Situated in the Delaware Valley, on the river that bears its name, the Keystone NAP data center is a relative newcomer to the co-location market. However, the start-up has partnered with industry veteran Schneider Electric to develop its own KeyBlock data center module, the first of which was delivered this week to Keystone’s facility in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania. The next shipment of modules is anticipated in February, according to a company statement.

Keystone NAP announced in November of last year its plans to begin accepting customers in early 2015 at the new 180,000-sq ft multi-tenant data center, what it called at the time the “first advanced data center” in the Northeastern US region. Keystone appears to be banking, in part, on the innovative features of the KeyBlock modules as being one of the reasons it can differentiate itself from other colocation facilities in the region.

Customizable config
The company claims the stackable nature of the KeyBlock will allow it to more efficiently maximize its available floor space. Keystone will deploy the modules in stacks across the facility; a strategy it says has not been tried before in other modular data centers. Customization is another benefit it is touting – Keystone noted that KeyBlock modules can be configured to meet specific customer needs for power, cooling, and networking requirements.

“Not only does each KeyBlock’s modular approach allow for customizable power and cooling configurations, but because each KeyBlock is private and not shared with any other customer, Keystone NAP can offer custom [service level agreements] that address specific cooling, security, and redundancy requirements, as well,” noted Mark Hurley, a solution architect with Schneider Electric, in a recent blog on the newly developed IT module. 

The approximately 45- by 21-ft modules are prefabricated at a separate facility, where they are customized according to the customer’s service agreement. 

"Companies increasingly need to customize their power and connectivity configurations and ensure that data is securely isolated from outside threats. This is what KeyBlocks are designed to do”, commented Peter Ritz, founder and CEO of Keystone NAP, in a statement. “By deploying these unique modules, we can deliver significant efficiency and performance benefits over a traditional multi-tenant data center, along with the security advantages of a private, customer-owned site."

Arrival of the first module at the new facility is a positive development for overall data center capacity in the region that, according to analyst Kelly Morgan of 451 Research, is increasingly under growing demand for additional space. In November of last year, Morgan predicted a rosy future for Keystone NAP. “With its location outside of Philadelphia, as well as its combination of space, power and application management services, we expect that Keystone NAP will see strong demand for this new facility”, she commented.