CyrusOne is a real estate company that owns and operates data centers across North America

CyrusOne owns and leases physical data center buildings — the facilities where servers, networking equipment, and storage systems live. The company does not provide cloud computing services or sell software. Instead, it rents space, power, cooling, and physical security to other companies that need to run their own IT infrastructure or host customer data.

CyrusOne operates data centers in multiple U.S. cities and in Mexico. The company is publicly traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker CIO. If you are researching data centers as a place to house servers or as a real estate investment, CyrusOne is one option among several competitors in the market.

Key Takeaways

  • CyrusOne owns and rents data center space, not cloud services — customers bring their own equipment or rent servers from other vendors.
  • The company operates facilities in multiple U.S. metropolitan areas and Mexico, with varying capacity and power availability at each location.
  • CyrusOne charges rent based on the physical space occupied, power consumed, and services like cooling and security provided.
  • Customers typically sign multi-year leases and may be locked into long-term contracts with early termination fees.

What CyrusOne Actually Rents to Customers

CyrusOne rents colocation space — a portion of a data center building where a customer can place their own servers and equipment. The customer owns or leases the hardware; CyrusOne provides the building, the electrical power, the cooling systems, the fire suppression, the security cameras, the locked cages or cabinets, and the network connections to the outside world.

A company might rent colocation space because it is cheaper than building and maintaining its own data center, because it needs geographic redundancy (servers in multiple cities), or because it needs the physical security and environmental controls that a professional facility provides. A small business might rent a few server cabinets; a large enterprise might rent an entire floor.

CyrusOne also offers managed services — meaning the company can monitor your equipment, patch software, manage backups, or handle other operational tasks on your behalf. These are add-ons to the basic colocation rental.

CyrusOne Locations and Facility Types

CyrusOne operates data centers in cities including Dallas, Denver, Phoenix, Chicago, Northern Virginia, and Mexico City. Each facility has different amounts of available power, cooling capacity, and floor space. Some are older buildings retrofitted for data center use; others are newer purpose-built facilities.

The company publishes information about each location's power capacity, cooling technology, and available space on its website. If you are considering renting space, you would need to contact CyrusOne directly to learn whether a specific location has capacity for your equipment and what the cost would be.

How CyrusOne Pricing Works

CyrusOne charges rent based on three main factors: the amount of physical space (measured in square feet or in cabinet units), the amount of electrical power your equipment draws (measured in kilowatts), and the services you add on top of basic colocation.

Pricing varies significantly by location, by how much power you need, and by market conditions. A cabinet in a major metropolitan area costs more than a cabinet in a smaller city. Power costs vary based on local electricity rates and the efficiency of the facility. CyrusOne does not publish standard pricing on its website; you receive a custom quote based on your specific needs.

Most customers sign multi-year contracts — typically three to five years — and pay a monthly fee. Early termination usually comes with a penalty. Some contracts include price escalation clauses, meaning your rent increases each year by a set percentage or amount.

Who Uses CyrusOne Data Centers

CyrusOne's customers include mid-sized and large companies that run their own IT operations, financial services firms that need find facilities for trading systems or customer data, healthcare organizations storing patient records, and companies that resell server space to smaller businesses.

CyrusOne is not the right choice if you want a cloud provider to manage your servers for you (you would use AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud instead). It is also not the right choice if you want to rent individual virtual servers rather than physical space — that is a different product called cloud hosting or virtual private servers.

CyrusOne Compared to Other Data Center Operators

CyrusOne competes with other publicly traded data center real estate companies like Equinix, Digital Realty, and CoreWeave, as well as with smaller regional operators and with the data centers run by cloud providers themselves (AWS, Microsoft, Google).

The main differences between operators are location, power capacity, pricing, service quality, and contract terms. Some operators specialize in certain industries or geographies. Some offer more managed services; others focus purely on renting raw space. Comparing them requires getting quotes from multiple companies and evaluating their facilities in person if possible.

Risks and Considerations for CyrusOne Customers

Long-term contracts lock you into a location and pricing for years. If your business needs change — if you need less space, or if you want to move to a different city — you may face early termination fees that are expensive.

Power outages, cooling failures, or physical damage to the facility can disrupt your operations. CyrusOne publishes uptime guarantees (usually 99.9% or higher) in its service level agreements, but outages do happen. You should have a backup plan — either redundant equipment in another facility, or a contract with a cloud provider that can take over if your colocation facility goes down.

Your equipment is physically separated from you. If something breaks, you either have to travel to the facility to fix it, or you have to pay CyrusOne or a third party to do hands-on work for you. This adds cost and delay compared to equipment in your own office.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does CyrusOne provide internet connectivity?

CyrusOne provides the physical connections to the outside world, but you choose your internet service provider. Most data centers have multiple ISPs available so you can buy connectivity from one or more providers. You pay the ISP separately from your CyrusOne rent.

Can I move my equipment out early if I need to?

Yes, but your contract likely includes an early termination fee. The fee is usually a percentage of the remaining contract value. You should review your contract terms before signing to understand what that penalty would be.

What happens if CyrusOne's data center loses power?

CyrusOne facilities have backup generators and uninterruptible power supplies designed to keep equipment running during an outage. The service level agreement specifies how long the facility will stay powered and what compensation you receive if it fails. You should also have your own backup power or redundancy plan.

Is CyrusOne a good investment for stock buyers?

CyrusOne is a publicly traded company, so you can buy shares like any other stock. Whether it is a good investment depends on your financial goals, risk tolerance, and investment timeline. You should research the company's financial performance, debt levels, and competitive position before deciding.