When evaluating data centres, one of the most critical aspects to consider is their connectivity offering. The quality and diversity of connectivity options can directly impact performance, cost, resilience, and overall business operations.
Data centre connectivity - what you need to know
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Connection is key
The importance of connectivity choice in a data centre
The quality and variety of connectivity options in a data centre play a key role in ensuring speed, reliability, and resilience. Choosing a facility with a wide array of network providers and connectivity solutions can have immediate and long-term benefits:
- Lower latency and higher performance: with multiple connectivity options, your data can traverse the shortest and fastest routes, minimising delays. This is crucial when serving customers across large geographical areas.
- Enhanced resilience: a diverse mix of carriers ensures that you’re not reliant on just one provider. Even if one connection faces issues, others can take over to maintain uptime.
- Custom solutions: facilities with multiple on-site carriers allow businesses to create bespoke networks tailored to their specific needs. You’ll have the freedom to work with your preferred carriers and optimise costs through competitive pricing.
For colocation buyers, the carrier list of a provider is often viewed as a stamp of quality. The more carriers with a presence in the data centre, the greater the opportunities to build reliable, cost-effective, and high-performing networks.
Data centres worth their salt will serve as Points of Presence (PoP) for leading internet exchanges, establishing them as hubs for global connectivity and giving your business access to even more options and markets. Over 25 network providers have chosen to invest in building out primary Points of Presence (PoPs) at our facilities, including the London Internet Exchange (LINX).
Connectivity in the cloud
With organisations increasingly dependent on cloud-hosted applications and storage, high-capacity, fast connectivity is vital to support day-to-day operations and critical services. This shift away from on premise infrastructure places greater emphasis on the need for robust and scalable connections.
To capitalise on the power of the cloud, ensure your chosen data centre offers:
- multiple Tier 1 networks in their carrier list, ensuring premium connection quality;
- sufficient bandwidth to handle growing business demands;
- a diverse range of connectivity solutions, including options for private networking or interconnections between data centres.
Benefits of carrier diversity in a data centre
When choosing your next data centre, always assess the diversity of carriers it supports. Here’s why this matters for your business:
- More choice: a wider range of carriers means more flexibility to select connections that best meet your performance and cost requirements.
- Competition-driven pricing: multiple carriers within a facility create competition, which can result in reduced costs for your business.
- Validation of quality: establishing a PoP within a data centre is a significant investment for network providers. If multiple carriers have deemed a facility to be worth the investment, it’s a strong indicator of the data centre’s quality and reliability.
Key questions to ask when evaluating data centre connectivity
- How many carriers are present, and do they include Tier 1 network providers?
- What is the bandwidth capacity available at the facility?
- What range of connectivity options are offered, including private circuits or inter-data centre connections?
- Does the data centre act as a Point of Presence for any major internet exchanges?
- Are there direct links to other data centres for multi-site solutions?
Make the right connectivity choice
With more carriers to choose from at a data centre, clients benefit from flexibility, lower operational costs, and enhanced network resilience. Additionally, the presence of esteemed carriers within a facility reflects its reputation and credibility.
To find out how our well-connected, carrier-neutral data centres can support your business as it grows, get in touch with a member of our team.