Suggestions for colocation needed

[Tim Pozar]

BTW... For those looking for a colo...  Take Michael and my comments 
with a grain of salt.  Each has their own experience and there can be so 
many links that can break to support your gear.  I do have a short list 
of questions I use when going into a colo for a quick due-dilligence. 
They are attached...

Tim
--
SLA -

         Please submit your Service Level Agreement.

         What is your "mean time to repair" (MTTR) commitment?

         What is your guarantee uptime?

         What is your "Failure to Meet" commitment?

Facilities -

         Description of the racks...

                 ie.
                 2 / 4 post?
                 Inside Depth
                 23 and 19 inch?

         What is in a typical rack?

                 ie.
                 Patch bays
                 Power plug strips
                 Lighting
                 Grounding

         Do you provide workspace?

                 Tools
                 KVM crash cart
                 Bench

Power and Grounding -

         Utility or "Shore" Power:

                 Are there two or more services from the power
                 company?

                 Are they routed from different directions and come
                 in different entrances?

         Generators

                 Please describe the generators at the site.  Include
                 Make/model of the generators.

                 Is there a provision for outside power connections
                 for generator rentals (also known as a "lug landing")?

                         If so, specify wire size that can be
                         accommodated and/or lug/bolt size.

                 Do you have contracts for emergency rental of
                 generators?

                 How much fuel do you have on site?  (Hours of
                 generator run time at full load.)

                 Do you have contracts for fuel for the generators?

                 What maintenance and testing do you do with fuel and
                 oil?

                 How often do you test generators and the UPS with
                 out and with loads?

         UPS

                 Is the UPS always on line or switched to?

                 How long will the UPS run with a complete outage?

                 Please provide Make and model.

         Do you provide 48VDC?

                 How is it distributed?

                 How many hours of battery at full design load (no
                 primary power)?

         Grounding:

                 How is it distributed?

                 Are the rack rails painted?

                 How are the racks grounded?

                 Describe the common ground point for the site

         How is power switched between services, UPS (if so) and
         generator.  Ie. Manual, automatic.  How many cycles does
         it take?

         Are circuits for each rack separate from other customers.
         Ie. Can some other customer overload my breaker?

         How are is the power panel secured?  If my breaker trips,
         how do I reset it?  Do others have access to my breaker?

         Is power monitored by a Ground Fault Interrupter?

Fire -

         What is the fire suppression system?

                 Gas (ie Haylon), water, etc

         If water:

                 Is the system gas-filled and will shut down power?
                 Is it zoned?
                 How is water removed when it goes off?

         If gas:

                 What warning do you have before it goes off?

                 Are there O2 masks that can be retrieved if folks
                 can't exit the space?

         Does the A/C shut down during a fire?

         Do you using computer flooring?

                 Are you required and have a fire system under the
                 computer flooring?

Environmental Control -

         Is the A/C backed up with other units?

         Are they on standby or run at the same time?

         If on standby, how are they started?

         What level of air filtering do you have for this site?

         Do you supply a positive air pressure for the area?

Earthquake -

         Does the building, racks and support equipment meet Uniform
         Building Code Seismic Zone 4 requirements?

                 See: "Bellcore NEBS document TR-000063, Issue 4,
                 1992" or "Telcordia Technologies (formerly Bellcore)
                 GR-63-CORE"

         How are the racks braced?

         Describe building bracing?

         Please list make model of racks

         How is wiring routed to take any building and equipment
         movement?

Security and access -

         Can we access our equipment 24x7?

         Describe the physical access for the equipment and cabling
         to the cage.

         Do you use biometrics, magnetic or RF badges?

         What monitoring do you do?

                 ie. cameras, doors, etc.

         Is there a challenge/response process for hands on work.

         Who else has access to our rack/cage?

         What is the process for removing / installing equipment?

         Do you escort clients in common areas?

Internet Transit providers -

         Please list all the transit providers at the location now.

Backbone providers -

         Please list all the backbone providers at the location now.

         Are they routed from different directions and come in
         different entrances?

Staffing -

         Do you have 24x7 personal?

         Do you have hands on availability?
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