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706 WEBHOSTINGTable 4Sample Locked-Cabinet Colocation Pricing (as of April 2003)One-Time (Setup) MonthlyService Qty Each Total Each Total
Cabinet Rental (Per Cabinet) 2 1200 $2,400 $700 $1,400
Minimum Bandwidth (1Mbps) 2 $ - $750 $1,500
Additional Bandwidth (Per 1 Mbps) 3 $ - $750 $2,250
Daily Tape Rotation (Per Tape) 2 $ - $500 $1,000
Totals $2,400 $6,150backup tapes and providing a basic Remote Hands ser-
vice to perform simple tasks such as cycling server power
off and on.Locked Cabinets
Locked cabinetsare an alternative to open racks. Not only
do they reduce the number of problems that occur as a
result of maintenance to neighboring systems, but they
also improve security. In addition, a locked cabinet can be
used as a place to keep tools and spare parts—something
that cannot be done with open racks.
Charges for locked cabinets are per cabinet. The exam-
ple in Table 4 is for a site using two locked cabinets and a
total of 5 Mbps of bandwidth.Cages
Finally,cagescan be used to create small, private data
centers. Data center cages look very much like those in
a zoo. They are typically made from a material that re-
sembles Cyclone fencing, but is much tougher. They are
fully enclosed (i.e., they go all the way to the ceiling) and
have doors with padlocks. The smallest cages are approx-
imately 7 feet by 10 feet and can hold three or four open
racks. Larger cages can hold hundreds of racks. (Open
racks are not a problem when they are used inside a pri-
vate cage. In fact, it is much easier to cable and main-
tain servers installed in open racks than when they are
installed inside enclosed cabinets.)
Most Web-site owners find that cages are particularly
attractive if they need more than five or six racks or cab-
inets and expect to manage their own servers or use an
MSP independent from the colocation vendor. A cage gives
the user the ultimate in isolation from other customers.
And because users have floor space in addition to the rackspace, they can store even more tools, spare parts, and
servers than they can store in cabinets.
The charges for cages may be based on the size of the
cage, the number of racks within the cage, or both. Table 5
is a sample of cage colocation pricing.Bandwidth Costs
Nearly all colocation vendors charge for connectivity to
the Internet using the 95th Percentile Rule, in which the
5% of busiest bandwidth measurements, taken every 5
minutes, are discarded, and the next-highest measure-
ment is the one used for billing purposes. The retail cost of
bandwidth at relatively low volumes begins at a maximum
cost of about $1,000 per Mbps per month. For example,
a site that delivers 1 million page views per month might
use a 95th percentile peak bandwidth of 5 Mbps. The cost
(before any quantity discounting) would be $5,000 per
month.MANAGED SERVICES
For many years, if customers opted for colocation, they
had no choice but to manage their colocated servers them-
selves. Over time, more and more Web-site owners found
themselves in this position. Because those owners tended
to have the largest budgets, a new market opportunity ap-
peared for someone who was willing and able to come in
and manage the high-end Web sites housed at colocation
facilities.
To exploit this opportunity, a new Web-hosting service
category, managed service providers, was born. Managed
services are specifically designed to work in conjunction
with colocation and to provide those services that are not
addressed by colocation vendors themselves.Table 5Sample Cage Colocation Pricing (as of April 2003)One-Time (Setup) MonthlyService Qty Each Total Each Total
Cage Rental (10’ x 10” with 4 Racks) 1 5000 $5,000 $6,500 $6,500
Minimum Bandwidth (1 Mbps Per Rack) 4 $ - $ 750 $3,000
Additional Bandwidth (Per 1 Mbps) 6 $ - $ 750 $4,500
Remote Hands Service (Per Server) 14 $ - $ 50 $ 700
Daily Tape Rotation (Per Tape) 4 $ - $ 500 $2,000
Totals $5,000 $16,700