[HCoop-Misc] Colocation

[Graham Freeman]

Hi, Tanveer,

nitpick:  The proper spelling is "colocation" - think "co-location",  
as in "co"operatively sharing a location.   However, it's often mis- 
spelled with an extra "l", even by colo providers.   When my colo  
provider in San Francisco does dumb stuff, I joke to myself that I  
should expect as much from a vendor that can't even spell what they  
offer.


On 15 May 07, at 04:32, Tanveer Singh wrote:

> Hi,
> My understanding of collocation is that you buy your own hardware and
> put it in a datacenter.


Yes.  Another good (and relatively new) option is to use a "Virtual  
Private Server" (VPS), which is basically your own server (with its  
own separate kernel, filesystems, network interfaces, allocation of  
RAM, etc.) that runs concurrently with other VPSes on shared  
hardware.  The advantages to this approach are many, but they include:

* Lower initial cost, since you're sharing the hardware
* You can remotely power-cycle and access the serial console of your  
server without having to purchase a remotely-manageable power  
distribution unit (at least ~$500) or a serial console server (also ~ 
$500 or more)
* You can move a VPS from physical server A to physical server B with  
minimal downtime, and without physical access

My answers below assume you're dealing with your own hardware, rather  
than a VPS.


> I have a few questions
> 1. You have to go to the datacenter and put it in yourself?


That, or pay someone to do it.


> 2. Who sees that the hardware does not fail. For example if a disk  
> fails at 1am?


You operate with redundant equipment so that any single failure  
doesn't bring you offline, and you run monitoring tools so that  
you're notified right away when a failure does happen.  Then, when it  
does, you or your contractor(s) take care of it.


> 3. Regular hardware maintenance, who sees this


You, or whomever you contract.


> 4. Do you need to be present physically in the city/country where your
> hardware is collocated.


The closer you or your contractor(s) are, the faster you can respond  
to events that require hands-on work.


> 5. hcoop is collocating.


Yes.


> We will have one server at first.


Hcoop already has multiple physical servers.


> Suppose
> some big website in the future wants to join hcoop, but their
> requirement is 2GB of RAM and 80GB of harddisk all to themselves,
> basically a dedicated server for them, can hcoop space in the
> datacenter accomodate then. Of course there will be financial
> considerations.
...
> 6. Tomorrow when hcoop grows, will there be enough robust support to
> handle a website which wants a downtime of less than 10 minutes a
> week? Lets say they are willing to pay 250$/month. Are we looking at
> that route?


The Hcoop Board should answer these questions.  (BTW, 10 minutes of  
downtime each week is a *lot* of downtime.)


Graham Freeman
General Manager, Cernio Technology Cooperative
graham.freeman at cernio.com
www.cernio.com
+1 415 462 2991 home office