When your servers are at colo, how do you protect them in case the colo goes out of business. I need to send a 45K sun box to a colo and need to kow how to protect in case the colo provider goes out of business.

Thanks

jay

Try calling some insurance companys to find out if they offer that type of insurance.

Originally posted by jay23
When your servers are at colo, how do you protect them in case the colo goes out of business. I need to send a 45K sun box to a colo and need to kow how to protect in case the colo provider goes out of business.

Thanks

jay
I wouldn't let that machine leave my office without replacement insurance!!

and use a datacenter that is established and that you can trust

I would not only insure it, but also put it in its own locked cabinet. Then make sure that you didnt tell any of the staff or your co-lo provider about the box being 45k in value...it would be even more tempting if you are dealing through a company that just bought a couple of racks to resell. I would recommend going straight with the DC.

What kind of Sun you got there?

SUN FIRE V880

I talked to insurance agents. The will protect the box if it get lost during transport or if it get stolen while the box is at a colo. What they don't protect is that if the colo goes out of business and the server is still with the colo. I need to read the fine prints of the colo contracts. For example when you give your car to valet and if he crashes it then its your fault because you willing gave the car, same applied here. Well thats what my insurance agent is telling me.

Colo it with someone reputable than :)

Off of the top of my head, I'd suggest Hurricane Electric. :)

I would say dealing with a honest reputable company is the best insurance you can find.

If your dropping $45K on a box, it would be silly to host it with someone on a 'budget'

The problem is that even big names have went bust in the past...about a year ago it took me 2K in lawyer fees to summon a colo to give my boxes and I had to go with the local sheriff which was etc when the big name colo that did a chapter 11.

Yeah, try HE.net, but NOT thru a Reseller. You have to do it direct.

Exactly, don't do the HE reseller thing :)

Wouldn't recommend He.Net.

Would recommend (in no particular order):

Level3
Exodus/C&W
Abovenet
Peer1
Qwest
Verio

He.Net is just not that great of a facility. Seriously. It's okay -- perhaps even above average -- but not great. Not someplace I'd want to put $45K worth of equipment, for sure.

I would reccomend abovenet. if they are good enough for google, one would think they would be able to handle a 45k Sun box.

If memory serves me right they are located in San Jose, CA

Originally posted by NewtSys
I would reccomend abovenet. if they are good enough for google, one would think they would be able to handle a 45k Sun box.

Oh my gosh!! Do you know the irony of what you just said?! :roll2:

Traceroute www.sun.com if you don't get the joke. Yes, Sun is 100% Abovenet, and yes, they have many $45,000 servers in their cage there. I've seen them. (www.sun.com is in the room next door to our servers at Abovenet SJC3. :D )

Google is also located in Abovenet SJC3. They have a whole colo room to themselves there...

Somehow every colocation conversation ends with Simpli-Erica telling us about how Abovenet houses Google and Sun and how they also have a rack there as if it's some sort of colo paradise.

I used to lease a few cabinets at Abovenet SJ and found them to be average at best. I even had a high-level engineer take our entire network offline with a botched 802.1q configuration.

I'd look elsewhere, Level3 would be my recommendation.

Originally posted by Simpli-Erica
Oh my gosh!! Do you know the irony of what you just said?! :roll2:

Traceroute www.sun.com if you don't get the joke. Yes, Sun is 100% Abovenet, and yes, they have many $45,000 servers in their cage there. I've seen them. (www.sun.com is in the room next door to our servers at Abovenet SJC3. :D )

Google is also located in Abovenet SJC3. They have a whole colo room to themselves there...


Erica, I got the joke and the irony :D

Originally posted by abnormis
I used to lease a few cabinets at Abovenet SJ and found them to be average at best.

Cabinets? What facility were you in? SJC3 doesn't have cabinets.

Level3 is also a good datacenter. :)

We were in SJC2 long before SJ3 opened, and yes they have/had cabinets at the corners of each floor with cages in the center.
I always got a kick out of companies like Pete's Coffee (who were next to us) needing 5 racks of cisco local directors and pix firewalls to serve up their website. Ahhh venture capital, gotta love it.

It seemed to me like Abovenet would hire practically anyone to be a tech. I guess as long as you don't rely on them to configure an HSRP group or something, you'd be fine there.

Originally posted by abnormis
[B]Somehow every colocation conversation ends with Simpli-Erica telling us about how Abovenet houses Google and Sun and how they also have a rack there as if it's some sort of colo paradise.
[B]

i have the exact same feeling. and every those threads where ppl recommended he.net was immediately denied by her too.

and this is off topic and mayb more ironic: just went over to simpli.biz and read this big title"our servers process 300,000 sql queries a day". any1 who runs a decent databased website will know wut that number means. i myself have a gaming site on a dual p3 1.26 and it just had 3,436,977 queries in the past 24 hours.

Actually, we have several cabinets at HE Fremont and I find them to be very good. You can reach a competent engineer on the phone 24/7, cross-connects are free, remote hands will go beyond that off just rebooting a server (I've had them building static NATs on a PIX before, try that at Abovenet) and their prices are very competitive for larger commits. Don't have to tell you the network is nice and fast.

My only complaints with HE would be the shallow depth of the cabinets (try installing a Dell PE railkit) and their security policy of not issuing individual access cards for the main colo floor. You "sign-in" and then are given access to the colocation area. When the NOC staff are busy, it can become a hassle to continually ask them to buzz you in, especially if you come and go alot. Minor complaints really.

Also, should you exceed the 15A power allowance, the PDU's will flip the breaker and shut the cabinet's power off. I believe there's a warning indicator at 14A. Haven't had that happen to us, but I've heard a few horror stories. Solution: use SNMP to monitor your power consumption from your APCs and forget the idea of cramming 30 1U servers in a cab. ;)

.

Somehow we have gotten way off track...

To answer your question, most reputable commercial insurance companies will insure your equipment in another colocation facility. You will need to list the colo facility as a second location for your business. The same insurance policy that covers your office and your liability should cover this.