How big of a deal is it to have a server in colocation in a far away location?

April 6, 2004 1:09 AM

I have a webserver colocated in Los Angeles, where I live. I am moving to New York in a few months and I'm wondering if I should take the server with me. I have a ridiculously great deal at my current facility. How big of a deal is it to have a server in colocation in a far away location? (The server has RAID 1 and hot-swap drives, if that helps.)
posted by 4easypayments to Computers & Internet (4 answers total)

I've always managed servers in faraway locations (I have two leased servers running various sites right now) and never had much trouble. But there's a staff at the facility that can deal with hardware issues. If your deal is good enough, you could pay an LA consultant to handle your hardware when it needs fixing. Otherwise, you might consider one of the various "managed" or "unmanaged" dedicated server companies, where the hardware is someone else's problem.
posted by mmoncur at 3:50 AM on April 6, 2004

I also made very good experiences with a remote dedicated server, it runs linux so SSH access is all I need. There is support in case of a hardware problem and the technicians will also install a native linux image in case of grave software problems. A backup of the important data is mandatory of course, RAID makes that a lot easier, i have to make backups via rsync and/or ftp.

There is hardly anything I can not do remotely though I do not have direct access to the server.

And if everything goes wrong, there's still Lara.
posted by tcp at 4:34 AM on April 6, 2004

I have a dedicated server in Houston and I'm in Sacramento. It would be nice to have direct access to the server so I could do hardware upgrades myself, but it's never been necessary. I log in via ssh, and the staff at the colo facility is happy to do hardware resets, backups, and upgrades when needed. I'm pretty happy with the arrangement, but my needs are rather modest, so YMMV.
posted by Acetylene at 9:07 AM on April 6, 2004

If it's a PC recommend the Weasel for remote console management. Then have a serial mux that has the Weasel, a modem and a power bar connected into it. Then have a local person who can swap hard drives in case of a failure. That way you can have direct console access from anywhere if the network is up or not.
posted by stbalbach at 1:51 AM on April 7, 2004