Rackspace data center locations will decide how fast your website will load for your visitors.
This small guide covers the exact data center locations of Rackspace technologies and we will also see the tier of the network connectivity they are using.
We have categorized the data center based on continents and have mentioned city and state names along with data center names wherever applicable.
So, let’s get started.
Rackspace data center locations
Rackspace has 18 data centers across the globe in North America, Asia, Europe, and Australia.
Please note that they have named each data center with respect to the city name. In some cases, the data center is located in a nearby location of the big city but the name of the data center is kept as a popular city name.
For example, they have 2 data centers in New York City namely NYC1 and NYC2. NYC1 is located in New York City while NYC2 is located in New Jersey near to the main location.
To make the reading simpler, we have included the city name as well as the name of the data center in Rackspace. So, when we say NYC2 in the bracket, that’s the name of the data center.
Here is a list of Rackspace data center locations organized by continent.
North America
All of the Rackspace data centers locations in North America are located in the United States.
We have added the state name and city name. Rackspace has 7 data centers in the US.
- Illinois (Chicago)
- Texas (Dallas-Fort Worth)
- Missouri (Kansas City)
- New York (New York City i.e. NYC)
- New Jersey (Somerset) (NYC2)
- California (San Jose)
- Virginia (Ashburn)
Please note that on some websites, the authors also mention Mexico City as one of the Rackspace locations. However, Rackspace only has offices in Mexico but there are no data centers located in the city.
Asia
Rackspace has 4 data centers out of which 3 are in China and one in Singapore. Due to a large number of staff working from Asian countries, they have offices in multiple countries including India.
However, it’s worth noting that there are no data centers present in that country. You will find the list of Asian data centers for Rackspace below.
- China (Hong Kong and Shanghai)
- Singapore (Queenstown)
They have 2 data centers in Hong Kong in different areas namely Tsuen Wan (HKG1) and Tsueng Kwan O (HKG5). You can choose any of these locations.
Europe
Europe is one of the most popular data center locations, and Rackspace offers some of the best data center locations in the EU to its customers. In that case, you will have not 1 but 3 options to choose from just in the United Kingdom.
- Netherland (Amsterdam)
- Germany (Frankfurt)
- UK (London) (LON8)
- UK (Slough, Berkshire) (LON3)
- UK (Crawley, West Sussex in England) (LON5)
Australia
If you have visitors from Oceania, it’s wise to get a data center there. Rackspace Technologies also has a data center in Oceania.
- New South Wales (Sydney)
What tier are Rackspace data centers?
Rackspace uses tier-I providers for connectivity in most of their data centers. Earlier, they used to have different tiers for different data centers. However, in the recent few years, they have been using Tier 1 connectivity with multiple providers.
- Direct connectivity to Rackspace network: Amsterdam, Ashburn, and Singapore.
- Tier 1: Chicago, Dallas, Frankfurt (both data centers), Hong Kong (HKG5), Kansas City, London (LON5), New York (both data centers), San Jose, Shanghai, and Sydney.
- Tier 2: London (LON8)
- Tier not mentioned: (Hong Kong (HKG1), London (LON3).
Some of Racksapce’s top data centers have direct connectivity to the Rackspace network to ensure the best performance.
Each tier 1 carrier/service provider is carefully selected with approx 10 Gbit ethernet link. This is to ensure smooth performance for all the customers.
Rackspace is a reputed company with highly reliable network connectivity. Therefore, you can go with any of the data centers you want.
Their performance is fast in all the data centers despite having tier 2 network providers in a few centers.
How to choose the right Rackspace data center?
Choosing a data center is a tough job especially when there are multiple options suitable for you.
You need to find a data center that offers 100% network uptime along with great infrastructure. Rackspace has network, infrastructure, and hardware replacement guarantees for all of its data centers.
So, you can go with any of the data centers.
The thumb rule is to choose the data center near your visitors’ locations. But, it becomes difficult when there are multiple options in the same country.
Let’s see which Rackspace data center is right for you.
First things first, as we mentioned earlier, Rackspace might have a location near the main city and they will state the main city as their location.
As we have seen in the case of New York City and the UK.
There are 4 similar locations where you might have to think before selecting a location. Let’s talk about all of them one by one starting with the New York location.
New York (NYC1 or NYC2)
Rackspace has 2 data centers in New York where NYC1 data center is in NYC and NYC2 is in New Jersey. Both of them have almost similar features.
It’s wise to choose the main location if you have maximum visitors from New York City.
Otherwise, if you have an audience from all over the US, you can choose any of them.
Frankfurt (FRA1 or FRA2):
They have a tier 1 network in both the Frankfurt locations. However, we would recommend going with FRA1 if you had to choose between these two.
It has direct connectivity with the Rackspace network available.
UK (LON3, LON5, or LON8)
They have three locations Berkshire (LON3), West Sussex (LON5), and London (LON8). The London data center has tier 2 service providers whereas others have tier 1 service providers.
So, if your traffic is not specifically from London City, you can choose other locations.
Hong Kong (HKG1 or HKG5)
HKG1 is located in Tsuen Wan while HKG5 is in the Tseung Kwan O area in Hong Kong. HKG5 has tier 1 service providers. So, we will recommend going with that if you have to choose between these two options.
Conclusion
To conclude, Rackspace has 18 locations: Virginia (USA), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Dallas (USA), Chicago (USA), 3 data centers in London (UK), 2 data centers in Frankfurt (Germany) and 2 data centers in Hong Kong (China), Kansas City (USA).
Remaining locations include 2 data centers in New York (USA), Shanghai (China), San Jose (USA), Sydney (Australia) and Queenstown (Singapore).
All of these are reliable and have the best performance. You can choose any of these based on your requirements.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
How many countries does Rackspace operate a data center?
Rackspace has 18 active data centers spread in 16 cities around the globe.
Does Rackspace use Azure?
Yes, Rackspace also provides Azure solutions.
Where is Rackspace’s new headquarters office?
Rackspace has its new headquarters office in San Antonio’s Northside.