Much like not wanting to be tied into a single network for a mobile phone contract just in case the is signal is poor or your roaming charges are sky high, the same scenario applies to your entire IT infrastructure in your data centre. Being tied to a single internet service provider (ISP) or telecommunications carrier can be very restrictive.
Carrier neutral data centres – why they matter
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The importance of carrier neutrality
What carrier neutrality actually means
A carrier neutral data centre is a facility that operates entirely independently of any specific network provider, and allows multiple ISPs and network carriers to connect directly to the facility. Much like major rail stations that provide the required infrastructure for multiple train operators to pass through so you can choose the service that gets you to your destination fastest and cheapest, carrier neutral data centres provide the physical space, power, cooling and security but you choose who provides your connectivity.
Why this matters…
For many UK businesses, connectivity is vital, as everything grinds to a halt if the connection drops. And carrier neutrality offers a host of benefits:
Resilience and redundancy
If you rely on a single carrier and their networks suffer an outage, then your business goes offline. In a carrier neutral environment, you can build a redundant network strategy to include a failover option in case the primary connection goes down. In fact, this level of redundancy ensuring ‘always on’ availability is a requirement for compliance in some sectors.
Cost efficiency through competition
A carrier neutral facility is a competitive ecosystem with multiple providers vying for your business. This gives you negotiating power and allows you to shop around for the best rates, latency or SLAs.
Improved latency and performance
Carrier neutrality gives you the flexibility to choose the provider that offers the best performance for your specific needs. Being able to blend bandwidth from different providers allows you to optimise route performance, ensuring your end users get the best experience possible.
Supporting broader business goals
Scalability and agility
Your bandwidth requirements are likely to change over time, and you may need to scale up or down capacity at certain times of the year. Carrier neutral facilities often host cloud on-ramps (direct connections to major public cloud providers), allowing you to easily create a hybrid IT environment – keeping sensitive data in private servers on your colocation rack whilst bursting less sensitive workloads to the public cloud, all connected via high speed, low latency links that bypass the public internet.
Compliance and data sovereignty
As UK businesses attempt to adhere to GDPR and UK-specific data protection laws, carrier neutral facilities help them to have greater control over their data. They can select carriers that guarantee that data takes specific routes or stays within certain borders giving granular control and simplifying compliance audits.
Choosing the right partner
When assessing potential data centres partners, there are some key questions to ask:
- “Who is in the meet-me-room (MMR)?” Ask for a full list of ISPs and carriers on-site.
- “Do you offer cloud on ramps?” The all important direct connections to major public cloud platforms, which are needed for modern hybrid IT strategies.
- “What are the cross connect fees?” Always check the cost of the physical cable connection between your rack of the carriers.
Get in touch
If you’d like to learn more about how our network of UK data centres can support your business, or if you have specific requirements you’d like to discuss, please get in touch with a member of our team today.