You have a small and medium-sized business. A server sits in the corner of your sufficiently sized and equipped office. Yet how safe is your data if there is a disaster? Sudden loss of power, poor network connection and building fires could cause your company to lose significant revenue within a short period of time. A safe and secure place with a high-performance rate is best for your servers.
Finding the right provider
Once you have decided to opt for a change, good for you! Co-location is the perfect solution for your server as it is a shared hosting service providing the necessities you need:
- Space for your server
- Security
- Electrical power and cooling
- Networking equipment used by other firms
As your company expands you can purchase more space for your server with minimum cost and complexity. Finding the right one, though, can be a headache as all your important data will be housed in someone else’s environment. So here are some pointers you need to take into account when searching for your co-location centre:
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Location
Location is one of the key factors you should consider when choosing the co-location center. You will need to know its distance from your office and how convenient it is for you to get there when a server upgrade or maintenance is required. A well-equipped co-location centre should give you an abundance of power and fiber paths readily available for maximum performance.
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Flexibility
Different co-location companies offer different levels of flexibility, which can either be an advantage or drawback depending on your business needs. Remember that you will need a firm that can cater to you for several years so don’t hamper your business by getting a provider that can’t follow your pattern over time.
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Reliability
Getting a reliable co-location provider is important for any server management. Make sure that the provider’s uptime is at its peak constantly (a good provider should be at least 99.999% in its uptime) and it can be left alone without crashing or constantly need to be rebooted.
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Communication
Give specific instructions to your chosen colocation provider. Always plan ahead for when you will need additional racks as your company expands. Typically, companies will want to have their new space set up as quickly as possible so communication is essential for both parties.
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Network opportunity
One of plus factors of co-location is that you are able to connect with others within a shared data center. Therefore, you can connect with various suppliers, find potential associates and even check out your competitor. It is important to find out the connectivity possibilities before making any decision.
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The place that gathers
Healthy competition among neighboring companies can be positive. It is a good sign when companies are setting up shop around the same neighborhood. It shows that the area has good network connectivity which is exactly what you need.
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Financially Stable
Make sure that the co-location center you have chosen is experienced and have been around for a few years. The last thing that you need is investing heavily on an unstable company that might dissolve after a while. Do your homework on the company’s background and be confident that it can secure your server for at least 5 years.
So what can Global ITN do for your business?
Global ITN offers a secure, climate controlled environment to host your server. All the necessary technologies are in our co-location space. This ensures your server is safe and runs smoothly. We also offer the option to manage your server to increase the efficiency of your IT management.
What Global ITN offers:
- Server support team
- Growth planning of your architecture
- 24/7 data center and account management support
- Environment management remote tools
- Data center and network which is secure
- On-demand managed and professional services
- Competitive service level agreements on infrastructure support
