Data centres are the backbone of any modern organization, providing a secure environment for storing and managing critical data. As such, selecting the right data centre is an important decision that can help ensure your business operations run smoothly. When selecting a data centre, there are several key considerations to keep in mind, here is what we look for:

1. Location

The location of where your hardware is hosted is a critical decision that will ultimately filter down what Data Centres are suitable. Location is a major factor in speed & latency, convenience of maintaining and what risks you need to account for.

Ideally you want to host your equipment in the same major city as the bulk of the users and in a geographically stable area.

2. Uptime expectations, compliance and certifications

Data centres are graded using tiers which classify the availability, scalability and reliability of data centre infrastructures on a scale of 1-4. Tier 1 being the most basic and least reliable tier featuring minimal redundancy while Tier 4 is the highest tier offering maximum uptime, redundancy and resiliency.

These tiers will ultimately dictate what infrastructure the data centre will have, such as multiple generators, over 24 hours of fuel & water onsite, advanced inert gas fire suppression systems, multiple ingress points for network cables.

While every administrator and director wants the best, the costs of hosting within these facilities can be prohibitive and can be several times more expensive than in more basic data centres. For most SMB’s and large businesses, a Tier 2-3 facility will offer good value and a range of measures to ensure reliable operation. Mission-critical enterprise solutions should focus towards certified Tier-4.

Depending on your organisation you may be required to ensure your data centre meets certain regulatory requirements. These can include HIPAA, PCI DSS, ISO 27001 & SOC 1/2.

3. Reputation and Track Record

Setting up within a data centre is a gruelling task often taking several weeks to months of careful planning, quite honestly it’s a mission you only want to do once!

When analysing the data centre you want to verify

• How long has the data centre been in operation?
• Is the data centre owned by more than one owner and a major company?
• Does the company own more than one data centre, and if so how do they compare?
• Is the facility staffed 24×7 or by appointment?
• Is the facility at the end of its life needing major maintenance or at risk of closing down?
• Are many racks and data-halls empty, if so why! This is a big red-flag
• Was the building originally constructed as a data centre, if not what was its original purpose?
• Has the provider had any major disasters, if so why and how did they handle it

4. Flexible, Scalability and Wants To Help

Finding a provider who can meet your changing requirements is an important factor when hosting business-critical infrastructure. Good questions to consider are and ask are:

1. If I want a second rack or interconnect, is this possible and how long will it take to provision?
2. What is the process to get additional power or an additional technician registered onto the authorised list
3. Can I get 24-hour access to the facility?
4. Can staging rooms and meeting rooms be booked?
5. Are ‘Remote Hands’ technicians available to help resolve issues

5. Takes Security Seriously

There’s no denying that security is becoming a fundamental requirement in every part of our lives and now more than ever keeping our computer system secure is non-negotiable.

All data centres you want to host your data should have a layered approach to security and have advanced measures in place. Things to look out for include:

• 24×7 Onsite Security Staff
• Comprehensive CCTV and access control systems restricting access to floors only that specific customer needs
• Digital Lock Racks which log who unlocked the rack, for how long and tamper alerts
• Mantraps and Biometric fingerprint readers to enter secure parts of the facility such as Data-Halls

Doing extensive research on various data centres in your area is a time-consuming task, but putting this effort upfront and putting your providers to the test will help confirm the right decision is made. Hopefully avoiding any issues in the future.

What do you look for in you’re data centres, let us know in the comments below