Choosing a Colocation

The technical side is very important. You need to make sure the colocation provider you choose has the capacity to host your server. There would be nothing worse than choosing a colocation provider only to realise they don't meet your requirements. Amongst other thing you need to check bandwidth. Although most data centres have plenty, you need to check this before proceeding.

You should try to establish how much downtime is normal for a particular provider, and whether this is better or worse than others who you are considering. Also look at how long sites tend to be down for and whether they have any contingency plans for potential problems. Many providers have backup plans, which may mean these issues would not have too much of an affect.

The conditions the server will be hosted in should be a consideration. Most data centres control the air and temperature of the relevant areas of their premises so that they are optimised for hosting. The better controlled they are the more suitable the area is likely to be for hosting.

Another area to look at is security, as the security of your server is vital. The premises need to be protected from break-ins. The very nature of a colocation centre means that customers are in and out all the time, and therefore security is even more of an issue. You need to be sure that other customers cannot access your server. Protection from other problems such as fire is also important.