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A Colocation Buyers Guide:AWhat You Should Know Before Making a Colocation Decision
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This eBook will help you:
Learn the benets of a colocation solution Decide if you are a good t for colocation
Find out what executives say about ROI Discover questions to ask a prospective provider
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Table of Contents
Section One: Does This Sound Like You?
Section Two: What Is Colocation and What are
the Drivers?
Section Three: Whats In It or Me?The Benets o Colocation
Section Four: One Size Doesnt Always Fit All
Section Five: Strategic ConsiderationsBeore You Buy
Section Six: Show Me the MoneyExpected ROI
Section Seven: Getting Started: InterviewQuestions or YourProspective Provider
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Does ThisSound Like
You?
Although they come in dierent favors, small
businesses, and enterprises alike still ace
challenges managing their IT Inrastructure. At
each stage o a company liecycle, a new hurdle
presents itsel. Do you nd yoursel in any o theollowing situations?
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SMB
As a new startupyou began housing
a server in your
spare closet. As
operations grew,
you added equipment but now
you are reaching capacity. There
isnt enough space to handle the
amount o equipment you needto house, not to mention the
cooling and power capacity you
need to run increasingly complex
Inrastructure. Plus, security isnt
exactly up to par. Your equipment
and data are at risk and you need
more room to grow.
Medium to Large
BusinessBusiness is booming.Your application usage
is through the roo and
your customers cant
get enough o your
product. Everything
seems to be humming along. But
behind the scenes, your Inrastructureis pushing maximum density. You
dont have the space or additional
equipment. Climbing utility bills and
a non-redundant system are pushing
you to your breaking point. How do
you meet your customers demands
without disrupting service? Do
you add on to your current space,
continue to risk network outages or
move everything to a larger acility?
Enterprise
At this stage youhave the hardware,
capital and manpower
you need and are
considering building
your own data center
acility, but you have
doubts about the
long-term ROI. Thecost o building out
a acility is one thing,
but what about the monthly operating
expenses? Plus, data center design
is also becoming more and more
complex due to the ever-changing
requirements o hardware. Can you
really manage it all and is it worth it?
If you nd yourself in any of the above scenarios, read on. A colocationprovider that can handle your needs may be just what you are looking for.
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Colocation is a physical acilities option or your
IT Inrastructure. Under a colocation scenario,
your IT assets are placed in a service providers
acility (next to or co-located with the assets
o other organizations), giving you the ability to
take advantage o shared power Inrastructure,
HVAC systems, physical security and redundant
architecture. You essentially lease space or your
IT assets while maintaining ownership and control
o those assets. This option allows your company
to expand quickly, bypassing the time it takes to
design and construct a new data center, while
conserving capital.
What isColocation &
What are theDrivers?
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According to Ino-Tech Research Group, 64% o organizations engage in some
orm o data center colocation services. In addition, Gartner has observed more
and more enterprises enlisting colocation services, and the research rm has
identied several reasons behind this trend.*
First, because organizations are moregeographically distributed, they dontnecessarily have an optimal centrallocation in which to locate a datacenter and Web systems.
Second, traditional ocebuildings dont alwaysmeet the cooling, power and weight requirements to house denseand heavy hardware, and retrotting them is too expensive. Also,these buildings rarely allow or the lockdown security measures thatcompanies want or their server rooms.
Third, colocation gives companies that are consolidating or outgrowing theirinternal data centers a cost-eective alternative to building new acilities.
164%of Organizations Engage
in Some Form of Data
Center Colocation
Services
2
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*Source: Focus Research Group Colocation Services Buyers Guide 887.843.7627 | [email protected] | www.internap.com
And, nally, remote lights-out managementtechnology makes administering remote systemseasier, allowing IT staers to even reboot serversremotely.
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Whats In itor Me?
The Benetso Colocation
Colocation oers many benets that meet many
businesses short lists including, improving their
reliability, perormance, eliminating costs and more.
Improve Reliability & AvailabilityImprove Efficiency & Performance
Reduce and Eliminate Costs
Easily ScalableReduce RiskMeet Compliance Needs
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The average costs of building a datacenter are between $1000 and $1500per square foot.*
Reduce and Eliminate CostsAnother reason businesses choose to colocate
is the cost savings. In many cases, taking
advantage o a multi-tenant acility can bemore cost eective than building out your
own data center acility, not to mention the
ongoing operating costs o management and
maintenance.
Improve Reliability/AvailabilityThe improvement o reliability and
availability is a huge plus or businesses
looking to colocate. For example, theability to provide reliable and redundant
power Inrastructure is key to business
uptime. In act, colocation providers are
able to oer uptime guarantees on power
and are willing to pay down to the minute
as stated in their Service Level Agreement
(SLA). In the world o online business,
even a second o downtime matters,making the reliability and availability o data
center services a big draw or customers.
Improve Efciency/PerformanceData center acilities are designed with
eciency and perormance in mind, rom
the raised foor to deliver cool air, to thewhite rootops that refect the suns heat.
Temperatures are monitored and maintained
to the degree to keep equipment running
optimally, extending the lie o hardware.
And with carrier neutral IP connectivity as
an option, perormance to the end user is
improved.
Five 9s?
Three 9s?Whats theDifference?
Availability is usually
expressed as a percentage of
uptime in a given year. Manyproviders will state their
availability as percentage
such as 99.999 or 99.9. The
difference? Two fewer nines
means an average of 86
seconds more downtime
every day, or 43 minutes
more downtime every month.
$1500 per Square Foot
*Source: Data Center Knowledge Data Center Economics: Build vs. Buy
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ScalabilityWith most data centers having ample
room to grow and the capacity or higher
density rack congurations, businesses
can benet rom scalability. The ability
to quickly add more physical space
or increase densities as needed is key
to keeping up with growing business
demands.
Risk MitigationA colocation data center acility oerssecurity eatures comparable to a highly
controlled access government building.
On-site security, video surveillance and
even biometric ngerprint scanners are
standard security procedures to protect
customer equipment and data.
Compliance andRegulatory RequirementsIn the digital inormation age, many
companies are required to abide by
certain compliance and regulatory policies.
Since data center acilities and colocation
providers have already done the heavy liting
to comply with regulatory requirements, you
can save time and money.
Auditing Standards Update
For years, you may have heard providers reer to something
called SAS 70. SAS 70 is an auditing standard designed to
provide assurance to customers who use service providers ortasks that impact bottom-line nancials. Introduced in 1992, SAS
70 was originally written as a nancial auditing ramework to veriy
that service providers ollowed adequate controls and processes,
thereby minimizing risk to the client company.
Over the years, SAS 70 has been applied to numerous business
areas including data centers and managed hosting services,
where the service provider did not have a direct nancial impact.
Last year, the Auditing Standards Board o the American Institute
o Certied Public Accountants (AICPA ) announced new
requirements or reporting on controls at all service organizations,
replacing the SAS 70 Standard. These are contained within three
Service Organization Control (SOC) reporting options.
SOC 1 reports, which are governed using the SSAE 16
ramework, ocus solely on service organization controls that
are likely to be relevant to an audit o a user entitys nancial
statements.
SOC 2 and SOC 3 reports address controls at the service
organization related to non-nancial objectives (i.e., Security
and Availability or Data Centers).
These new standards provide non-nancial service providers a
way to report on controls to their clients that better align with the
processes and metrics important to data center operations.
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One SizeDoesnt
AlwaysFit All
Outsourcing the responsibilities around
your IT Inrastructure with colocation
can provide the traditional benets o
lowering costs and re-directing resources;
however, like many organizations, you
may be asking, Is it a t or me? To make
an inormed decision, ask yoursel the
questions on the ollowing pages.
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Control
Is your organization willing to relinquish some control overthe facilities that house and/or the assets that dene your ITInfrastructure?
Yes.I the answer to the initial question is yes, the ollowing corequestions can help you determine whether colocation or anotherservice like managed hosting is best or you.
No.I your answer is no, then there is no need to proceed. The internalmindset must be receptive to the idea and the potential benetsthat colocation and other services oer. In order to capitalize on the
inherent value o these solutions, you must be willing to accept thetranser o responsibilities and allow the service provider the ability toexecute them.
Hardware Ownership
Do you currently own or have the plans to obtain all of therequired IT hardware assets you need to grow your business?
Yes.I the answer is yes, your best solution is likely to be colocation. Youwill benet greatly rom a physical acility that oers space, power,redundancy and security under a more cost-eective structure.Savings associated with personnel and management should still beconsidered.
No.I the answer is no, then proceed to the next question.
Availability of Capital
If your organization continues to grow and requires additionalor new IT hardware assets, do you have access to or awillingness to devote capital expenditures to this effort?
Yes.I the answer is yes, then proceed to the next question.
No.I the answer is no, colocation can still be a good option or youtoday, however in the uture you may want to revaluate your needs.Down the road i you nd you arent willing to invest in additionalassets, then you will likely be best served by another solution suchas managed hosting. With managed hosting, the solution provider
is responsible or acquiring the necessary hardware, the costsbecome re-categorized as monthly operating expenses and capitalexpenditures are avoided. You may also consider a partner that canprovide a fexible IT platorm which can serve you today, as well asover the lie o your business.
Availability of Personnel
Do you have the personnel necessary to operate your ITdeployment today?
Yes.I the answer is yes, then your organization should take advantage othe colocation option.
No.I the answer is no, then your organization should take advantageo a managed hosting solution. The hosting service provider willallocate the appropriate level o personnel with the requisite skillsand certications who best t the needs and demands o your IT
Inrastructure. It is their responsibility to identiy, hire and train (and re-train) the personnel needed to manage the Inrastructure.
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StrategicConsiderations
Beore You Buy
Choosing a colocation provider is a
strategic business decision that evolves
rom thoughtul consideration. It is
important to know what to look or and
the right questions to ask.
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Scalability
It is critical or colocation customers to
measure the data center providers ability to
support their evolving computing and networkrequirements as their businesses grow. The
ability to scale eciently and on-demand
by deploying higher density congurations
within your existing ootprint impacts not
only your solutions Return on Investment
(ROI), but also your companys bottom line.
To make the best colocation decision, you
must nd a provider who is implementing
new acility design elements and integrating
proven technologies that increase power
and cooling capacities to support much
higher density rack congurations. A scalable
data center environment that provides
or fexible deployment o higher density
solutions in an on-demand model will give
you the opportunity to grow within the same
acility and extend your longevity, ultimately
improving ROI or your colocated solutions.
Reliability and Resiliency
A reliable colocation partner will have N+1
design providing redundancy in power
and cooling Inrastructure, which meansmaximum system uptime. You should also
look or a provider that oers a well dened
SLA and supports 100% uptime. Make sure
to careully review the SLA o any colocation
provider you are thinking o, and nd out how
much they pay i you experience downtime
and i they oer proactive credits. Ater all,
your business depends on the uptime your
colocation partner provides.
Security and Protection
Physical security is an important component
in deciding where to house your mission
critical data. A colocation provider shouldoer comprehensive security, beyond the
guard, ensuring your inormation is protected
at all times. Biometric security, card readers,
keypad or electronic locks as well as digital
camera placement should be a part o any
data center acility you choose.
In addition, a data center must have controlsin place that comply with SAS 70 audits
and other industry recognized standards.
Advanced systems should be in place that
continuously report electrical and mechanical
Inrastructure health to NOCs and on-site
sta. By making sure these processes exist,
you can ensure better perormance o your
equipment.
Did You Know? N+1N+1 means having enough equipment
for what you need plus one additionalfor added resiliency.
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Technical Support
Make sure that your provider has the data
center and the support centers staed 24/7.
Technicians should be reachable by e-mail
and phone in the event o any problem. Avoid
automated e-mail attendants, and make
sure your tickets are immediately sent to a
human being who is physically looking at
your equipment to determine the nature o
your problem. Talk to the Tier-II engineers,
and raise some hypothetical questions aboutwhat you might experience to see how they
respond. Finally, contact reerences that can
attest to how the provider responded in a
ailed situation.
Carrier Diversity
Network perormance issues can have a
tangible nancial impact to your bottom
line. Since high speed is so important to
your online customer, a delay o even a ew
milliseconds can have a direct impact on
customer loyalty and revenue. Partnering with
multiple high-speed Internet access providers
allows a colocation provider to add diversity.
In the event one Internet provider ails,
another can pick up the slack. Ask potentialcolocation partners how many carriers eed
into their acility and how they optimize and
route trac to ensure network speed and
ongoing connectivity.
Customer Amenities
Because your technicians and sta will be
spending a signicant amount o time on-
site, a data center should be more than just
a place to house equipment. A premium
acility will oer urnished customer lounges
and conerence areas enabling you to host
a meeting or just take a break. You will also
want to look or staging areas so your sta
can set up equipment beore bringing it on
the data center foor. Finally, ensure there isoce space to work, send emails or just take
a call.
Did You Know?Leading data centers now offer power capacities of
up to 12KW per rack.12KW+
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Show Me theMoney
Expected ROI
More than 200 CEOs, business owners
and IT decision makers were surveyed on
their expected ROI timeline or a colocation
solution. Read on to nd out when they believe
colocation will pay o or their business.
*Source: Colocation Trends Report by Hosting.com
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55%o organizations that established ashopping list o services aligned with their business
needs were more likely to experience colocation
success.*
62%o organizations conducted sitevisits to vendor locations beore entering into an
agreement, which results in a more successul
colocation arrangement.*
64%o organizations engaged in acolocation agreement have a dedicated vendor
resource responsible or managing their services.*
GettingStarted:
InterviewQuestions
or YourProspectiveProvider*Source: Ino-Tech Colocation Strategy Storyboard
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Determining if colocation is right for your business is onepiece of the puzzle, but nding the right partner is a wholeother ballgame. Use the list of interview questions belowto help you identify a colocation provider and solution that
meets your business needs.
How close to your companys oce building is the providersacility? Is it within driving distance so that your companys ITsta can easily get to the building? Does your business needa acility thats close to a major airport?
I your company has oces in several locations, can youconsider a acility in a less expensive real-estate market? Is theprovider geographically diverse? Do they have acilities in other
cities or abroad?
Is the providers colocation acility in a place with ew naturalthreats, such as hurricanes? I so, what kind o precautionshas the provider taken to protect the data center (and yourbusiness) rom these threats? Are they structurally sound?A provider in Caliornia, or instance, should have seismicallyengineered each acility to withstand earthquakes.
What kind o security is in place? Are there biometricscanners, on-site security and video surveillance?
Is the provider carrier-neutral, or is it carrier-specic?A carrier-neutral colocation provider will let your companyconnect to a variety o carriers networks, while a carrier-specic provider will lock you in to just one carrier.
Does the provider oer a wide array o value-added services?Are services like cloud or managed hosting available in case
your needs change in the uture? What about remote servicesor managed installations?
How strong is the SLA? What is the level o availability?Does the provider oer proactive credits or SLAviolations?
Is the acility audited by a third party? Is it SAS 70compliant or is there a SOC 2 report available? How otenis the acility audited?
Is this a premium provider or a cost leader? Are youwilling to sacrice perormance and support or pricereductions? Are there any hidden ees outside o theagreement?
How scalable is the acility? Is there enough space togrow? Do they oer high density congurations?
Is there technical support available when you need it andwhat level engineer will you speak to when you call theNetwork Operations Center (NOC)?
How comortable is the work environment or yourtechnicians? Are there customer lounges or work space?
Is the provider green? Are they looking or ways toaddress sensitivity to the environment?
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Internap Colocation
Designed with the uture in mind, Internaps
premium data centers sit on the edge o the
most robust network backbone available. Our
secure SAS 70 Type II acilities, conveniently
located in major metropolitan areas, eature
N+1 redundancy or both power and cooling,
maximizing your network availability. Backed
by unsurpassed customer service, our acilities
include state-o-the-art technology. In act,41% o our data center Inrastructure has been
constructed within the last three years. In 2010,
we delivered ve 9s o uptime availability or our
Colocation and Perormance IP solutions.
About Internap
Transorm your IT Inrastructure into a
competitive advantage with IT IQ rom Internap,
intelligent IT Inrastructure solutions that
enable our customers to ocus on their core
business, improve service levels and lower
the cost o IT operations. Our enterprise IP,
CDN, colocation, managed hosting and cloud
solutions are dierentiated by unparalleled levels
o perormance, availability and support. OnlyInternap combines the superior perormance
o our Managed Internet Route Optimizer
which leverages multiple network connections or
perormance with the rock-solid reliability o our
100% network uptime guarantee. Since 1996,
thousands o enterprises have entrusted Internap
with the delivery and protection o their onlineapplications.
Contact us to learn how Internap can solve
your IT challenges.
877.843.7627
www.internap.com2011 Internap Network Services Corporation.
All rights reserved. Internap and P-NAP are registered trademarks o Internap.All other trademarks and brands are the property o their respective owners 08/11
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