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Industry leading support articles from the Netwise team.

by Matt Seaton

A small business guide to a London data centre

Decades ago, society was content with simple TV broadcasts from only a few channels, and communication was as simple as snail-mail. When computers first came on the scene they were giant machines that would occupy whole rooms.

But as technology has evolved, computers and equipment have shrunk and become cheaper. With this evolution has come rising data processing demands which show no sign of slowing down.

As technological advances continue to change the way companies do business, the need for data and power increases. Data centres are the powerhouses of the industrial world, and a London data centre may be just the thing you need. 

What is a data centre?

The internet is now considered a daily essential, and almost everybody owns a smartphone, allowing 24/7 connection to the online world. With over 60% of the world’s population online at any given time, the internet plays a huge role in our lives. This means the demand for real-time data transmission is at an all-time high.

The need for computers and other networking equipment that can handle these requests was the driver for the emersion of the modern data centre.

Data centres are computing and networking facilities tasked to collect, store, process, and distribute data. They are responsible for data backup and recovery, as well as networking. 

Data centres connect communication networks so users can access information remotely. They host websites and manage e-mails and messaging services. Data centres also support cloud storage and e-commerce transactions. 

Importance of data centres

Almost every modern business needs a business data centre. Large corporations or government institutions may choose to build and manage them in-house if they have the resources, but most companies choose to rent services at colocation facilities.

Companies that handle finance, telecommunication, retail, education and social networking services process tons of information daily. Any business that produces or uses data requires a data centre to optimise running its operations. Data centres offer fast secure access to data that cannot be matched.

The idea of storing data and resources on home or work computers is quickly being replaced by an offshore storage mentality. Many companies are migrating their data to data centre services to reduce the cost of running in-house servers and to ensure failsafe reliability that cannot be achieved in the home or workplace. 

What Netwise’s London data centres can do for you

Data centres in London are far more than just safe and secure facilities equipped with reliable power and network access. They are quickly becoming a valuable addition to many businesses, as a dependable extension of their IT team.

The Netwise team prides itself on quality service and round the clock care to ensure your data is accessible and protected. 

Reliability

Data centres are built to provide around the clock service. With every consideration taken care of, you can be sure your servers will be running around the clock for you and your clients. 

Netwise offers the following services to ensure your data is secure and reliable: 

  • Multiple power sources that are stable and uninterruptible
  • Super-efficient cooling and ventilation
  • Reliable backup generators
  • 24×7 technical support and security
  • World-class network and connectivity services


Power outage protection

Onsite power failures are incurable when they result in a loss of data. Technological and natural power outages can cause disaster for an organisation. Loss of power for as little as 1/50 of a second can trigger events that can keep equipment unavailable for anywhere from 15 minutes to several hours. 

Outsourcing control to reduce the impact of a power failure is a great way to ensure this doesn’t happen to you. Date centres make use of both grid power and independent generators and UPS’s. This means you’ll be protecting yourself against power outages and ensuring your servers are never out of action.

Clean power

Utility power isn’t always clean, creating a sustainable future is everyone’s responsibility. This is why Netwise uses 100% renewable energy sourced from the wind, sun and sea. Our data centres are some of the greenest facilities in Europe, helping you and your company reduce your carbon footprint.

London colocation tailored to suit your needs

Available in near-limitless space, this is colocation tailored to your needs. With a range of power and connectivity configurations, you will get a secure, resilient server. Select from 1U, 2U & 4U colocation, quarter rack, half-rack or full rack options at a range of price points to fit your budget.

Not sure what you need? Use the colocation calculator to help get you started. 

24/7 service

Available with all colocation service options, you will receive 24/7 phone, chat and email customer support. You will have access to full remote hands and management options.

Change your focus

With your data needs taken care of, you and your company can focus on your core objectives, rather than technological maintenance. Spend more time focusing on your profit margin and services, and less time worrying about your server. 

Get ready for your London data centre

There’s no question that using a London data centre can bring peace of mind to you and your company. A business data centre in London will ensure you have reliable, around the clock access to your data and network. Using clean energy to cover all your data needs, you can be confident you’re doing right by your clients and the world. 

Come in for a tour, or give us a call today to find out how Netwise can help you with your data needs. 

by Matt Seaton

What are the services that a colocation data centre offers?

Many businesses are choosing to host their servers and other critical equipment with colocation data centre providers rather than managing this in-house. Let’s look at some of the services offered by colocation providers and why you should consider making the switch.

Projections show the colocation data centre market growing by more than 13 per cent annually between 2021 and 2028. It’s an industry that’s expected to be worth more than $117 billion at that point.

What is a colocation data centre?

A colocation data centre is a facility that can host your servers and other critical IT infrastructure for you.

Rather than keeping this equipment on-site at your own premises, the colocation centre provides the physical space and resources to operate this on your behalf with much greater success. You still have full access to your equipment, but it’s housed inside the data centre and uses its network, cooling, and other related infrastructure.

It’s important to note that in a colocation arrangement, you still own the equipment. You’re not renting the hardware from the data centre, only the space and services needed for its operation.

Services offered by colocation data centres

Using a colocation centre (also known as “colo”) gives you the flexibility of managing your own equipment without having to pay for and maintain the infrastructure in-house. These providers offer several services.

1. Better infrastructure

A colocation data centre operator such as London-based Netwise need to maintain high-quality, reliable infrastructure to attract customers. They host equipment for many companies so their resources are typically much better than the average business would have in-house.

Power

Colocation providers offer redundant, high-capacity power feeds to ensure your servers stay online and accessible. This includes UPS protection options for short-term outages and diesel generators with 48-hour on-site fuel supplies.

Network connectivity

To provide the bandwidth required to run dozens or even hundreds of servers, a data centre offers high-speed internet connections with the option to choose from many different network providers. This ensures that there’s no distinguishable difference in latency between a colocated server and an on-site server.

The level of network connectivity in a data centre offers better performance than a local connection.

Facilities

Data centres can also provide better facilities than hosting your servers in-house. They use the latest cooling technologies, a high degree of physical security, and more modern rack mount systems than you may have available locally.

2. Uptime guarantees

If you’re hosting your server in-house, any downtime is your responsibility. Colocation providers offer service level agreements (SLA) that include uptime guarantees.

Netwise offers a 99.999% uptime guarantee, giving you the peace of mind that your servers will be available when you need them most.

3. Multiple geographic locations

Some colocation data centres, like Netwise, offer several geographic locations to choose from. This lets you host your server in a location of your choice, whether that’s one that physically close to your business or one that’s closer to your customers.

This lets you minimize your server’s latency by locating it closer to where the majority of its traffic comes from as well as have it nearby if your technicians are handling the maintenance.

4. Physical and network security

Most colocation providers provide a high level of physical security including guards, 24/7/365 surveillance systems, and biometric authorisation systems. This helps protect your servers from unauthorized in-person access.

They also provide better network security than many companies can maintain in-house. They stay on the leading edge of technological advances in network security, both in the tools they use and the training they provide their staff.

Maintaining the same degree of security in-house would require constant training for your IT staff as well as considerable costs for the latest equipment.

5. Cost savings

Your company could handle most of the services in this list in-house if you wanted. But the cost to do so would be much higher than the fees you’ll pay a colocation provider.

You would need to pay for faster network connections, new equipment, and other infrastructure costs. Some of those would be one-time costs while others would be ongoing.

You would also face higher payroll costs for training and maintaining round-the-clock support staff.

6. Service and support

When you host your servers in a data centre, you can choose to have your technical staff handle the maintenance or you can set up a support contract with the data centre provider. You may also want to consider a hybrid approach, with the data centre staff handling some tasks and your technicians handling others.

It may be more cost-effective for the provider’s staff to handle things like replacing a defective part or upgrading an internal component on your server. This avoids the need to send your technicians to the data centre to do the work.

7. Scalability

Colocation data centres have plenty of space for growth. If you want to add a new server or some other type of hardware to your network, they’ll most likely have the physical space and rack capacity to do so quickly.

If you’re hosting your server on-site, the amount of space you have available could limit your expansion options. In a case like that, you might face considerable capital costs to expand your server room or move to a larger facility.

Choosing the right UK-based colocation provider

If you’re looking for a UK-based colocation data centre, Netwise is here to help. We offer state-of-the-art colocation facilities in the centre of London that can connect you to users around the globe.

We offer a range of colocation packages ranging from 1U to 4U packages right up to full rack colocation. Get in touch with us today to see how we can provide you with reliable, high-performance hosting for your servers and other equipment.

by Matt Seaton

What does a colocation data centre do?

Looking for a more efficient way to manage your IT operations?

Budgeting for the IT requirements of your business can be a handful at the best of times. Have you ever considered making use of colocation data centres? It may be the best alternative for your data storage and application delivery needs. Find out about colocation, what it is and what it does in this article.

Colocation definition and concept

What is colocation? A colocation facility or ‘colo’ is a third-party location that houses servers and data equipment. The idea of colocation first started when businesses began moving equipment out of their offices in the 90’s.

Back then, rented spaces are getting charged on per-rack settings. It soon evolved into wholesale data centres and now work at a hyper-scale level. Clients may turn to colocation facilities to rent space for their critical IT equipment.

However, rack space isn’t the only thing clients can get from a colocation facility. Clients of colocation facilities will also get resilient power, high-performance connectivity, world-class security, and state-of-the-art cooling, amongst other things.

What is a colocation data centre and what does it do?

Colocation data centres are buildings or warehouses that offer rental spaces for companies. They accommodates their networking equipment, servers, and storage systems.

These data carrier hotels not only provide their clients with the space needed to host their equipment. It also offers necessary services for the best data storage and application delivery, such as:

Power

A colocation data centre provides power for your systems all around the clock for seven days a week. They are also equipped with backup generators in case of power interruptions. This is crucial for businesses that rely on their data servers to deliver service to their clients.

Cooling

Overheating can cause your systems to malfunction and delay progress. Cooling systems can help you prevent this. Colocation facilities provide ample HVAC systems and other cooling technologies to keep your equipment in mint condition.

Bandwidth

A colocation data centre offers high-speed internet access. This allows clients to access their server’s processing power even if they’re away from the colo facility. If you have plans of collocating, you will only need to provide your business’ physical servers and data storage.

Unlike other kinds of data centres, colocation data centres have more flexibility. Its use can range from data storage to the delivery of applications. Many businesses turn to colocation providers for data management as it gives them the freedom to build diverse and well-integrated networks.

Scaling IT infrastructure more quickly and more affordably

The construction and operation of your own business data centre can cost a fortune. This major investment leads companies to sacrifice the quality of work for quicker development. Smaller businesses may also not have the liberty to build their own data centres.

This is where colocation data centres come in. Businesses can cut expenditures for data storage and management. These colo facilities also help their clients with operational costs.

Colocation providers help you minimize costs without foregoing the scale of your IT network. If you’re working on a budget, check out these best offers of rental racks.

Guaranteed uptime in mission-critical services

Colocation data centres protect your uptime by distributing your IT network to more locations. You can rest assured that your business will keep running even if one location goes down. There will always be another location to take over.

You don’t have to worry about losing crucial data like reports or confidential customer information. A colocation centre serves as an extra layer of disaster recovery.

However, it’s crucial to remember that your provider must be within the same tier as your business needs. Checking on your colocation provider’s network mix and tier carriers is also a good thing to do.

Physical security of your data and IT equipment

Traditional data centres focus on IT network storage and computing within their properties. This makes your company data susceptible to physical threats, like theft. Most office buildings are not designed design to prioritize the safety of data servers.

A more centralized network will not only increase the likelihood of break-ins. It’s also more vulnerable to natural disasters that can destroy the equipment itself, such as hurricanes and tornadoes.

With colo facilities, you can ensure that your servers and equipment are secure. Colo facilities are often built based on industry standards for IT governance. Buildings may also adhere to the standards of other forms of security operations in your state.

Colocation providers are responsible for storing your systems, servers, and equipment. As an extra measure, they may review the physical security of your data. This ranges from perimeter security, video surveillance to 24/7 guard presence and biometric scanning.

Testing products and services for cloud fit

It’s important to note that not all applications are cloud-ready. Some applications can still be sensitive to latency. Some can even have heightened security risks.

For these cases, colocation data centres help their clients by testing whether the products and services can fit the cloud. Your chosen provider will create private clouds to test the products and services in a limited time. This can help you confirm if it’s ready for the public cloud.

Building an edge network

With the growth of the Internet of Things, networks must connect with more devices across bigger distances. Colo can close these gaps between your network and its data sources. They help in building edge networks and even support fog computing.

The closer you can bring your network to the edge of its data, the quicker and more secure you can process them.

How you can benefit from a colocation data centre

Colocation data centres have become a prominent way to store and manage business data. Whether it’s a financial relief to a business’ budget plan or securing the physical safety network, a colocation data centre can cover all your IT needs. Here are some of the benefits of colocation and how it can boost your business operations.

Interested in migrating to a colocation data centre? That’s where we come in. Get in touch with us for your colo inquiries and needs.

by Matt Seaton

What is full rack colocation?

The global colocation services market grew by 13.7 per cent through the end of 2020. More and more companies are choosing to use a colocation data centre rather than holding their servers in-house.

If you’re thinking about moving your server into a colocation centre, you’ll need to determine how much rack space you’ll need. Let’s look at the different options, from per-unit colocation through full rack colocation.

What is colocation?

A colocation facility lets you rent space for your servers and other hardware. You own the equipment so you can invest in whatever type of hardware is best for your business. The colo facility provides physical space for it as well as power, physical security, and the network backbone to connect it resiliently to the internet.

The main difference from other hosting services is that you own the hardware. With traditional hosting services, you rent the server from them but you don’t necessarily have complete control over how it’s configured.

This can limit your options as well as cost more in the long term.

Differences in colocation space

Server racks get measured in terms of rack Units (U) and rack-mounted servers are designed to meet a standard size. A 1U server is approximately 19 inches wide, 36 inches deep, and 1.75 inches in height.

A “rack” is exactly what it sounds like — a rack that the servers get bolted into. They’re built to a standard size so they can house almost any brand and model of server. A typical full-sized rack contains 42U of space.

Per-unit colocation

Per-unit colocation is the smallest amount of space you can get. The most common options available at this level are 1U, 2U, and 4U.

These options are ideal for small businesses, start-ups, and anyone who doesn’t have huge resource requirements but still wants to host their server in a data centre. This gives you the benefit of the data centre’s infrastructure without having to lease more space than necessary.

Quarter rack colocation

Quarter rack colocation is a good option if you’ve got enough equipment to need more than 4U of rack space. Assuming the rack has a total of 42U, you’ll end up with about 10U in a quarter rack.

How much of that space is available for you to use depends on how the rack is configured. The spacing of the divider shelves between each rack unit uses some space and there may be other items using part of it as well.

With quarter rack colocation from Netwise, you’ll have 10U of space, which is fully segregated and lockable.

Half rack colocation

Half rack colocation segregates half of the total rack space for your use. In a 42U rack cabinet, you’ll have 20U of space to work with.

Full rack colocation

With full rack colocation, the entire rack is dedicated to your use. You can use the full 42U of space for whatever your needs might be, including:

  • Private cloud servers
  • GPUs for machine learning and/or artificial intelligence
  • VoIP equipment
  • Network storage

This also gives you more flexibility to install non-rack-mountable equipment using data cabinet shelves. For example, if you have a tower server that you want to install in your rack, it won’t necessarily be a standard U size.

Segregated Colocation vs Per-Unit

At a glance, full rack colocation (or any other size of segregated colocation) doesn’t seem that different from per-unit space. After all, if you need a full rack, couldn’t you just order 42U of space on a per-unit basis?

You could, but segregated colocation offers a few additional benefits compared to a shared rack.

First, with full rack colocation, you can lock the cabinet so only the IT personnel you approve will have access to it. With per-unit colocation, several users will likely share the same rack.

Second, you’ll have more flexibility with the equipment you install in the rack. Some devices only need 1U of rack space while others are larger and might need 2U, 3U, or more.

With a full rack, you can configure the layout any way you like to maximize your use of the space.

Full rack colocation can also be more cost-effective. A full rack doesn’t cost twice as much as a half rack so it might be the right choice even if you don’t need all the space immediately.

Finally, if you don’t need a full rack for your equipment, you might want to consider leasing the extra space to your clients or companies that you work with.

How to determine how much space you need

Figuring out how much colocation space you need is as simple as adding up the U heights of the servers and other equipment you’ll be installing in the rack. For example, if you have four 1U devices, two 3U devices, and two 2U devices, you’ll need at least 11U of rack space, plus some additional space for cable management and cooling consideration.

If your equipment needs more than 20U, full rack colocation is the only option that provides enough space. But if it needs less than 20U, you might still want to consider full rack colocation for the reasons we mentioned above.

If you work in certain industries, you might also need to consider regulatory restrictions when choosing colocation. In the healthcare or financial markets, for example, you might need to use segregated colocation to meet the compliance requirements for the security of your clients’ personal information, meaning that shared per unit colocation is not a possibility, even for a single server.

Where to turn for help with your colocation needs

If you’re looking for full rack colocation in the UK, Netwise can help. We offer a range of server colocation services ranging from 1U through full rack options.

We’ve been providing colocation services for over a decade and are one of the UK’s leading service providers. Get in touch with us today to discuss your colocation needs or to book a tour of our data centre facilities.

by Matt Seaton

How much colocation space do you need?

Your business has grown, and you’ve been hoarding every bit of data you can get on the off chance that it will help you in the future. Now, you’re running out of space, and you’ve started looking for server options. In passing, you hear a new term, “server colocation,” and it sounds exciting!

Just one problem, what is server colocation, and how much space do you need to get started?

Before we hop into the definition, ask yourself, will you be contracting with a cloud server company, or will you be building a server in your office? If you said “in my office,” then congratulations! You’ve come to the right article. 

What is colocation?

At its very base level, colocation refers to renting space for server equipment in a data centre with other businesses.

More technically speaking, you need to make sure that you have room for all of your business’ essential technical needs and then some. That means the right amount of space to deploy your systems both now and to cover immediate-term growth.

So, let’s go over how much space you’ll need for every common type of organisational deployment, so you can plan correctly for your own colocation projects.

For the smaller company, Per Unit Colocaton

When a business is just starting to invest in colocation space, or if they’re smaller and don’t need that much physical capacity, they will usually buy space by the U (or Unit).

So, what’s a Unit? One “Unit” of racked colocation space is approximately 1.75″ tall. Servers and related equipment are designed to accommodate rack units, by mounting into the rack on ears or rails. The smallest space denomination is 1U, or a single rack unit. This would accommodate one server or small network device.

Other common space allocations include 2U and 4U, which cater for larger servers, or small clusters of hardware.

Stepping up in the world? Go for a Quarter Rack

The next step up in the server colocation world is a quarter rack (typically 8-10 Units of useable rack space). 

A quarter rack is for small to mid-sized businesses that need to deploy slightly larger systems, comprised of multiple hardware sets. This may include a firewall, a couple of switches and a small cluster of servers and/or storage arrays. 

So, why is this called a “quarter rack?” Well, the typical server rack consists of 42 Units of space. A quarter rack has ~25% of the full rack segregated and lockable, dedicated to you alone as the sole tenant.   

A quarter rack with Netwise starts from around £164 per month with the minimum 1 amp power allocation.

Bigger is better: consider a Half Rack

Half rack colocation is excellent for mid-sized businesses that’re seeing a lot of growth. Usually, a half rack contains around 20U of server space.

A half rack will cost you £299 per month with the minimum 2 amp power allocation. This gives you a greater degree of deployment flexibility when compared with a quarter rack, and also allows for more power-hungry systems to be deployed with ease.

The Big Kahuna: Full Rack Colocation

Full-rack colocation is the best for larger companies that have more substantial systems, which tend to throughput lots more data.

This solution is ideal for growth, giving an excellent platform from which to grow, and the greatest amount of available in-rack power. A full rack, with the minimum 4 amp power allocation, is £439 per month.  

Full racks let you expand as you wish into a 42U enclosure, offering the most control over airflow, and best installation practices.

To get an enterprise-grade rack with locking cabinets at Netwise, we would advise you to call our customer support to talk about a custom solution.

What are your server colocation needs?

Whatever your needs, we’re the best colocation company for you! Finally, you can expand your business with peace of mind, knowing that you will not be running out of space anytime soon. 

Not 100% sure what you need, or are you confused by anything in this article about server colocation space? You can feel free to give us a call at any time!