I am curious as to what problems people have encountered with colocation and the fees that have been involved in fixing them. I have a few questions about upgrades as well.
Here is my question list.

Are powersupply failures a big problem? If one occurs what would it cost to have this rectified?

Does overheating really become an issue for 1U dual machines with two hard drives?

Are machines pretty much shipped as they are always going to be or will colo companies install ram or switch out harddrives for a reasonable price should the need arise in the future?

And all else being equal is it better to have Raid hardrives for data integrity or redundant power supplies?

1. Coming from a technician background I can tell you that power supply failures are fairly common among desktop computers - dust enters fan, fan slows or stops, PS blows. However, any good colo facility filters air and you generally have a lot less dust in the air so this won't be as much of a problem but can still occur. You may want to invest a little extra and get a case with redundant power.

2. Overheating isn't much of a problem if you tuck your cables properly. I remember seeing some floppy, scsi, and ide cables on the net somewhere that were round rather than a ribbon making it easier for turns in the case. This isn't a bad idea for tower style cases but in a 1U where the cable generally doesn't turn much then the ribbon's should lay fairly flat restricting less airflow. Just use as many fans as the case can hold, fans on the HD racks, and good cpu coolers such as golden orb's and you'll be OK. It doesn't hurt to add a small 486 fan to the chipset's heatsink either and add some thermal paste if there is none there already.

3. Colo companies will install RAM and switch out hard drives on most occasions, however reasonable isn't generally the word to use. A lot of them know that you need your server up and therefore you will probably pay through the nose in a pinch. It might not hurt to ask if you can ship extra parts in case of a failure if they charge a lot for spares and just pay for labor.

4. Why not have both :) Raid systems work great in database servers in some configurations and great for data integrity in other configurations. Redundant power supplies is something I would definately spend the extra cash on, it's well worth the peace of mind.

Regards,

Mike

Originally posted by firstmark
Are powersupply failures a big problem? If one occurs what would it cost to have this rectified?

This is actually one my biggest concerns... The problem is not really with cost, but with how you can minimize the down time. That's why some people choose dedicated server over colocation since the NOC will have any spare hardware they need in case of hardware failures....

Does overheating really become an issue for 1U dual machines with two hard drives?
I Have tried 2 HD (7200rpm ATA66) but only 1CPU. Overheating does not seem to be a problem (the top of the case does get warm, but I think that's usual). But 2 CPUs and 2 HD (especially SCSI) might really generate more heat. You may consider 2U for much better cooling. But there is actually a 1U rackmount case that will allow you to put up to 8 fans. This should help the overheating problem (read about this case here: http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?postid=58764#post58764)

Are machines pretty much shipped as they are always going to be or will colo companies install ram or switch out harddrives for a reasonable price should the need arise in the future?
Once you ship your machine, then you will depend on your host to do any upgrade, unless if you can have physicall access to your box (does not matter if the NOC is not within practical distance from you). I have seen this service for anywhere between $50-$150/hour ...

And all else being equal is it better to have Raid hardrives for data integrity or redundant power supplies?
I haven't found any 1U rackmount that will have redundant power supply. But anyway, you are talking about two completely different things. I rally don't have any idea on how to compare the two...

cheers,
:beer:

I know redundant power supply and raid is nice, but to have all that in a 1U case you usually have to give up something like a floppy and CD-ROM usually.
That is unless you just plan on setting drives in strange places like on top of the power supply.

Dektong http://www.rackmountpro.com/productpage.cfm?prodid=507

has a redundant power supply in their rackmount cases.
Its unusual but available just like the 400 + watt power supply I got for my home computer is unique but I got it just in case.

Originally posted by firstmark
I know redundant power supply and raid is nice, but to have all that in a 1U case you usually have to give up something like a floppy and CD-ROM usually.


Why would you need the CDROM? Once you install everything, why would you need it anymore? Also, it something fails, you can have the tech support to use their CDROM if needed. At least, this is what I do with my servers. Samething with floppy (though you may need it for emergency boot).

cheers,
:beer:

Dektong the reason the CD may be needed is that one is unsure of how much money your colo company will charge you if they have to get out their CD or hook up their floppy.
Would such be a $200 service expense or what?
One can't be sure.

If colo companies would take care of everything for reasonable cost then one would just include a small bag of parts should something fail for them to use. After all you may have trouble fitting everything you need in a 1U case.
And there seems to be no logical reason why a 2U should cost more than twice what a 1U costs as far as rack fees.
But thats how it often is, so who knows how much other fees may be.

Correct, it shouldn't cost more than 2x the 1U.

Weinbar what do you consider industry standard or fair fee ranges in regards to colocation for Ram upgrades, dealing with blown power supplies, and reinstalling an OS after a major problem? Problems handled individually of course not all at once.

I know technical labor is valuable but a ballpark estimate would prove helpful.

And in general is it helpful to have a CD-Rom and floppy in a server to deal with OS reinstallation or major problems or do colocation facilities have an easy way to reinstall and fix things without such things in a colocated server.

The way I see things is that if it takes less than 15 minutes, there should be no charge. Anything over that should be in the range of $50-$150/hour. I know it is a big range, but it depends on your provider.

Originally posted by firstmark
Dektong the reason the CD may be needed is that one is unsure of how much money your colo company will charge you if they have to get out their CD or hook up their floppy.
Would such be a $200 service expense or what?
One can't be sure.

That's why you make sure talk to the NOC regarding this matter. As for me, I won't colocate with an NOC that charges more than $50-$75/hour for tech support. Also, I won't colocate with an NOC that will squeeze your pocket for every nickel and dime they can get.

I colocated my first server at interserver.net (VDI based). They even told me that having no CDROM is actually OK. In fact, they installed my OS using their own CDROM (also gave me a free NIC, not just let me borrow their CDROM). Anyway, what I meant is: it would be plain stupid if an NOC charge you for using their floppy/CD ROM. They charge you based on hourly work done on your server, not based on a temporary borrowing of a floppy/CDROM.

1U rackmount is a really tricky case. If you need to have a good cooling yet more than 1 HD and 1 PS, then you really have to sacrifice something. Otherwise, just go with 2U. The price difference between colocating a 1U or 2U is not really that much anyway.

cheers,
:beer: