EDITOR’S QUESTION
DATA NEEDS
TO BE ABLE
TO TRAVEL
CONSTANTLY
BETWEEN
THE DATA
CENTRE AND
THE BUSINESS
USING IT.
3. Communication
If a problem with a business’ website
occurs, having a hosting provider
based further away can become
a problem. Having a data centre
close by provides a greater guarantee
of instant availability, meaning
that if a crisis or technical issue
occurs, it could be solved in a quick,
efficient manner.
JON LUCAS,
DIRECTOR AT HYVE
MANAGED HOSTING
ith the amount of data
being created rapidly
growing and affecting
businesses of all sizes,
here are the ‘four Cs’
that should be noted
when deciding where to locate a physical
data centre.
W
1. Connectivity
Data needs to be able to travel
constantly between the data centre
and the business using it. Having a
hosting provider located nearby means
that the data has a shorter distance to
travel compared to overseas hosting,
for example; this can provide a more
continuous connection.
Businesses can also base their choice
on a data centre’s Internet Exchange
points and secure routes to global
28
Issue 01
Being in the same time zone also makes
communication easier and customers
can benefit from engineers that speak
the same language to offer the most
effective service.
markets, again guaranteeing strong
connections globally.
2. Compliance
As a standard, every good
hosting provider should hold all
of the necessary ISO and security
accreditations to ensure that they are
consistently providing a secure service.
But now that GDPR is in effect and
businesses are expected to have a firm
grasp on all of their EU customers’
data, data sovereignty – the notion that
data must comply with the laws of the
country it’s in – also becomes a much
more important issue.
Data centres in the UK must comply
with GDPR if they have EU customers;
even after Brexit, this law will still
apply, and the UK plans to introduce a
similar initiative itself.
4. Climate
Though this might seem a trivial
aspect, natural disasters can have a
direct effect on hosting, particularly
if a website is being hosted from a
physical location. A business does
not want to risk losing its data or
website connectivity because there is
a weather disaster in the surrounding
area – anything from flooding to
bushfires to hurricanes.
However, disasters can happen
anywhere, so a provider with a backup
data centre gives customers confidence
that they are in safe hands.
It is crucial that data centre locations
are selected wisely and keeping
these four tips in mind will help avoid a
wealth of problems further down
the line. ◊
www.intelligentdatacentres.com