COLOCATION
Dispelling the myths about colocation Colocation Unwrapped By Phil Wrightson, Data Centre Manager, C4L
Phil Wrightson dispels some of the more popular myths that have grown up around colocation
The Cost The fi rst myth that many organisations will have been told is the cost and availability of colocation. Many organisations have the impression that data centres offering colocation are rare beasts, offering high-cost services purely to large organisations. In fact there are over 140 in the UK alone, stretching from Aberdeen to Bournemouth. Regardless of an organisation’s location in the UK, it should be able to fi nd a colocation centre relatively nearby. The very nature of colocation means it isn’t necessarily for the largest enterprises, many of whom would instead choose their own, dedicated data centres or would be able to comfortably retain their infrastructure on the premises. Organisations can instead use colocation to take advantage of services that would be prohibitively expensive or impractical for most to implement on their own property.
Using colocation may seem more
expensive than keeping the IT resources in-house. However, it eliminates the large up-front costs involved in housing that IT in the fi rst place.
Prime Locations There is a belief that London forms
a nexus of connectivity in the UK, meaning that colocation centres must be located there to take advantage of this perceived highest-speed connection.
However, there are a wealth of colocation centres across the UK. With ever-faster network connections, data communication to and from these centres can be measured in milliseconds, making London’s perceived increased connectivity immaterial in most cases. With boundaries on physical space and available power, London can only support a fi nite number of such centres, meaning that the location can command a premium price. Unless a business is based in London and is in an industry such as fi nance where near-instantaneous communication is essential, it will tend to be more cost- effective to choose a colocation centre in a less exclusive location. As with any industry, not all providers
are created equal. There will be differences in security, in contracts, in the way in which colocation centres are run, in the level of knowledge involved and, of course, in cost.
Green Giants The popular image of a large data centre is of a huge energy-intensive building, thanks to both the huge amounts of IT resources it contains and the cooling needed to keep them working. Google’s worldwide network of server farms was recently reported to have an energy footprint of 260 megawatts, the equivalent of a coal-fi red power plant. However, a colocation centre is inevitably more environmentally friendly than the same amount of resources held in-house at various organisations.
Relinquishing Control As IT becomes more and more important to businesses, they are reluctant to relinquish ownership. With this perceived loss of control comes the threat that an organisation’s IT strategy may no longer be compliant with regulations. To begin with, while a colocation centre will provide the space for an organisation, the IT infrastructure is still theirs and theirs alone. High- speed network access means they will have near-instant access and be able to manage it as if it were stored in-house. At the same time, while relinquishing
There are a wealth of colocation centres across the UK. 40 NETCOMMS europe Volume II Issue 3 2012
direct control of the IT infrastructure, a business will be handing it over
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to an organisation that specialises in infrastructure management. The business will still decide what infrastructure it uses and what it is used for, the only difference is that it will have a calibre of IT provision that would be often prohibitively expensive to achieve in-house. Any reputable colocation provider will be fully certifi ed under regulations and standards such as ISO9001, dealing with quality management.
Many Eggs, One Basket Potential customers worry about the security of colocation from data theft or espionage. Businesses will still have full control over their own infrastructure and be able to protect it as they see fi t. Since it is dedicated to this single task, a colocation provider’s physical security will be stronger than most SME customers could conceivably implement in-house. Businesses also worry that a blackout
or other disaster at a colocation centre will leave them stranded from their IT resources, while others claim to be uncomfortable relying on their network connection to ensure their IT capability. Yet a colocation centre will have backup power generation in place so that in the unlikely event of a power failure, services can continue uninterrupted. It will also have the strongest possible systems in place to prevent fi re or other disasters. Reliance on the network is a separate
issue. It is true that, especially with cloud computing and computing as a service, the network connection is the weakest link in an organisation. However, this is true of any IT service.
History Behind the Legend There is no smoke without fi re. Over the years there have been several stories of colocation failure. Yet such things as poor security, a failure to plan for power outages, a focus on London, power-hungry infrastructure and huge data centre costs are relics of the very earliest days of colocation. Today such experiences are becoming the stuff of legend.
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