Datacenters and Network Infrastructure¶

Physical and virtual infrastructure for network service deployment, covering colocation services, GL.iNet router configuration with WireGuard, Unique Local Address (ULA) networking, and the Florida datacenter market.

Overview¶

Colocation Services¶

Colocation (colo) is the practice of housing privately-owned servers and networking equipment in a third-party datacenter. The colocation provider supplies the building, cooling, power, bandwidth, and physical security while the customer provides the hardware.

Hosting Model Hierarchy¶

flowchart TD
    subgraph Control["Control Level Spectrum"]
        direction LR
        OP["On-Premises<br/>Full Control"]
        CO["Colocation<br/>Hardware + Software"]
        DS["Dedicated<br/>Software Only"]
        CL["Cloud/VPS<br/>Limited"]
    end

    subgraph Provider["Provider Responsibility"]
        direction LR
        P1["None<br/>(you manage all)"]
        P2["Facility<br/>(power, cooling, net)"]
        P3["Hardware + Facility"]
        P4["Everything"]
    end

    OP -->|"Increasing provider responsibility"| CO --> DS --> CL
    P1 --> P2 --> P3 --> P4

    style OP fill:#4a90d9
    style CL fill:#7ed321

Colocation vs. Other Hosting Models¶

1U Colocation¶

1U (1 rack unit) colocation is the smallest standard server footprint, measuring 1.75 inches (44.45 mm) in height. A standard 42U rack can house up to 42 1U servers.

Typical 1U colocation package inclusions:

• 1U of rack space in a shared or private cabinet
• Power allocation (typically 1-2 amps at 120V or 208V)
• Network port (1 Gbps standard, 10 Gbps available)
• IP address allocation (typically /29 or /30 IPv4, /64 IPv6)
• Remote hands service (hourly rate or included hours)
• Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and generator backup
• Environmental monitoring (temperature, humidity)

Key Colocation Providers — Florida Region¶

Cologix Lakeland¶

Cologix operates a datacenter at 2850 Interstate Drive in Lakeland, Florida. The facility offers:

• Carrier-neutral network access
• Cross-connects to multiple Tier 1 and Tier 2 carriers
• Direct cloud on-ramps (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud)
• Compliance certifications: SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA
• 24/7 security and remote hands

Cloudflare CNI (Cloudflare Network Interconnect)¶

Cologix Lakeland is listed as a Cloudflare CNI location, enabling private connectivity between customer infrastructure and Cloudflare's network without traversing the public internet.

Bohler Places LLC / Fort Meade¶

Fort Meade, Florida has been identified as a developing datacenter location. The area benefits from:

• Florida's lack of state income tax
• Geographic separation from hurricane-prone coastal regions
• Proximity to Tampa metropolitan area
• Land availability for large-scale campus development

WireGuard VPN¶

WireGuard is a layer 3 secure VPN tunneling protocol designed for simplicity and performance. It uses modern cryptographic primitives and operates with a minimal codebase compared to IPsec and OpenVPN.

Protocol Characteristics¶

flowchart TD
    subgraph Crypto["Cryptographic Primitives"]
        direction TB
        C1["Curve25519<br/>ECDH Key Exchange"]
        C2["ChaCha20-Poly1305<br/>AEAD Encryption"]
        C3["BLAKE2s<br/>Hashing"]
        C4["SipHash24<br/>Hash Table Keying"]
    end

    subgraph Transport["Transport"]
        T1["UDP Only<br/>(No TCP fallback)"]
        T2["Port 51820<br/>(configurable)"]
        T3["1-RTT Handshake"]
        T4["Seamless Roaming"]
    end

    REQ["Connection Request"] --> Crypto
    Crypto --> Transport
    Transport --> EST["Established Tunnel"]

    style Crypto fill:#4a90d9
    style Transport fill:#7ed321

Configuration¶

WireGuard uses a simple INI-style configuration file:

[Interface]
PrivateKey = <server_private_key>
Address = 10.200.200.1/24
ListenPort = 51820
PostUp = iptables -A FORWARD -i %i -j ACCEPT; iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o eth0 -j MASQUERADE
PostDown = iptables -D FORWARD -i %i -j ACCEPT; iptables -t nat -D POSTROUTING -o eth0 -j MASQUERADE

[Peer]
PublicKey = <client_public_key>
AllowedIPs = 10.200.200.2/32

GL.iNet Router Integration¶

GL.iNet travel routers support WireGuard client mode through their OpenWrt-based firmware. Configuration steps:

1. Navigate to the router's web admin panel
2. Select VPN > WireGuard Client
3. Add a new tunnel (manual configuration or QR code import)
4. Paste the WireGuard client configuration
5. Activate the tunnel

The GL.iNet forum provides community-maintained configurations for various VPN providers. Custom WireGuard server configurations are supported via manual input.

Unique Local Address (ULA) Networking¶

RFC 4193 defines Unique Local Addresses for IPv6 private networks. ULAs are globally unique (with high probability due to random global ID generation) but not routable on the public internet.

ULA vs. IPv4 Private Addresses¶

ULA Prefix Generation¶

The recommended method generates a random 40-bit global ID:

import secrets

def generate_ula():
    """Generate a random ULA prefix per RFC 4193."""
    global_id = secrets.token_hex(5)  # 40 bits
    return f"fd{global_id[:2]}:{global_id[2:6]}:{global_id[6:10]}::/48"

# Example: fd1a:2b3c:4d5e::/48

WireGuard with ULA¶

Using ULAs for the WireGuard tunnel network avoids conflicts with the LAN addressing scheme:

[Interface]
PrivateKey = ...
Address = fd12:3456:789a:1::1/64
ListenPort = 51820

[Peer]
PublicKey = ...
AllowedIPs = fd12:3456:789a:1::2/128, 10.0.0.0/24

Network Monitoring Tools¶

Related Pages¶

• WireGuard Server — Dedicated WireGuard server configuration
• GL.iNet / LuCI — Router firmware and LuCI interface
• IPv6 — IPv6 addressing and ULA details
• Hetzner Sovereign — VPS deployment for VPN endpoints

Related Deep Hole¶

• Cologix Service Brochures — Colocation buyer's guide and service documentation
• Colocation America: 1U Colocation Guide — 1U colocation specifications and pricing
• Datacenter Map — Global datacenter location database
• RFC 4193: Unique Local IPv6 Unicast Addresses — ULA specification
• GL.iNet Forum: WireGuard Client Setup — Community guide for router WireGuard configuration
• nixCraft: WireGuard Firewall Rules — iptables/ip6tables integration with WireGuard
• Bing Search: 1U Datacenter Rent — Market pricing research
• Datacenter Dynamics: Fort Meade Campus — 4.4 million sq ft campus zoning approval