Colocation is perhaps the highest rung of all hosted environments in terms of both importance and financial outlay. Finding the right colocator is a must, as the solid provision of such services can be pivotal to a companys success. So what should you be looking for in a colocation service provider? This short article will summarise some of the key factors our clients consider most important in their service, so that those new to ‘colo’ can benefit from the experience presented here.

Know Your Host

Reputation says a lot about a business in any field. Look at who your shortlist of potential colocators already provide services for, and whether they have any recommendations. This does not mean the biggest hosting companys are the best. Trying to enter a data centre alongside businesses like Google and Facebook may be the wrong move, unless you are of a similar standing. Smaller, more bespoke providers are often better suited to clients not looking to take out private suites housing many thousands of servers. If a company on your shortlist provides colocation services for leading businesses like your own, and have a company mantra/image you can relate to, they are often the best choice.

Technology

The technologies in use at each facility will vary – something to keep in mind. Look for IPv6 support for future proofing your connectivity, competitive provisioning of top-level core services/utilities, and green initiatives in line with current Government policies. Keeping your outsourced IT services green is a positive step towards reducing your own businesses overall carbon footprint. Reliable, brand name hardware is also something to bear in mind when considering longevity and consistent performance.

Buy from People, not Businesses

Meet with your shortlist and get to know the people at the helm of each companys operations. Its always best to buy from people, and not to rest all hopes on buying from a brand you think you know. A personable, well-meaning team who show a real interest in you will take good care of your account for years to come. Building solid, long-lasting business relationships is good practice with all suppliers, and that includes your data centre provider!

Location Location Location

Location location location sits at the heart of every property consideration – and a data centre ostensibly follows the same set of rules. Where you are located will not only affect the level of core services feeding your deployment, but will also say a lot about your business should its location be made known. If you are in the UK, or even Europe, London is the place to be housing your data. This does throw up a number of issues in itself – namely cost and accessibility – however smaller, more ’boutique’ providers are now offering services in the London area; Netwise Hosting included! You are always better off arranging a London locality over a countryside data centre miles from the nearest major trading hub.

 

Naturally, deciding upon a colocation provider is a sizable decision with many hundreds of unique factors to consider; but hopefully those described above offer a good starting point from which to develop your own points of interest. If you need help in understanding colocation in more detail, or to see how Netwise Hosting successfully fulfil all of the above requirements do contact us for more information.

Business today is certainly a cut-throat environment. Getting noticed is essential for success, particularly as a small new start-up. Thankfully, the internet has made getting your organisations name out to a mass audience a lot easier; becoming especially apparent when compared with the processes involved in advertising and business networking 20 years ago. Yet the impressive scope and accessibility of the internet is also one of its major downfalls. Getting noticed in the vast pool of information on the web can prove just as challenging as the age old methods of getting your brand out into the open.

Whilse these top tips do incorporate basic elements of SEO (to help your searchablity), they fundamentally focus on business impact – and getting noticed online. If you are specifically looking for SEO guides, have a look around on Google – there is some great advice out there. However, the fundamentals below are just as important, so get these in place first.

 

1) Websites are Key

Your website is your virtual shop front. As such, it is essential for drawing in interest. Highly successful enterprises on the highstreet will have a constant flow of visitors, primarily because of their enticing frontage. The same applies online; keeping your visitors engaged is key. Have a website you are proud of, one that not only conveys the relevant information, but one that does so in an interesting and well developed manner.

But remember, this doesnt mean you should endulge in a flashy overcomplicated beast of a website with all the gimicks you can cram in. Less is more, and it is the simple designs that are most effective. Faster websites are rewarded by search engines, so dont over do it. Have a look at the websites you use every day, and pay close attention to what it is you like about them, and how they enrich your experience. Dedicated server hosting will allow your website to run far quicker than it would on a shared web server hosting platform – something to bare in mind.

Even the smallest of businesses have no real excuse to have no private website today. Just being on directories and business listings is not really enough in most cases, and with the cost of webhosting now so low, a website can be an affordable yet effective addition to your business.

2) It’s all about Image

Focus on your content. How the information on your site is read and interpreted will shape a customers perception of what your business is all about. Pay close attention to your image, and how you want visitors to interpret every aspect of your organisation. Intelligent use of language and maintaining a solid, professional online space can make smaller businesses appear larger – and more experienced. Naturally, the aim is not to deceive. It would be irresponsible and immoral to lie about your business. Yet having a well thought out, well executed image online can promote feelings of security, familiarity, and experience in your site visitors.

3) Don’t Spam!

Its all about quality, not quantity. There is no need to lay every last piece of information out, page after page, bogging users down with mountains of text. Keep it brief and concise. The same applies for social media output – people dont want you clogging up their social feed with useless information. Put out quality information, and you will be rewarded with quality responses in return.

Many people only see ‘spam’ as an unsolicited email sent to thousands of readers, directly asking for their custom. The fact is that spam encompasses so much more – any pointless, unrelated output can be classed as spam, and thats something to avoid.

4) Grow Online

As your business grows, your web presence should reflect the changes underway, building upon your increased experience. Linked closely with image (discussed in point 2), maintaining a website in keeping with your changing business is vital. A successful retailer on the highstreet experiencing rapid growth would not simply maintain their current outlet and ‘make do’. They would open new outlets, explore new avenues of business, and rebrand in accordance with their size. This is no different online, with web presence scaling vital to your overall exposure on the internet.

Ensure you have room to grow online. Shared web server hosting platforms can be limited, and do not favor websites with growing demand for traffic. Dedicated server hosting solutions give you the room to breath – able to handle far more traffic, contain far more storage space, and can scale with your business. Remember, moving web content is a real hassle, so start of on a basic dedicated server and build upon its specification from there.

5) Be Bold

Make waves. Getting noticed anywhere, not just online, is all about being big, bright and bold. Do things differently (but do them well of course), and people will sit up and look at what you are doing. This doesnt just mean sliding a plethora of unusual colours into your website – that can be offensive to the eyes, and tantamount to wearing garish clothes to a party just to get some attention. Be clever with the way you do business online, and people will take note. Don’t simply slot into existing preconceptions of what a business in your sector should be doing.

 

Good luck, and remember, SEO is wonderful – but to get truly noticed online, you need the fundamentals in place first. Be creative.

Datacentres combine many modern technologies in the creation of a workable platform from which businesses can operate online. Today, there are many hundreds of different ways a datacentre can combine these technologies together, making the understanding of what they are and how they work all the more important. Below you can find our Top 5 Datacentre Technologies, and how they work in creating true value for the end user.

 

1) Hot/Cold Aisle Containment

Keeping hot and cold air seperate inside a datacentre is essential in maintaining high levels of energy efficiency, and ensuring the optimum climate for server hardware is controlled accurately. Conditioned air that enters the front of a server should have a clear and seperate path back out of the facility, as mixing will raise temperatures, and recycle warm air – reducing the sites efficiency.

2) Biometric Security

Keeping data secure is of the utmost importance. State of the art firewalls and digital protection systems are fantastic, and are standard fayre in most datacentres today. Yet such systems are rendered useless should access to the site be achieved by those seeking to compromise your critical data. Biometric security systems will not allow access to the site without finger-print recognition. This means access is essentially impossible, unless you have authorisation. Stolen keys are not a problem with biometric systems, as your finger is the key.

3) IPv6 Infrastructure

Discussed many times on this very blog, IPv6 is the future of internet protocol technology. With the total exhaustion of IPv4 fast approaching, housing your data inside a future-proofed facility, able to support IPv6 throughout, will pay dividends.

4) Eco-Cooling

Cooling a datacentre can be a tall order. Many older datacentres still operate cooling systems that rely on refrigerants. These are very expensive to run, meaning services tend to cost more than those housed in more modern facilities. They are also far less efficient, meaning that the more densely populated the datacentre, the more harmful emissions are produced. There are a wide range of eco-cooling systems available, all of which become more efficient the more they are used. At capacity, many can reduce carbon emissions by upto 90%, and pass related savings onto you, the end user. Note that Netwise Hosting maintain a PUE of just 1.15, thanks to a state of the art evaporative cooling system.

5) Active Monitoring

Whilst your individual services may not be actively managed, ensuring your data is kept within a facility boasting 24×7 active monitoring is essential. This means that the facilities core services are constantly monitored, keeping the datacentre floor running smoothly at all times. Digital air sampling, advanced network analysis and active conditioned power monitoring are just some of the measures employed by top datacentre operators, with the aim being to keep bulletproof SLA promises a reality.

 

Naturally, this barely scratches the surface of the available technologies on offer today. However, ensuring your choice of datacentre utilises a wide range of modern, futureproof technologies – all implemented with your best interests at heart – will safeguard your IT deployment against any number of threats, and make certain that constant accessibility is always maintained.

Netwise Hosting’s new datacentre facility incorporates most of the leading technologies available, which work together in forming one of London’s most efficient, reliable and above all affordable hosting locations. Please contact us to request a full specification.