Desirable Server Locations?

J

JordanF

New member
I've been thinking about this recently because I am working on a couple new projects. Which are the top locations for hosting? I am sure locations play a role in closing a sale, but how important is it really - if it is, which really are the ideal spots to blend price and place?

Common locations include...
  • Dallas, TX
  • Los Angeles, CA
  • Phoenix, AZ
  • Atlanta, GX
  • Seattle, WA
  • Chicago, IL
  • Raleigh, NC
  • Sydney, AU

I would like to find brandable locations, which customers love, but is affordable to Co-locate from. Any suggestions? :)
 
While each of these locations offer pros and cons, I can say that there are a lot of advantages to central Ohio / Columbus, Ohio. We have a couple DC's there & our main sales office, along with in Dallas, Chicago, and Denver (primarily sales offices + cages in other data centers), so this is a bit more than a guess.

Here are some of the factors:
*Some of the lowest utility power rates in the world (less than $.06 per KWH on a special business tariff rate for data centers with high constant steady use primarily)
*The Ohio State University - one of, if not the, largest university in the world, so there is plenty of talent
* Home of Liebert - enough said
* Not nearly as prone to natural disasters as most other areas of the world
* Low cost of living
* etc. I can go on, but you get the picture

Want more info about the area -- drop me a msg.
 
All very good selections - CeraNet also noted a great selection, Ohio is great.

We are big fans of the following:

Chicago, IL
Kansas City, MO
New York
Maryland
Texas

My last business had space in Chicago, IL which was great just as a center point and had average costs when it came to bandwidth, electricity, etc.

I personally like Kansas City a lot, that's one of our current sites we house servers and we have been VERY happy with the performance from that location, but more the costs are much lower compared to Chicago and our New York site.
 
If your target service/clients are all US based, probably you should remove the AU service.
 
Have you tried looking to see where you customers are located? That would probably be a good place to start. It also can't hurt to ask them specifically!
 
spenchev said:
You can also try 'The Planet'
Click to expand...

"The Planet" is no more - they were acquired by Softlayer quite a long time ago.

For us, we use many datacenters depending on our client needs. As others stated, if you're going USA, then central to the US is your best bet;
Ohio, Chicago & Dallas/Houston are great areas. Lots of bandwidth options and lower pricing than many.

We also have servers in Europe (Amsterdam and England) and a few in Brisbane Australia. Again, it depends on your market, but Central USA is a good start to keep both sides of the US happy.
 
"Top locations" could be considered those where most CDNs POP are - the most populous cities and high traffic Internet markets/cities. I don't think you'd go there however. The Internet services and labour is expensive and you'd compete to anyone - from big corporations to smaller but very well positioned web hosts. You'd better find any specific market, where you can have a low production costs.
 
handsonhosting said:
"The Planet" is no more - they were acquired by Softlayer quite a long time ago.

For us, we use many datacenters depending on our client needs. As others stated, if you're going USA, then central to the US is your best bet;
Ohio, Chicago & Dallas/Houston are great areas. Lots of bandwidth options and lower pricing than many.

We also have servers in Europe (Amsterdam and England) and a few in Brisbane Australia. Again, it depends on your market, but Central USA is a good start to keep both sides of the US happy.
Click to expand...

Australia is an interesting market due to their location, I must admit. I don't know many how have done a whole lot of hosting work out there, I personally have not, but I have heard from some of our Australian clients that bandwidth is incredible expensive since obviously it's not as easy to bring it in.

Interesting call out for sure :)
 
Kansas City, MO is a pretty good central US location with a lot of very low cost bandwidth options as well. Datacenters that come to mind are Joes DC and WholeSaleInternet/Datashack.
 
I think it depends on where your customers are and what type of customers you have. Game servers for example, you don't want a server on the other side of the country. Your ping will suck!

If your clients are in the UK, and the server is in LA, your ping will be really high even for a website.

If you're just web hosting, anywhere in the US should be ok.
 
oneilonline said:
If your clients are in the UK, and the server is in LA, your ping will be really high even for a website
Click to expand...

It really depends on how you setup. We have a client in UK since 8 years. Our servers are in Seattle. Setting up with CDN for their websites, no complain at all.
 
We colo in Houston Texas and we also have servers in Lenoir, NC. Both have been incredible for bandwidth and overall cost.

Have experience with Atlanta, GA with GNAX, who are good but pricey, and 100tb.com in Salt Lake City, UT, who are ok.

As others have said, it really depends on your target audience and customer base.
 
You should consider Texas, it is good and less costly.

You can also check choopa, I know few customer with good facility over here.
 
Dallas TX and Chicago IL are great location in the USA.

Since you mentioned Sydney, If you are looking for a global location, I would recommend using Amsterdam NL and Tokyo JPN, Both these locations have great worldwide connectivity
 
WebNet Host said:
Since you mentioned Sydney, If you are looking for a global location, I would recommend using Amsterdam NL and Tokyo JPN, Both these locations have great worldwide connectivity
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Amsterdam is the best location for global connectivity indeed! And one of the most stable locations as well. Besides there are plenty of Data centers operating there. One of the best data centers in the world in fact not only in terms of network and support, but pricing as well.

Although I am not sure about Tokyo. Bandwidth in Asia is generally quite expensive. But certainly, Japan has got one of the best connectivity around the world. And if I can remember, their average internet connection speed is in the Top 5 countries.
 
@jainy - I will vote for Amsterdam. They are fast growing and cheaper, value for money dedicated.

I have checked Servirius DC, they are good and provide additional services at cheaper cost.
 
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