Selecting Colocation Server Hardware

Looking to select server hardware for colocation can be a simple task if you know where to look or have a good contact for the hardware.  There are a large number of server vendors that can be found easily on the Internet.  Read more about this in the services section under Selecting a Server Hardware Provider.  Some of them have names that we all know and may already have experience with.  In choosing server hardware for colocation there are a few things to consider that are very important.

Consider Your Server Hardware Needs
Consider what processing power you need, how much ram, how much hard drive space, redundancy of the hard drives. etc.  These items are all up to your specific need based on the purpose of the servers. 

Consider Server Power Requirements
Not all servers are created equal.  Some are built with standardized equipment that is made to work with any server mother board.  For example the power supply can cost as little as $10 if you get a standard one, but if you get one that has the voltage matched to your servers mother board, it may cost as much as $15 more but save hundreds on power, especially if the server is to be placed in a colocation data center.  This is probably the most important consideration in selecting servers.  Make sure that when you get servers to collocate, that you check their power efficiency.  This can make the difference between being able to collocate 10 servers on a 15Amp power circuit verses being able to collocate 20 servers on the same power circuit.  Power consumption varies considerably berceuse most machines are not built to be power efficient or to conserve power.  All of this is just beginning to change and will likely be entirely different in 2008 to 2010.

The most common server hardware uses 110v-120v power and a few amps, but there are other types of server hardware that consume considerably more power.

Most people who go to buy colocation think that they pay for space, Internet bandwidth, ip addresses, and cross connects and that power might be free with the service.  This type of thinking can lead one to think that if they can get all of their servers into a small space then they will save money on monthly fees in a colocation facility.  The truth is that colocation facility premium power (and AC cooling to cool the heat generated when the power is used) costs substantially more than colocation space.  Because it is easy to come to the faulty conclusion that space is the item that costs and power is free, one can began to think that if you can put 40 computers in a small 4u of space it will cost less to collocate than 1 full cabinet would cost.  As a result, some companies shell out tens of thousands to get blade servers only to find that their power consumption costs substantially more than regular power efficient and more common servers would have cost to collocate. This conclusion that power is free and colocation space is the item that costs is not correct in the colocation market.  The reality is that the 208v-220v 30Amps of power sometimes required by these servers will often cost the equivalent of 3 Full Racks of colocation space.  This type of information can be valuable to consider prior to purchasing server hardware and planning your colocation network.