Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Colocation and Data Centers : Hardware maintenance on remote colo

[garrence]

A question for those who build/buy a server then ship it across the country to a remote colo facility... How do you handle hardware maintenance? If the server was to die at 11pm friday evening, how long would it take before its operational again?

[mpope]

We have access to all of our servers, so this isn't a problem for us. However, what most people do is make sure that the colo facility is able to have someone either at the datacenter, or on call in case there is an emergency at all times. Some places provide free remote hands service, which means they will replace hardware (that you provide) free of charge.

Before you decide on a colo facility, make sure you ask them about this (and maybe even talk to a few current customers). As long as you plan well in advance, you should be able to handle any hardware maintenance / failure with little downtime for your clients.

[garrence]

That's what I figured. To be safe we'd need a complete second server as spares (well, except the case maybe..) in case the motherboard blew up or something.
It sounds costly for just the one server. If we had a cluster of identical machines then it wouldn't be much of an issue.

[pmabraham]

Greetings:

Good co-location providers will provide "virtual hands" to take care of repairs and upgrades.

Most do require you to stock spare parts.

Thank you.