Consider the what it takes for 99.995% uptime enterprise data center facilities management:

F5 tornado resistant data center building- for Midwest colocation

Full data center power redundancy – multiple power feeds, generators, UPS systems and rack feeds

Data center cooling redundancy – multiple, concurrently maintainable cooling systems

Physical security – two factor authentication and multiple layers of loggable physical security

Fire suppression – Reliable, industry standard systems with regular testing and maintenance

Data center compliance and certifications – from SAS 70 to SSAE 16, HIPAA, Sarbanes Oxley, FDA, FISMA and NIST certifications are just a few of the standards

Telecomm redundancy – Multiple telecommuncations feeds with separate entrances into the building

These requirements have nothing to do with Information Technology. They are facilities problems. If a colocation provider can take these requirements off your hands, you’re free to focus on data center management of your business, the applications that support it, and your underlying IT infrastructure.

Yes, wholesale colocation providers can simplify data center management. And if you’re selective, you can use the colocation provider to engineer higher data center uptime levels. Look for a wholesale colocation provider that delivers hardened data centers, N+N data center redundancy, multiple carriers, no cross connect fees, and 99.995% uptime. Power billing based on utilization is key. And don’t forget to shop for low data center power costs.

Wholesale colocation lets you stop worrying about data center facilities management.

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SmarterTools recently completed its transition to a new data center in the Phoenix area. The addition of the Tier 3 data center was integral for the upcoming launch of our hosted services (such as our Hosted SmarterTrack customer service software) and will help us support increased demand for our software.

It was a logical step for our company, but not one that was taken lightly. We realize that many of our customers use our software and services for mission-critical tasks, so the security of their information and the availability of our software and services are paramount.

Choosing the best data center to house our servers and associated infrastructure wasn’t a snap decision. We researched several data center solutions, finally settling on ours after numerous on-site visits and discussions with the data center staff regarding the features and benefits of their colocation services. Based on our experience, we can offer the following tips for choosing a reliable data center:

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Cross-connect fees are monthly charges associated with these connections, billed to the customer by the outsource data center provider. There is usually one charge for each connection to the telecom carriers. These charges vary by data center provider. Sometimes the cross connect charges are based on the type of connection (fiber or copper), sometimes they are based on the size of the circuit, and sometimes they are just flat fees. These monthly fees can add up, especially when a customer has many connections to the Internet, remote branch offices, clients, and/or vendors.

A few wholesale data centers offer multiple carriers in a carrier neutral data center with no cross connect fees. For customers with multiple telecom connections, this cross-connect fee avoidance can mean big savings. Customers can move the hub of the network to these no cross-connect fee data centers and build a flexible, resilient network with no financial restrictions on the number of carriers they choose to employ.

Customers with a single telecom carrier can still save money. In Midwest data centers, monthly cross-connect fees average in the $50-200 per month range, so there is still financial benefit.

Looking for a wholesale colocation provide with no cross connect fees? Look here.

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If your organization

• operates a private cloud
• delivers cloud services
• uses a combination of cloud and internal services

you may want to consider a wholesale data center as the center or hub of your cloud infrastructure.

Outsource data centers can deliver 99.995% uptime. That’s 28 minutes of data center downtime per year or less. You can leverage the data center power and cooling redundancy in an F5 tornado resistant data center without having to spend the capital costs to build your own.

You can maintain the control of your own servers, network and storage without worrying about hardened data center buildings, power, cooling, data center security, and fire suppression.

You can build a primary, secondary, or high-availability computer room that meets SAS 70 data center requirements along with other data center certifications and compliance, without having to use internal resources for compliance.

You can choose which telecommunications providers best suit your needs, in order to build a reliable, cost-effective wide area network.

You can leverage data center power costs by choosing Midwest colocation facilities with lower kilowatt hour costs .

Which wholesale data center is the right place to build your cloud computing data center? Consider these criteria:

• Is the outsource data center provider growing? Look for large, successful data center facilities with room to grow.
• Who owns the data center? Are the owners involved in the day-to-day operations?
• What’s the track record of the business? How long have they been building and operating data centers?
• What level of data center uptime is the provider offering? 99.995% uptime is the promised service level of a tier IV data center.
• Does the provider offer shared space, private cages or private suites? Can you bring your own cabinets? Do they offer optional office space? More options are better.
• What are your choices for telecommunications? If you need flexibility, you need a carrier neutral data center that offers access to many carriers. Look for facilities with no cross connect fees to keep monthly costs low.
• Look for a usage-based power pricing model with low per kilowatt hour pricing. Midwest data centers often have the best power pricing because of lower power costs in the region.
• Look for affordable colocation facilities can deliver 99.995% with a pay as you grow data center pricing model.

If you’d like to build more reliability and predictable costs into your data center, call Lifeline Data Centers at 317.423.2591.

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• 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 common to many of our clients:

• Hardened data center facilities – tornado, flood and seismic resistant
• Carrier neutral data center – multiple telecom providers with no cross-connect fees
• Affordable colocation – does the pricing model allow you to grow incrementally without penalties?
• Disaster recovery center facilities – is office space available?  Are there spaces to stage and store equipment?
• Large data center – is there enough available space for you to grow if the need arises?

Not all Midwest colocation providers are alike.  Do your homework and you’ll improve the odds of finding the best facility for your company’s needs.

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2. Choose a State-of –the-Art Class A Colocation Facility – A facility that has highly scalable and super fast connections to the top Internet backbones, redundant UPS and Prime Source type of generator backed electrical power, redundant A/C systems, 24/7 on-site technical support and physical security.

3. Does the Colocation Provider Include Remote Hands for Free or for a Fee? – Ideally, you want to find a provider that does not charge for remote hands service because it can be very costly. There is no need to pay a fee when there are state-of-the-art providers that offer it for free. These colocation providers who include remote hands service for free often have faster, more responsive and experienced technical service personnel who will be there around the clock, when you need them most.

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It’s an expensive proposition. You might want to investigate your options, including infrastructure as a service (IaaS) , and outsource data center facilities, also known as colocation.

IaaS give you the ability to get out of the computer hardware business. You can move your server images to a shared, virtualized environment and run your servers from the cloud. This is very attractive to many businesses, because of low capital costs and low internal employee requirements.

Colocation, also known as outsource data center, provides hardened data center buildings, reliable power, cooling and access to telecommunications. Many companies move their primary data centers to colocation facilities. These companies reap many benefits from colocation:

99.995% uptime, if the facility meets Tier IV data center uptime standards
Fully redundant data center power and cooling for minimal downtime
Data center security including multiple factor authentication, background checks and physical access control
Access to multiple telecommunications providers

A few outsource data centers offer additional benefits:
Private cages for workspace and growth
Pay-as-you-grow pricing
Carrier neutral data centers with many telecom providers and competitive pricing
No monthly cross connect fees, so telecom pricing is reduced even further
Private office space for business continuity or primary offices

Moving your data center to an affordable colocation facility can be the last data center move you need to make. For many businesses, it makes financial sense to de-couple the data center location from the location of the business headquarters.

Want to learn more? Call Midwest data center facilities provider Lifeline Data Centers at 317.423.2591.

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Level 3 Communications (News – Alert) is buying Global Crossing, a move that will bolster the half of Level 3′s business that represents retail services to enterprises and mid-market customers. About 48 percent of Level 3 Communications’ revenue is classified as “wholesale.” On its own, Level 3′s product mix includes 13 percent voice services, 25 percent data services, 41 percent wavelengths and private line and 21 percent dark fiber or data center services.

The Global Crossing (News – Alert) acquisition will strengthen the volume of retail sales to enterprises. Global Crossing also will bolster Level 3′s operations in Europe, where Global Crossing has a big sales footprint, and add Latin American operations where Level 3 has chosen not to compete, up to this point. The Global Crossing deal also adds Asia-Pacific long-haul routes, where Level 3 has focused on North America, Europe and trans-Atlantic routes, up to this point. Right now, Level 3 operates in 23 countries, where Global Crossing operates in 70 countries.

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• Is there such a thing as affordable colocation with 99.995% uptime?

Checklist for 99.995% uptime

Choose a hardened data center facility
Data centers should be designed to protect against the most common risks of the region. With Midwest colocation providers, F5 tornado resistant data centers are important.

Understand the data center power infrastructure
Power is the most common cause of downtime for both in-house and outsourced data centers. Study how the data center has designed the power system. Look for two power feeds, two generators, 2 UPS systems, and at least two outlets per rack. Power should be totally separate for each power feed to the rack.

Understand the data center cooling redundancy model
For data center uptime, cooling is a slightly lower risk than electrical power, but equally important. Without cooling, servers and network equipment will shut off or fail in just a few minutes. Cooling systems should not only be duplicated, they should be designed to be concurrently maintainable.

Understand the telecommunications paths and redundancies
Telecommunications circuits are critical components of uptime. Two or more entrances for telecommunications circuits allows you to build diverse path communications into your data center. Does the data center have two entrances?

Look at the data center downtime track record
Forget the design for a moment. What is the actual downtime track record of the data center? Single power feed failures should be designed to be a non-issue. Is that what has happened in actual practice?

Checklist for affordable colocation

Look for a simple data center pricing model
Colocation pricing models are often complex. Variable charges, too many line items, and overages can make costs variable and unpredictable. Look for providers with a simple data center pricing model. Floor space, active racks, and power usage should be the building blocks of the data center pricing. Watch out for telecommunications monthly cross-connect fees, along with other monthly add-on fees.

Pay for power as you use it
Any other power pricing model is likely to be in the provider’s favor.

Find a facility in a region with low data center power costs
Midwest colocation has some of the lowest power in the nation. You must clearly understand how power is measured and billed.

Find a carrier neutral data center
Access to more telecom carriers is better. Carrier neutral data centers offer multiple providers with no favoritism.

Find a data center with no cross connect fees
A few wholesale data centers provide access to telecom carriers with no monthly add-on fees. If your wide area network is complex, savings in cross-connect fees can pay for your colocation costs.

The real benefit comes when you find an wholesale colocation facility with both high data center uptime and affordable pricing. These data centers are rare. In the Midwest colocation market, Lifeline Data Centers fills the need. Interested in learning more? 317.423.2591.

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The answer is yes for many companies. Data center outages can mean lost revenues, lost profits, and lost clients. These outages, also known as data center downtime, can disrupt the way service companies deliver their services. Outages can stop a manufacturer from outputting finished product. Downtime means that e-commerce businesses can’t sell goods.

Managing data center uptime is a game of risk management. And the cost of data center downtime for your business is the key factor to determine what you should do. If the cost of downtime is high, it makes sense to employ multiple measures to reduce risks of downtime. Even if the cost of downtime is low, you need to give consideration to the risks of an extended outage, and what you might do to protect the business.

One of the easiest ways to reduce the risk of downtime is to use wholesale data center facilities for your primary computer room. Wholesale data centers, also known as wholesale colocation and outsource data centers, provide hardened buildings, highly reliable power and cooling, and access to multiple telecommunications providers. Many companies have reduced power, cooling and telecom downtime to zero simply by moving into a wholesale data center.

How easy is it to move? It depends on the size and complexity of your primary data center. Technologies like virtualization and SAN have made it much easier. Moving to an outsource data center can be the last move your data center makes.

What about costs? As with most projects, there are ways to keep the costs down. Affordable colocation does exist. Look for owner-operated facilities with plenty of experience. These data centers tend to manage costs better than the large corporations. Midwest colocation provides low cost of power. Look for a simple data center pricing model that lets you pay as you grow. A few outsource data centers offer multiple telecom companies with no cross connect fees. All of these factors can significantly impact the affordability of outsource data centers.

Is your cost of downtime high? Does your business need better data center uptime? Talk to Midwest colocation provider Lifeline Data Centers at 317.423.2591.

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