The Value of Direct Connectivity via Data Centers
While an associate of ours was attending a national data center conference, one of the speakers asked the audience to raise their hands to answer three questions:
How many people here manage data centers? His hand raised, along with hundreds of others.
How many of those people work for an organization that owns their data centers? His hand stayed raised, and about 50% of hands fell.
How many people also work for an organization that wholly owns the carrier network their data centers operate on? His hand stayed raised, and it was one of only a handful in the room. Out of hundreds of hands – his stayed raised.
We bring this story up to remind you that networks matter – and so does your network connection. Dedicated, direct network access or connectivity via a data center can give your company access to several networks at once, without sacrificing resiliency, speed and convenience. After all, it’s not just about data centers and their wide variety of benefits – although those are nice. It’s about how your system performs.
Why Direct Connectivity Wins
At the end of the day, data centers need two things to function: power and connectivity. Without power, you don’t have connectivity. Without connectivity, well, your servers would fall flat. That’s why state-of-the-art data centers are built with multiple levels of power and, more importantly, direct network access that relies on that unrelenting, constant stream of energy.
When you partner with a third-party colocation provider that has direct network access, it can give you:
- High availability and low latency
- Increased access for on-site and remote employees
- Increased business continuity
Why Private Network Connectivity Actually Wins
Security, security, security. Private network connectivity, such as multiprotocol label-switching (MPLS), allows for isolated data transport, meaning your traffic doesn’t travel over the public internet on its way from point A to point B. This keeps your organization’s critical information secure via point-to-point connection – and which can improve your users’ overall experience.
Transporting data through an established MPLS can also be more cost-effective, as it leverages an already established WAN (wide area network) ecosystem.1
How to Spot a Provider That Prioritizes Connectivity
When you choose a data center provider that also prioritizes direct connectivity, you’ll get a protected data center and a secure network as well. To find a provider that prioritizes connectivity, start by asking questions such as:
How many fiber connections does your data center have and do they point in diverse directions? This tells you if they’re ready and able to easily connect new lines in any direction, so you don’t have to cover new connection costs. Plus, if one line gets cut for any reason, then your connection can be rerouted.
Do you have a meet-me room that accesses multiple carriers? This tells you if you can direct connect to several carriers, meeting your redundancy requirements.
Do you own the carrier network that your data center connects to? When a data center provider also owns and maintains its carrier network, you can gain the ultimate reassurance that you’ll never have to depend on a third party to fix an outage.