Tips for Choosing the Best Data Center for Your Thriving Business
There is a range of factors you should consider when selecting a data center site for your small business. When you start to experience more growth within your company, it’s time to make the switch. A better data center can help you run your business more effectively. To learn more about these factors that you should consider before working with a data center, read on.
We have outlined the key things you must look for when choosing a data center.
This criteria can help optimize your customer satisfaction rate too!
Environmental Conditions of the Site
Each of these factors below represents an extremely complex set of unique considerations. Many also will present tread-off decisions you must make when choosing a data center for your business. Below, you will learn more about the in-depth analysis experts perform when examining these criteria for the best user experience.
Climate is a key consideration, for example. Avoid sites that are located in an area that experiences excessive wind, ice, or other naturally occurring environmental factors. This may include floods, earthquakes, or tornadoes.
Climate can also affect the efficiency of the data center cooking process. This can also affect the total cost. If the center is in a warmer area, you may have to pay more money as these centers use more resources to keep the equipment a steady temperature throughout the year.
Climate can also affect how the center is designed, which can also carry over to the total cost. The reason being is that construction and operation are typically affected as well.
For example, a dater center may require either passive or active exhausts, which can also contribute to the cost you’re paying when choosing a data center.
Therefore, consider a center that is in a cooler climate for the most cost-effective and efficient choice. The best temperature for a data center is around 40 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The humidity of the area should not pass an RH level of 70 percent. Intel, for example, has built centers in Santa Clara, California, which happens to fit this criterion perfectly.
If you can, look into recurring patterns of an area when choosing a data center. You can easily find annual weather reports online. Air conditioners can fail, and you don’t want to risk losing any data or offering a subpar experience to your customers. Looking at this data enables you to track severe weather events. If the data center of your choosing is located in an area that experiences chaotic weather constantly, weigh your options again!
Also take historic weather events into account. This can include tsunamis, tornadoes, and earthquakes.
Rain should not be a concern, as long as the relative humidity is well regulated and sits in that ideal range of less than 70%.
Inversely, ensure the center is not in an excessively hot area either. The building should not be facing the sun. as it can affect the cooling process.
Natural hazards should also be on your radar. Even if the climate is ideal year-round, the area can still be prone to natural disasters like floods. Volcanoes should also be concerning! An eruption can cause the ash to affect the wind patterns in the area. This wind influences airflow towards the data center. The exhaust system may not be able to handle all the excess ash and crash instead.
Avoid choosing a data center in an area that is prone to severe snowstorms. Employees may struggle to reach the center in case major problems arise.
Air quality can also affect the cost when choosing a data center. High pollution rate areas have fine particulate matter. This can be sourced from heavy pollen, dust storms, or diesel fumes. If these outdoor conditions are met, the data center will also require more expensive carbon filters, which can add to the overall cost of working with your data center of choice. Furthermore:
- high sulfates can cause circuit board damage; therefore, avoid sites near the coastline when choosing a data center.
- smog and smoke from fires can harm the equipment within the data center, so be wary of hiring a data center that is in a heavily wooded area.
Capacity
How much data you need can heavily influence your choice when choosing a data center to provide your clients with web hosting. Therefore, ensure you pick a high-performance data center that is able to produce a high amount of network traffic. If you need a lot of data, ensure that you’re working with a reliable center. In more developed countries, these service providers are able to build upon their transmission networks. The land used to create this space could occur along highways or under powerlines. This may eliminate speeds and reliability. In more developing nations, these traverse paths can be in open areas or may be under regional control. This may also make them less stable and less secure.
Therefore, choose a location and site with hardened WAN access points. This can protect your connection from damage. This infrastructure can be found underground instead of overhead. These also use reliable copper wires in their wiring.
No Site Is Perfect, But Understand That Trade-Offs Are Necessary
No site will ever be perfect. You just need something trustworthy and reliable — a system that you would trust enough to make credit card transactions through. That being said, you will have to make trade-offs when choosing a data center. This may be frustrating to hear, but there are so many moving parts that go into this decision — from the weather to the location of the site.
Weigh the pros and the cons. If working with a certain data center is expensive, this is probably because they have state of the art security and are located in a safe area.
How Much Data Do You Need?
As your business grows, you’ll need to extend your resources in every way possible. Let’s say you’re a doctor. Telemedicine is huge! You can’t avoid this marvelous technological revolution — nor should you. Embrace these changing times and get on board with telemedicine.
However, if you choose to meet patients through the web, you’ll need a solid and trustworthy data center by your side. Choosing a data center applies to more than simply people in the tech field. This information applies to various careers in the field.
How Much Data Center Maintenance Is Required?
This is something else you want to consider when choosing a data center. How much web maintenance is required on your end? How much data center maintenance is required at the end of the employees. If you don’t consider yourself to be too tech-savvy, you likely want to choose a center that will handle most of the backend for you.
Security
This is another aspect you should consider when choosing a data center.
Your data center of choice should have interior security as well as exterior security.
Interior Security
By interior, the data center should have firewalls and web security in place to keep your files and data safe.
Exterior Security
However, your data center of choice should also have exterior security in place. Aside from threats of viruses and hackers, the center can also be physically robbed as they store thousands of dollars worth of equipment in one building. Ensure the data center has taken the proper precautions by hiring qualified staff and security. They should also have cameras installed in every crevice and corner.
Consider Their Reputation
It seems like everyone is using a data center these days. The cloud is such a convenient way to store essential files and information these days. It’s also incredibly reliable. Filing cabinets just don’t cut it anymore. They are messy, can be stolen, and in the case of a fire — poof — all of your valuable files will just vanish into thin air. If you work with a data center, ensure their reputation is spotless. Ask the data center if they have worked with any other reputable clients. Then, ask those clients what their experience has been like. This honest feedback can give you the solid answers you need when making this important choice for your business.
Is the Data Center Flexible?
Aside from reliability and security, you also want to ensure that the data center you choose is flexible. Can they match what you have in your company’s budget? What kind of services can they provide you with? Are they able to create some kind of plan, so you can get the best value for your money?
Why Work With a Data Center Anyway?
A lot of people may already be familiar with all the positive aspects that choosing a data center can offer. However, if you’re still going back and forth with yourself, it’s time to get a proper crash course in what working with a data center can do for you.
Protection
Working with a data center is like wearing a shield or armor. You will always be protected against some of those frightening worst-case scenarios.
Outsourcing your online data control also lowers the chance of the severe impact of a power failure. Think about it. Wouldn’t you hate for your hard drives to be wiped clean just because you ran out of power and forgot to save? Natural disasters in your area can cause this. Your own powerline is not safe! If you’re working with critical information, why take the chance?
A data center, on the other hand, uses more secure methods of power. These risks of permanent loss are lessened when you outsource this control over your files and online history.
Save Money
At first glance, you may think working with a data center will cost you money. While this is true at first, understand that this is a worthy investment that every reputable business should make if they wish to keep growing.
Businesses can lose a portion of their revenue due to power outages and other online disturbances. Data centers can help prevent things like credit card and online theft. They can also protect you from hackers — which can also cost your business a huge chunk of change.
Additionally, if you’re not too tech-savvy, you could waste valuable time trying to figure out how to save your data in the best way possible. However, when you hire experts, there’s no need to go through an alternative and time-wasting route.
Improve your Business’s Efficiency
When you save time, you’re also saving money. Think about this the next time you feel uncertain about outsourcing control of your data.
You can also stream faster and improve loading times when you make the switch. Not to mention, you can also drive up your customer satisfaction when you work with qualified professionals in the tech sphere.
Conclusion
There is so much that goes into choosing a data center for your small business. Whether you’re looking to get into telemedicine, or you want to expand your growing tech company, working with the right data center is the best thing you can do for your thriving business.
However, ensure you’re making the right choice. Consider things like location, experience, and user satisfaction. When weighing all of these moving parts, you’re bound to make the best decision for you and your business.
