7 Questions to Ask Data Centre Providers
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The document outlines seven essential questions to ask data centre providers, focusing on location, capabilities, contractual flexibility, network connectivity, security and compliance, support services, and power/cooling performance. It emphasizes the importance of proximity for reduced downtime, flexibility for adapting to business needs, and robust security measures. Ultimately, reliable uptime is highlighted as a key performance indicator for data centre effectiveness.
7 Questions to Ask Data Centre Providers
- 1. 7 QUESTIONS TO ASK DATA CENTRE PROVIDERS
- 2. Question #1 Where is the data centre located?
- 3. Close proximity of the data centre makes it easier to access but it also reduces downtime when disaster strikes, reduces cost of connectivity between the office and DC, and lowers latency and potential data replication issues.
- 4. Question #2 Does the service provider offer a wide range of capabilities?
- 5. Consider the option to go to your provider and ask them to supply new hardware, manage some ageing technology or maybe support your cloud initiatives. This will help you achieve and deliver a flexible and dynamic IT strategy that accommodates the ebb and flow of your business cycles and responds to changing needs quickly.
- 6. Question #3 How flexible are the provider’s contractual terms?
- 7. It is important to check what the provider proposes to do when the original contract expires or how would their contracts cater for future growth or new requirements.
- 8. Question #4 What are the provider’s network connectivity options?
- 9. Choose a provider that owns and operates its network end-to-end to have full visibility across the network. This provides greater control to improve network performance and reduces potential downtime during an outage
- 10. Question #5 How does the colocation provider ensure security and compliance?
- 11. It is critical to check if and how they provide proposes to cater for your bespoke security requirements and check if the provider can assist with your organisation’s audit and compliance requirements and what experience they’ve had in this area.
- 12. Question #6 What ad-hoc support services are available?
- 13. Your provider should at least provide 24x7 ad-hoc remote hands and feet services, courier acceptance and storage, access to basic tools along with on- site security, power and cooling, and facility management. Ensure that the so-called remote hands service is actually provided by skilled IT staff and not the security guards or electricians.
- 14. Question #7 What are the historic power and cooling performance of the data centre?
- 15. Question #7 What are the historic power and cooling performance of the data centre? Power and cooling for your servers and networking equipment are mission- critical components for a data centre. It is very important to keep in mind that it is NOT the service credits that makes you money but is the uptime.
- 16. Read more about the answers on our recent blog post – Learn more