SITUATION

Backblaze sought to establish its first Canadian data center presence to support customers requiring Canadian data residency and sovereignty compliance.

The company required a deployment that would deliver low-latency connectivity to Canada’s primary network ecosystem, while also limiting long-term economic exposure as it expanded into an unproven market.

KEY CHALLENGES

• Meeting Canadian data sovereignty and compliance requirements
• Achieving low-latency connectivity to Toronto’s carrier ecosystem
• Controlling infrastructure costs in a new and untested market
• Accelerating deployment to bring a new cloud region online quickly

RESULTS

Data Sovereignty & Compliance Enablement Structured Backblaze’s deployment at Cologix TOR3, a Tier III, SOC 2 and ISO 27001 certified facility, enabling Backblaze to launch its CA-East region and serve Canadian customers with in-country data storage for the first time.

Network Connectivity Optimization Designed a connectivity architecture utilizing direct dark fiber to TOR1 (151 Front Street), providing access to 160+ networks, TorIX, and major cloud onramps, eliminating long-haul transport costs and delivering near-zero latency performance.

Market Entry Risk Management Negotiated step-down provisions that limited Backblaze’s power commitment exposure as it scaled in the Canadian market while securing below-market pricing on space and power.