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  1. #1
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    Question Looking 4 COLO Options

    The time has come to move some of my business into our own space. While some of the clients will remain in a reseller environment for their IP space needs. Our core adult hosting, and mainstream non-adult clients need to be put into our OWN network and infrastructure.

    While we are going to be looking at higher bandwidth options down the line for some chat, and stream cam solutions. Right now most of our adult and mainstream clientele barely use 10MBit. We have some that are using the 100MBit/10TB type of solution. But for the most part, we do not have any real high bandwidth needs right now.

    I am in Michigan, but my support staff are in the southwest. Obviously, they would like it to be within driving distance to them. However, I am looking at multiple options including hands on.

    I am looking for solid starter COLO recommendations. People who have been in my situation, and picked a provider who has taken good care of them and their needs. Some solid recommendations for a COLO solution is really what I am after here as I am not from the web hosting world in regards to my background.

    Fire away ladies.
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  2. #2
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    Well, as someone who originally started a business with *1* server and now own facilities could certainly offer some advice on the steps moving up the ladder.

    The questions is, WHERE, do you want to colo. You mentioned southwest, is that san fran? la? phoenix? slc? vegas? Narrow your locations down to a state, preferably an MSA and you can start evaluating some real options.

    With something as broad as a geographic region of the southwest, recommendations are going to vary wildly.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by RyanD View Post
    Well, as someone who originally started a business with *1* server and now own facilities could certainly offer some advice on the steps moving up the ladder.

    The questions is, WHERE, do you want to colo. You mentioned southwest, is that san fran? la? phoenix? slc? vegas? Narrow your locations down to a state, preferably an MSA and you can start evaluating some real options.

    With something as broad as a geographic region of the southwest, recommendations are going to vary wildly.
    I am not married to SW, midwest, or anywhere. I can simply pay for hands-on if needed, or get an SLA. That said, my techs (like any) want to have the ego boost to be able to walk into the cage when they feel like it. Since they are in the SW, that is simply a 'wish list' consideration.

    On their part.
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  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by DCC21 View Post
    Have you considered Dallas? At lot of my clients are talking about colounlimited.com because you get a full 100 Mbps, so you won't have to worry about overage fees. You can grow without fear of overages or up-charges. Where ever you decide to go, especially since you are new to colo and your tech staff will be remote (even if it's down the street), make sure that the provider offers FREE remote hands and eyes. Some places say that they offer it, but don't actually have a technical staff onsite 24/7 to perform the work. Also, some say that it's free, but charge for reboots and other simple tasks. Don't want to be nickel and dimed. Good luck to you.
    FREE remote hands, thats just absurd. You will not find any quality colocation provider offering FREE remote hands, time and staffing cost money, it's as simple as that.

    In regards to unmetered deals sure things are cheap but take into account what you are getting, single-homed cogent (in your example). If you are interested in unmetered capped ports, do your homework, look for a reliable solution and I would always advise avoiding single-homed connections to any provider or something that is "fail-over only" to some other network. If you want consistent quality you need a blend of carriers.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by RyanD View Post
    FREE remote hands, thats just absurd. You will not find any quality colocation provider offering FREE remote hands, time and staffing cost money, it's as simple as that.

    In regards to unmetered deals sure things are cheap but take into account what you are getting, single-homed cogent (in your example). If you are interested in unmetered capped ports, do your homework, look for a reliable solution and I would always advise avoiding single-homed connections to any provider or something that is "fail-over only" to some other network. If you want consistent quality you need a blend of carriers.
    Great stuff buddy. Keep the hot tips coming. Any and all information is useful while trying to narrow the field to the best short, and long term, solution to build our brands on.
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  6. #6
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    I'm also on the lookout for colo but I must also mention that after getting quotes from various providers - many of them have very very good pricing to get you in the door. They know once your network and equipment is setup you probably won't be moving - similar to banks. They don't make a lot off the actual offering - they make their money on all the little hidden extra service fees.

    Remote hands can be wildly expensive - some charge $250 per hour after hours (actually one of the companies mentioned in this thread). If you don't have any of your staff close to the DC and your hardware goes bad - it will go bad - eventually. A hard drive will die, fans stop, motherboards fry.. that's when you better get your wallet out.

    The other thing to consider is since they're charging you a premium for hardware work, what training does their personnel hold? What happens when it takes the guy 4 hours to replace a board when it should be less than 1? You're stuck paying or your system stays down.

    Also lookout for TRUE 24/7 PHONE support. I know of many many providers that advertise it all over their websites 24/7 support - even LIVE support. However it's not true 24/7 phone support or even live support. The phone system goes to a answering service which tells you to put in an email ticket... the live chat is for sales only.... Pretty useless when you need someone on the phone. Phone service costs money especially when you have to pay a level 3 tech to sit in the DC all night or be on-call.

    These are all the wonderful things hidden under the curtain to reduce costs and bring in new customers - only after you're a customer do you discover these gems. At the end of the day - look past their initial U space and bandwidth provided - look for their service and network. That is what will keep you and your customers happy. You can always buy more bandwidth - but you can't buy better support at an existing provider. If their staff sucks - it sucks to be you.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ramprage View Post
    I'm also on the lookout for colo but I must also mention that after getting quotes from various providers - many of them have very very good pricing to get you in the door. They know once your network and equipment is setup you probably won't be moving - similar to banks. They don't make a lot off the actual offering - they make their money on all the little hidden extra service fees.

    Remote hands can be wildly expensive - some charge $250 per hour after hours (actually one of the companies mentioned in this thread). If you don't have any of your staff close to the DC and your hardware goes bad - it will go bad - eventually. A hard drive will die, fans stop, motherboards fry.. that's when you better get your wallet out.

    The other thing to consider is since they're charging you a premium for hardware work, what training does their personnel hold? What happens when it takes the guy 4 hours to replace a board when it should be less than 1? You're stuck paying or your system stays down.

    Also lookout for TRUE 24/7 PHONE support. I know of many many providers that advertise it all over their websites 24/7 support - even LIVE support. However it's not true 24/7 phone support or even live support. The phone system goes to a answering service which tells you to put in an email ticket... the live chat is for sales only.... Pretty useless when you need someone on the phone. Phone service costs money especially when you have to pay a level 3 tech to sit in the DC all night or be on-call.

    These are all the wonderful things hidden under the curtain to reduce costs and bring in new customers - only after you're a customer do you discover these gems. At the end of the day - look past their initial U space and bandwidth provided - look for their service and network. That is what will keep you and your customers happy. You can always buy more bandwidth - but you can't buy better support at an existing provider. If their staff sucks - it sucks to be you.
    Great info. I am used to the high fees some of these companies charge in the reseller model. While some wave them because you bring them volume business, others nickel and dime you to death with charge for this and that.
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  8. #8
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    If you are happy with your current support staff and they "want to have the ego boost to be able to walk into the cage when they feel like it" then you should really be looking for a facility in their immediate area, wherever that may be, hopefully, for your needs, it's a large city in the SW.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by XSV View Post
    If you are happy with your current support staff and they "want to have the ego boost to be able to walk into the cage when they feel like it" then you should really be looking for a facility in their immediate area, wherever that may be, hopefully, for your needs, it's a large city in the SW.
    I am happy with my support staff and they are very good, however their freedom to walk into cages and data centers are very low on my list of priorities.

    That said, we simply would like to have our own network for our mainstream/adult clients, and the we can keep farming our the OPT-IN/SEO to the reseller model. As IP/GEO space is always a consideration there.
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  10. #10
    Here are a couple of resources available for locating data center space in the US.

    http://www.datacentermap.com/ is a good resource and is generally up to date.

    Also try using a service such as quotecolo.com. They will help you find the right location and price based on your provided requirements.

    -Tom
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  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Continuum View Post
    Here are a couple of resources available for locating data center space in the US.

    http://www.datacentermap.com/ is a good resource and is generally up to date.

    Also try using a service such as quotecolo.com. They will help you find the right location and price based on your provided requirements.

    -Tom
    Awesome! Thank you kind sire.
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  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by RyanD View Post
    FREE remote hands, thats just absurd. You will not find any quality colocation provider offering FREE remote hands, time and staffing cost money, it's as simple as that.
    Not necessarily true, unless you are referring to high-end providers like Equinix, Coresite, Telx, Telecity, etc...those guys typically want to nickel and dime you to death....because they can.

    Many business hungry middle-grade colocation providers will provide free remote hands, withing reason, to get the deal. You just need to contact them,and find one that likes to negotiate. These days providers will often do what it takes to get the deal done.
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  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by BurstNET View Post
    Not necessarily true, unless you are referring to high-end providers like Equinix, Coresite, Telx, Telecity, etc...those guys typically want to nickel and dime you to death....because they can.

    Many business hungry middle-grade colocation providers will provide free remote hands, withing reason, to get the deal. You just need to contact them,and find one that likes to negotiate. These days providers will often do what it takes to get the deal done.
    Good stuff buddy. The more info the better.
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  14. #14
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    If you're looking for a solution in Michigan, take a look at 123.net in Southfield, they have a pretty nice network. Otherwise there is Waveform in Troy.

    If you're looking for the southwest, Texas would be a great hot spot. Take a look at Colo4Dallas

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by GCM View Post
    If you're looking for a solution in Michigan, take a look at 123.net in Southfield, they have a pretty nice network. Otherwise there is Waveform in Troy.

    If you're looking for the southwest, Texas would be a great hot spot. Take a look at Colo4Dallas
    Thanks tootsie.
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  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by GCM View Post
    Take a look at Colo4Dallas
    +1

    Colo4 is amazing.

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by MikeJohnson View Post
    +1

    Colo4 is amazing.
    Thanks champ. Good to hear. We are looking at a couple options now with multiple colo's for our needs.
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  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by GCM View Post
    If you're looking for a solution in Michigan, take a look at 123.net in Southfield, they have a pretty nice network. Otherwise there is Waveform in Troy.
    I talked to them last week. Sounds like a great company. I liked the CLEC extra goodies, as I come from a telco background anyway.

    Hopefully next time across state will swing by for a walk through.
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  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by RyanD View Post
    FREE remote hands, thats just absurd. You will not find any quality colocation provider offering FREE remote hands, time and staffing cost money, it's as simple as that.
    That might be true in the general sense, but it is certainly possible to find exceptions. Of course, they aren't priced in the bargain bin category either.
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  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by plumsauce View Post
    That might be true in the general sense, but it is certainly possible to find exceptions. Of course, they aren't priced in the bargain bin category either.
    Indeed.

    The prices I am getting, from those I have been researching and contacting, are all over the map on the offerings. Some as low as $1000.00 a COLO, and others around $3000.00 for a rack 40U. The hands on are anywhere from $75-250 an hour. Others month to month, and some want 1/3/5 year contracts.

    So they are all over the map to be sure.
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  21. #21
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    +1 for Colo4Dallas. I'll also recommend considering Handy Networks in Denver. We have our equipments with them for over 3 years now and they have been very solid.

  22. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by Softsys Hosting View Post
    +1 for Colo4Dallas. I'll also recommend considering Handy Networks in Denver. We have our equipments with them for over 3 years now and they have been very solid.
    Great stuff champ.

    Over the next 6-12 months, we are looking to do THREE colo's in different cities. We are fairly ambitious, and the client base is really growing fast. With the mix of clients, we would like multiple city presence for different reasons.

    Keep the solid recommendations rocking ladies.
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  23. #23
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    Over the years I have read a lot of bad things about Hurricane Electric, but they seem to have a lot of locations and sweet deals!
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  24. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by Barefootsies View Post
    I talked to them last week. Sounds like a great company. I liked the CLEC extra goodies, as I come from a telco background anyway.

    Hopefully next time across state will swing by for a walk through.
    No problem. Glad to hear you liked the recommendation. The bandwidth in Michigan won't be cheap, but it is a great facility.

    Quote Originally Posted by Barefootsies View Post
    Over the years I have read a lot of bad things about Hurricane Electric, but they seem to have a lot of locations and sweet deals!
    Hurricane Electric runs a semi-decent network, it takes some funky routes in my opinion. If you do Colo in any of their facility, try to avoid Fremont. Lot's of downtime there.

  25. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by GCM View Post
    No problem. Glad to hear you liked the recommendation. The bandwidth in Michigan won't be cheap, but it is a great facility.



    Hurricane Electric runs a semi-decent network, it takes some funky routes in my opinion. If you do Colo in any of their facility, try to avoid Fremont. Lot's of downtime there.
    Yeah, I have gotten a bid from H.E. as well since I am looking for a west coast option. I liked that Michigan recommendation, as it's from my home state, but better yet because they have some other telco offerings as well. Which may come in handy.
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