Whether it be due to a lack of space, sub-par power requirements, or for the purpose of a business continuity plan Collocation has become a viable options for small, mid-sized, and enterprise level businesses.
TNS partners with Cervalis and occupies a full cage at their world class data center in Wappinger Falls. By procuring its own cage, TNS can sell space to prospects by the unit, rather than by the rack, which is the standard policy at Cervalis.
§ Within a "Class A" collocation facility everything is redundant so that if anything goes down the collocation customers server and network equipment will not even notice it as there are redundant systems in place that automatically replace those that went down. This includes; the air conditioning systems, UPS (uninterruptible power systems), power generators, utility power, network routers, redundant Internet backbones with plenty of extra capacity, and redundant onsite network engineering staff. Not every collocation provider and collocation facility includes all of these important services, but those that meet the Class A certification requirements.
o Better Network Speed and Reliability
§ Most collocation facilities run BGP and have redundant Internet networks and different Internet backbones coming into their facility. When a company sets up a network at an office they usually just get the Internet bandwidth capacity that they need such as a single T3, which is 45 Megabits, or an OC3, which is 155 Megabits without the redundancy. Premium Class A Collocation facilities go to a much greater extent to provide a fast and always reliable Internet network, for example Hurricane Electric's collocation facilities network connects to over 500 major national and International Internet backbone networks.
o Better Power Redundancy
§ At and office a company will have the primary utility supplied power and may also use a small UPS to backup the servers or computers on their network. Few offices have automatic emergency generators unless it is for a data center, hospital or other important office building. Even with the office buildings that do have an emergency backup generator it is usually the type of backup generator that has the ability to run for 2 or 4 hours and is rated for "backup". In the best "Class A" collocation facilities the generator is a "Prime Source" type of power generator and the UPS system is a whole facility UPS system. This type of system can take up a whole room with the electrical breaker panels, automatic generator switch gear, and large UPS systems. If an office wanted to install these type of power systems they would need to upgrade the power grid to the facility and get permits from the land owner and the City for the pad mounted large UPS systems to be installed
o Redundant and Improved Cooling / AC Environment Conditioning
§ Many office environments have AC systems that can handle a set amount of cooling for the environment and are set to run during business hours. When you introduce a large amount of servers or network gear, the power used is converted to heat that must be cooled. Office AC systems just aren't made to handle the additional cooling required for a large amount of server and network gear used for Internet applications. In addition to this, should the AC system at an office fail, or just need to be turned off for routine maintenance then the heat would rise. Hot computer equipment is prone to fail and has a much shorter life span.
o Significantly Lower Setup and Monthly Cost For Services
§ High bandwidth deals at a True Class A collocation facility can cost as little as $100/month for space for a server and Internet bandwidth on a dedicated 100Mbps Internet port or as little as $1080 for the whole 100Mbps within a collocation facility. This includes all the special redundancies and services that a collocation facility includes. Yet, if and office were to try to set up the same 100Mbps Internet bandwidth with just a limited redundancy to cut costs it would still cost more than 30 times the cost per month ($30,000) for a lesser service. Below is a detailed item by item explanation of what this would cost.
Visit www.thetnsgroup.com for more info, or call me at 203-316-0112 ext: 105 for a free collocation estimate today!
Joe Carretta
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