[TriLUG] colo and dedicated servers

[Ron Kelley]

Brian,

In order to decide Colo-vs-Dedicated, you need to understand and fully appreciate the cost for each service.  For example:

Colo Pricing ("bring your own")
--------------------------------
* What is the cost for a fully capable server (IPMI remote management, parts replacement, warranty support, etc)
* What about server redundancy (RAID for HDDs, multiple servers for failover, etc)
* Cost per month for CoLo service (power, bandwidth, availability to access your gear if something breaks, etc)
* CoLo provider reliability (are they in a Tier-1 or Tier-2 facility)
* How much will you spend on licensing (VMWare, MS OS, etc)
* How much will remote support cost in case you or the on-call admin is not available?
* Where will you find a CoLo provider that will rent just 1RU or 2RU of space?
* What is the length of contract you must sign?
* What kind of firewall will you use (your own, the CoLo provider, other)?
* What kind of IP-space will you be given (do you need a single external IP with NAT, dedicated block of addresses, etc)?  
* Who manages the firewall and all the associated rule sets?
... 
... 
... 


Dedicated Pricing ("use theirs")
---------------------------------
* What is the total cost for the service (server, support, licensing, etc)?
* Are you using a shared VPS or truly getting a dedicated server?
* How quickly can they fix problems if something arises?
* What is their redundancy model for networking, server/services, etc?
* Will their service provide enough horsepower to run your applications?
* What is the length of contract you must sign?
* What kind of firewall or IP-space will you be given (do you need a single external IP with NAT, etc)?  
* Who manages the firewall?
... 
... 
... 


As you can see, there are a ton of questions that must honestly get answered before you can decide which option is best.  While it is very easy to say a Linux box can run xxx, the cost of procuring the server becomes insignificant down the road when there are support problems with the environment.  That said, if you can find a good CoLo partner, chances are the long-term cost for CoLo pricing will be cheaper than signing a contract for a dedicated server.  And, if you have the support staff to manage your own gear (remember, this *is* a production service), you can save a ton of cash.

Also, don't forget other services like Amazon EC2.  Their small instance for MS Windows costs $0.091/hr ($2.19/day ~= $65/mo).  

Having been in the CoLo provider space for a while, I have done a *few* of these types of analysis for guys just like you.  If you need help deciding, please drop me an email.  I will be glad to help.


-Ron



On Jun 13, 2013, at 4:06 PM, Brian McCullough <bdmc at buadh-brath.com> wrote:

> Folks,
> 
> I know that this is coming late in the day, but I have been doing
> research on this project for several days, and finally came to the
> oracle.
> 
> 
> I am dealing with a vendor who is selling a company that I consult to, a
> service that requires that they provide seven Windows desktop-class ( XP
> Pro, Server 2003, etc ) machines, to run instances of their software.
> 
> I said that that was rediculous, that a single Linux box could easily
> support seven Windows virtual machines, more effiently and with combined
> resources and reduced hardware. ( no redundant items )
> 
> 
> The question at this moment, to me, is whether to go with a "dedicated
> server" somewhere, or a co-lo and install a box that we have purchased.
> 
> I tend to favour the latter, because I feel that, despite the cost of a
> 1U box ( $3,000 - $5,000 ), the monthly cost of the co-lo over the
> dedicated server will result in a break-even somewhere in the
> neighbourhood of a year.
> 
> What do you think, and do you have any recommendations for either
> option?
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> Brian
> 
> -- 
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