FranTech / BuyVM is a different category though. They are transparent about what they run and where. No "diverse path" marketing that I have seen. You get what you pay for and you know what you're getting.
RackNerd's sin is the gap between claim and reality. If they said "single substation, dual feed, priced accordingly" this thread would not exist.
I used to work near that Elm Street yard in Ashburn. The whole area is fed from that one Duke corridor. Even if RackNerd had run to Eastside, it would have been the same transmission path for miles. True diversity would need a second utility entirely, not just a second Duke substation.
The "Eastside" they mentioned might have been better but not actually independent. The admission is honest about cost, but the geography makes both options weak.
In Seoul, KEPCO has grid redundancy built into urban planning. Two substations, different voltage levels, automatic transfer. My colo provider gave me the KEPCO facility IDs and I verified on KEPCO's public map. Took ten minutes.
The US seems to let providers self-certify and customers self-verify. That is a strange system.
This. No standards body audits "diverse path" claims. Uptime Institute certifies topology but not utility geography. SAS70/SSAE16 looks at process, not substation maps. The gap is structural.
Sarahjey, your GIS method is more rigorous than most audits. Seriously.
Member OP
Thank you. I'm going to include this in my thesis as a case study section — "consumer verification of infrastructure claims" or something. The RackNerd email is Exhibit A.
I signed up for a GreenCloudVPS Tokyo instance last night. $7/month, replicating the critical dataset. Not the same as diverse colo but it's something I control.
Thanks everyone. I came here angry about a substation and I'm leaving with a methodology and a backup plan.
