Originally Posted by SweetT

OK....Normally I dont get into these types of threads, but I am afraid that my press release may have sparked some controversy here so I want to be sure that everyone understands. It seems that many people do not really know what a NOC is.....A NOC is *not* a Data Center. Let me see if I can put this in easy to understand form....

A Data Center is a room that houses servers, routers, switches, electricity, air conditioning, and lots of cables. This room is usually kept at about 68 degrees and is not the most fun place in the world to work at for hours and hours at the time.

A NOC (or Network Operations Center) is a room where 24 hours a day System Administrators and Network Engineers sit in front of screens and answer phone calls and monitor stuff. It is kept at a nice 74 degrees and usually is attached to another room where tons of Mountain Dew and KitKats are kept....(see Break Room)

Definition of Network Operations Center according to dictionary.com


Seriously, there are very few people who operate a "true" NOC and there are even less that operate their own, privately held Data Center. I have not toured most of my competitors so I don't know first hand who operates what, but I can tell you that it is less than you would think.


--T