Is it important that a hosting provider has their own datacenter? What are the pros and cons?No it's not as most provider are VARs. Even those that own the DC resell service from bandwidth providers.Regards,thanks. what is VAR?Value Added Reseller.It's not of major importance, owning your own data centre merely means you have a lot of cash to splash around but your service could be equally as poor as a reseller if you don't use that cash correctly.It's not of major importance, owning your own data centre merely means you have a lot of cash to splash around but your service could be equally as poor as a reseller if you don't use that cash correctly.
I think its more that it gives you better control over the services that you provide, also can cut down on costs ALOT if you have lets say.. 100-150 racks colo'd! Also, can give you means to offer colo ect.I think its more that it gives you better control over the services that you provide, also can cut down on costs ALOT if you have lets say.. 100-150 racks colo'd! Also, can give you means to offer colo ect.
being in a carrier neutral facility and just leasing space and power also gives you pretty much all of the control you need...
having said this, having a very large colo presence isnt as good as owning your own DC, but, its close..
as for the original question, I guess it depends on what sort of DC we are talking about. I would rather go with a provider that leases space at a premium DC vs one that owns their own sub par DC. But, if a provider owns their own DC and its a premium one, it does say something about their financial situation. And typically they would only get that large by providing great service. not saying they are automatically better then other providers, but certainly it should be considered a positive for them..Thanks! I'm asking because I'm considering between RackSpace, SoftLayer (they have their own DCs) and my current provider, who leases space in a DC.Actually SL has space in InterNAP's datacenters for their Seattle and Washington DC; afaik they only own the datacenter in Dallas.I think its more that it gives you better control over the services that you provide, This cuts both ways - and makes you a jack-of-all trades, master of none.In business, there are many(100s) of very good reasons why so many things are tiered in nature. Another example is your cell-phone. Whoever you have service with they don't own the towers. This is _exactly_ like the current Datacenter ownership discussion. That fact is the company that owns the majority of the US cell towers doesn't offer service - they lease space on the towers to various companies. Why? Because they focus on doing what they do well and let other companies focus on other things.The reality is ownership of the DC means little to the end-consumer of the service.This cuts both ways - and makes you a jack-of-all trades, master of none.
In business, there are many(100s) of very good reasons why so many things are tiered in nature. Another example is your cell-phone. Whoever you have service with they don't own the towers. This is _exactly_ like the current Datacenter ownership discussion. That fact is the company that owns the majority of the US cell towers doesn't offer service - they lease space on the towers to various companies. Why? Because they focus on doing what they do well and let other companies focus on other things.
The reality is ownership of the DC means little to the end-consumer of the service.
great comments from Karl,
a data center business is different then a hosting business. not to say a company cannot do well with both, but, owning the data center does have very little to do with end user hosting experiences.
if you are happy with your current provider, I would stick with them. if you have specific reasons to move, then you should probably be looking for providers that can accommodate your specific requirements or concerns. looking for a provider that owns a data center may or may not actually address your specific requirements..In the shared hosting business it really doesn't matter if the provider owns the DC or not. Probably the same is true for dedicated server providers but in the Colo business it means everything.
People reselling colo out of a facility they don't own cannot dictate power distribution policy or drop in new power runs or cooling capacity without the DC's approval. Better to do Colo direct.People reselling colo out of a facility they don't own cannot dictate power distribution policy or drop in new power runs or cooling capacity without the DC's approval. Better to do Colo direct.The things you mentioned don't happen very often as there are many other approaches to get more power to a cab. If cooling is a problem -ever- the DC has larger issues as it was not spec'd properly from the beginning. Regards,People reselling colo out of a facility they don't own cannot dictate power distribution policy or drop in new power runs or cooling capacity without the DC's approval. Better to do Colo direct.
ummm - how about all of the providers that add value on top of colo.. things like backup, management, dedicated technicians, etc...
as for adding power or cooling, you are right, those are out of the hands of anyone colo ing in an environment. Just go to the right colo facility. We have never had a request for power turned down (and heck, we have some cabs with over 100 AMPS assigned) - and cooling, well, if there is a cooling problem in a data center, you have bigger issues then whether you are colo ing directly or through a reseller in a colo facilityWell yes, provider having own hardware is a big plus, I am afraid of getting a box from reseller, you save some busk but thers always a risk, or maybe i am more precautious.Actually SL has space in InterNAP's datacenters for their Seattle and Washington DC; afaik they only own the datacenter in Dallas.I believe they dont own Dallas DC as well, its infomart carrier hotel, afair.1-800 hosting is also in same Facility.
I think its more that it gives you better control over the services that you provide, also can cut down on costs ALOT if you have lets say.. 100-150 racks colo'd! Also, can give you means to offer colo ect.I think its more that it gives you better control over the services that you provide, also can cut down on costs ALOT if you have lets say.. 100-150 racks colo'd! Also, can give you means to offer colo ect.
being in a carrier neutral facility and just leasing space and power also gives you pretty much all of the control you need...
having said this, having a very large colo presence isnt as good as owning your own DC, but, its close..
as for the original question, I guess it depends on what sort of DC we are talking about. I would rather go with a provider that leases space at a premium DC vs one that owns their own sub par DC. But, if a provider owns their own DC and its a premium one, it does say something about their financial situation. And typically they would only get that large by providing great service. not saying they are automatically better then other providers, but certainly it should be considered a positive for them..Thanks! I'm asking because I'm considering between RackSpace, SoftLayer (they have their own DCs) and my current provider, who leases space in a DC.Actually SL has space in InterNAP's datacenters for their Seattle and Washington DC; afaik they only own the datacenter in Dallas.I think its more that it gives you better control over the services that you provide, This cuts both ways - and makes you a jack-of-all trades, master of none.In business, there are many(100s) of very good reasons why so many things are tiered in nature. Another example is your cell-phone. Whoever you have service with they don't own the towers. This is _exactly_ like the current Datacenter ownership discussion. That fact is the company that owns the majority of the US cell towers doesn't offer service - they lease space on the towers to various companies. Why? Because they focus on doing what they do well and let other companies focus on other things.The reality is ownership of the DC means little to the end-consumer of the service.This cuts both ways - and makes you a jack-of-all trades, master of none.
In business, there are many(100s) of very good reasons why so many things are tiered in nature. Another example is your cell-phone. Whoever you have service with they don't own the towers. This is _exactly_ like the current Datacenter ownership discussion. That fact is the company that owns the majority of the US cell towers doesn't offer service - they lease space on the towers to various companies. Why? Because they focus on doing what they do well and let other companies focus on other things.
The reality is ownership of the DC means little to the end-consumer of the service.
great comments from Karl,
a data center business is different then a hosting business. not to say a company cannot do well with both, but, owning the data center does have very little to do with end user hosting experiences.
if you are happy with your current provider, I would stick with them. if you have specific reasons to move, then you should probably be looking for providers that can accommodate your specific requirements or concerns. looking for a provider that owns a data center may or may not actually address your specific requirements..In the shared hosting business it really doesn't matter if the provider owns the DC or not. Probably the same is true for dedicated server providers but in the Colo business it means everything.
People reselling colo out of a facility they don't own cannot dictate power distribution policy or drop in new power runs or cooling capacity without the DC's approval. Better to do Colo direct.People reselling colo out of a facility they don't own cannot dictate power distribution policy or drop in new power runs or cooling capacity without the DC's approval. Better to do Colo direct.The things you mentioned don't happen very often as there are many other approaches to get more power to a cab. If cooling is a problem -ever- the DC has larger issues as it was not spec'd properly from the beginning. Regards,People reselling colo out of a facility they don't own cannot dictate power distribution policy or drop in new power runs or cooling capacity without the DC's approval. Better to do Colo direct.
ummm - how about all of the providers that add value on top of colo.. things like backup, management, dedicated technicians, etc...
as for adding power or cooling, you are right, those are out of the hands of anyone colo ing in an environment. Just go to the right colo facility. We have never had a request for power turned down (and heck, we have some cabs with over 100 AMPS assigned) - and cooling, well, if there is a cooling problem in a data center, you have bigger issues then whether you are colo ing directly or through a reseller in a colo facilityWell yes, provider having own hardware is a big plus, I am afraid of getting a box from reseller, you save some busk but thers always a risk, or maybe i am more precautious.Actually SL has space in InterNAP's datacenters for their Seattle and Washington DC; afaik they only own the datacenter in Dallas.I believe they dont own Dallas DC as well, its infomart carrier hotel, afair.1-800 hosting is also in same Facility.