GLWS · Chicago / United States
A central US location. A central spot on the map is useful context, but real routes and measurements from your users should decide where your application lives.
Where it is and who it suits.
LOCATION
Coordinates mark the city centre.
FACILITY
Where your servers in Chicago run.
Digital Realty
One of the most important carrier hotels in the US, in a landmark 1912 printing plant converted to a data centre in 1999.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map (opens in a new tab) · 41.8537, -87.6184
Two things to think through.
For an application used across several US regions, Chicago provides a central geographic reference. Review where the busiest audience groups connect from and whether application state must remain in one place. A central point does not guarantee identical routes or response times to every visitor.
If the web layer is moved while its database remains elsewhere, repeated internal requests can offset the benefit of a different location. Map the read and write paths, including background jobs, before deciding whether one component or the whole stack should move.
Distances from Chicago to the closest GLWS locations.
Canada
About 700 km away. Physical minimum round trip about 7.0 ms.
United States
About 910 km away. Physical minimum round trip about 9.1 ms.
United States
About 950 km away. Physical minimum round trip about 9.5 ms.
United States
About 1,130 km away. Physical minimum round trip about 11 ms.
Distances are straight-line between city centres. The minimum round trip assumes light in fibre at about 200,000 km a second and a straight cable. Real routes are longer, so always test from your own audience. For a second site that survives a regional outage, Dublin is about 5,890 km from Chicago.
A nearby server is only one part of your application.
Compare the route from the audience networks you expect to serve. Test real requests, not only a location label.
Count remote APIs, databases, sign-in providers and backup destinations when you plan.
Write down how data is restored and who can do it. A copy in another location only helps if you can recover from it.
Pick a product, then choose Chicago in the configurator.
KVM virtual servers for websites, applications and development.
Whole machines, with regional options.
Rack space, power and connectivity for your own hardware.
Quick answers before you choose.
Servers in Chicago run at Digital Realty ORD10 (Lakeside Technology Center), 350 East Cermak Road, Chicago, IL 60616, USA.
Yes, for any product that offers this location. Your choice is saved with your configuration.
Test response times and throughput from representative audience networks. Include application dependencies and measure during periods relevant to your users.
Compare data handling, resource availability, backup arrangements and the practical process for recovery or on-site work.
Other locations in the same region.
Canada / YYZ
Ontario users and a second Canadian option.
United States / ATL
South-eastern US users and regional application traffic.
United States / IAD
East-coast apps and services near Northern Virginia.