There are quite a few things to consider before choosing a datacenter for your equipment and hosting. The quality of the environment, the redundancy and reliability of the utilities, the quality of the technicians and staff, and the location; among other things, these are points on which to make your final decision. Choosing a place to colocate or host data is a big decision that will affect your company in both the short term and the long term.
If you compare these preliminary choices to the ones you will have to make once you begin to settle in, they may seem like small details when planning out the possible options you’ll have as time passes. Ultimately, your build-out plans will influence your business’s future, in regards to its relationship to the internet.
Having a game plan for your growth in terms of hardware is imperative to smooth, reliable service for your customers, and ease of maintenance for the technicians responsible for your equipment. Expense can also be minimized by having a firm vision for expansion. In a way, this sort of planning can be likened to chess, as it is to your advantage to perceive what your next steps will be, and the possible paths that can diverge from there. Do you know if you will need a full server rack, or more than one? What is your total capacity per rack, what type of servers will you be placing in those racks? The delineation of directions to go in can be overwhelming if addressed last minute.
Your control over your growth is best managed by looking ahead.