Our guest blogger togday is Nick Ryder, far right, Technical Sales Manager, at the independent Internet Service Provider CCS Leeds – a client of GREEN Communications – offers an overview of colocation and what it means for your business.
Hello, I guess you’re reading this because you don’t know anything about co-location and you want to know everything, or you do know everything and you want to see how much I know, or you know a bit but need to know more. In any event I will attempt to explain, in simple terms what it all means and pose some hypothetical questions which I will then answer.
I suppose the starting point is how do we spell it? I’ve already referred to it and co-location and colocation – spot the difference? Some like to call it Co-Lo, colo or even collocation with a double ‘L’. At the end of the day it all means the same thing and Wikipedia has this to say about it:
Colocation (business), the placement of several entities in a single location.
Not very helpful I know, but essentially true.
The best way to illustrate what co-location is is to use a hypothetical example like this;
You have a computer which needs to be switched on all the time and be in a secure and controlled space which has the appropriate cooling and power backup systems to keep it up for as long as possible. You also need it to be connected to a high speed and reliable internet connection. Your own premises may not have the cooling, redundant power routes or a reliable internet connection so instead of keeping it there, you choose to ‘collocate’ it in a purpose built facility such as a Data Centre.
The reasons for colocation are many and varied and probably the most common application is web site hosting. As of November 2011 there were about 366,848,500 websites on the World Wide Web and most of these are sitting on a server somewhere, which is being collocated in a Data Centre. Other reasons may include online backup servers, hosted email services, SPAM / Virus filtering services, disaster recovery servers and many more. But, it all comes back to the fact that Data Centre’s are purpose built so as to guarantee a maximum uptime as if there was downtime then it usually means that someone is losing money.
The ‘Cloud’ is a recent buzz word and refers to making data and services available from the internet as opposed to a server or computer which is sat in your office. What the ‘Cloud’ or ‘Cloud Computing’ means is that the server previously sat in your office is now being collocated in a Data Centre, as it is often more cost effective to do it that way and due to the speed of the internet being so quick, we can now access that data and those applications in the same manner.
For some, the up-front costs of owning their own server can prove to be too expensive, which is why many Data Centres offer a server rental service which is often referred to as ‘Dedicated Servers’. The cost of renting such a device can be spread over a number of months and they can be flexible in terms of the customer’s requirement, and in most cases would be built to a bespoke specification. They often come with a minimum contract term so that the Data Centre can ensure that they recover the original hardware costs.
Your typical Data Centre will have a number of measures which will significantly reduce any potential downtime such as:
- Cooling – Servers can and do get hot. If the temperature gets too hot then it can start to affect and damage the internal hardware components. As such they work much better in a cool environment and it is this reason that a good Data Centre will always have a robust air conditioning system in place which will alert should the temperature increase above a certain level.
- Power – It is equally important to have a number of power and backup power options. Most Data Centres have at least 2 incoming power feeds which would then be fed into a power distribution control, which in turn is supported by UPS (uninterruptable power supply’s) batteries and diesel generators. The UPS devices will also protect against power surges and spikes whilst the power distribution board will intelligently route power from the appropriate device in the event of an external power failure.
- Internet – Since collocated hardware is always somewhere on the internet then it also makes perfect sense to ensure that the internet is always available in a Data Centre. Therefore it is usually the case that there are at least 2 (depending on the size of the facility) high quality, fast and reliable internet feeds coming into the Data Centre building. These are in most cased provided on fiber connections and can offer speeds of up to 10Gbp/s typically.
- Security – You need to know that your equipment will be kept safe and that it will not be tampered with by others. Many Data Centres provide lockable rack space so that only you and the Data Centre staff have keys to access your server or servers. In some cases it is not feasible to have dedicated lockable rack space (certainly if it is just one server) so a number of clients may share a rack. In this instance it is commonplace for the Data Centre staff to accompany any user visits so as to ensure that they are only working on their own equipment. Many Data Centres have complex alarm systems and are manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
There are so many services now that are turning into ‘Cloud’ based services which means that the demand for good quality Data Centres is on the increase. Just recently we have seen the introduction of the video streaming service from Netflix, Apple’s iCoud service, hosted Exchange and Microsoft’s SkyDrive, these are all services which run on servers, somewhere in the cloud, or more accurately on some hardware sat in a Data Centre.
So, you have a great business idea for selling Cloud based services and have invested money in purchasing your new server hardware and software. So what happens next?
Well, there are a few things to think about before a server can be collocated such as:
How will the server physically fit into the rack? – All hardware equipment in a Data Centre is kept in rack space. These racks have mounting brackets so that servers with rack mounting kits can be screwed into position. Some servers are not rack mountable and would therefore require a shelf within the rack to sit on. Rack shelves usually cost extra as they are non-standard but that said, most modern servers do have rack mount kits available as an option along with side rails so that they easily fit into the racks themselves.
Who will install the server? – Some Data Centres will insist that you deliver and install your own equipment whilst others are more flexible and may offer to arrange for a courier to pick up your server and then install it on your behalf, at a cost of course, whereas others may include free installation so long as you sign up for a minimum 12 month contract term.
What about IP addresses? – When you have a device on the internet, it will need an address so that it can be contacted. The internet uses ‘IP Addresses’ for this purpose and your Data Centre can supply these as part of your co-location package. Sometimes more than one IP address is required and in some cases addition IP requirement cost extra or require written justification as to the need for many IP addresses. Some Data Centres however include a reasonable amount of addresses at no extra cost.
How much will I have to pay? – How long is a piece of string? It all depends really and there are many different factors which can affect the price for collocation. Some Data Centres charge for physical space i.e. the more rack space the equipment takes up, the more it costs to co-locate. Others charge on power consumption so it is worth bearing this in mind when purchasing hardware, especially if it is second hand or older kit as they are usually are a lot less energy efficient and can cost a small fortune to co-locate. Some Data Centres will also charge for high bandwidth or data transfer usage whilst some will use a mixture of all of the above to calculate their prices. As a rough guide most Data Centres start their collocation packages at around £50 per month and this would be for a 1U* server with low to average power consumption of around 0.5amps.
What is a service level agreement (SLA)? – Typically a SLA is a guarantee from the Data Centre that they will provide a service that will be consistent, reliable and have a realistic uptime. Failure to meet the service level agreement often results in a financial penalty in the form of a refund or credit for the Data Centre, which means that it really is in their best interests to ensure that the core services such as internet connection, power and cooling do not suffer or go down. Most Data Centres have efficient alerting systems in place so that they can catch any problems as soon as they occur and either fix or use an alternative method to deliver the faulty service.
How will my server be protected from hackers? – The most obvious answer to this is to use some kind of firewall device, one that can protect against such attacks. You can supply your own or, if you have limited firewall experience, most Data Centres can offer a managed firewall service at an additional cost. There are also many software firewalls available, especially with some of the open source operating systems such as Linux.
How do I choose the right Data Centre for me? – The best way to get started is to search on Google for collocation, colocation or co-location in your chosen locality and you will get a good range of options. Some will have an online price calculator or perhaps a list of standard package prices so you can get an idea of how much it is going to cost you.
However, I would recommend asking yourself these questions before contacting them:
- Do I need easy access at short notice?
- How long would it take me to travel to the Data Centre in the event of an emergency?
- How long a contract term am I prepared to commit to?
- What are the Data Centres chances of going out of business?
- Do the staff seem knowledgeable from a technical point of view?
- How will and how soon will I be alerted if there is a problem?
- Do I need to give notice if I wish to cancel my contract and if so, how long?
- Will my data transfer requirement increase over time?
- Is there onsite technical help in case of an emergency if I can’t physically get to the Data Centre?
I also think that it is important to speak to the people who are running the Data Centre so you get a feel for what they are like as people, or better still try to arrange a site visit so that you can look at the facilities and make sure that they meet up to any expectations which are portrayed on their website. A good Data Centre should have systems in place so that very little, if anything at all goes wrong which means that regular contact and support issues are kept to a bare minimum.
The need for collocation is increasing on a daily basis as internet connections become faster and more reliable, the benefits are becoming all too clear and companies are buying into the concept of ‘Cloud Services’. I hope this article has shed new light on what co-location is and how it plays an integral part in the Cloud.
*U or RU refers to a defined unit of space within a data rack and ‘1U’ occupies 1.75mm or 44.45mm of space. In more simple terms it takes up 3 hole spaces on the standard rack side rails. Some servers can come in 1U sized cases and are often referred to as ‘pizza boxes’ as they do resemble an actual pizza box. Most full height racks are 42U so in theory they could host 42 1U sized servers.
