They haven't said anything untrue. They're open about the fact they're working with a colo provider and using a common definition for "datacenter" appropriately.
While "datacenter" can refer to the physical building, it's also commonly used to refer to a set of server/storage/network resources physically cordoned off for your use in a colo.
Using this definition isn't just common with hundreds of other hosters, its well standardized in IT circles, and used as the official definition of the word "datacenter" by numerous industry groups, regulators, analysts, and the US Federal government.
The whitehouse.gov pdf above says: "under the FDCCI, a data center is now defined as a closet, room, floor, or building for the storage, management, and dissemination of data and information. Such a repository houses computer systems and associated components...<snip>... housed in leased (including by cloud providers), owned, collocated, or stand-alone facilities."
I'll respectfully disagree. They are implying creation and ownership of an entire facility. They want to market themselves as being bigger and stronger than they actually are.
I guess hustling and bending the truth is rule 101 in marketing for start-ups these days, but it doesn't have to be like that.
When Blue Bottle open a new coffee shop, that's what they call it, an opening. If other coffee shops stock their coffee, Blue Bottle don't claim to have opened a new location, they simply say their coffee is available or served there.
Their announcement uses the phrase "Working with Equinix to ensure the highest quality facility". Since Equinix is a colo provider, that implies they're running in a colo.
If you read their FAQ (https://www.digitalocean.com/faq), they're pretty clear that their other datacenters are in 3rd party colos: "We have datacenters located in the NYC area (located in the Equinix and Telx datacenters), San Francisco (Telx), and in Amsterdam (TelecityGroup)."
While "datacenter" can refer to the physical building, it's also commonly used to refer to a set of server/storage/network resources physically cordoned off for your use in a colo.
Using this definition isn't just common with hundreds of other hosters, its well standardized in IT circles, and used as the official definition of the word "datacenter" by numerous industry groups, regulators, analysts, and the US Federal government.
For instance: http://searchdatacenter.techtarget.com/definition/data-cente... http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/ego...
The whitehouse.gov pdf above says: "under the FDCCI, a data center is now defined as a closet, room, floor, or building for the storage, management, and dissemination of data and information. Such a repository houses computer systems and associated components...<snip>... housed in leased (including by cloud providers), owned, collocated, or stand-alone facilities."