While the economy has improved throughout the global market, each industry must take a hard look at its performance to understand current challenges and future opportunities. The data center network space is no exception. Fortunately, there is some positive news on this front.

According to this Seeking Alpha report, the best performing organization in the data center network arena was Dupont Fabros Technologies. The company reported a gain of more than 12 percent in the past month alone.

A close second was Interxion at 9 percent. Equinix (News - Alert) followed with 8 percent. Both companies are network-neutral providers. Tying Equinix for that third place ranking were Akamai (News - Alert) and Limelight Networks. Both CDN providers reported gains of 8 percent.

The worst performing in the data center network for the quarter was Rackspace (News - Alert). The company issued a disappointing earnings report, losing roughly 24 percent in the quarter. A few others managed to break even for the quarter, including Digital Realty Trust, Interxion and 21ViaNet. Internap (News - Alert) found itself in the red.

In all, the results for the second quarter 2012 were relatively mixed. Overall, the data center network sector did deliver solid names when examining the half year reports. And, more than half of the tracked companies produced gains reaching double digits.

The best performers in the data center network space were the network-neutral providers when considered as a whole. Top performer Equinix delivered a powerful 73 percent return, followed closely by REITs. CoreSite (News - Alert) showed a 45 percent gain, a number it has maintained since the start of the year, allowing the company to outperform its peers.

Looking to the third and fourth quarters, much can change. A number of data center network companies are expected to continue to enjoy high multiples based mostly on strong growth assumptions. The recent Rackspace performance demonstrates, however, that strong market corrections are needed when expectations are severely missed.

Those watching the data center network space expect that Akamai and Equinix, along with Digital Realty, could easily dictate the performance expectations for the sector. Likewise, several companies within this space are expected to continue to deliver strong metrics and powerful growth rates, which will leave room for additional price appreciation.

The whole data center network sector, however, is not expected to continue to exceed the market benchmark. Investors are advised to be cautious in this area as the concept of cloud computing isn’t enough to ensure success. Companies must be executing against their business plans to be considered good risks.

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