12 More Data Center Colocation Differentiators – Part 2

This is part 2 of a series, so if you haven’t read part 1, make sure you check it out. Part 1 contains the first 9 data center colocation features that I’ve observed are important to IT Professionals but vary in availability. In this second part, I will give you 12 more!

If you are going to shop for data center colocation space, you need to know which of these items are important to you and make sure know a colo provider’s answers up front, before any time is spent quoting or touring.

10. Bare Metal Server
Let’s say you are putting 10 servers into your data center colo space and one of those will be End of Life (EoL) within the next year… and you may consider converting that server into a Bare Metal Cloud Server (what we used to call a Dedicated Server) at that time. If this is a possibility, check with your potential data center colocation providers to see if they offer Bare Metal Cloud Servers. By doing so, the servers will be on the same network and never have to communicate over the public Internet, which would introduce a latency or overall Quality of Service (QoS) hurdle.

11. Security Measures
Data Center Colocation facilities vary when it comes to the level of security they offer and their prices will follow the variance. Don’t wait to ask this question. Decide up front if you need them to provide Retinal Scan authorization or if a simple key card will suffice.

12. Fire Suppression
Are you picky about the type of fire suppression the data center uses? If so, ask about it because they’re all a little different. For instance, some suck the oxygen out of the air, some use foam and some only treat the servers in the affected area, while others will treat the entire building for the fire.

13. Power Redundancy
If your only servers will be sitting inside the data center colo facility and you are not mirroring anywhere or doing any type of off-site DR, make sure you ask about how long the data center can operate without power. Sure they have diesel generators but how long will those be operable on a single tank of fuel?

14. AC Redundancy
Same as with power, if these are your only servers with zero off-site DR, you want to make sure the data center has multiple AC units and that any one of them can cool the entire data center by itself for several days. This might be the price difference between a cheap quote and an expensive one.

15. Support Staff Technical Expertise
Do you need the staff to have a minimum level of technical expertise if they are going to be touching your servers? Do they need any certifications? If so, ask up front because many will not have this.

16. Raised Floor
Raised floor is when the server cabinets are raised off the floor, for cooling and earthquake purposes (i.e. shock absorbers may be placed on the foundation of the cabinet). Some people demand this while others don’t care but I have seen data centers have them and not have them, so make sure to ask if it’s important.

17. Wholesale or Retail
Are you purchasing several cabinets and you’ll be reselling colo space to your clients? If so, this is considered Wholesale space so you want to find a data center that specializes in this and has lower pricing, accordingly. Conversely, if you are not purchasing for wholesale purposes, don’t put your servers in a primarily wholesale data center because these providers will typically be used to very low maintenance clients who can do everything on their own.

18. Hours of Access
Might you need to access your servers at 2:00 AM or on the weekends or some other strange hours? If so, be sure to ask what their data center’s access hours and policies are.

19. Work Rooms
Will you sometimes need to work on your servers for hours at a time and will need a private room to hook up a laptop, set up a phone and multi-task? If so, make sure the data center colocation providers you’re quoting have private work rooms.

20. Bandwidth Aggregators – Internap
Would you like the ability to aggregate multiple fiber connections inside the data center? If so, some providers, like Internap, have add-on services where you can do this. Ask before you quote!

21. Cloud Direct Connect – Equinix
Are you married to a large 3rd party public cloud hosting provider, like AWS or Azure? If so, look for data center colocation providers that have a Network to Network Interface (NNI) or “Direct Connect” with your 3rd party cloud service provider, such as Equinix. This will allow your data center servers to communicate with your cloud servers without hitting the public Internet, which will decrease latency and improve overall QoS.

Okay, so that was a total of 21 data center colocation features I’ve noticed that you IT professionals find important, but that may differ with different providers. I hope this information will help you save time before diving too deep into the quoting process with a potential data center.

Do you currently have a data center provider that you love? If so, write a review on www.aerocominc.com. Other IT Pros want to hear your advice.

About the Author
Mike Smith is the Founder and President of AeroCom and has been helping companies with telecom and cloud services since 1999. He has been the recipient of numerous business telecommunications industry awards and in 2011, he was honored as one of the top 40 business people in Orange County, CA., under 40 years old. Follow Mike on LinkedIn, Twitter or SpiceWorks.

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