• Does the provider own the facility where the data center is built?                                                      
• What Data Center Certifications have been obtained – SAS 70 Type II?
• How many years has your provider been in business?
• On staff Engineering experience / Financial Viability?
• Age of the Data Center and its equipment?
• Does the facility have redundant power?
• UPS Details – A bus / B bus configuration, run time
• Backup Generator – size, redundant architecture, fuel type, run time, fuel suppliers
• Backup Generator Test Schedule – type of tests performed, frequency of tests   
• Type of Fire Suppression?  Is it water free?
• How secure is the facility?  Do Biometrics, Video Surveillance and other security measures exist?
• Is the provider monitoring their PUE? 
• Number of backbone providers?  There should be at least two (2).
• Do multiple (redundant) points of egress exist for the providers accessing the facility?
• HVAC – 2(N+1) configuration? / Cooling density?
• Raised Floor height?  Is it at least 16”?
• How is power provided and invoiced to the Customer?
• Cabinet Specs?  Are the cabinets able to accommodate your equipment?
• Is facility monitored 24/7/365?
• Are “Remote Hands and Eyes” support available?
• Is the data center accessible 24/7/365?
• What is the Uptime history?
• What is the Uptime guarantee – SLA?
• Are Disaster Recovery Solutions offered?
• Are customer workstations available?

These features are important when identifying a competent data center services provider.  Although this is a good starting point, it is still a good idea to consult with an expert.  EarthLink has been providing industry leading solutions for over 15 years.  Contact our Data Center Services Professionals to make sure you are on the right path to choosing the best possible partner.

As a leading data center services provider there are many factors that go into managing a successful enterprise class colocation and hosting facility. Each one is equally important and benefits not only our customers from a technology standpoint, but a business one as well. While building our new SAS70 Type II data center in Rochester, NY, redundancy was engineered into every component of the facility to provide the most reliable and cost effective data center services in the industry.      
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What does that mean? Basically, you’re plugging all of your brand new servers, networking equipment, and other devices into a power strip that is no more advanced and provides about the same features as the electrical sockets in your house. You spend a lot of your time configuring your servers, setting up monitoring, and closely analyzing the up time, performance, and overall health of your equipment, yet your hosting company cannot tell you anything about the power that they are providing you and you are consuming. It’s time to insist on metered power, otherwise you are using old technology and you’re paying a premium for it too.

What does Metered Power have to offer?

1. 1) In order to provide metered power, your hosting company must have intelligent circuit monitoring equipment in place. This means that they can tell exactly how much power you’re using and can make sure that you are alerted if your current usage is approaching a point of tripping your breaker.
2. 2) With this monitoring equipment in place, you should be provided with a real time look at both the current level in your circuit and overall power consumption. This can be as simple as just a point in time snapshot of the values, or a graph over time, which is what we provide at EarthLink. Here is an example of what those graphs might typically look like:
3. 3) Probably the most important feature of metered power is that you only pay for what you use. Without metered power, companies will charge a flat rate for a circuit. It doesn’t matter if you plug in one server or fill up every U in an entire cabinet, you will pay the same amount for that circuit. The prices are typically high enough to more than cover the cost if the entire circuit is maxed out. In the end you are overpaying either a little or a lot. With a metered power circuit you only pay for what you use. When first starting out you can save a lot of money. You can also influence your costs by controlling the efficiency of your equipment or how you deploy that equipment. Don’t just take my word for it. Below I’ve compiled some example data. I grabbed the per circuit price from two national hosting brands who only offer fixed power pricing (and who will remain nameless for their own benefit) and compared that to a customer of ours who is using metered power.
   

   	National Host #1	National Host #2	EarthLink
   Voltage	120	120	120
   Amps	15	15	20
   Fixed Price – 1 circuit	$275/mo	$325/mo	—
   Metered Price – 1 circuit	n/a	n/a	$150.45*

   * Example customer: 2/3 of cabinet full and 2-20A circuits. Price is for one of the circuits.

Our metered power option can offer significant savings throughout your entire hosting engagement with us. Not only will you have a lower initial cost, but as you grow and need to add an additional circuit to your cabinet, there is no extra charge from us, just pay for your actual usage. Whereas the fixed price providers, will charge you the full flat rate even when you might just need one extra outlet to start.

I hope it’s clear what some of the benefits of Metered Power can be. It’s time to expect your colocation provider who is offering the latest technologies in their network infrastructure to upgrade their power systems to the same century.

Pricing for colocating a 1U server at our Rochester, NY facility starts at $89/mo with 1Mbps Dedicated Bandwidth.  Some Frequently Asked Questions about Rochester Colocation:

Can I get a tour of the Datacenter Facility?

Yes, We love nothing more but to show off our Datacenter to prospective clients.  Please call us at 1-800-957-4872 or Contact us here to schedule an appointment.  You can also get information and images of what the Rochester, NY Datacenter looks like here.

Can I ship my Server to EarthLink?

Yes, you can mail the server to EarthLink, 1100 Pittsford Victor Rd., Pittsford, NY 14534.  Send a Support ticket to us with the Tracking Number.  Once the Server arrives at our Facility, it will be racked immediately. Please send us the Power Cables and Required Rails.  Any other information such as Manuals and Extra parts will not be stored by EarthLink.

What information do I need to configure my server? 

Upon Payment you will receive a welcome e-mail with the 4 Dedicated IP addresses, and all necessary DNS, Gateway/Subnet Information.

Where do I order online?

Visit our Server Colocation Page, and Click Get Started.  Need more server space, bandwidth or managed services?  Contact a Sales Engineer today!

This upgrade is the 2nd in three planned network upgrades for 2010.  In Q3 of this year, in anticipation of continued growth, we will be adding another Tier 1 backbone connection in order to bring even more bandwidth  to our clients, while also reducing bandwidth costs to our colocation clients.