Seattle has a resident population of about 750K people. The city is one of the world’s major hubs for “new economy” companies. It also has older industrial companies and a thriving services sector. Using a Seattle data center therefore offers numerous strategic advantages. Here is a quick guide to what you need to know.
The most obvious reason for choosing a Seattle data center is the benefit of being in Seattle. Not only is Seattle at the heart of the Pacific Northwest, but it’s also a major hub for global business. As you would expect, this means that it has robust technology infrastructure including excellent networking options.
Seattle also has a very benevolent climate. While it may be notorious for continual rain, it’s highly unusual for it to experience extreme weather events. Likewise, the city itself is generally peaceful. It’s rare for it to experience major civil unrest.
Here are the key points to consider when choosing a Seattle data center.
The law determines which data security standards are mandated by default. It also determines the penalties for non-compliance with them. Industry practices determine which data security standards and frameworks organizations are expected to implement. These requirements may be formulated into contractual obligations.
Compliance is based on security, both physical and digital. Any reputable Seattle data center would therefore be typically expected to have robust security. Many of them will deploy state-of-the-art security features such as biometric access controls, surveillance cameras, and intrusion detection systems.
Getting the right level of compliance and security needs to be a top priority for all organizations. It should therefore generally be the first factor you evaluate.
Reliability is fundamental to the provision of uninterrupted services. It is usually measured through uptime. Uptime refers to the duration a data center remains operational without disruptions. There are three ways of assessing uptime. These are the tier rating, the vendor’s guarantee and the vendor’s historical performance.
Tier ratings are awarded by the Uptime Institute. They run from 1 to 4. Higher tier ratings demonstrate higher levels of reliability. The vendor’s guarantee should be incorporated into a contract with penalties for breaches. It should also be checked against their historical performance (if possible).
If there is a discrepancy between what the vendor claims to be able to provide and what they provided in the past, this should be addressed. There may be a good reason for it. For example, maybe there was a previous incident that caused a disruption but the vendor learned from it.
Reliable network connections are essential for maintaining uninterrupted operations, minimizing latency, and providing optimal performance for users and applications hosted within the data center.
A data center with carrier-neutral services allows businesses to choose from multiple network providers, promoting flexibility and redundancy in connectivity. Businesses benefit from having diverse connectivity options, enabling them to tailor their network configurations to meet specific requirements and ensuring high availability of services.
With location, organizations need to decide whether their priority is maximum security or maximum accessibility. If it’s maximum security, then it’s generally best to opt for a Seattle data center in a more out-of-the way location. By contrast, if it’s maximum accessibility, then a central location might be more appropriate.
With that said, the importance of accessibility will typically depend on the extent, if any, to which an organization intends to manage its data center infrastructure itself. The more it does in-house, the more important accessibility is likely to be (and vice versa).
It’s also advisable to consider the connection between location and quality of service. For example, if a data center is near a major network hub, then it will be able to offer the highest standards of network connectivity. Similarly, if a data center is located near to the people who use its services, it will offer the fastest delivery times.
In addition to evaluating the Seattle data center facility itself, you also need to evaluate the vendor that operates it. Essentially, you need to be confident that they are able and willing to manage the data center to the standards you require.
Thankfully, the internet has made it much easier to get a reliable first impression of a potential Seattle data center vendor. It is, however, strongly advisable to go much further than this before signing up to a contract.
Ideally, you should tour their facility in person and speak to their staff. At a minimum, you should have very in-depth conversations with their staff. You should also request testimonials from current and/or previous customers.
Discover the DataBank Difference today:
Hybrid infrastructure solutions with boundless edge reach and a human touch.
