Seattle Data Centers & Colocation
Seattle is a practical US colo market when you need Pacific Northwest / Northwest hub presence, deliverable cabinet or cage capacity, and multi-provider competition on power (kW), density, and interconnect—without defaulting to a single-operator tour. DatacenterHunter currently indexes 3 facilities from 3 providers in Seattle. To rent space here, define your cabinets + committed IT kW + go-live date + must-have carriers/cloud on-ramps, then collect side-by-side proposals so you compare usable power and contract terms—not brochure MRCs.
What Seattle buyers typically procure
Seattle attracts Northwest regional production, hybrid cloud edge near major cloud regions, SaaS and tech platforms, and buyers who need PNW presence—often alongside Hillsboro/Portland campus options for power and scale. Treat "Seattle" as a procurement geography—verify the specific building and hall that can energize your kW on your date. City of Seattle inventory is tighter than the broader PNW campus market. Many commercial RFPs wisely bid Seattle and nearby markets (e.g., Hillsboro, Tukwila, Bellevue-area options) on the same commercial sheet.
| Procurement lever | What to lock in writing |
|---|---|
| Space | Cabinets, cage, or suite; adjacent expansion rights |
| Power | Usable IT kW, max kW/rack, ready-for-service date, overage rules |
| Cooling | Hall density support (air vs higher-density options) |
| Interconnect | Carriers present, cloud on-ramps, cross-connect fees/lead times |
| SLA | Power/cooling measurement, exclusions, credits, incident RCA |
| Contract | Term, escalator, renewal, early exit, remote-hands rates |
How to shortlist Seattle facilities for an RFP
1. Freeze the commercial requirement
- Initial cabinets / U and 24-month growth
- Total IT kW and sustained kW per rack
- Redundancy expectation (what fails closed for your app, not a marketing Tier slogan)
- Hard interconnect requirements (named carriers, AWS/Azure/GCP-style on-ramps)
- Compliance evidence needed (SOC 2, ISO, PCI, HIPAA, etc.)
- Contract target go-live with buffer for cross-connects and hardware
2. Qualify usable power and date first
Ask every Seattle bidder:
- Is quoted kW usable IT load in the named hall today, or contingent on utility/build milestones?
- What is the installed max sustained kW/rack with cooling already in place?
- Contractual ready-for-service date and remedies if it slips?
- How is overage billed?
3. Score interconnect like a line item
Seattle deals often hinge on cloud proximity and Northwest pathing. Confirm building-level carriers and on-ramps; a small city index means interconnect fit can eliminate options quickly. Confirm building-level (not metro-level) carrier diversity, meet-me practices, cloud on-ramp presence, and cross-connect MRC/NRC. A lower space fee loses quickly if interconnect is slow or exclusive.
4. Normalize TCO across competing providers
Convert each proposal to $ / usable kW / month over the full term, including power method, cross-connects, remote hands, NRC/cage build, escalator, and renewal. Use the pricing calculator to structure assumptions, then replace estimates with live quotes.
Seattle pricing: how commercial quotes are built
Expect bids to combine space (per cabinet or cage footprint), power (reserved kW and/or metered usage—method matters), cross-connects (per connection to carriers or cloud), and remote hands (included vs hourly).
A smaller indexed facility set still supports competition across three providers—but expect interconnect and power deliverability to dominate TCO more than brochure cabinet rates. Do not sign on a single unnormalized MRC. Run multi-provider pricing via /get-started.
SLA and contract terms Seattle renters should negotiate
Parallel negotiation with finalists preserves leverage. For complex paper, use /consult.
- Measurement method for power and environmental SLAs
- Maintenance exclusions and chronic-outage termination rights
- Escalator floor/cap and renewal pricing mechanic
- Expansion rights on adjacent kW at known commercial terms
- Remote-hands response times and after-hours rates
- Exit / de-install obligations and migration overlap
When Seattle is the right rent decision
When Seattle is not enough alone (deepest multi-facility competition (consider Dallas/Chicago) or maximum East Coast cloud gravity (Ashburn)), still bid it as a DR, edge, or overflow option—multi-market RFPs are normal.
- You need Pacific Northwest latency or regional presence for Northwest users
- You want carrier/cloud adjacency in the Seattle metro without defaulting to a single operator
- Hybrid designs need documented on-ramps near major cloud regions
- You will compare Seattle against Hillsboro/Portland campuses for scale and power
Buyer checklist before you request quotes
Then submit once at /get-started so providers answer the same commercial sheet.
- Cabinets + kW + density band
- Go-live window
- Must-have carriers / cloud on-ramps
- Compliance list
- Preferred term length
- Single-market vs multi-market bid
- Willing to bid Hillsboro/Portland campuses in parallel? (yes/no)
Support Guides
Providers in Seattle
Facilities in Seattle
Connectivity & Carrier Ecosystem
Cloud On-Ramps
Pricing Considerations for Seattle
Colocation pricing in Seattle depends on several factors including power density, space requirements, connectivity needs, and contract length. Typical components of a colocation bill include:
Power
Billed per kW of reserved or actual usage
Space
Per cabinet or per square foot
Cross-connects
Per connection between carriers or providers
Remote Hands
Hourly rate for on-site technical support