Archive for the ‘Chicago Colocation’ Category
Is your organization considering Chicago disaster recovery data centers? Chicago colocation and disaster recovery providers offer many options. Are these best for your organization?
Many factors play in to the selection secondary data center and office space locations. A good CIO strategy includes multiple geographies in an evaluation of disaster recovery centers. For some organizations Midwest colocation outside of Chicago might be a better solution.
Standard features that many organizations look for when considering disaster recovery centers include:
Hardened data center facilities – With Midwest colocation, F5 tornado resistant data centers building are important, along with earthquake resistant facilities in some areas.
99.995% uptime or better – This is the uptime level expected from Tier IV data centers. Some IT professionals consider the uptime is a DR center to be less important than in the primary data center. If your organization is doing real-time or near-real time data replication, data center uptime in your disaster recovery center is likely as important as in your primary enterprise data center.
Multiple carriers with no cross-connect fees – Access to multiple telecom carriers ensures diverse and reliable connectivity in the event of a disaster, or on an ongoing basis with real-time replication. Data centers with no monthly cross connect fees significantly reduce ongoing costs.
Data center compliance and certification – Compliance and certifications in the disaster recovery center are just as important as the primary data center.
Data center pricing model – Simple is better. Most organizations seem to prefer to pay for power, cooling and space incrementally as they use it.
Advantages to Midwest data centers located outside of Chicago include:
- Geographic diversity, especially for Chicago-based organizations.
- Overall lower costs, including, lower data center power costs, lower costs of construction labor, and lower data center capital costs.
- A theoretically lower risk from placing the disaster recovery center outside of one of the USA’s five largest cities.
Wholesale colocation providers offer the most flexibility for organizations that prefer to own and control their own telecom connections, network, servers and storage. Some wholesale data centers offer disaster recovery office space. This space can be custom fit by the organization to use for emergency call centers or workspace recovery.
Considering disaster recovery options in Chicago? Consider Midwest colocation providers outside of Chicago in your search.
Why are companies moving primary data centers to wholesale colocation facilities like Lifeline Data Centers? The nine reasons outlined in the paragraphs above were:
• Reaching limits on power, cooling, or floor space
• Improving primary data center uptime (reliability)
• Meeting data center compliance or data center certification requirements
• Consolidating data centers
• Moving out of an existing building; moving a data center
• Reducing power costs
• Swapping primary data center and disaster recovery center sites
• Centralizing the hub of a wide area network
Selecting the right wholesale data center is one of the most critical strategic IT decisions a company will make. A sensible CIO strategy would include these data center requirements:
• Industry veteran data center leadership, directly involved in day-to-day operations
• True N+N data center redundancy with 99.995% uptime (Tier IV data center uptime levels)
• Data center certifications – SAS 70 data center, TIA 942 compliant data center, and industry-specific compliance
• Highly-customized data center consulting and managed services
• Simple data center pricing model
• Low data center power costs, billed on usage
• Private cages for security, high density and long-term growth
• Access to multiple telecommunications providers
• Carrier neutral data center with no cross connect fees
The primary data center is the heartbeat of a company. The wrong decision on data center providers can cost a company dearly for the life of a contract. Choose a wholesale hardened data center facility that works to support the company’s specific data center requirements. Consider affordable colocation options. Consider Midwest colocation provider Lifeline Data Centers.
What are companies asking for when it comes to wholesale colocation facilities?
99.995% uptime or better – That’s 27 minutes of downtime per year or less. Uptime Institute tier IV data centers are certified to meet this level of data center uptime. Regardless of certification, uptime is the single most important reason that companies use outsource data centers. That means N+N data center redudancy, including redundant power feeds, generators and UPS systems. It also includes redundant data center cooling, and multiple telecom paths.
SAS 70 data center – Companies expect that their wholesale data center provider maintain a SAS 70 Type II data center certification. This colocation compliance certifies that the data center provider has written a list of controls for the business, the provider adheres to the controls, and that the provider has been audited by an third party.
Hardened data center – especially with Midwest colocation and Midwest data centers, F5 tornado resistant data center buildings are a must. Tornado is the highest risk in much of the Midwest.
Data center pricing model – Companies seem increasingly aggravated at the complexities of the pricing model for colocation facilities. Companies want affordable colocation facilities with room for growth in both floor space and power.
Data center power costs – What is the cost of power? Does the provider charge pay based on usage or on circuit size? How does the provider charge for air conditioning power?
Carrier diversity – What carriers do you have? Lifeline Data centers is a carrier neutral data center with no cross connect fees. More carriers are generally better. No cross-connect fees is always better.
There are dozens of other questions that we hear. Most companies are concerned with the highest level of uptime and carrier access at the lowest cost. Affordable colocation with no cross connect fees are available at Lifeline Data Centers, 317.423.2591.
Why are companies moving primary data centers to wholesale colocation facilities like Lifeline Data Centers? If data center power costs are high, selecting the right outsource data center can significantly reduce the long-term costs of power.
Are the data center power costs too high at the company’s primary data center? The cost of power per kilowatt hour can vary greatly from region to region.
Are the costs of data center power too high at the company’s disaster recovery center? You should evaluate the regional costs of power in all data center sites to make sure you that the long-term costs of power make sense. Chicago colocation power costs are some of the highest in the Midwest. Colocation facilities and the associated costs of power vary significantly from region to region.
What are the power costs at wholesale colocation facilities? Companies should clearly understand the wholesale data center provider’s cost of power from the utility and whether that cost varies based on usage.
How does the outsource colocation provider charge for power? This may be the most important question to ask. Many outsource data centers charge by the circuit size rather than by the actual power used. That means the company using the data center is always charged for more power than they actually consume. Companies should look for data centers that bill for power based on actual usage. Companies should also understand how the data center provider bills for the data center cooling power, along with the overhead costs of operating (not purchasing) generators, UPS systems and redundant HVAC systems.
Why are companies moving primary data centers to wholesale colocation facilities? Data center power costs are a significant part of the overall operating costs of a data center. The right outsource data center can reduce the company’s cost per kilowatt hour and bill for data center power as a company uses it.
In Part 8 of this series, we’ll address how wholesale colocation can help when a company is swapping primary data center and disaster recovery center sites.
What you will learn in this tip: Disaster recovery and business continuity professionals often turn to hot sites and cold sites for disaster recovery planning. This tip provides a good starting point for those who are investigating hot/cold site options, and trying to decide which option is best.
What is a hot site? Think of a hot site for disaster recovery as a secure, hardened building that’s equipped to support your current IT production activities right now. The building has equipment (e.g., servers) that’s comparable to your existing infrastructure; it has your principal business applications in place (these were determined by a business impact analysis); and will also have access to your most current data (usually by some form of data backup activity). The hot site will also have conference rooms for your disaster recovery staff to meet, areas to change clothes if needed, food and beverages available, and possibly even a store to buy clothing, and an exercise area.
What is a cold site?
By contrast, a cold site disaster recovery site is a secure facility that is mostly empty space — awaiting the arrival of equipment and personnel in the aftermath of a disaster declaration — and has power, access to communications services, lighting, and possibly preconfigured work areas with furniture, phones, fax machines and copiers. But most often, it is an empty area that is ready for occupancy by customers who have declared a disaster and will be setting up their recovery site in that building.
More of the SearchDisasterRecovery article from Paul Kirvan
I just read this story about a colocation facility that was robbed for the fourth time in just two years, and I had to laugh at the absurdity of it.
C I Host provides more than 250,000 consumers and small- and medium-sized business in 190 countries with managed web hosting, dedicated server and colocation services.
According to one report, “During the robbery, C I Host’s night manager was repeatedly tazered and struck with a blunt instrument. After violently attacking the manager, the intruders stole equipment belonging to C I Host and its customers…At least 20 data servers were stolen, said Patrick Camden, deputy director of news affairs for the Chicago Police Department.”
The company’s Family Colocation offering promises to house equipment in a secured 144 sq. ft suite inside one of C I Host’s data centers.
more of the SearchDataCenter article from Bridget Botelho
One of the biggest challenges IT managers face today is increased demand on data centers. New technologies, security threats and compliance requirements have forced many IT execs to consider other data center options, from consolidation to IT outsourcing options such as cloud computing and colocation providers.
In the past, when large budgets, venture capital investments and growing revenues reigned supreme, solving data center overutilization problems was a simple matter of building a bigger and better data center. With today’s economic downturn, that solution just won’t fly. Data center managers have found themselves dealing with annoying details, such as return on investment (ROI) and total cost of ownership (TCO), before the CFO loosens funding for any project, particularly breaking ground on a new data center facility.
IT execs must perform due diligence before proposing a solution an over-utilized data center, and that requires a long, hard look at the problem and all available options. With data centers, there are many paths to consider.
more of the SearchDataCenter article from Frank J. Ohlhorst
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 data center, you may need carrier neutral data center facilities so you have multiple telecom provider choices. If you’re using colocation for a disaster recovery center, your requirements may be slightly different. Chances are you are looking for:
- Affordable colocation
- Hardened data center
- SAS 70 data center compliance
- Carrier neutral facilities; plenty of telecom choices with no hidden fees
Chicago colocation is expensive for a few reasons: high real estate costs, union labor, higher demand density of business and a higher cost of living.
Lifeline Data Centers in Indianapolis provides large data centers for companies looking to outsource their computer room facilities. Lifeline has been providing affordable colocation in their hardened data centers since 2001. Lifeline handles all the power, cooling, hardening, security and compliance issues so that you can concentrate on your IT and your business. If you’re looking for affordable colocation, call Lifeline at 317.423.2591.
