If you're an Indiana business looking for a low-cost way to store your servers and connect your company through fiber, then the Purdue Research Foundation (PRF) has a solution for you.

The foundation announced this week that its PRF DataStation will be offering IT support for the 140 businesses that are located in the main Purdue Research Park located in West Lafayette, Ind. Essentially, the DataStation acts as a local network carrier that delivers fiber-optic connections and gives companies in the area the ability lease out cabinet space to store their network servers and related IT equipment. Additionally, the PRF says the station will offer back-up power and cooling services, as well as a security system that features 24-hour video surveillance, storm protection for data systems and a fire suppression system.

Eric George, a PRF systems analyst, says the data station employs the services of two statewide fiber providers, a local exchange carrier and a local ISP to help deliver services to its clients. Businesses using the data station's fiber network for their Internet connections will pay based on the amount of network traffic they generate. For server storage, George says businesses can lease a full 40U server cabinet for $750 a month, as well as a 20U half-cabinet for $400 a month. For businesses with smaller storage needs, George says that the PRF is working out a "per-U" pricing scheme that now charges a negotiable rate of $100 a month per 1U.

Click to see: Purdue's PRF DataStation is an energy-efficient, high-security facility built to house mission-critical computer and network equipment. Serving as a central point for fiber connectivity, the PRF DataStation also features redundant power and cooling as well as access to low-cost, high-availability Internet bandwidth.

"The data center also provides assurance for high capacity so Web traffic doesn't slow down during peak Internet usage," George says. "We're also using a carrier-neutral approach, which means we will use the most competitive pricing and services for our clients."

Eric Olson, a consultant for the PRF, says that the DataStation is planning in the future to create several branches in cities such as Indianapolis that will deliver DataStation benefits to more Indiana businesses. The plan, he says, is to gradually expand throughout northeast and southeast Indiana and offer companies in those cities virtualized  applications, managed services and off-site data storage capabilities. Even so, Olson emphasizes that no one should expect the PRF DataStation to expand into a nationwide operation anytime in the near future.