Colocation can be in London or elsewhere. Central London is good for colocation. Other places have advantages for colocation too.
The data centre conundrum – colocation in London versus the rest of the country?
Roger Keenan, Managing Director at City Lifeline
Data centre colocation plays a significant role when it comes to housing today’s IT operations; and yes, for many businesses it’s an attractive alternative to investing in building and maintaining a sizable space to house and operate power hungry hosted servers, hosted telecoms and hosted network equipment. The notion of operating this colocated equipment offsite brings with it many benefits, but the decision is not as clear-cut as that. There are a number of considerations to take into account when looking at colocation and one of the most deliberated is the issue of location. In reality, this comes down to one fundamental question: do I operate my IT and telecoms in London colocation or colocate elsewhere in the UK?
Of course, there are many valid arguments for both, and often it will come down to evaluating what the real priority or reason for wanting to colocate is in the first place. We’ve all seen the articles that alarm even the most level-headed IT managers, emphasising the high concentration of colocation data centres within Docklands and the London ‘ring of steel’ perimeter - this itself being a serious threat (from a terrorist perspective) to a business’s operating integrity. But on the other hand, London is renowned for having the best connectivity and physical accessibility for city-based businesses - Central London is is perfect for colocation and colocation facilities.
Any large metropolitan area, and particularly London as the capital city, will always be more vulnerable to terrorist attacks than remote countryside destinations. Despite this, almost half of the entire UK population of colocation data centres are in London. The reality is, we have to base all of our decisions on rational probability and weigh up the pros and cons - there are always advantages and disadvantages to any site for colocation, the key is to ensure you’re clued-up on the facts and examine what it is your business needs.
Taking a step back to put these considerations into perspective can really help if you are under pressure to make an informed colocation choice and the right decision for your business. There are several key reasons why a business will choose to colocate in London, and several reasons why it will not:
The attractions of the ‘big smoke’:
• Connectivity: London is the only place where a large multiplicity of international fibre-optic cables terminate; putting the city at a major advantage when it comes to colocation carrier choice and latency.• Accessibility: many of London’s colocation data centres will be within easy walking distance from underground stations or public transport, which for many city businesses means they can get to their hosted IT or hosted telecoms equipment quickly and easily to install, upgrade and repair. And if things go wrong they can get there fast at any time of the day or night.
• Community: Being close to others operating in London is a big advantage. Dark Fibre connections to other businesses or carriers are possible, and you can share experiences with many other like-minded people (over a beer?)– more so than in a rural location.
The pull of the countryside:
• Cost: with the coalition government proposing a 43 per cent hike in business energy bills, businesses will continue to look for opportunities to shave costs where they can. Choosing a colocation data centre outside of London or even collocating outside the UK will have an impact on the price you pay, particularly if you need a lot of electrical power and cooling.
• Lower risk: housing your hosted equipment in colocation outside London is also thought by many to be a lower risk option for unpredictable terrorist attacks.
• Newer purpose-built buildings: many colocation data centres in remote locations are purpose-built rather than conversions and people are tempted by the idea of the look and feel of new colocation premises.
It really is horses for courses but choosing the right colocation site for your particular business is hugely important and making the wrong choice can lead to problems later down the line. As such, there are a number of questions that you should ask yourself before that decision is made:
• Check if the colocation data centre in question is carrier-neutral. Any colocation data centre, whether in London or not,, can give you an internet connection, but finding a colocation facility where you can use two different carriers with two separate routes (to different destinations) is more challenging, and adding telephony makes it even more so. Having a wider choice of colocation carriers means you can deliver any national or world-wide routings you want.
• It also allows you to negotiate better prices as more than one colocation carrier will be competing for your business.
• When latency is important, micro-seconds matter. Really low-latency connections with a choice of colocation carriers are currently only feasible in a central London location where you have many specialist carriers PoP’ing a colocation data centre set up to do just this.
• Physical accessibility – think about whether you need to be close to your hosted equipment. It may even be an emotional thing that defies logic at the time, but if something goes wrong in the middle of the night can you get in your car and get to the colocation facility relatively quickly.
• Outside London the choice of carriers is more limited (it’s much more expensive to dig up roads and lay fibre to a remote location). Price is always an important factor in the decision-making process but colocation access and colocation connectivity are also vital – make sure you balance quality against cost for your business.
• If there is a major terrorist incident, all of London is at risk but urban centres are also vulnerable. Mirroring (or duplicating) equipment in other colocation facilities is key to protecting against the impact of terrorist threats.
• Think about the type of colocation data centre you need: robot-like high security with little ‘human’ interaction, or the flexibility of ‘community’ to share knowledge and talk to others also using and managing the colocation data centre.
• Does your selected colocation data centre give you the option to hire and use meeting rooms, so you can talk to suppliers or colleagues or customers on site?
• What level of security do you require? Will you have the option of a private colocation suite? Some colocation data centres will provide a private colocation suite that no one else can enter without your permission, nothing can be removed or touched and in some cases you can arrange that an outsider can’t physically see into the suite.
The list is endless, but when it comes to colocation the answers to these considerations will often very much help to determine what location (or indeed, type of colocation data centre) is best for your business. Get this part right and you are less likely to experience unforeseen problems later down the line and more likely to ensure your hosted IT and hosted telecoms operations continue to run smoothly and seamlessly for the future.
