Have you noticed datacenters popping up in smaller towns and cities, and not just major metropolitan areas like New York or London? Initially it was strange to me. Why? Why build them there? But now I see the point – regional datacenters can be quite handy.
• Faster delivery time – If the server is nearby, the data is going to reach you faster.
• Local demand – People and businesses outside of the major metropolitan areas need hosting also.
• Cost of doing business – Land, power and cooling are significantly less in the smaller, non-metropolitan area.
Think about it - would you rather your game, or video be streamed from several miles away, or from several hours away?
• Decreased latency – Websites will load faster if the server is across town instead of across the globe.
• More redundancies – The more datacenters you can have, particularly regionally, the fewer chances there are to receive a full outage.
• Regional trust – Often companies prefer business options for services that have built up near them.
I can remember when I moved a client to a somewhat regional datacenter in the Midwest, and to be honest, I was shocked at the speed. It seemed faster than the big global provider. You know that feeling where your like "whoa, this is fast!"? That's what I had.
• Size – It may not be a good option in terms of unlimited growth.
• Features – Some datacenters won't provide additional options like global CDNs.
• Quality – Number of smaller datacenters don't spend the same amount of money on security and backup management.
So, are they really worth considering? If you are a small or medium business, and nearly all of your customers are local, chances are yes. But, if you are a global site with visitors from all regions and time-zones, you might be limited back to big data.
The next time you decide to host a service, instead of just picking the biggest brand in the space, ask if a regional datacenters may be the better option for your users. You might be surprised how much faster and cheaper it can be.
Why are smaller datacenters increasing?
Companies are locating datacenters in smaller colocation places for a couple simple reasons:• Faster delivery time – If the server is nearby, the data is going to reach you faster.
• Local demand – People and businesses outside of the major metropolitan areas need hosting also.
• Cost of doing business – Land, power and cooling are significantly less in the smaller, non-metropolitan area.
Think about it - would you rather your game, or video be streamed from several miles away, or from several hours away?
Businesses' Benefits
Here are the motivations behind regional datacenters:• Decreased latency – Websites will load faster if the server is across town instead of across the globe.
• More redundancies – The more datacenters you can have, particularly regionally, the fewer chances there are to receive a full outage.
• Regional trust – Often companies prefer business options for services that have built up near them.
I can remember when I moved a client to a somewhat regional datacenter in the Midwest, and to be honest, I was shocked at the speed. It seemed faster than the big global provider. You know that feeling where your like "whoa, this is fast!"? That's what I had.
The Downsides
Of course, regional datacenters are not without issues. Some of the negatives include:• Size – It may not be a good option in terms of unlimited growth.
• Features – Some datacenters won't provide additional options like global CDNs.
• Quality – Number of smaller datacenters don't spend the same amount of money on security and backup management.
So, are they really worth considering? If you are a small or medium business, and nearly all of your customers are local, chances are yes. But, if you are a global site with visitors from all regions and time-zones, you might be limited back to big data.
My Bottom Line
I think regional datacenters are worth considering in many situations. Regional datacenters offer speed, low cost, and local reliability that cannot always be matched by large datacenters. Of course they are not a fit for all businesses, but for many they are a solid option.The next time you decide to host a service, instead of just picking the biggest brand in the space, ask if a regional datacenters may be the better option for your users. You might be surprised how much faster and cheaper it can be.