Data centers are an integral part of today’s business world. That’s why it is essential to find the best data center deals available before investing in one of your own. You can do several things to ensure that you get a good discount on the purchase and ongoing costs associated with your new data center. The following are some tips on how to get the best data center deals:
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Capacity planning
The first step is to establish an accurate estimate of how much capacity your business requires. Effective data center deals design requires balancing what you think you’ll need in the future and what you need today. For example, if your business doubles in size over two years, then a solution that handles ten terabytes of data today may not be big enough to meet your needs in the future.
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Over-provisioning
The next step is to ensure that you have allowed for future growth. Datacenter space is costly, so many companies build what they need today and then over-provision to allow for the possibility that their business could grow into additional rack space within a few years. This can be done by buying slightly more hardware than you need today, allowing you to move your existing equipment into your new pods as your business grows.
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Buy multiples of the same product
Your initial hardware footprint should consider the number of systems you need today and allow for future growth by buying multiples of single products. For example, if you are configuring servers, buy twice or four times as many CPUs as you require today to consider future growth. This allows you to extend your capital investments as needed within the same rack space footprint.
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Buy first-generation server products
Server hardware is constantly evolving, with new generations of CPUs and memory modules released each year. If you are looking at a 3-year lifespan for your equipment, buying first-generation server products instead of last-generation components makes sense for best data center deals.
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Buy direct from vendors
When looking for the best prices, it’s important to remember that your goal is to reduce operating costs over the product’s lifetime. Using OEM hardware may seem cheaper up-front, but you will pay a premium in energy consumption and maintenance costs because of the lack of economies of scale. Buy directly from significant vendors to get maximum value for money on wholesale servers and components.
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Repurpose existing server hardware
Instead of buying all new server hardware, you may find that there are many multiples of single-socket or redundant servers in IT closets around your offices. Many companies use these servers for non-essential systems such as file and print or media streaming, which could be migrated to virtual platforms to free up resources.
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Idle capacity
Server utilization rates around the world are meager; in most companies, less than 10% of their hardware resources are utilized at any one time. As a result, if you have 100 dual-CPU servers in a data center, you only really need to purchase the equivalent of 10 single CPU systems. This is called ‘idle capacity,’ and it’s one of the best-kept secrets in the data center deals industry.
Conclusion:
The data center is a critical component of any company’s infrastructure. It can be challenging to find the best data centers for your needs with so many options available. These are essential considerations to make before investing in long-term contracts or purchasing costly equipment that may not suit your needs now or later on down the line.
