Data Center Location

[Mr.Garrison]

At hosts like SoftLayer you can decide yourself in which datacenter your server will be.
I'm wondering what location is the smartest decision (US traffic only here)

For example SoftLayer has datacenters in Seattle WA, Dallas TX and Washington DC.
Below you can see a US population density map. Looking at it I would say Washington would be best, but maybe Dallas would be better since it has shortest distances to any point in the US?

Thank you and excuse my bad english

 

[allco]

If you are creating websites targeting USA as a whole, it doesn't really matter which location, very miniscule differences. If you're trying stream video or large data files to a certain area - go with the closest to that area.

 

[IronLogik]

the majority of data centers are on the east coast, but Texas is very popular too, that's where ThePlanet and other large data centers are located. with that said though, the peering in the US overall is excellent so in reality you're good wherever man, seriously. i wouldn't waste too much time on this decision.

 

[Amaresh]

Dallas, Seattle, NYC and LA have great connectivity. So I would pick either of those.

 

[gfizzle]

Ping all of them and pick the fastest one for you.