Financial services companies looking to build a data center might want to consider Sioux Falls, S.D., reports Beth Bacheldor at ITworld. The mid-sized city is cold in the winter, relatively inexpensive and relatively secure, making it the top place to locate a data center, according to a study by The Boyd Company, a consulting firm in Princeton, N.J.

The Midwest dominated the study's recommendations. Behind, Sioux Falls came Tulsa, Okla., Ames, Iowa, Council Bluffs, Iowa, Bloomington, Ind., Albuquerque, N.M., San Antonio, Omaha, Neb., Colorado Springs, Colo. and Denton, Texas. As John Boyd, principal at The Boyd Co., notes, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) recently announced data center activity in Council Bluffs, and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) did in San Antonio.

Land is cheaper in the middle of the country than on the either coast, energy costs are competitive and quality of life is perceived as good. The cost of running a data center is most expensive in New York, at an estimated $23.67 million per year. In Sioux Falls, the operating cost is $11.9 million per year.

What's more, the recommended cities are seen as less prone to natural disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes, and they may be less likely than huge population centers to be targets of terrorism.

For more:
- see Beth Bacheldor's article at ITworld

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