Data Center Location

“Location, location, location…”, an old real estate adage suggests that the value of a property is, on a large scale, determined by the geographic place it is situated, whether it’s because of the view, safety, convenience, amenities, or other factors.

This expression is also valid for IT data centers. The location where you put your company’s most valuable asset, its data, is a decision that needs to be carefully analyzed.

So, what factors should you consider when looking for where your data will live?

Determinants of Data Center Location

Below is a minimal list of common and vital considerations to make this decision. Keep in mind that the final list will likely be considerably more extensive.

1. Buy vs. Rent

Like housing trends, every time more companies decide to rent space with global colo data centers, given the flexibility, these provide to expand and shrink the required power and space without huge investments.

Keep in mind that there might still be valid reasons to build and maintain your own data center or parts of it, such as contractual agreements or very steady and predictable environments over a long period of time.

2. Risk of Natural Disasters

Some locations are more…