# Things to consider when choosing Colocation?



## MannDude (Jan 31, 2015)

I've got a 2U dual L5420 server collecting dust that I need to pack with drives and ship off to get connected. This will be used for a personal and backup server, so nothing "production". I've never shopped around for colo before so am curious if there is anything I should know or could easily overlook as a colo-newb. I'm interested in Colostore in South Bend, Indiana as that's about as local to me as I can get at a reasonable price but am of course open to suggestions as well.

What state does the server need to be in at the OS level before shipping it off? Only function it will serve is a Proxmox server for dev stuff, personal VPN, and the biggest chunk used for additional backups.


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## pbgben (Jan 31, 2015)

Configure the networking before shipping it off, ask them for the correct network details.


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## lowesthost (Jan 31, 2015)

Indeed  install the OS and network.  that way as soon as its racked your up and running

you cant go wrong with colostore  great bunch of folks


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## Munzy (Jan 31, 2015)

Don't host it in Texas.


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## HalfEatenPie (Jan 31, 2015)

Yep setup the network and the OS first (for proxmox if you have more than one drive then install Debian first, setup software raid, and then install Proxmox using this guide but be forewarned, this method doesn't make the bridge, so you're going to need to manually make the bridge, so set everything up using the home network before sending it out and testing/configuring it out there).  Worst case scenario make sure they let you get a KVM on loan.  Also make sure you know how much remote hand is (unless you plan on going in yourself to take care of hardware issues).  Those are the basic ones to start off with.  

I'd suggest making sure you know how much they're charging for IP, how much for power, space, bandwidth, and all that.  

I'm assuming it's the half-depth 2U servers from Fran.  Great machines.  Mine's coloed with KS in Vegas.  If I recall correctly, those should have a max power usage of around 1.5A.  Mine runs pretty hot even on idle (61C, honestly should really be around 30 or 40 or so), so make sure to watch out for that temp and all that.  

Also watch out for tax laws as @Munzy references.  Texas recently implemented a tax law where every year you have to pay tax (like a percentage of your server's worth or something) for the colo.  I doubt there's one in Indiana but better safe than sorry (gotta know!)


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## mitgib (Jan 31, 2015)

HalfEatenPie said:


> Also watch out for tax laws as @Munzy references.  Texas recently implemented a tax law where every year you have to pay tax (like a percentage of your server's worth or something) for the colo.  I doubt there's one in Indiana but better safe than sorry (gotta know!)


Indiana has personal property tax as well, I remember back in the 80's when I drove a semi, I lived in Illinois at the time, and would run across other truckers from Indiana all the time, and their tax bills were huge.


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## HalfEatenPie (Jan 31, 2015)

mitgib said:


> Indiana has personal property tax as well, I remember back in the 80's when I drove a semi, I lived in Illinois at the time, and would run across other truckers from Indiana all the time, and their tax bills were huge.


YOU'RE STILL AROUND!  HORRAY!  

Also thanks for clearing that up.  Several people I know moved their colocations out of Texas just because of their new taxes, so that was right on my mind.


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## mitgib (Jan 31, 2015)

HalfEatenPie said:


> YOU'RE STILL AROUND!  HORRAY!
> 
> Also thanks for clearing that up.  Several people I know moved their colocations out of Texas just because of their new taxes, so that was right on my mind.


I've been doing this since 1996, nobody is getting rid of me easily, I'll probably die first.

I also though of Missouri after making my post since they also have a personal property tax, and technically a server colo'd say in Kansas City MO would be subject to the tax, but I doubt they are as anal as TX yet.


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## HalfEatenPie (Jan 31, 2015)

mitgib said:


> I've been doing this since 1996, nobody is getting rid of me easily, I'll probably die first.
> 
> I also though of Missouri after making my post since they also have a personal property tax, and technically a server colo'd say in Kansas City MO would be subject to the tax, but I doubt they are as anal as TX yet.


Hm I never really bothered to investigate specifically what tax it was in Texas that applied to colo.  So I guess it's the personal property tax then eh?  Good to know.  

You are pretty awesome, there's no denying that!


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## MannDude (Feb 1, 2015)

lowesthost said:


> Indeed  install the OS and network.  that way as soon as its racked your up and running
> 
> you cant go wrong with colostore  great bunch of folks


Thanks, I wasn't for sure if it'd be racked, me given KVM access to install the OS and stuff or what. So, I take it that upon ordering colo it's common for them to give you your IP/network details first so everything can be configured at home before shipping it off?

By the way, when I used SouthBendVPS I used my VM with them mostly for a VPN. All the IPs I was assigned would prevent me from using Google services and I'd always have to enter a CAPTCHA code to proceed with my search. It was a PITA and Google stated that the IP was associated with automatic queries or something previously. I think I had them reassign me an IP 2 or 3 times and all with the same result. It wasn't something that I myself could correct as it was an upstream matter. Was that an isolated thing with them or have you experienced that with ColoStore also?



Munzy said:


> Don't host it in Texas.


Wasn't planning to, really shooting to keep things in Indiana or as near me as possible. But I'm curious as to why you say that. 



mitgib said:


> Indiana has personal property tax as well, I remember back in the 80's when I drove a semi, I lived in Illinois at the time, and would run across other truckers from Indiana all the time, and their tax bills were huge.


Interesting. Though I don't think it'd be _too bad_ on a $70/mo or less colo bill. Though that is something I certainly didn't consider and appreciate the mention.


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## lowesthost (Feb 1, 2015)

> I take it that upon ordering colo it's common for them to give you your IP/network details first so everything can be configured at home before shipping it off?


we moved our racks from cedar falls IA to Colostore last summer we requested  BGP session IP's before we shipped out a router .

it was programed before we shipped it out so it was plug in play, our other peer did the same.



> By the way, when I used SouthBendVPS I used my VM with them mostly for a VPN. All the IPs I was assigned would prevent me from using Google services and I'd always have to enter a CAPTCHA code to proceed with my search


I cant tell you about colostore IP addresses  as we use our own IP space the VPN we have up works just fine with Google


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## Steven F (Feb 1, 2015)

You might want to find out if the facility carries/offers spare parts on-site. It can help prevent prolonged periods of downtime. While this is personal, you never know when you'll need a backup.


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## iWF-Jacob (Feb 1, 2015)

It really depends on your colo provider. You could have it all set up and ready to rumble, or you could have it shipped, have a KVM hooked up to it, and proceed to install OS. Does it have IPMI? Configuring that before it's shipped off would probably be a good idea.


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## HalfEatenPie (Feb 1, 2015)

MannDude said:


> Interesting. Though I don't think it'd be _too bad_ on a $70/mo or less colo bill. Though that is something I certainly didn't consider and appreciate the mention.


@Munzy told me his recent/yearly tax for his server was over a hundred dollars (in Texas).  

So probably best to know how much it's going to cost ya haha.


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## MattKC (Feb 2, 2015)

Missouri won't charge ppt on Colo'd server's (not yet at least). MO is self reported for ppt billing.


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## AlphaNine_Vini (Feb 2, 2015)

Make sure hardware and Operating system is well setup. Use a reliable shipping agent. Keep a track on your package. Mark your package. Handle with care. So non of your memory and other part get loose during movement.


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## devonblzx (Feb 2, 2015)

Can't go wrong with Colostore for budget colo, we have a cage there along with Hostcolor and UnlimitedNet.  We are also joining the peering exchange that is there (GlobeIX).

Their shared colo area includes UPS power (and a diesel generator for the whole facility), a remote reboot port, and you can request a KVM usually for no charge (at least Monday-Friday). 



> What state does the server need to be in at the OS level before shipping it off? Only function it will serve is a Proxmox server for dev stuff, personal VPN, and the biggest chunk used for additional backups.


For colostore, you can send it in blank if you want.  They will attach a KVM and USB key/rom to the server for you to install the OS if you need.  Most facilities though, you'll want to check with them beforehand.  Many will charge a flat fee for a KVM or if they don't offer KVM, they will charge you a flat fee for an OS install which is often a hefty price compared to you doing it at home.  This is why most servers come with a remote console / virtual media option with IPMI now.


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## drmike (Feb 3, 2015)

HalfEatenPie said:


> @Munzy told me his recent/yearly tax for his server was over a hundred dollars (in Texas).
> 
> So probably best to know how much it's going to cost ya haha.


Texas can die in a fire.  They still send me hate mail trying to collect bogus surcharge.   Nice of DC's down there to NOT NOTIFY CUSTOMERS. My notification was some shady looking junk mail envelope that I must have initially discarded.   Nice of DC's to GIVE PERSONAL DETAILS OF CUSTOMERS TO GOVERNMENT.  Governments who they apparently selling such details or otherwise broadcasting it to public where other annoying assholes are capturing such and then adding folks to sales, advertising, idiot lists.

I can't speak to county in Texas where Munzy has gear, but my experience was in Dallas county.

No due process, nothing.  Just a fat ahole bill for something they have no clue about, because they can.  What is someone to do?  Fight it and get a server value assessment?  Whole thing is beyond flawed.   The DC's are hiding the tax.  More folks know at the door, they'll go to other datacenters in other cities and states.


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## drmike (Feb 3, 2015)

MannDude said:


> What state does the server need to be in at the OS level before shipping it off? Only function it will serve is a Proxmox server for dev stuff, personal VPN, and the biggest chunk used for additional backups.


I stopped sending stuff out to colo.  

Facilities usually want gear with rack rails.  Do you have rails for your server?   Better check and ask whoever you consider if they take gear without rails.  Some facilities have generic rails they'll sell you, but they have a bad habit of never remembering to send them afterwards when you retrieve your gear.

Next, skip Texas.

If considering ColoStore, find out about them doing IP announce for clean IPs from someone else.  I've had bad / troubled IPs in that facility also.  Seems to be norm there.  ColoStore isn't Indiana, I think they backhaul everything to CHI from there.

Kansas City should be alright from your location too.   Bunch of options there also.


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## HalfEatenPie (Feb 3, 2015)

drmike said:


> I stopped sending stuff out to colo.
> 
> Facilities usually want gear with rack rails.  Do you have rails for your server?   Better check and ask whoever you consider if they take gear without rails.  Some facilities have generic rails they'll sell you, but they have a bad habit of never remembering to send them afterwards when you retrieve your gear.


Good call.  Just letting you know though, these servers don't require rails.  They're the 1/2 depth 2 U servers Fran was giving out for free.  They're the ones that simply get bolted on (or screwed on) to the rack if I recall correctly (mine simply moved maybe 30 yards at max).


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## drmike (Feb 3, 2015)

HalfEatenPie said:


> Good call.  Just letting you know though, these servers don't require rails.  They're the 1/2 depth 2 U servers Fran was giving out for free.  They're the ones that simply get bolted on (or screwed on) to the rack if I recall correctly (mine simply moved maybe 30 yards at max).


Unsure how DC's handle those.  Cause they want rails normally so they can slide it out and pop the top as needed.  If hard bolted, they can't do that. 

Now folks with their own racks or cage, yeah, they are more liberal


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## HalfEatenPie (Feb 3, 2015)

drmike said:


> Unsure how DC's handle those.  Cause they want rails normally so they can slide it out and pop the top as needed.  If hard bolted, they can't do that.
> 
> Now folks with their own racks or cage, yeah, they are more liberal


Haha I wouldn't be surprised they'll detest working on those machines.  

I don't know how much they'd tax this though.  It's not worth paying a hundred dollars in tax for this machine.


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## gordonrp (Feb 3, 2015)

Confirm how much remote hands costs will be at various times of day and on holidays. Sometimes using non hotswap servers can incur extra charges, for example a lot of providers (us included) offer courtesy hands for hot swap items (drives, psus, etc).

It seems you don't have internal ipmi/kvm, I was also going to suggest to make sure your provider provides an uplink for ipmi/kvm and that it is secured in some fashion (vpn/firewall). Personally I wouldn't ever colo a machine without ipmi/kvm, but I assume this is for non critical work loads.


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## devonblzx (Feb 3, 2015)

drmike said:


> If considering ColoStore, find out about them doing IP announce for clean IPs from someone else.  I've had bad / troubled IPs in that facility also.  Seems to be norm there.  ColoStore isn't Indiana, I think they backhaul everything to CHI from there.


You must have had bad luck or something recent maybe?  We used Colostore's IP addresses for ~5 years without any issues. 

As for the network.  Cogent, Internap, and Level3 are all on site.   However, Level3 and Internap backhaul all traffic to Chicago.   For Cogent, they have an actual South Bend network with links to Chicago, Toledo, and Indianapolis.   It is only 90 miles from Chicago to South Bend though, so it is only 3ms round trip between them. (Should be less but I'm not sure how the fiber is laid)


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## Stack (Feb 3, 2015)

Make sure you've looked up what other people have to say about it, that it's got on-site facilities/engineers that can assist you etc.

Good luck finding a datacenter that suits your needs, I would recommend CC (http://colocrossing.com/)


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## iWF-Jacob (Feb 3, 2015)

drmike said:


> Unsure how DC's handle those.  Cause they want rails normally so they can slide it out and pop the top as needed.  If hard bolted, they can't do that.
> 
> Now folks with their own racks or cage, yeah, they are more liberal


Yeah DC74 wont let us have anything not on rails. It can be annoying sometimes, but whatever.



Stack said:


> Make sure you've looked up what other people have to say about it, that it's got on-site facilities/engineers that can assist you etc.
> 
> Good luck finding a datacenter that suits your needs, I would recommend CC (http://colocrossing.com/)


I'm sorry, what? Please tell me that's sarcasm.


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## Stack (Feb 3, 2015)

iWF-Jacob said:


> Yeah DC74 wont let us have anything not on rails. It can be annoying sometimes, but whatever.
> 
> I'm sorry, what? Please tell me that's sarcasm.


I have never had anything happen when using Colocrossing.


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## drmike (Feb 3, 2015)

Stack said:


> I have never had anything happen when using Colocrossing.


Ignore the IPs getting blacklisted.  Ignore the bad reputation of the network due to malicious misuse.   Ignore increase of network attacks due to the crime infested ColoCrossing network neighborhood.

They do one thing: CHEAP.  You want cheap, fine.  Fine, one of those cheap $30, now $43, next to be ??? GVH E3's....

... if you like rolling dice when they are loaded with dynamite...


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## Cloudrck (Feb 4, 2015)

Stack said:


> I have never had anything happen when using Colocrossing.


No one ever has issues with a particular company, until they do.


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## key900 (Feb 7, 2015)

Munzy said:


> Don't host it in Texas.


Why?


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## Stack (Feb 8, 2015)

drmike said:


> Ignore the IPs getting blacklisted.  Ignore the bad reputation of the network due to malicious misuse.   Ignore increase of network attacks due to the crime infested ColoCrossing network neighborhood.
> 
> They do one thing: CHEAP.  You want cheap, fine.  Fine, one of those cheap $30, now $43, next to be ??? GVH E3's....
> 
> ... if you like rolling dice when they are loaded with dynamite...


Yes, I have heard about Colocrossing enabling IP header modification which opens a massive market for hackers, however again I've never had a problem.


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## MannDude (Feb 8, 2015)

Thanks for the updates everyone. Still looking into this. I'm not in any real rush to proceed with this, but do appreciate the comments.

The server in question is a Dual L5420 w/ 32GB(?) (maybe 24, I forget) of RAM. Any idea on power consumption on this?

I may start emailing a few places in the coming weeks and see what sorta deal can be had.


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## iWF-Jacob (Feb 8, 2015)

MannDude said:


> Thanks for the updates everyone. Still looking into this. I'm not in any real rush to proceed with this, but do appreciate the comments.
> 
> The server in question is a Dual L5420 w/ 32GB(?) (maybe 24, I forget) of RAM. Any idea on power consumption on this?
> 
> I may start emailing a few places in the coming weeks and see what sorta deal can be had.


Know model numbers? HDDs/SSDs?


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## lowesthost (Feb 9, 2015)

I have a supermico Dual L5420 with 2x WD blacks  no raid  no ipmi in it and it uses  approximately 1.3 amps  with no load


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## iWF-Jacob (Feb 9, 2015)

lowesthost said:


> I have a supermico Dual L5420 with 2x WD blacks  no raid  no ipmi in it and it uses  approximately 1.3 amps  with no load


Really? That sounds strange, we have dual L5640 machines with IPMI that idle at around [email protected] with 4xSSDs


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## lowesthost (Feb 9, 2015)

strange that is so low or so high?  I was expecting it  it to be closer  to 2 amps more in line with the the old 5404 that uses 2.3 amps at idle (power pig)


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## HalfEatenPie (Feb 9, 2015)

yeah those Dual L5420s usually max out around 1.5A or so at 110V (as a general rule of thumb).  



iWF-Jacob said:


> Know model numbers? HDDs/SSDs?


The Model Number should be just an old Rackable S5000PSL 2U.  But yeah HDDs/SSDs numbers would be nice.



iWF-Jacob said:


> Really? That sounds strange, we have dual L5640 machines with IPMI that idle at around [email protected] with 4xSSDs


I wish these used 1.1A max.  Dual L5420 consume much more power (granted less than what it originally was as E5420s) than some of the more common servers today.  These babies are powerhorses but suffer from sucking on energy.


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## HalfEatenPie (Feb 9, 2015)

Stack said:


> I have never had anything happen when using Colocrossing.


Hey bud!  This is nothing against you but many people (including myself and a few of us on the admin staff) are pretty salty about CC (as you already probably know by now).  Fantastic you're not having problems with them.  I hope you're not affected by their network problem right now.  

I however would never ever host with CC (even if they offered to pay me to)


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## robbyhicks (Feb 14, 2015)

I would buy an IPMI card or have an iKVM solution if you're hosting remotely!! This will save you tons of money with remote hands, and be able to troubleshoot bios, reload OS yourself. Just be sure you get a separate network port for your IPMI/iKVM, most colo providers will give this to you free because it means you're much less likely to use remote hands 

Good luck with your search!!


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## VENETX (Feb 15, 2015)

I think so far if for pricing You have ;

FiberHub

Dacentec

Colocrossing

There might be others too but you need to know which one gives you a free set-up in hand so they may configure the networking unless they might charge you about $25 extra


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## HostingAbove (Mar 3, 2015)

MannDude said:


> I've got a 2U dual L5420 server collecting dust that I need to pack with drives and ship off to get connected. This will be used for a personal and backup server, so nothing "production". I've never shopped around for colo before so am curious if there is anything I should know or could easily overlook as a colo-newb. I'm interested in Colostore in South Bend, Indiana as that's about as local to me as I can get at a reasonable price but am of course open to suggestions as well.
> 
> What state does the server need to be in at the OS level before shipping it off? Only function it will serve is a Proxmox server for dev stuff, personal VPN, and the biggest chunk used for additional backups.


Excellent choice. I've used Colostore back in the day and they are a phenomenal group of folks down there. I believe Josh, who was and may still be the team lead for support back in the day was always readily available, carrying their cells answering your calls whatever the time of day/night. All around, good group and pricing wasn't too bad either.

Dacentec is a solid choice is well, recently purchased by Centriologic. Pricing you will probably find to be a bit better. Network upstreams do vary though between Dacentec and Colostore. Colostore I remember them using Level 3 as their primary vs Dacentec, whom normally pushes out Cogent Communications or Hurricane Electric in their shared colo racks.

Hopefully all goes smooth sailing


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## weloveservers (Mar 30, 2015)

MannDude said:


> I've got a 2U dual L5420 server collecting dust that I need to pack with drives and ship off to get connected. This will be used for a personal and backup server, so nothing "production". I've never shopped around for colo before so am curious if there is anything I should know or could easily overlook as a colo-newb. I'm interested in Colostore in South Bend, Indiana as that's about as local to me as I can get at a reasonable price but am of course open to suggestions as well.
> 
> What state does the server need to be in at the OS level before shipping it off? Only function it will serve is a Proxmox server for dev stuff, personal VPN, and the biggest chunk used for additional backups.


Network, price, uptime and power supply. That's what we consider.


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## Strad Solutions (Nov 18, 2018)

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