Choosing
A
Colocation Provider
CONTINUED
Power
Recent brownouts and
blackouts in California have underscored the need for colocation
facilities to have a reliable and redundant power supply. Obtaining
electric service is increasingly expensive for facility operators,
and some maintain more capacity than others. Know as much as you
can about how much energy your equipment will require, and whether
the provider can meet your needs.
Redundancy
Having enough power
isn't enough. Your servers must continue to operate if a facility
loses power. Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems featuring
battery banks and powerful generators are standard in most quality
data centers. The best facilities will have backups for the backup
equipment in these key areas.
This same approach
to redundancy should be applied to other mission-critical systems,
including HVAC and fire suppression systems. Ideally the facility
should be equipped with dual fiber and power feeds into the building.
For further information on redundancy and cost issues, see the
article Reliability,
risks and facilities costs from Facilities.net.
Survivability
Would your servers
stay up and running if an earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter
scale hit the neighborhood where the data center resides? As colocation
customers whose equipment is housed in Seattle-area facilities
could tell you, this isn't always an academic exercise. Area colo
providers such as Exodus remained online throughout that city's
February temblor.
Ask whether the facility
has been engineered to withstand disasters such as earthquakes,
hurricanes, tornadoes and fires.
Physical Security
Finally, educate yourself
about the physical security in place at the facility. Many colocation
providers employ biometric tools such as thumb scans or retinal
scans to verify a user's identity. Some have "man-trap"
corridors to restrict access in case intruders who get past the
first line of security. Video surveillance is another important
component in a facility security plan.
With such measures
in place, be sure you understand which employees will be granted
access to the facility, and in what scenarios an employee of the
colocation company or vendor technician will be allowed to access
your equipment.
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