Colocation & Outsourcing |
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an industry that relies so heavily on up-to-the-fraction-of-a-second information , even a lag of seconds could cause a loss of thousands if not millions of pounds .
Presence
While hyperscale providers can offer huge storage options , this comes at the disadvantage of storing all the information in one place .
Should a customer need access to a programme , if too many employees use it , it could well cause a surge and make the network suffer , causing serious lag or at worst , conceivably completely shutting the system down .
However , working with colocation providers to spread out presence across possibly hundreds of servers in different locations will mean the network would not suffer from overload , and processes could carry on as normal even in peaks .
A good example of the importance of different presences can be seen when looking at video-on-demand providers . When a brand new movie drops on a provider ’ s platform , the surge of demand could stress the bandwidth exponentially if they only use one storage provider . However , if they use different colocation providers each will be ready to take a percentage of the demand , easing bandwidth and experience for global users .
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’ In the battle against hyperscale , colocation has the upper hand when it comes to latency .’ |
be game over . Therefore , one of the greatest understandings colo providers can appreciate is that they must watch over the data as if it were their own , and show they can be trusted with it .
One of the best ways to do this is to be fully transparent with the data they are storing .
Colo providers must be able to show their customers how well their data is being stored , what can be done to make its storage more efficient and where efficiencies can be saved . To do this colo providers must have a data centre infrastructure management ( DCIM ) tool installed .
DCIM tools give colo providers the ability to offer a single pane of glass view over the stored data allowing them to monitor all aspects of its safe keeping from temperature to location , maximising the running of the centre .
They also allow colo providers to offer exceptional levels of service that their hyperscale counterparts struggle to match . This is because no two customers are the same – they have different application needs .
Whether one customer is running new applications , legacy ones , or both , DCIM tools give colo providers the ability to customise services based on customers ’ real needs , not just offering an off the shelf solution .
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Finally , DCIM tools enable colo providers to show their customers that they are keeping to their SLAs . To meet their SLAs , colo providers need to make sure their facilities are available 24 / 7 , and are highly reliable . DCIM tools monitor a multitude of capabilities , ensuring that centres run efficiently while also alerting to issues as and when they arrive .
After all , is there a better way to showcase impeccable work than by giving customers full awareness over how their data is being stored ?
Change can be a good thing
The data centre market is going through one of its biggest changes since its inception , but this isn ’ t necessarily a bad thing . It represents an opportunity for colo providers to go toe to toe with the hyperscale players and come away with notable scalps .
To do so they must continue to offer what hyperscale providers can ’ t : Edge computing , reduced latency , multiple regional presence and the ability for their customers to view their own data in an easy and actionable way – exactly what customers are looking for .
So , while hyperscale is obsessed with wrapping up the data centre market , in the end , what will really matter is how data is looked after , not how cheaply it can be stored .
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Transparency |
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For all companies looking to invest in a new storage provider – whether that be cloud or colo – they are effectively handing over the keys to their company . And with this comes great responsibility .
For these companies data is king . It is the measure of how well they are currently doing as well as how well it could do in the future . If that data were to corrupt or be lost all together it would
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September 2017 | 35 |