What is the major competitive edge that colocation servers have?
If you are thinking of data center level support for businesses, then you are absolutely right. Every business whose preference is dedicated server, may have to build its own data center, if there are no colocation servers. Of course, that will take time and add up cost.
The contracts with cheap server colocation providers usually last for years. So it is critical to choose the one that is the best for you. A wrong choice would bring years of issues.
Seven Questions To Ask From A Server Colocation UK Provider
Let us tell you different points from where you should examine your prospect colocation provider. Here are the seven parameters you should use to determine the quality of a provider.
- Can You Fulfill Our Power Requirements?
It is essential for you and your provider to know the power requirements. You should be able to express it properly in kilowatts or megawatts. It is very common for providers designed for 5 kW per rack to try compensating for 10 kW per rack.
So be extra cautious about the power. There are certain power and cooling limitations that can result in heavy power surcharges. You getting out from the list as a colocation candidate, is no strange, if that happens.
- What Floor Space Do You Need & How Much Will They Provide?
Floor space you need is also something you have to be very clear about. Take some time thinking about it. You should also know that renting more space on the UK colocation server is not going to enhance the performance. There is no clear link between performance and space. However, it will increase costs.
So it would be better from a cost-cutting perspective to reduce floor space requirements to the minimum. Many businesses utilize this strategy and enjoy the better prices throughout the tenure of contract which usually spans to years. A lot of things like rack power density, cooling and floor weight distribution become much more manageable for them, by reducing the server space.
What is the best thing about a colocation provider accommodating the extra power and cooling density of full or higher racks? Clients can put more hardware into a smaller data centre footprint.
- What Location Will You Be Assigned?
Location is a more than important aspect. Do not select it haphazardly. Spend good time thinking before the selection. When you pick a location finally, you should be able to justify your choice. If your choice is server colocation UK, you should have a good enough reason for it.
For example, your website is made strictly for DR. You should know that you have chosen the location, because it is within the 100 miles of your business.
However, you should also know that the site should be far enough to provide good protection from fire, flood, or hurricane. In other words, it should be safeguarded against the threats. Threats are what makes it necessary to establish DR sites in the first place.
Another example goal is to develop a better global presence. Understand your target market. Select the provider who is best at serving that marketplace.
Keep in mind that nothing but location improves accessibility.
- What About Legal Stuff?
Ask them to provide you with a primary service agreement and service level agreement (SLA). Study it as thoroughly as possible. Any document that addresses the critical contract items should not go unnoticed. All your teams, for example, legal teams, business teams, and IT teams should read it completely.
Have a good amount of discussions with them to clear all your concerns. You should be aware of every point that is related to response times, scalability, and availability. Figure out how much they can gladly adjust to your needs.
- Compliance
Does your prospective colocation provider UK the certifications or industry-recognized data centre tier levels. They could adopt the Uptime Institute’s Tier availability certification.
The ISO’s class system or the Telecommunication Industry Association’s level system is known as the Uptime Institute. A good server colocation UK would always be able to justify their certification.
