Category Archive for : ‘Hardened Data Center’

Is your company moving?  Leasing or buying new office space impacts the business in several ways.  One of the decisions a company must make is the decision whether to build a new enterprise data center or outsource data center facilities.

The impact of critical computer system downtime to your business is the major factor in your decision to build or outsource.  If the cost of downtime is high, you will need to build a tier III or higher rated data center to avoid downtime.  The capital costs associated with building a hardened

The top two issues companies talk to us about with regards to outsource data centers are uptime and cost.  Yes, carrier neutral data centers, compliance, and hardened data center facilties are part of the decision, but companies are going to a data center to improve or maintain critical computer system uptime, and cost is always a decision point.

So what role does raised floor play in uptime?  None.  It’s a design consideration that is a holdover from the 1960s when equipment was cooled from the bottom up.  ASHRAE professionals are acknowledging

One of our most recent clients chose to move their critical production computer systems to Lifeline’s outsource data center because of their new office location.  They recently moved the main office to a brand new office park, and the power has been extremely unreliable.  In January, they had been told by the power company that power would be shut down for four hours on two different Sundays.  The client operates a business in which their employees access their critical systems 24/7, so the idea of two four hour outages was

If your company is considering the use of a colocation facility, you have dozens of choices.  Midwest colocation has become very popular because of a few factors:

the Midwest is less prone to natural disasters
power costs are low compared to the coasts
the central location offers fiber density and therefore telecom choices

Many companies consider Chicago colocation because of easy travel access and telecom density.  Yet Chicago colocation prices are almost always higher than similar data center facilities within a few hours.

What are your true requirements?  If you’re using colocation for your enterprise

Why are so many outsource data centers locating in the Midwest?  Why are Microsoft, Google, and other large Internet companies putting their private data centers in the heartland?  Here are the biggest reasons:

Risks of natural disaster are lower
Cost of real estate is lower
Cost of power and labor is low
Great access to multiple telecom providers in many areas

So if you’ve decided on Midwest colocation, how do you pick the right outsource data center?  Use your company’s specific needs as your criteria for selection.  Here are a few key criteria that are

In part 1 of this 2 part series, I talked about your disaster recovery center location, the proximity to your main office and IT staff, and assessing the risks of the region that you choose.  In part 2, I’ll talk about telecom connectivity, compliance, workgroup recovery space and costs.

Access to telecom connectivity, both for point-to-point connections and for Internet bandwidth, is a critical decision point for your disaster recovery center.  More choices are better;  if you are using disaster recovery colocation, look for carrier neutral data center facilities and  try

In part 1 of this series, I talked about how pricing models for outsource data center and colocation providers vary greatly.  To recap, a colocation facility typically provides

hardened building
redundant power
redundant cooling
rack space, private cages, or both
security
access to telecommunications services
professional services

From this list of seven services, the first five relate to facilities, or physical plant.  It’s pretty easy to compare building quality, power and cooling infrastructures.  But outsource data center providers differ greatly on how they offer up space to clients.  And security can also vary greatly.

Some outsource data centers offer

Last week, a potential client followed up with me after receiving quotes from my company, Lifeline Data Centers, and a couple of other Midwest colocation firms, including a Chicago colocation facility. He was baffled at all the different pricing models he received;  no two quotes looked the same.  How could he compare apples to apples?

We have heard this same story from many clients,  even if they’re only shopping locally or regionally for Midwest colocation facilities.

An outsource data center facility typically provides:

hardened building
redundant power
redundant cooling
rack space, private cages, or both
security
access to

We talk to many Chicago companies who are considering a disaster recovery colocation site. What are they looking for?

* Hardened data center facilities – companies want an F5 tornado resistant data center.
* Midwest colocation – Chicago companies are looking for a location away from the shadow of the Sears tower, but close enough to have reasonable access without driving costs up.
* SAS 70 data center – many companies want to make sure that their outsource data center is SAS 70 certified.
*Rated-4 data center – most companies expect high levels if