An alternative to setting up your own disaster recovery (DR) site in a remote location or outsourcing DR planning to a service is to choose a colocation data center where you can set up your own network, servers and storage. Not only is it a good idea for DR since it is not the primary location of your organization, it also helps reduce overhead.
Your DR site is critical to keeping your business running in adverse scenarios. It is an incredibly important business requirement that can easily be taken for granted – until you really need it.
In order to minimize the risks and find the best DR site for your business, I pulled together the following factors and considerations to keep in mind when selecting a site and provider:
Performance is key. You want to ensure that the colocation site you choose leverages top notch equipment that enables your business with scalable, reliable and secure IT services. Double-check security. A colocation site should always boast the best in security technologies and practices to ensure your data is safe. To do this, double check your site’s practices by visiting and seeing for yourself – check perimeter security practices and use of cameras, test generators and investigate UPS rooms.
Consider proximity. Your DR site should not be thousands of miles away from your primary site. For emergency purposes, you want to be able to get there quickly. This also greatly affects latency and performance of applications.
Service availability should be second to none. Your colocation and DR site should not take any time off. Do yourself a favor and choose a site provider that promises 24/7/365 service.
Avoid capacity limitations. Selecting a site that can grow with your business is critical. The last thing you want is to have to switch locations in a few years because you’ve outgrown your current facility.
Network latency is more important than ever. With today’s data and network demands, latency is more important than ever to make sure you are satisfying your business goals, as well as your user expectations and requirements to get data from one place to the other. Time is of the essence.
These are just a few of the things that should drive your colocation and DR site decision, as every business has their own business goals and priorities. At Markley Group, we are committed to providing various best-in-breed technology and service options for our customers. In fact, just recently we announced the purchase of a 350,000 square foot building in Lowell, MA, which we will turn into a master-planned 50 megawatt mission-critical data center facility.
We listened to our many customers at One Summer Street that showed interest in a mission-critical facility in the suburbs for DR. We will boast latency of less than one millisecond, which allows for synchronous replication, and makes Lowell ideal for most DR plans. If you are interested in staying updated on our Lowell developments, whether for DR or colocation services, please contact us at info@markleygroup.com.
