Tips for DC/VA/MD Businesses to Find the Right Hosting Partner

In the DC, Virginia, and Maryland area, there are many hosting partners and data centers to choose from. In addition to the large number of facilities in Ashburn, VA, (click here to learn more) data centers have popped up in Baltimore, Annapolis, and Silver Spring. Hosting providers offer a wide range of services and options for your business and it can be quite difficult to figure out who would be the right hosting partner for you.

Here are some things to consider when choosing a hosting partner:

1. What sort of hosting do you need? This may sound obvious, but all too often, businesses aren’t sure what they really need to keep their technology running and don’t fully understand the limitations of the hosting partners they select until it’s too late. Whether you require virtual private servers to host your website or business applications or the colocation of a full rack, be sure to consider what you think you need at the beginning of your search and discuss it with prospective partners. Here are 24 questions to ask potential colocation partners to get the conversation started.

 

2. What security and disaster recovery levels do you require? Not all data centers are created equal. Ensure that your hosting provider is going to be storing your information in a data center that has the level of security and protection from disaster that you need to successfully house your business data. Tier III, SSAE-16 audited data centers offer a level of security that is affordable and yet protects your equipment and data with world-class technology and best practices. Should a natural disaster or other emergency situation strike, be sure that the data center where your business information and applications are stored is strategically located (away from bodies of water and other potential hazards) and has built-in redundancies to keep the power and cooling running in the case of an emergency. You can lose revenue in the event of an outage, so it’s worth it to make sure that the data center has the location, technology, and infrastructure required to keep your business running.

 

3. Do you have technical staff or do you need managed services? If you have IT personnel on-staff, you will avoid having to pay a consultant or for “remote hands” services should you need help with your virtual private server, dedicated server, or colocation environment. If not, be sure to get hourly and emergency rates from your potential partners as well as to identify any setup and install fees. Regardless of whether you’ll be using your own staff or consultants through your provider, make sure you understand the service level agreements in place and how long you will wait for a response to an emergency.

There are, of course, many different things to consider when trying to choose the best hosting partner and these are but a few.

 

About the Author

Jen Herson, of Unleashed Technologies, authored this extremely informative post. If you are looking for enterprise level, or small business hosting services in the MD/DC/VA area, contact Unleashed Technologies today at www.unleashed-hosting.com