10 Tips to Choosing a Colocation Data Center
Choosing a colocation provider for your servers is never easy, there are a lot of things to consider and it is often a costly affair if you decide to move later on. Below are 10 tips on things to include in the process of finding the right colocation data center.
1. Check if the colocation provider has any certifications for their data center, such as being PCI compliant, SAS 70 audited or tier 4 certified. Investigate whether your needs or your customers require any of these certifications (or others).
2. Make sure that the facility either has plenty of capacity available or room to expand, so you do not risk having to move later on if the facility fills up.
3. Check the colocation providers online reputation by Googling them and checking industry blogs and forums, which will also reveal if they have had large outage problems or anything like that.
4. Make sure that the data center is carrier neutral and has a good selection of carrier available for maximal flexibility. In large data centers or carrier hotels there will most likely be a meet me room (MMR) for interconnection and perhaps even an internet exchange (IXP).
5. Investigate how much power your equipment will take up and check with the data center if they can deliver cooling for that amount.
6. If you are going to need colocation in multiple areas, consider using a large provider with presence several places so you can use the same provider for all your needs.
7. Check the latest annual reports for the company to make sure they are financially stable, if the provider should go bankrupt you could run in to serious trouble.
8. Make sure to get all relevant prices and not just rack or cage setup and rental fees, also consider pricing for remote hands, interconnection, additional power etc.
9. If your company is trying to maintain a green profile, check with the colocation provider can offer renewable energy.
10. Find a data center that is in a suitable location, meaning that it should be easy accessible and not near to any dangers - Data Center Map is an excellent tool for that, you can search for colocation data centers and much more.
There are of course a lot of other factors to consider when choosing where to colocate your servers as well, but these are some of the primary things to consider in relation to colocation.
I also blog about the data center industry, specially in relation to colocation, at the Data Center Map blog located at http://www.datacentermap.com/blog/.