Businesses, schools, and social activities have had to transition to online platforms over the past ten years, especially more recently with the COVID-19 pandemic. More than ever, people rely on document storage and video conferencing services to maintain appropriate social distancing. All of these digital platforms are supported by data centers. 

Our new digital economy and ecosystem are supported by services like colocation, dedicated servers, cloud options, and in-house personnel to manage these services. You are thinking about colocation if you are reading this article. First, we want to confirm that you are genuinely looking for the right IT services for your company. Know that you want colocation.

Colocation 

You keep full ownership and total control of your equipment while renting a secure area in a data center with electricity, cooling, and connectivity. Due to the fact that you would be purchasing and maintaining your own servers, this involves the highest capital expenses. Several colocation service providers offer various managed services and hybrid cloud/colocation alternatives in addition to space and power.

Key Questions to Ask

• What is the provider's track record for reliability and uptime? Are service level agreements (SLAs) with uptime guarantees available from them?

• What security measures are in place to protect my data and equipment? Are there CCTV, security guards, biometric access controls, and other physical security measures installed in the building? Are the provider's practices compliant with standards set forth by the industry, such as SOC 2, ISO 27001, and PCI DSS?

• What are the provider's plans for catastrophe recovery and business continuity? Can they provide a detailed plan outlining how they'll react to a major outage or disaster?

• What sort of network connectivity is provided by the provider? Do they have redundant network connections and various carriers to provide fast, stable connectivity?

• How adaptable is the provider in terms of the need for power, cooling, and space? Can they accommodate expansion and alterations to your IT infrastructure in the future?

• What kind of maintenance and support services does the supplier provide? If required, would they offer onsite technical help and support around the clock?

• What are the costs of using a colocation facility? What is the cost of using the space, bandwidth, and power? Are there any other costs or expenses that I might not be aware of?

• Can the service provider provide testimonials from present or former customers who can verify the quality of their work and dependability?

• What type of use and performance metrics reporting and monitoring tools does the company provide?

• What kind of sustainability measures and environmental controls does the supplier have in place to lessen their carbon footprint and promote green initiatives?

Physical space 

Location 

The physical location of the data center should be advantageous to your business. For instance, a lot of companies decide to locate in buildings close to their corporate headquarters or their most important strategic markets

Space 

If you use colocation, you can rent a certain amount of data center space from your supplier. You will cost more money the more rooms you want, all else being equal. Colocation space is measured in units, racks, cabinets, and suites, respectively. One who offers fractional colocation cabinets (from 10U to 42U), as well as custom-sized cages will be the most flexible supplier for tailoring a colocation solution to your infrastructure needs.

Power 

Multiple, diverse utility power feeds to the facility do they have multiple feeds? sufficient generator-driven backup capacity (N+1 on UPS & generator) to handle extended power outages. · Enough on-site fuel storage and refill agreements to keep generators operational in case of emergency

Installation

Datacenter providers should provide administration services for your deployment. The desired strategy must be understood by all parties from conception to implementation. The expectations and execution of the project must be understood by all. In order to ensure that your colocation deployment runs well, your data center provider should oversee the workflow.

Service Level Agreement (SLA)

The Service Level Agreement (SLA) for a data center establishes the rules for deciding the provider's liability in the case of an outage that affects your colocation environment or other environmental elements like data center cooling and security and results in downtime. The promises the data center will uphold while offering you colocation services should be stated expressly in the SLA. It's crucial to comprehend and assess which parts of your infrastructure are under your provider's versus your obligation.

Scalability

The majority of businesses want a flexible solution that can easily and quickly change its design and power consumption as the organization grows. Without a partner, it is almost impossible to accomplish this on a large scale.

You May Also Like To Read: Advantages of Local Colocation Data center for Your Business

About Server Colocation 

A top-tier provider of colocation and managed services are server colocation Uk. Server colocation companies are committed to providing customers with high-quality infrastructure, services, and support, enabling them to devote more resources to their primary businesses. In order to assure the pleasure of both small businesses and large corporations, Server Colocation Uk aims to offer top-notch service and first-rate amenities.