If your business has recently grown, you may find that you do not have enough resources to store all of your records and data. Because of this, you may be thinking about consolidating your data at a colocation service. When deciding on which service to use, ask the following questions when speaking with each prospective service.

Does Your Company Or The Service Provide The Equipment?

When speaking with to each service, ask about the equipment that will be needed in order to consolidate your data in one location. Also, ask whether you will need to purchase it separately or if it is included in your data package.

For example, you may need a high-speed modem for accessing their computer servers. While they may provide the memory and hard drive in a package, your company may be responsible for purchasing your own modem to link to their system.

If this is the case, ask them which modem is compatible with their servers, as well as the amount of data that can be transferred through the lines. If you plan on transferring a lot of data, you may want a new modem capable of 160 megabits per second. This can give you an idea of what you need to shop for, as well as how much the modem will cost in addition to the data service's fees.

How Much Data Storage Is Provided With Each Plan?

The next question you should ask the colocation service is how much storage space is included with each plan. The amount you will need will depend on the size of your company and how much projective growth you expect in the next year. Knowing what the service offers can give you a better idea of which plan to choose.

For example, if your company's records currently take up 300 gigabytes of space, you may want to select a plan that include 600 GB. Not only will the plan store your current information, but it will also cover you to up to double your company's expected growth.

What Security Measures Are In Place To Protect Your Data?

Another important question to ask the colocation service involves their security measures. You want to make sure your data is protected from unauthorized access, especially if your company deals with a lot of personal or financial information.

For example, if your business deals with other people's money, you may want to make sure the service has an encrypted connection that will scramble the information as it passes through the modem line. Also, ask about their firewall protection so spyware and other hacking programs cannot access the information.

How Does The Service Back Up Your Data?

Finally, you want to make sure the service has a plan in place to backup all of your data in case there is a power outage or the servers crash. When asking about their backup plan, also ask about the frequency at which this takes place.

For example, ask the service if there is a separate server that records and backs up your data that is not dependent on the main memory server. This server should also have a separate power source, such as a generator, that would not be affected by a loss of power to the main computer servers.

Depending on how often your data is updated, you may want to have a service that backs up the information at least once a day.

Although these questions may not cover everything you need to know about selecting a data service, they can get you pointed in the right direction. As you speak with a representative from each data colocation service at places like Isomedia, Inc, jot down additional questions for which you need answers before choosing the best one for your business.

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