Why Data Center Location Is Important
Whenever you develop the need to source a new dedicated server that can be used to host and store your businesses most sensitive and valuable data, the features and specifications such as the RAM size and processor quality are no doubt seen as essential, yet the location of the data center itself is often overlooked.
The location refers to the actual building in which the physical server will be stored and maintained, and this factor matters far more than you may initially believe. Understanding the reasoning behind the importance of your data centers location will allow you to make more informed decisions with regards to efficient and secure hosting.
Luckily, this article aims to explain why the location of your data center is so important, and it couldn’t be easier to implement the information and hacks below to improve your business today.
Why is Location so Important?
The location of your specific server’s data center will have an effect on your website’s potential speed as well as it’s latency. If you make the mistake of choosing a server which is located a considerable distance from most of its regular users, the commands and data must travel over far greater distances.
In practice, devices who visit a page on your website will have to communicate directly with your server in order to access any relevant files, photos, and data. This data can then be transferred or downloaded from your server to their own device, but if the data center is too far away then the process of actually obtaining the relevant files and data might be unreasonably lengthy.
When pages take too long to load and your pages are troubled with latency issues, your visitors will likely get frustrated with such snail-pace speeds, prompting them to exit your website without any plans of returning in the future.
It’s also important to note that search engines themselves do take website loading speed into consideration whenever they are ranking websites for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes, so choosing the wrong spot for your data center could even affect your rank.
So, How Can I Choose a Data Center Location?
Luckily, there are many different hosting companies that offer an array of data center locations for you to choose between. Whilst you decide on a location that would best suit your business’ needs, it’s vital that you can take some time to weigh up the pros and cons that can either increase or decrease your website’s speed and subsequent rank.
- Durability – long lasting, quality data centers were designed and built with durability in mind. They can withstand harsh weather such as natural disasters, allowing your servers to continue with minimal interruption.
- Traffic location – think about exactly where the largest proportion of your website’s traffic is coming from. Though this isn’t always easy to identify, if you operate in a small region or specific state then it’s a good idea to locate a data center nearby.
Finding a quality data center in Idaho or any other state is fairly simple, as you can utilize the world wide web to research and locate the most reputable servers.
