While most people are familiar with the term ‘data centre’ and have some idea of what one is, businesses looking for a hosting solution for their websites or apps need to have a clear understanding of what they do and the different kinds of solutions they provide. In this post, we take a detailed look at the various kinds of data centres so you can make a more informed choice about which is best for you.
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Data centres – an overview
In simple terms, a data centre is a facility that houses the computing infrastructure needed to send, receive, store and process data. The infrastructure includes servers, networking equipment, storage systems and security controls. Data centre operators also employ highly skilled technicians to manage their facilities, and these use advanced tools to monitor operations and detect issues.
How data centres work
Data centres enable organisations to host applications, store large volumes of data and deliver online content. Powerful servers are used to store and process data, including websites, applications and other software, while data is transmitted across the internet using high-speed networking infrastructure.
Security, performance and reliability are essential requirements for businesses. To put these in place, data centre providers implement advanced security measures to protect against cyberattacks; use state-of-the-art hardware to ensure high performance; and maintain redundant backup infrastructure and power supplies so services can continue in the event of hardware or power failure.
Find out how data centre security is evolving, read: Web Hosting Security: Future Trends and Best Practices
Types of data centres
There are various types of data centres, each catering for different needs.
- Enterprise data centres
An enterprise data centre is one privately owned by an organisation to house its own IT infrastructure. These provide organisations with full control over their hardware and security; however, they are expensive to run due to the investment needed in purchasing hardware, maintenance, IT expertise, energy and cooling, insurance and security. - Commercial hosting data centres
Operated by service providers, commercial hosting data centres are large facilities where businesses can purchase different types of hosting solutions, such as shared hosting, VPS, dedicated servers and cloud hosting. As the infrastructure is owned, operated and maintained by the service provider, the costs to businesses are significantly less compared to hosting hardware in-house. - Cloud data centres
A specialised form of commercial data centre, often operated by large organisations like AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure, these facilities are specifically used for cloud hosting. - Colocation data centres
A hybrid solution that stands between an enterprise and a commercial data centre, colocation data centres are operated by service providers who provide the security, power and cooling, while individual companies rent space to house their own hardware. - Edge data centres
Designed to reduce latency and improve speed, edge data centres are smaller, local facilities that process data nearer to where end users live and work.Find out more about edge computing, read: How Edge Computing Boosts Web Hosting Performance
The benefits of commercial hosting data centres
One of the chief reasons most businesses opt for a commercial hosting data centre is cost efficiency. Hosting websites and applications with a service provider is far less expensive than creating, maintaining and operating an in-house data centre. It also offers financial stability and predictability. Businesses know exactly what they will be paying each month and don’t have to keep funds in reserve to cover hardware repairs or upgrades, as these are covered by the host.
Web hosts also provide expertise, with their staff looking after the infrastructure, making sure everything is working effectively. Additionally, hosting providers often purchase multi-user licences for proprietary software, which means customers can get apps like Windows Server for less.
Managed vs self-managed hosting
There are two main options when it comes to data centre hosting: managed hosting and self-managed hosting.
With managed hosting, the service provider takes care of a wide range of services on the customers’ behalf. This includes server management, security and technical support. With these, customers benefit from:
- server software updates and patching
- server performance optimisation
- firewalls, intrusion and malware prevention, DDoS protection, spam filtering and other security measures
- 24/7 technical support to help resolve issues
With all these services provided, a business’s IT team has more time to devote to important projects while cost savings can be allocated to other budgets.
Alternatively, businesses can opt for self-managed hosting. While this gives them greater control over their infrastructure, they remain responsible for managing their servers, security and technical support.
Learn more about managed hosting, read: anaged Web Hosting: Boost Productivity and Free Up Time
Choosing the right data centre
When selecting a data centre, businesses should consider several key factors:
- Location: There are two reasons location is important when choosing a data centre. Firstly, the nearer a data centre is to a business’s audience, the more latency is reduced, improving website and application loading and response times. Secondly, data protection regulations, like GDPR, might prevent businesses from storing personal data in countries where protection isn’t guaranteed.
- Security measures: Not all providers offer the same level of physical and cybersecurity. It is important to check what is provided before making a choice.
- Uptime: High uptime is essential to make sure your services are always available. A reliable service provider will offer a minimum 99.9% uptime guarantee, backed by a service level agreement (SLA)
- Support: Check that 24/7 technical support is available so that you can quickly troubleshoot issues like downtime and poor performance.
Conclusion
Data centres are large IT complexes that house the infrastructure needed to host websites and applications and store and process data. Options include self-hosted, service provider-hosted and colocation, as well as cloud and edge data centres. When looking for a provider, businesses need to consider location, security, reliability and performance, and whether they want managed or self-managed hosting.
eukhost provides managed hosting solutions for shared hosting, VPS, dedicated servers and cloud servers. Our GDPR-compliant, UK-located data centres feature high-performance, optimised infrastructure, and our services come with uptime guarantees of 99.9% and higher, robust security and 24/7 technical support as standard. For more information, visit our homepage.
