A Simple Guide To Colocation In Northern Virginia

Colocation offers several benefits as compared to both the public cloud and running an in-house data center. It has therefore become highly popular with businesses. In general, colocation works much the same way regardless of where it is implemented. There are, however, some differences between areas. With that in mind, here is a guide to colocation in Northern Virginia.

An overview of the Northern Virginia business landscape

Northern Virginia is considered part of the Washington metropolitan area. Not only is it close to the federal capital, but it also has some of the best transport infrastructure of any state. In addition to two major airports, Northern Virginia has both regular rail and a subway plus an expansive network of Interstate highways and expressways. It also has some of the best digital infrastructure in the world.

The economy of Northern Virginia reflects the benefits of both its position and its infrastructure. Northern Virginia has a significant presence in government contracting. It’s also a major technology hub covering just about every aspect of technology and telecommunications.

The region is a key center for the telecommunications industry and focuses on high-speed networks. This connectivity has encouraged the growth of data centers and cloud computing facilities.

Additionally, Northern Virginia is very much involved with IT services, software development, and cybersecurity. Tech companies range from tiny startups to major players. Northern Virginia also has a significant presence in government contracting

The benefits of colocation in Northern Virginia

The main benefits of colocation in Northern Virginia are essentially the same as the main benefits of colocation in general. They are as follows:

• Easy access to a strategic location
• Convenience
• Scalability with customizability
• Long-term cost-effectiveness
• Predictable costs

In the context of colocation in Northern Virginia, easy access to a strategic location is particularly important. Real estate in Northern Virginia is prohibitively expensive for many companies. Even companies that could, in theory, afford it, might be hesitant to commit.

Using a local public cloud provider may be an option for some companies. This approach may, however, lead to other complications, particularly for companies involved in government contracting. Even if it is technically feasible, it can easily work out to be a lot more expensive than processing and/or storing data in-house.

By contrast, using colocation in Northern Virginia allows businesses to access all the benefits of having a private data center in a strategic location. At the same time, it removes the need for capital expenditure. It also minimizes the administrative overhead of managing IT infrastructure.

Factors influencing the cost of colocation in Northern Virginia

Similarly, the main factors influencing the cost of colocation in Northern Virginia are largely the same as the main factors influencing the cost of colocation in general. They are as follows:

• Location and physical space requirements
• Tier level
• Power requirements and energy efficiency
• Network connectivity options
• Security and compliance
• On-site support and SLAs
• Contract length and flexibility

Again, in the context of colocation in Northern Virginia, location is particularly important. There are three main reasons for this.

The cost of real estate: Overall, Northern Virginia has some of the highest real estate costs in the country if not the world. As with any relatively large area, however, some areas are more expensive than others. There are reasons for this and, in some cases, businesses will just have to accept the higher cost of premium areas. In other cases, however, businesses may be able to get the service they need in a lower-cost area.

Proximity to network hubs: Although Northern Virginia has excellent high-speed networks throughout its territory, the very fastest speeds are still near the key network hubs.

The need for security: In general, Northern Virginia is a very safe area. Even so, businesses still need to think about physical and cybersecurity, business continuity, disaster recovery, and compliance. The higher a vendor’s standards in these areas, the more they are likely to charge.

Choosing a colocation vendor in Northern Virginia

The fact that Northern Virginia is one of the biggest tech hubs in the USA means that businesses looking for a colocation vendor there can expect to have plenty of choice.

While choice is, overall, a benefit, the sheer extent of choice in Northern Virginia can become overwhelming. This means that businesses need to stay very focused on what exactly they want from colocation in Northern Virginia.

• Your preferred location(s)
• The level of resilience you need
• The infrastructure required for the equipment you wish to use (e.g. power and connectivity)
• Any compliance programs you need to support
• Your service requirements (e.g. monitoring, maintenance, access to ad-hoc support)

The more precise you can be about these requirements, the easier you are likely to find the process of choosing a colocation vendor in Northern Virginia.

Colocation Northern Virginia

If you are looking for colocation services in Northern Virginia, DataBank is an excellent choice. DataBank has three state-of-the-art data centers in Northern Virginia, which combine to offer 368,350 square feet of raised floor space, and 52.6MW critical IT load. Learn more about DataBank’s Northern Virginia data centers.

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