How To Choose A Colocation Provider – Tricks To Work On

     

Choosing a colocation provider for your servers is not a piece of cake, there are specific provisions to consider and it is usually costly if you think of moving later on. Below are 10 tricks on things to work on the process of finding the right colocation data center.

1. Verify whether the colocation provider has the certifications for their data center, for instance being PCI compliant, SAS 70 audited or tier 4 certified. Ascertain whether you need or your customers require these certifications or others.

2. Ensure that the facility either has enough capacity available or room to extend, so you are not forced to move later on if the facility fills up.

3. Verify the colocation providers online reputation by Googling them and skimming industry blogs and forums, which will also disclose whether they have had massive outage problems or anything like that.

4. Make certain that the data center is carrier neutral and carries an exclusive selection of carriers available for complete flexibility. In big data centers or carrier hotels (colocation facility), there will probably be a meet me room (MMR) for kinship and maybe even an internet exchange (IXP).

5. Check the amount of power your equipment will consume and verify with the colocation data center whether they can deliver cooling for that amount.

6. If you are actually in need of colocation in several areas, think about using a large provider with a presence in several places so you can use the same colocation providers for your entire needs.

7. Skim the latest annual reports for the provider to ascertain their financial stability, in case the provider goes broke you could run into major trouble.

8. Be certain to obtain all relevant prices and not simply the rack or cage setup and rental fees, also account for pricing for remote hands, interconnection, additional power and the like.

9. If your enterprise is serious about maintaining a green profile, ascertain with the colocation data center provider that they have the facility of renewable energy to offer.

10. Locate a data center that is located strategically, in other words, that it should be within easy access and not near to any hazards. Data Center Map is a handy tool to find that out, you can search for colocation data centers and much more.

Sum Up

There are to say the truth a host of other factors to think about when choosing where to colocate your servers as well, however these are some of the major things to take into account with respect to colocation. Most crucial is to choose a data canter which is network-neural means provides for interconnection between many telecommunication carriers. Be knowledgeable about the pricing policies of the colocation provider and ascertain they are financially doing well and have no operational problems. Study the annual reports of the provider the information about their financial dealings will be in that document. Overall, you should also choose a colocation facility with scalability in mind and find out that the provider has the flexibility to accommodate you in the future.