The decision to move, expand or consolidate your data center must be taken into account in terms of cost, operational reliability and, of course, security. With these considerations in mind, more companies are finding that colocation offers the solution they need without the difficulty of managing their own data center.
Also known simply as "colo," data center colocation refers to a service provided by companies that provide a shared, secure space for enterprise to store data storage and other equipment related hardware.
The enterprise customer engages with the colo company in a manner similar to a rental relationship with the property manager, whereby the customer rents space in the facility to store equipment.
The customer usually supplies the equipment: servers and other hardware needed for daily operations. And the Colo Company stores it securely in a cool, monitored environment ideal for servers, while ensuring that the needs for bandwidth are met. The data center offers third-party services that guarantee a certain amount of uptime.
The Enterprise Benefits of the Data Center Collocation.
Colocation facility of data centers could be the right choice for any business of any size, in any industry.
Uptime.
The advantage for enterprises in a data center location is the uptime of the server. By purchasing to a specific level, a certain percentage of uptime for each enterprise server client is guaranteed without payroll costs for maintenance or other maintenance fees.
Rated/Tier 1 DCs have an uptime percentage of 99.671 per year. Maximum total annual downtime= 1729.2 minutes or 28.817 hours per year.
Rated/Tier 2 DCs have an uptime percentage of 99.741 per year. Maximum total annual downtime= 1361.3 minutes or 22.688 hours.
Rated/Tier 3 DCs have an uptime percentage of 99,982 per year. Maximum total annual downtime= 94.6 minutes or 1,5768 hours.
Rated/Tier 4 DCs have an uptime percentage of 99.995 per year. Maximum total annual downtime= 26.3 minutes or 0.4 hours.
Risk Management
Businesses that use data centers as a data recovery strategy are doing so to mitigate risk in the event of an external event (such as a natural disaster) or an outage. The use of a placement facility ensures business continuity in the event of a major disaster. This means that your network traffic will not be affected if your business location loses power.
The key to this is redundancy. The layers of redundancy offered at a data center location are far more complex than many companies can afford in-house.
Some enterprise companies will consider off-site location as their primary data storage location while maintaining on-site copies of data as backup.
Security
Data centers are equipped with state-of - the-art security technology, including cameras and biometric readers, check-in desks that welcome incoming visitors and security badges are commonplace. These facilities are monitored 24/7/365, both in the physical world and in the cloud, to ensure that unauthorized access does not occur.
Cost : One of the main advantages of colocation is that it results in significant cost savings, especially when measured against in-house data center management. This means that for many companies, renting the space they need from a data center offers a practical solution to ever-reducing IT budgets. With Colocation, there is no need to worry about capital expenditure planning, such as UPS (uninterrupted power source), multiple backup generators, power grids and HVAC units.
In addition to these capital expenditures, there are also ongoing maintenance costs associated with the maintenance and management of the in-house server.
Bandwidth: Colos issues the bandwidth that enterprise client servers need to function properly. With large bandwidth pipes to power multiple companies, locations in data centers are primed to support businesses in a way that is unlikely to be possible for their office location.
Support and Certification When you partner with a data center location, your enterprise may be able to reduce potential payroll costs by relying on data center experts to manage and troubleshoot major equipment. Enterprises can rely on expert support from experts who are certified to assist them. Colocation, as such, offers the benefit of peace of mind.
Scalability As your business grows, you can easily expand your IT infrastructure needs through placement.
Different industries will have different requirements in terms of the functionality they need from their data center in terms of space, power, support and security. However, your service provider will work with you to identify your needs and make adjustments quickly.
In-House Data Center Management Versus Data Center Collocation
While outsourcing data centers offers many benefits, some business organizations may still prefer to manage their own data centers for a few reasons.
Control over data
Whenever you place important equipment at someone else's expense, you run the risk of damage to your equipment and even accidental loss of data. Luckily, data centers are set up with redundancy and other protocols to reduce the likelihood of this occurring, as discussed above. However, some enterprise businesses with the knowledge and resources to handle data in-house are more comfortable with being responsible for their own servers.
They also benefit from being able to resolve server issues immediately when they occur. Enterprises seeking outsourcing must instead work closely with their service providers to ensure that issues are resolved in a timely manner.
Contract Constraints
Enterprise business owners may find that they are unaware of the limitations of the contract between their company and the facility. Clauses that include lock-in vendor, termination of contract or non-renewal and ownership of equipment may not meet their needs.
Choosing a Data Center
There are five considerations that IT Directors should consider before transferring their data to a co-located data facility.
Is the agreement flexible enough to meet my needs?
Does the facility support my current and future energy needs?
Is safety up to my standards?
Is the data center certified for the Uptime requirements?
Is the data center scalable for future growth?
If a business leader can answer' yes' to all of the above questions, it may be the right time to make a change.
What's next for the Data Center Colocation?
The biggest push in the industry comes from cloud service providers who use colo as a means of meeting their heavy storage needs. At the same time, the industry has been and will remain fluid as the legislation changes with regard to the requirements for cloud storage.
While increasing demand from cloud service providers has increased the need for data center placement, new technology offers rack storage options that allow colo facilities to reduce the demand for hardware space. And as demand for colo increases, so will the need for virtual and physical security. Indeed, the ability to ensure the highest standards of security will be one of the cornerstones that keeps data centers on the cusp of new technology.