Manchester Vs. London

SubliminalWeb · 26th September 2007

Hello

Basically my problem is this: I was going to start colocation sometime at BlueSquare DC - buying rackspace directly or from somebody with space there.

The problem I've been worried about is the fact I live up North. It would take be a fair amount of hours to get down to London if something went really wrong. If there was a small problem, I would be relying on technicians. I would also require an extensive KVM setup for easy access being far away.

Recently I've been thinking whether or not it is worth it buying rack space in Manchester instead. Will there be much difference in connectivity to Manchester? Can somebody with experience tell me who the best places to buy space with are, give some quick reviews? You see, it would take me 35mins-1hour to drive to Manchester... well, depending on the exact area and traffic it could take a bit longer; either way it is much quicker than driving to London and CAN be done should it be really required. It also means I can install equipment myself - no paying for a courier to carry equipment and no relying on others to install it for me.

I've found the pricing in Manchester seems to be a fair bit more? I know this is the wrong forum but as a little spin off from this topic, if anybody can offer me a good deal or recommend a place for:

- a quarter rack in Manchester
- 5-10mbit with future expansion to 20mbit bandwidth,
- 64 IP Addresses, with expansion in future.
- 3-4 Amps to begin with, moving up to 7-9 Amps.

Basically any info regarding rackspace in Manchester, what it's like, the service etc - how it compares to London. I'd really appreciate it!

Thanks v.much everybody

Mike

Jon-NC · 28th September 2007

If you cannot be onsite within a reasonable time, i.e. less than 20 minuets then I personally don't feel you should offer co-location.

London would be completely out of the question from Manchester. Imagine trying to get to London Friday afternoon for an emergency? You can kiss good bye to 4 hours traveling.

I've heard good things about www.melbourne.co.uk in Manchester.

alexcf · 28th September 2007

Where is up North?

UKSolutions have a datacentre in Studley, near Birmingham who can provide excellent power, and an extremely good service if I say so myself!

samb · 28th September 2007

Manchester to London RTT is ~ 8ms. In terms of service, there are good and bad DCs, just like in London and the surrounding area. TelecityRedbus Manchester staff are massively more helpful than their London counterparts IME however..

I've got kit in both Telecity Manchester and Melbourne's facility and the service from both has been excellent.

danfoster · 28th September 2007

I'm obviously biased so i'll try to remain objective...

Manchester is much smaller than London in terms of space available, there's very little space available again at the moment. In terms of pricing you'll find Manchester cheaper than docklands, but probably places like bluesquare would be cheaper than Manc (I could be wrong here).

The one thing that will be more expensive up here is bandwidth, as we have to pay london prices plus the cost of getting it up here. That said, we're paying about an eigth of the price we used to pay a couple of years ago, but on smaller commits there's still a difference.

PS - I don't think many providers will give you 7-9A in a quarter rack

HTH

Dan

othellotech · 28th September 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by SubliminalWeb

The problem I've been worried about is the fact I live up North. It would take be a fair amount of hours to get down to London if something went really wrong.

You do realise BlueSquare isn't in London ? So not a lot of point you going to London if something goes wrong

Quote:

Originally Posted by SubliminalWeb

Recently I've been thinking whether or not it is worth it buying rack space in Manchester instead. Will there be much difference in connectivity to Manchester?

Simple answer - yes.
Not so simple answer - it depends on how they backhaul it, over whom they backhaul it and where they backhaul it to, for connectivity - largely everything in the UK interconnects in E14.

SubliminalWeb · 28th September 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon-NC

If you cannot be onsite within a reasonable time, i.e. less than 20 minuets then I personally don't feel you should offer co-location.

London would be completely out of the question from Manchester. Imagine trying to get to London Friday afternoon for an emergency? You can kiss good bye to 4 hours traveling.

I've heard good things about www.melbourne.co.uk in Manchester.

Sorry if I'm wrong, but I don't think I ever mentioned colo providing and wouldn't dream of it

Yeah I've been looking at Melbourne and will probably go with them for colo/rackspace if/when the time comes.

OthelloTech: Yup I'm aware that BlueSquare isn't actually in London - but close enough isn't it? Based from where I am BlueSquare is still a long way away

Thanks for replies guys, I think that if I do go into colo it will be in Manchester. A 40 minute drive isn't so bad for servers holding my small projects with the help of KVM. IF there was a hardware failure or something, I could be there within 40 minutes so that isn't too bad. I will have to keep researching.

danfoster · 28th September 2007

With the right redundancy in place you can avoid most URGENT visits to the DC but you will always need to visit at some point; that said we have quarter racks in a number of other datacentres, none of which we visit very frequently.

PS We only have a few quarters left, but if we're full we'll be able to recommend reputable companies to sort you out :P

Jon-NC · 28th September 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by SubliminalWeb

Sorry if I'm wrong, but I don't think I ever mentioned colo providing and wouldn't dream of it

My bad. Didn't read your post correctly.

If you are co-locating your kit then it is less of an issue with decent hardware and KVM IP etc.

It is always nicer to be closer to your hardware.

JamesSykes · 2nd October 2007

If connectivity is important to you then the only place to be is London. That said there are sure to be some decent providers in Manchester, just not quite the same choice and diversity that you would get in London.

Personally I would rather be close to my servers, even with good planning and the use of HP ILO, Network Power Control, KVP/IP and 4 hour on-site support agreements it's still easier to sleep knowing you are very close.

I live about 5 miles from Docklands and assuming the traffic doest kill me I can get there in under 10 minutes. It's handy when the **** hits the fan.

edb49 · 2nd October 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamesSykes

I live about 5 miles from Docklands and assuming the traffic doest kill me I can get there in under 10 minutes. It's handy when the **** hits the fan.

That's an average 30mph, which is bloody quick!

Cyberprog · 2nd October 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by edb49

That's an average 30mph, which is bloody quick!

Where there are no cops, or speed cameras, there is no speed limit

JamieBeeston · 2nd October 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cyberprog

Where there are no cops, or speed cameras, there is no speed limit

Where you can walk, there is no worry

Cyberprog · 2nd October 2007

Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me, either. Just leave me alone.

Keep death off the road, let me drive on the pavement.

MattParks · 3rd October 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cyberprog

Keep death off the road, let me drive on the pavement.

Oh your a BMW driver then