Finding The Right Data Center OR Colocation Provider
How do we know if a data center is good? Do security and power capability features still matter these days? Like most things, making decision can be tough. Most companies will have similar claims. At FDC Servers we know that every client is unique and has different requirements, that’s why we offer creative approach for different infrastructure.
So physical location to network integration, there are number of critical features you should consider before you make a decision. Minor differences between data center providers can have a major impact on business. Placing your business infrastructure with the right data center can ensure an optimal deployment.
The following factors can help you select the right colocation services provider for your business :
POWER
In modern data centers, the main overlooked element among the prerequisites for data center operations is electric power. The greatest challenge associated with the electric power utilized for running a data center is the effective balancing of load power, which when properly done enables to obtain a consistent uptime and facilitates the usage of extra power. Factors such as availability of power, cost efficiency of available power, reliable sources, reliability of available power, impact on environment and the redundancy in power distribution determines the efficiency of power utilization. Power compartmentalization is another important aspect related to data center power distribution. It is the practice of isolating power systems and paths from one another so as to ensure each distinct part of the infrastructure can independently run on its own. Without effective power compartmentalization, the risk of downtime goes up significantly.
NETWORK CONNECTIVITY
The performance of data center not only depends on software, hardware and access density but also on network connectivity. Connectivity determines the way in which the information services and applications hosted in the data center are retrieved, which in turn has an intense impact on the performance, security and reliability of data centers. Beyond the demand for efficient performance, these data center networks must facilitate virtualization and should provide error free recovery mechanisms to protect against server, storage, network, and application vulnerabilities so as to provide continued performance and low rate service interruptions.
SECURITY
Security is a vital part of a data center. Security must be implemented in such a way that it should stop outside attackers from getting in and also data from going out. Data centers need to monitor that all data center operations interact correctly and each element of the data center is secure. Physical Security must be in such a way that it should monitor all incoming and outgoing traffic and should grant access to the authorized persons only. Proximity badge & biometric scanners secures access to places like these. Data centers must be under camera surveillance so as to monitor the place each and every second. Preventing attacks from malwares should also be considered as a primary security challenge. These must be countered using malware-scanning mechanisms.
PROTECTION
Other than physical security a data center must have robust disaster recovery measures so as to handle a natural disaster or other events like fire outbreak or any sort of disruption. Data There must be backup power supplying units so as to ensure uninterrupted power supply to data centers. In all these cases the data needs to be protected so there should be an efficient backup mechanism preferably an auto backup system and along with that data access should be shifted accordingly to another data center so that users can keep working, uninterrupted. The location of each hard drive in data centers must be trackable and status of these drives could be read at any time. The drives that cannot be used any longer should be destroyed in such a way that information in those mustn’t be accessed by anyone at any cost.
LOCATION
The location of a data center is another important factor determining the efficiency of data center. A data center should be located in such a place which provides remote access to computers with ease and have a strong standard telecommunications infrastructure, it can be located just about anywhere. Few things that should be kept in mind while selecting location are:
The geographical location should be an ideal one which means that it should be capable of withstanding natural disasters, climatic variations etc. The location should favor excellent availability, low cost and ease use of power. The location should facilitate excellent telecommunication infrastructure. The transportation facilities available in the location, labour availability along with its cost must be also taken into consideration.
SUPPORT
The data center providers should be capable of providing 24/7/365 in-facility support. A colocation provider of good standards knows what is important to their clients and they build up the intended customer base to provide the required services. They will also have expert staffs having advanced technical background, engaged and onsite 24/7. In case of an inquiry or in the event of an issue, the support team should be able to respond to the customer without any delay and solve the issue rather than escalating the issue to other support groups. The data center must be able to provide remote hands services for the management of the infrastructure of their customers by which they can remotely access the equipment without their physical presence. Finally a data center provider should be offering its customers yearly plans and review its customer support offered to the clients.
EFFICIENCY
In rapidly evolving and competing markets consistency and future growth makes you stand out. A data center has to be properly organized without any flaws in order to achieve efficiency. A data center must be well efficient to meet both current and anticipated needs and it is possible through only prudent planning and dexterous engineering. A data center possessing a reliable architecture is the most acute variable. Redundancy is another factor determining efficiency. A data center must be capable of restoring data in any case of failures with the help of redundant devices like hard disks, operating systems communication links etc along with infrastructure redundancy. An efficient data center lowers costs reduce risks and failures and withstands natural disasters effectively without any loss of data. Sustainable design, high performance infrastructure and proper management of available energy plays a vital role in increasing the efficiency of a data center.
FLEXIBILITY
Flexibility is another important aspect of a data center. Building a data center that can adjust or withstand any changes without any disruption is challenging one and should be integrated from the ground up. Flexibility can be achieved in many ways. Carrier neutrality provides the greatest flexibility since they can bring their own carriers. High bandwidth availability provides the flexibility to connect multiple sites and multiple customers. The space accommodating the data center must be in such a way that it can be easily extendable in multiple directions so as to accommodate the future growth. The data center must be flexible in resiliency too. Different tiers should be configured properly so that different zones should be placed in the apt way. Infrastructure flexibility is another thing, which incorporates the electric power, air conditioning and other hardware resources. These should be capable of modulating without disruption.
FUTURE GROWTH
Every data center aims at constant improvement in their operations, customer relationship and flexibility to meet the future needs. Noticeable changes should be made in the way in which data is stored managed and regulated. The data centers must try to scale better and create more powerful cloud. The customer needs an infrastructure with efficient virtualization, automations including well-established network and implementation of modern hardware so as to make the future data center agile. The data centers must be scalable in order to meet customer requirements. Power management and disaster recovery mechanisms should be upgraded so as to make the future operations safe. For the future growth the data centers should simplify the network significantly. More efficient and simpler architectures are being invented and can be implemented by data centers. Today the conventional CMOS technology is used for packet transmission and switching. This can be replaced by the most modern concept of photonics with the help optical fibers. More over data centers must deploy ingenious and groundbreaking technologies in critical areas of the network.
