Colocation lets you rent space for data center equipment such as servers and other associated hardware in a secure and protected facility. Lease space by rack, cabinet, cage or room depending on needs. You own your infrastructure but colocation providers take care of the building, maintenance, cooling, power, compliance and security.
Why Colocation?
Protect business operations against security threats, disasters or other adverse events. Colocation gives you peace of mind knowing your data center is being maintained and monitored in an off premises facility. Should anything occur to your business’s primary location, from a power outage to a natural disaster, the data center remains unaffected and operations continue.
Benefits
- Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity: Business-critical functions remain uninterrupted in the event of power disruptions or disasters by keeping servers, equipment and applications protected.
- Greater Security and Compliance: Combat threats and breaches with hardened physical security measures in place ranging from
biometric scanners, key code entry and 24/7 security personnel to closed circuit cameras and advanced alarm systems. - 24/7 Monitoring and Supporting: Availability of around-the-clock management and maintenance from a team of IT professionals and engineers helps with crucial data and IT needs, especially in the event of a disaster.
- Increased Power and Redundancy: Robust, generator-backed power prevents downtime while meeting the needs of virtualization and
high density computing.
How REACH Can Help
Selecting a colocation provider and facility can make a big impact on your business and continuity. REACH helps you choose the best colocation solution by considering the following criteria:
- Location: REACH helps to locate an easily accessible nearby facility in case an issue occurs requiring an in-person response. We search a location that is geographically stable (not prone to natural disasters) and with strong fiber paths.
- Capabilities and Services: REACH keeps your complete IT infrastructure in mind, considering additional options a provider can offer such as managed services, security and growth.
- Connectivity: REACH helps to ensure the maximum business performance with highly reliable and redundant network connectivity – considering more advanced connectivity options such as private networks, QoS capabilities or MPLS networking.
- Security and Compliance: Along with physical security measures (secure facility access, cameras, security personnel, etc.) REACH ensures the provider offers DDoS protection, network security and threat detection services and verifies the provider’s compliance with SSAE 16 plus any industry specific requirements, such as FISMA for financial services or HIPAA for healthcare.
- Power and Cooling: REACH helps you to select a provider capable of meeting your current and future power requirements, which could be 100% uptime or uninterrupted power during maintenance. Efficient cooling systems at colocation facilities prevent failures and extend hardware life.
As your communications and technology partner, our goal is to help you understand your options, advise providers based on experience and be there when you need us. Contact Valerie at 715-330-4200 or fill out the form below to learn how we can help you reach your full communications potential.