Phoenix is one of the most important metropolitan areas in the USA with a thriving and diverse economy. If you’re thinking about using a Phoenix data center, here is a quick guide to what you need to know.
The two main reasons for choosing a Phoenix data center are the city’s location and its climate. In terms of location, Phoenix is not only a major city in its own right but also offers convenient accessibility to major business hubs throughout the southwestern United States.
In terms of climate, Phoenix has low humidity and minimal risk of major environmental hazards. This means there is a very low risk of environmentally-related incidents disrupting business continuity.
Additionally, the fact that Phoenix gets an average of almost 4000 hours of sunshine annually means that it offers exciting opportunities for leveraging solar power. This is both sustainable and economical.
Here is an overview of the four key points to consider when choosing a Phoenix data center.
Once you’ve decided you would like to use a Phoenix data center, you need to then need to decide where in Phoenix you want your data center to be. Generally, there are three factors you need to take into consideration. These are proximity to your operations, proximity to established business hubs, and proximity to transport infrastructure.
It’s vital to establish accurate criteria about your needs, wants, and priorities here. This is because these factors have a major influence on the price of real estate. In turn, the price of real estate has a major influence on the cost of using a Phoenix data center.
The three key elements of data center infrastructure are power, cooling, and network connectivity.
All data centers need both regular and backup power. In Phoenix data centers, solar power is increasingly likely to play a role in providing regular power. Even so, they may need an extra power source and they will certainly need a backup power source.
Given the climate in Phoenix, it’s vital that a Phoenix data center has robust cooling, especially in summer. Again, this needs to be able to function even when the main power is down.
To a certain extent, network connectivity will be determined by the specific location of the Phoenix data center. Essentially, the closer a data center is to a network hub, the better its network connectivity will usually be. This applies in Phoenix as much as everywhere else.
Other aspects of network connectivity are, however, within the direct control of the data center vendor.
For example, they implement the physical network infrastructure. This means they determine the facility’s scope for interconnectivity. Interconnectivity can be a significant benefit as it enables clients to establish direct and, hence, efficient connections with third parties.
The data center vendor also determines whether or not the Phoenix data center is tied to a specific carrier. From a client’s perspective, it’s generally very much preferable for a data center to be carrier-neutral.
Firstly, it provides flexibility, enabling organizations to select the most suitable carrier for their specific needs. Secondly, it promotes redundancy and ensures uninterrupted connectivity even if one carrier faces issues.
This is part of network connectivity but it’s important enough to be worth highlighting on its own. Even if you’re not planning on using advanced cloud infrastructure any time soon, it can still be well worth checking what cloud options a data center vendor can support. In particular, check whether or not they can support multi-cloud implementations.
A reputable Phoenix data center should have comprehensive protocols for both physical and cybersecurity.
Physical security involves measures such as access control systems, surveillance cameras, and onsite security personnel to safeguard against unauthorized access. Cybersecurity protocols encompass robust firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and encryption mechanisms to protect digital assets from cyber threats.
It should also comply with established standards like ISO 27001 for information security and SSAE 18 (SOC 1 and SOC 2) for operational reliability. Some organizations may need it to comply with specific regulatory requirements relevant to their industry, such as HIPAA for healthcare or PCI DSS for payment card data.
Evaluate the historical uptime performance, considering any documented outages and their impact on clients. Industry-standard guarantees, often expressed as a percentage of uptime, provide a quantifiable metric.
The commonly sought-after benchmark is the “five nines” uptime (99.999%), demonstrating exceptional reliability. Reputable data centers typically offer Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with stringent uptime commitments, providing assurance of uninterrupted service.
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