and data center users to connect to each other and exchange information, without local loop fees.
A large MMR in a data center will provide access to a number of major carriers within a given area. Users of MMR’s often include Internet Service Providers (ISP’s), local exchange companies, cable companies and e-commerce companies.
The Difference between an MMR and a Carrier Neutral Data Center
An MMR is a small space, usually located within a data center facility. Although the terminology is sometimes ambiguous, there are a few key differences between the two categories. A few of the differences are set out in detail below:
1. Ownership
A carrier-neutral data center is owned by a private operator. MMRs are not stand-alone facilities. They are instead managed under contract by a separate firm.
2. Size
Meet-Me Rooms tend to be smaller than data centers. Originally, fibers ran from a suite to connect via patch panels in the MMR. Over time, they have grown in size and now resemble small data centers. They now also include features such as racks and cages.
3. Customers
Clients of MMR’s are the operators of large networks, such as ISPs. Data center clients include operators of large networks, but they also include enterprises and smaller network operators.
4. Services
MMRs offer basic services and maintain their own cross connects, power and cooling systems. Along with these services, carrier neutral data centers also offer managed services and hosting. Larger data centers try to keep sales at a minimum of 5-10 racks per client, whereas an MMR sells quarter or half racks due to their smaller capacity.
5. Interconnection
A Meet-Me Room’s primary purpose is to connect only its tenants. Carrier-neutral centers offer a more varied range of connection services. MMRs permit any user within the facility to interconnect, even if they are not located inside the MMR. On the other hand, data centers often allow only tenants of the data center itself to interconnect.
The Benefits of MMR’s for data center clients
For a data center user, the meet-me-room provides access to the carrier’s Internet or phone services without restrictions on bandwidth or the need to invest in a point of presence (POP). To interconnect, the user simply installs a patch from their cage or suite and connects with the MMR. A customer can use multiplex equipment to create a single connection point between the MMR and their suite in the facility.
Multiplexing equipment breaks out the connection, allowing for private connections to several other tenants in the MMR. These private and direct connections offer unequalled levels of security and speed. An Internet Exchange Point (IEP) can also be provided in an MMR, allowing many organizations to interchange traffic without numerous separate physical interconnections.
About: Data centers, disaster recovery, and colocation topics are Bryan Jenkings blogging specialties. Bryan enjoys writing about Dallas Data Centers, Austin Data Centers and Houston Data Centers. He is an avid technology buff, huge fan of technology magazines, and runs his own blog on Disaster Recovery services for big business.