How to Choose a Service Provider for Colocation - Part I

If you have acquired servers but do not have a server room that meets modern requirements, you need to host the equipment in a service provider's data center. But how do you choose the right partner and service among many options? This post will help you find the answer to this question.

Since this is a very extensive topic, we have divided posts on this topic into three parts. This post is the first in the series, in which we will discuss various dangers and risks to consider when searching for a service provider. In the second and third parts, we will discuss power supply and network-related issues in detail.

Compliance of the Data Center with Requirements - Certificates

When considering different options, it is essential to determine where and under what conditions the service is offered. Many IT companies offer server hosting services without having a compliant data center. If the client's equipment is not stored in a broom closet, you should check which external partner's data center is used. The most sensible approach is to focus on key criteria such as the company's background, the level of the data center, availability, and certification.

At this point, it is worth ensuring that the data centers and services provided are properly certified. It is not uncommon for companies to have various ISO certificates issued, but some services or processes are excluded from the scope of the certificate. Such a weak link in the chain can be painful later on.

At WaveCom's data center, we apply the ISO 9001:2015 quality management system. Our data center and services, as well as processes, are also assessed as compliant with the ISO 27001:2013 information security and availability standard.

Next, you need to ensure that the following points are guaranteed

Security and access
Uninterrupted power supply and maintaining an appropriate working temperature for servers
Sufficient and quality network connection

The Greatest Threat – Human Factor

It is appropriate to mention here that the greatest threat to your data is human error. 95% of the world's cybersecurity incidents are caused by human error. All the cybersecurity in the world is of little use if an unauthorized person can physically approach your server or if an inadequately trained and inexperienced employee falls victim to hacker activities.

Unlike many competitors, only our specialists, who regularly undergo cybersecurity training, install equipment in shared cabinets. This ensures maximum security. We also avoid situations where 20 clients access the same cabinet. An unauthorized person who accesses another client's equipment may accidentally damage a network cable or something else essential for another client's services. However, it is possible to carry out work at the server with our representative if necessary. Clients renting an entire equipment cabinet can get access after a background check, but only to their own cabinet.

Data Center Technology and Quality

When choosing a service provider, special attention should be paid to the technology and quality of the data center. Uninterrupted power, connectivity, and cooling alone do not guarantee reliability. It only takes one of these to fail, and the service is down for the user. All the above-mentioned systems must be at least doubly redundant. It would be good to ensure the quality of the technology and the brands used. For example, WaveCom's data center is based on 99% Schneider Electric products.

Different worst-case scenarios must also be thought through and tested. For example, a careless excavator operator may dig through a communication cable, half of Tallinn may plunge into darkness due to a fault, and a person with malicious intent may try to access servers by force or cunning. Many older server rooms can also be brought to their knees by the increasingly frequent guest known as a heatwave.

WaveCom's data center has N+2 redundancy, and we built it according to TIER 3 and 4 standards. N+2 redundancy means that all critical nodes such as power, climate, and optics have two redundant components. This means that even in the event of two equipment failures, the services will continue to function without interruption.

Our FBI-certified access system has multi-level fingerprint, finger vein, and facial recognition functionality. Various sensors ensure that people in the building only move within permitted perimeters. Equipment cabinets are equipped with biometric security locks and various monitoring sensors. All activities and processes in the data center are logged.

Sustainability

In today's world, it is impossible to overlook important topics such as responsibility and sustainability. Increasingly, customers want their services to be hosted by a provider that adheres to ESG principles.

Our primary goal is to offer environmentally friendly IT solutions, adhering to all applicable regulations and best practices. To optimize our energy consumption, we use centralized infrastructure management, which allows us to manage resources more efficiently and consume them on-demand. Special attention has been paid to the use of green energy: all our data centers operate exclusively on green energy, backup generators use biodiesel, and cooling systems are configured for energy saving, using free cooling technology.

Our sustainability strategy also includes collaboration with environmentally friendly partners whose products and services meet the highest environmental standards. By 2024, we have set clear goals: to start implementing the ISO 14001 environmental management system standard and to conduct environmental specialist training. Additionally, we plan to use the heat generated from the data center to heat office buildings, which is another step towards reducing our ecological footprint.

Do You Need a Whole Equipment Cabinet, or Is Less Enough?

You should definitely clarify the units of the server park you want to host - do you need a whole server cabinet or would half a cabinet suffice? Some service providers are willing to host individual servers as well.

At WaveCom, you can choose either a full or half equipment cabinet. It is also possible to host servers individually. This ensures flexibility and reasonableness even for smaller clients.

In Conclusion

Thus, hosting servers at a service provider and choosing the right service involves many challenges, where it is definitely worth following these criteria to make the best choice: what is the technology and quality of the service provider's data center; is there sufficient redundancy in the data center components and is the data center sufficiently certified, i.e., do they have the necessary certificates? When communicating with service providers, N+2 redundancy and certificates should be asked about. Only then can you be sure that the service is of high quality and sustainable.

It is also important to note how electricity consumption is priced and what are the connection speeds of the data center and the associated critical/additional services to ensure the security and quality of your hosted servers and the services offered on them.

Often, different terms describing electricity, network, and other components are not fully understood. Some important differences may not even come to mind at first. This creates a situation where apples are compared with oranges. The result can be a less secure, significantly more expensive, and less stable solution than initially planned. More about this in our blog Part II and Part III.

In mapping the existing ecosystem and choosing the best server hosting solution, the professional team at WaveCom is here to help. Since 2011, we have had professional experience in the field of data centers (including their design and consultation) and in hosting clients' solutions.

Part I - Introduction
Part II - Power
Part III - Network Connections