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On-site or off-site data centers?
What are some things to consider when deciding between having an on-site or an off-site data center? Why would someone choose to have one off-site vs. on-site?
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3 Answers
Derek and Steve both make great points arguing for off-site data centers. Let me try to present some considerations that might lead you to keeping it on-site.
For small applications (limited to a few racks worth of boxes), I think you'll find an on-site center cheaper and easier to manage then an off-site one. Modern offices are certainly provisioned for sufficient power for small sets of boxes and usually have space (regardless of its cost per SqFt) that is not very well suited for people. Further, when you are troubleshooting, physical access to the boxes if often very helpful.
In applications where latency is important, on-site, i.e. LAN based access will always outperform off-site, WAN based access. I have seen many financial services companies build out small to medium sized DC in their offices (typically high cost places) because of this.
Teri,
I have recently seen enterprise businesses try to go the route of building their own data center. But, most are finding that the ROI is elusive. If you build your own data center you have to consider the enormous power constraints on your business and the added cost that comes with it. Then, there is the redundant carriers that you have to procure. And, of course, any good data center is running on diverse power grids. Try and negotiate that with the power companies. Oh, and think about the staff that you would have to employ 24/7 to monitor your on-site data center. Plus, you have to consider chillers, redundant AC, battery back-up's, stand-by generators, etc.
If you take a look at any company that can't afford downtime such as a web hosting company, you'll find that they all utilize off-site data centers. It just makes a lot more sense to utilize an off-site data center and all of the benefits that they bring to the table than to try to build it yourself.
I hope this helps.
Teri,
There can be many physical reasons that an On Site DC does not work out well for a company. Office locations are designed for the use of people and the infrastructure was built to support that. The power densities that office space takes up is no where near the power delivery that your DC will require. The cost per SqFt in your office area could likely be much higher than the SqFt costs of industrial space that your DC needs. The building your in may not have the power infrastructure to receive enough power to run your DC operations as well. The grade and throughput available through the on net carries in your current office location may also not be sufficient to run your Datacenter out of.
To sum up you should have your DC in a place where the per SqFt cost is less, the power density is high, and there are many available carriers to choose from.
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