Choosing the Right Location for Your Data Center
Choosing a Colocation Data Center provider requires balancing many different priorities. With businesses starting to understand the dynamism of what can be done with data, they are moving from existing resources to well-equipped Data Centers that measure up to their IT infrastructure requirements.
India’s Data Center market investment is expected to reach USD 4.6 billion in 2025. This is predominantly driven by increased Cloud computing demands, government digitisation initiatives, and higher cost efficiency in both operation and development. A major concentration of the Data Centers can be found in the commercial hubs of Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, and Pune.
In addition to price, scalability, reliability, and uptime – location is a key consideration when choosing a Data Center provider. Through strategically placed Data Centers, the proximity is maintained to the enterprise and the end-users, thus creating a low-latency environment. The increased dependence on Data Centers further places a reinforced significance on Data Center connectivity.
Why is Data Center Location Very Important?
In theory, a Data Center can be built anywhere with some power and connectivity, but in reality, the location directly impacts the quality of service and uptime. Ideal connectivity depends on multiple redundant connections to major bandwidth providers. Hence, the facilities tend to cluster at major peering points when Data Centers are located in close proximity to Internet Exchanges, Internet Service Providers, Content Delivery Networks, and Cloud On-Ramp Services.
Although, there are application and risk related factors attached to every region. If the Data Center is too far away from the users, the data will have to travel greater distances. Copper cables lose strength around 330 feet. On the other hand, fiber can run unhindered for over 25 miles with slight disruptions as the expanse increases.
The state of the network moreover compounds the round-trip time. Data almost always never travels in a straight line between the sender and the receiver. Instead, it wanders through networks, routers, and switches, each of which can add some additional latency. Therefore, the closer the Data Center is to its users, the lower the latency.
Furthermore, Data Centers in densely packed cities make a great case for Interconnection. The result is a super-agile, carrier-rich network where connectivity can be achieved while keeping the bandwidth fees low. The agility benefits also include decreased backhaul costs, enhanced business continuity, and more virtualisation options.
Conversely, the particularities of a hybrid IT strategy is why enterprises prefer to maintain a hard limit on Cloud reliance. These organisations can reduce their IT fragility by investing in a closely-placed Colocation Data Center to scale across a larger footprint.
Below are some of the strategic considerations that figure into the viability of a Data Center location.
How to Choose the Right Data Center Location?
- Proximity: There are two kinds of proximities to consider – with the users and the enterprise. Much like real estate, Data Centers that provide interactive services need access to high-performance connectivity. Therefore, Data Centers and other IT gateways that are positioned closer to the end customer, specifically the people using the applications regularly, can lead to a lower latency. It is important to note that picking a Data Center located in the same country can optimise the speeds while choosing one within the state or city’s territory shall give an additional boost.
- Safety and Security: The core function of a Data Center is to minimise the risk of downtime. Regardless of the business objective, a blip of outage can lead to heavy capital outlays. Unexpected equipment failure or a cyber-attack translates to a lot of losses without any actionable backups. In such scenarios, using a nearby Colocation Data Center can be used either as a hot site or a cold site with full redundancies. Conversely, choosing a location in a rural area and addressing potential issues in the context of the security protocols set up by the Data Center provider can potentially increase downtimes.
- Avoiding Natural Disasters: While most natural disasters are fairly rare, if the Data Center is in a high-risk zone, it can only be expected that a catastrophe will strike eventually. Being adversely affected by the weather or a geological event can lead to extended downtime, even with a comprehensive disaster recovery plan. All of the following are major concerns: tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, lightning and thunder (power outages), earthquakes, tsunamis, hails and fires. Therefore, when calculating the best place to choose a Data Center from, it comes down to what risks the enterprise is comfortable with.
- Edge Capabilities: As organisations continue to deliver voluminous content, speed has become a major market differentiator. Plus, in some industries, pivotal decisions are made on real-time data, leaving little to no scope for any delays. An Edge Data Center in the right location overcomes most of the challenges with the last-mile delivery. With latency being a byproduct of the distance between Data Centers and IoT devices, a local Data Center ensures an on-demand relay of information, aiding Big Data analytics to identify key trends and opportunities. Consequentially, users experience more responsive devices and services, which is essential for building brand loyalty.
- Connectivity Options: A Data Center thrives on Interconnections with the right providers. As organisations double down on hybrid IT deployments, leveraging multiple types of Clouds and connectivity vendors has become imperative. Colocation Data Centers placed in carrier-dense locations can address this requirement with scale.
Final Considerations
Organisations should look for Data Center providers that have blended lower-cost availability with ample space, power, hyper-efficiency, and rich connectivity. These facilities are not easily found in the city center to avoid the real-estate premiums. Nonetheless, choosing a Data Center that can be easily accessible for disaster recovery purposes is a good scale to understand the connectivity that can be opted for.
One of the unique aspects of Web Werks Data Centers is that it operates 3 state-of-the-art Tier III Data Centers in the commercial hubs of India: Mumbai, Pune, and Delhi-NCR, with more coming up in Chennai, Hyderabad, and Bangalore. The joint venture with Iron Mountain Data Centers (IMDC) gives customers an additional advantage as now they can access Data Centers spread across North America, Europe, and Asia.
With all Web Werks – IMDC Data centers strategically located close to business and financial hubs, it directly aligns them with customers’ industry goals and growth potential. Plus, being present in metros ensures industry-leading capacities for network connectivity, accessibility, and approachability.
To understand how Web Werks can help your organisation redefine its Data Center migration strategy, please visit https://www.webwerks.in or call us on +91 8828 335 555.
