When choosing a data center location, the ideal approach is – The closer, the better!
Hosting your databases and applications close to your target audience is always best. Doing so will drastically reduce the latency for a potential customer, especially for people who need apps that are used frequently.
It’s time to ensure your business is not losing money because of where you host it!
Low network latency is essential for data centers for optimal system performance. Location is one of the critical factors that should be considered when locating your data center due to its importance. Thanks to advancements in the cloud, latency ratios are becoming increasingly smaller. With data centers closer to end users and high-bandwidth infrastructure in place, there is less delay or lag for processing requests.
One of the most important considerations for a company is how to host their web server. Cost and server location are the primary factors in choosing a web hosting service.
According to Van Jacobson, “A user begins to notice latency delay at 400 ms.”
After all, your website is to serve your audience the best, and the data center location plays an important role here.
How to determine your target audience?
If you are not sure about the location from where your website is getting the maximum traffic, you can try this:
- Look at your Google analytics to know the number of people coming to your website from different channels.
- If your website is new, have a quick look at the demographics of your target users.
Your decision should be based on the choice of the data center location that is nearest to your audience location.
Why does the data center location matter?
Latency is the time required for the data to travel back and forth. It is the time used between your server and your computer. The more distance your data center is away from your location, the slower it will be, and the slower the website will load. This means that users will have a more challenging time accessing your website.
All websites have different loading times. It is preferable to choose a centrally located data center to reduce latency. This is because you will experience less downtime and shorter page-loading times, so your visitors will enjoy a better experience when browsing your site.
You can save time and improve your website’s search engine optimization (SEO) with faster connections and low latency. This might result in higher placements on Google SERPs.
Related: The Future Of Data Centers And Its Role In The IT Industry
Here are some essential tips for you to choose the best data center location:
Proximity
There are two types of proximity to consider: The first is proximity to your website visitors. The second is proximity to boosting the sales of your business.
Website statistics can be found with the use of analytics software. Knowing where your site is accessed most and how it is used will help you make future design and marketing decisions.
Signing up for a Google Analytics account will allow you to access your website’s data. For example, this data shows where your visitors are located. Looking at user statistics by country shows where most of your users come from. You can find cities by clicking on different regions on the map.
Selecting a server located in the same country is recommended, but note that it may not be necessary and could even cause a slight decrease in speed. Breaking it down by state or city will likely only make a negligible difference.
Instead of focusing on proximity to your audience, choose a location near your business. For example, you might do this to visit your data center and see what’s happening. Some may think choosing a data center in the same town as your office is a good idea. However, if you partner with the right web host and rely on their support, you probably won’t need to visit your server often.
Content Delivery Network (CDN)
A content delivery network (or CDN) solves location limitations. It holds your often-dispatched content in data centers worldwide and ensures that your important information gets to users quickly.
CDNs are typically used for large files like images, videos, and other dynamic content. We find that, on average, 90% of a site’s traffic consists of this type of data transfer. For many clients, we’ve noticed a considerable speed-up when using a CDN with an overseas-hosted website.
Risk Involved
There is a risk of natural disasters, and it is impossible to safeguard against this risk. Substantial natural disasters can result in long-term outages. At times a datacentre location can be situated near high proximity area. The trick is to find a way to strike the right balance between risk and proximity.
Additional information about risk factors can be found online with some research. This allows you to find the most beneficial and safest place for you and the data center.
Remember, other factors are also involved in assessing risk, some of which the data center can manage. Usually, modern data centers are equipped to maintain optimum temperatures and perfect architecture for keeping the servers safe, along with disaster management systems in place.
Security
With the rise of AI, faster data speeds, and increasingly intelligent machines making it easier to hack into a system – large data centers are at risk. There’s more potential for data leakage now than ever before. This is why it’s essential to ensure that the data center facility you are hosted on has suitable security measures – not just digitally but also physically.
Ask your data center about video monitoring systems, granular access systems, biometric authentication, and man traps. They’re not as scary as they sound! It’s also worth checking whether they provide public records of the people accessing their system and how they protect the security of your data.
Compliance
The internet is no longer the chaotic place it once was. Websites must follow specific procedures and rules when communicating with people using certain methods. GDPR has been a considerable concern, and some companies have made immediate adjustments, but many others have to spend time and money in preparation.
A high-quality data center can provide a safe and compliant environment, which is essential with GDPR in place. For example, they can help you track and manage your data so you know where it came from, who accessed it, and when.
Related: Benefits Of Data Storage In A Cloud
Watch this video for on how to choose the best Datacenter location for your website
Uptime
Uptime is one of the most important things to consider when analyzing a data center. This is a representation of the time your website was online. One of the most critical factors of a website is availability. If your site is not accessible to visitors, it prevents them from gaining any understanding of your business.
Many companies claim to have 100% uptime, but this is a gimmicky number. Few data centers can meet that target. However, uptimes of over 99% are very common and achievable through redundant systems.
MilesWeb’s global data center locations
MilesWeb is in more than 50 countries with 6 international data center locations. MilesWeb ensures state-of-art datacenters with fast connectivity and low latency for unparalleled performance.
When you host with MilesWeb, you can choose from these data center locations:
- Canada
- USA
- UK
- India
- Singapore
- Australia
With MilesWeb, you get extensive geographical coverage to host near your target audience conveniently.
Conclusion
You must consider many important aspects when choosing an ideal data center location. If you are aware of the location of your audience, you can serve them better by selecting an appropriate data center location close to them.
Offering several data center locations across India and abroad with an excellent global reach, MilesWeb is the best web host for those looking for trustworthy and high-performance web hosting.
