Saturday, August 27, 2011

What Is The Worst Thing That Would Go Wrong With Collocation

By Damien Dillon


Server co-location refers to an arrangement where a business rents space in a data centre and operates their server at the data centre. UK colocation hosting comes with a lot of benefits like superior security, cheap bandwidth and technical assistance. But colocation also has both natural and design shortcomings which are supposed to be taken care of.

Lack of access when you need it most is the first risk. Since the data centre is owned by another company, access is controlled. However, you may need to access your server but perhaps your not able to for a number of reasons, such as forgetting your clearance key or non renewal of such access requirements. This can happen when your website is down and time is very crucial.

Internet connection that is not consistent or slow is the other main risk that you encounter with colocation. Your technician cannot be able to solve slackness or any insufficiency on the part of the colocation host as they are in charge of offering the bandwidth. If internet connectivity is interrupted then resolution of the problem is beyond you or your technical staff. This can be very frustrating as well as can result in huge business losses. If you have commitments to third parties concerning your websites you may also get losses in the compensations they pay you.

Thirdly security in a colocation hosting arrangement can easily go wrong if not handled well. There are numerous security challenges that face a colocation data centre. There is the issue of access by various users, the security clearance levels to put in place and the physical barriers to include. There should be adequate security to ensure that all the users feel that their servers are well secured and yet not to feel like these security barriers are too cumbersome. The colocation host should put up fencing around the data centre and have modern security clearance such as biometric devices.

The other risk concerns natural calamities and external attacks. The premise in which the data centre is housed should be made in a way that it will withstand shocks from natural incidences like fires, floods, earthquakes and if possible attacks such as explosives. This is a very critical issue, therefore make sure that the colocation host has set up the proper measures to address such occurrences. The property, racks and data vaults ought to have good protection and be fitted with the right firefighting equipment.

Cooling system failure is another area that could go wrong in a colocation arrangement. It is necessary to check out the cooling system put up by the colocation host. If the cooling system of the data centre fails, it could end up damaging your hardware, losing data and get expensive downtime for your website. Make sure that the colocation data centre you select has the top most cooling system possible to avoid such mishaps.

There are many things that could go wrong in a colocation data centre which is not operated properly. In order to avoid costly misfortunes, select a colocation host that is well versed in the business because they will have set up checks and balances to handle these risks.




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