The best way to ensure your services enjoy unimpeded international transit is to house them in a data centre located in a major communications and trading hub. Any city with a global stock exchange market will normally have world-class connectivity and enterprise-level data facilities, because of the demands banks place on such sites in trading day to day.

London is one of, if not the most connected cities in the world, thanks to its trading hub and its proximity to mainland Europe. It has direct links to the East Coast of the USA, and to every other continent on Earth. It is also home to some of the worlds largest data centre operators, including Telecity, Equinix and Interxion. The is no doubt that London has become the worlds premier location for data deployment. With Netwise Hosting's NH:DC1 facility in South London enjoying connectivity straight into the London Internet Exchange (LINX / HEX), global connectivity is met at the highest of standards.

We are part of a next-generation high capacity 40/100GigE network, connecting NH:DC1 directly to over 40 UK data centres, with access to over 250 UK service providers and carriers. Netwise Hosting enjoy Layer 2 and Layer 3 IP transit services to over 600 cities globally, notable including low-latency links to the United States. By strategically partnering with British Telecom through our connectivity suppliers, we peer freely with each other for the best global routing possible.

Every single service that we provide, from dedicated servers and online backup right through to server colocation, is connected to our global network, and has unrestricted access to the world at large. Your deployment is only as strong as its weakest link. Don't let that link be poor connectivity. House your mission critical infrastructure in London.

1) Service Scope

Your going to want as much value for money as possible from your dedicated server platform. Its very easy to go online and find a provider offering servers for next to nothing, which many will consider to be 'good value' - however, you should be far more concerned with the services you are actually receiving for your money. If you look at the very cheap services on offer out in Asia, or even in large oversold data centres in the USA, you will notice the lack of supplementary services that are in place to ensure the dedicated machines function correctly. They may well be inexpensive, and have a powerful hardware set, but they will lack support, proper software provisioning, and access to essential core services such as conditioned power and high-speed transit/bandwidth. Any host worth their weight in salt will have a fantastic feature-rich set of services that surround their dedicated servers, creating an ideal environment from which to grow your business online safely, and without the worry that your service may not have the true 'value' it promised you with its attractive prices.

2) Flexibility

A few years ago, flexibility would have likely been omitted from this list. It is only in recent years that the nature of doing business online has changed in such a way that service flexibility has become essential. Your services should grow in line with your ever changing requirements, whether that be an increase in size/scope, or a decrease. With most top providers, you can now monitor your servers usages statistics in real-time, and adjust bandwidth allocations on-the-fly to save any nasty surprises at the end of the month. Flexible billing cycles are also a must to avoid being tied down to one service type for too long. Remember, if you cant directly contact your hosting provider and discuss individual options, then the chances are they are not as flexible as they may seem at first glance.

3) Enterprise-Class Hardware Sets

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and quality dedicated servers are no different. As many people know, Intel make some fantastically fast processors today - their iSeries (i3, i5, i7) is making waves in the home computing market thanks to impressive speed and efficiency. But do you really want desktop-grade hardware in your server? The simple answer is no. There is a marked difference between what you provision inside a server compared with that of a home computer. Server hardware needs to withstand tens of thousands of hours of constant usage, without faltering for even a second. Home computing hardware is simply not up to this challenge. A good service provider will only use server-grade hardware sets, such as Intel's Xeon range, and AMD's Opteron range. The same applies for RAM, airflow management and other internals - ensure you are getting an enterprise-class server, not a reworked home machine.

4) Reputation

There are a lot of dedicated server hosts out there today, and one of the quickest ways of identifying the good from the bad is from their reputation amongst users and the community at large. This is more important than size, as it doesn't only focus on widespread service adoption, but more the quality of services on offer. Check industry forums for user comments, and find out who the host already provides services for - this will give an indication of what companies already entrust their services with the provider in question.

5) The People

As mentioned in some of our previous top tip run-downs, getting to know the people behind the businesses you work with is very important - and hosting is no different. There is a real tendency for dedicated server buyers to simply find a 'good deal' and buy the service online through a shopping cart, without ever speaking to anyone at the organisation beforehand. Naturally, this can be difficult with the enormous 'stack em high sell em cheap' providers in the USA, but more personable professional business services in the UK and Europe have dedicated staff on call to run through your requirements with you. This will begin building a business relationship with the host, and turn an otherwise basic financial enterprise into a rewarding service partnership. That's true service value!

Contact a member of the Netwise Hosting team today to discuss how we can match all of the above points and more, making us an ideal dedicated server provider for the savvy business buyer!

Yet you can get into the industry with relative ease provided you are willing to put in the hard work and can confidently build a brand upon which people can know and trust. Reselling the services of top hosting providers around the globe under your own brand is a fantastic way to learn the industry and begin making serious money to boot. This sort of 100% outsourcing business model is utilised in many industries, and many of the top hosted service resellers are now very large and powerful brands.

There are two primary methods of service resale, and it is important to understand your own objectives before committing to one or the other.

Affiliate Programs

Affiliate programs are the simplest form of dedicated server reselling. How the programs work can vary between hosting providers, however most follow a similar system to that employed here at Netwise Hosting. Affiliates are provided with a unique link to the providers website, which the affiliate uses to point potential customers to the services on offer. The system then tracks the potential customers activity on the site over a long period of time; if the customer goes on to make a purchase, the affiliate takes a commission on the sale for his/her successfull referal. How the affiliate in question uses their link is up to them. It can be used as a link for banner adverts which they can distribute online, or given to friends as a form of service recommendation.

Here at Netwise Hosting, affiliates are paid 15% commission on the refered sale of server packages. Our most successful affiliates earn many hundreds of pounds a month, and can operate their program around other jobs and commitments. If you are looking for some extra cash each month, and have good sales ability (particularly online referal sales), then an affiliates program is the perfect resale option for you. Its free and easy to use, meaning you need very little in the way of technical knowhow, as end customers deal directly with the host after the sale.

Reseller Programs

Reseller programs are for those operating professional reselling businesses. Services are sold under the resellers own brand. They then purchase the dedicated servers and related services from the hosting provider at a discounted rate, and take margins on top. One major difference here is that the reseller deals with the customer from start to finish, providing support and related service information themselves. The end customer does not know of the hosting provider at the top level, just the reseller they are dealing with. The discounted rates from the original service provider often rely on official agreements in place that require a certain number of orders per month from the reseller.

Reseller programs are professional relationships and as such are drawn up for individual cases. If you are interested in reselling for a service provider in this way, you will need to contact the host and discuss your own unique terms etc. Proposals are then drafted, and when both parties are happy the relationship can begin. Netwise Hosting have a fantastic network of resellers who sell our products under their own brand and buy from us at impressive discounted rates. Contact us today if you would like to become an official reseller.

For a summary of Netwise Hosting's affiliate and reseller programs, visit the Reseller information page here. We would love to work with you in the future!

It should also be noted that reselling is not limited to dedicated servers. Colocation services can be sold in much the same way, however the process is far more complex and the building-up of experience in the dedicated server market is recommended before making the leap to colocation.

A Hot-Aisle at Netwise Hosting's NH:DC1.

Colocation is perhaps the highest rung of all hosted environments in terms of both importance and financial outlay. Finding the right colocator is a must, as the solid provision of such services can be pivotal to a companys success. So what should you be looking for in a colocation service provider? This short article will summarise some of the key factors our clients consider most important in their service, so that those new to 'colo' can benefit from the experience presented here.

Know Your Host

Reputation says a lot about a business in any field. Look at who your shortlist of potential colocators already provide services for, and whether they have any recommendations. This does not mean the biggest hosting companys are the best. Trying to enter a data centre alongside businesses like Google and Facebook may be the wrong move, unless you are of a similar standing. Smaller, more bespoke providers are often better suited to clients not looking to take out private suites housing many thousands of servers. If a company on your shortlist provides colocation services for leading businesses like your own, and have a company mantra/image you can relate to, they are often the best choice.

Technology

The technologies in use at each facility will vary - something to keep in mind. Look for IPv6 support for future proofing your connectivity, competitive provisioning of top-level core services/utilities, and green initiatives in line with current Government policies. Keeping your outsourced IT services green is a positive step towards reducing your own businesses overall carbon footprint. Reliable, brand name hardware is also something to bear in mind when considering longevity and consistent performance.

Buy from People, not Businesses

Meet with your shortlist and get to know the people at the helm of each companys operations. Its always best to buy from people, and not to rest all hopes on buying from a brand you think you know. A personable, well-meaning team who show a real interest in you will take good care of your account for years to come. Building solid, long-lasting business relationships is good practice with all suppliers, and that includes your data centre provider!

Location Location Location

Location location location sits at the heart of every property consideration - and a data centre ostensibly follows the same set of rules. Where you are located will not only affect the level of core services feeding your deployment, but will also say a lot about your business should its location be made known. If you are in the UK, or even Europe, London is the place to be housing your data. This does throw up a number of issues in itself - namely cost and accessibility - however smaller, more 'boutique' providers are now offering services in the London area; Netwise Hosting included! You are always better off arranging a London locality over a countryside data centre miles from the nearest major trading hub.

Naturally, deciding upon a colocation provider is a sizable decision with many hundreds of unique factors to consider; but hopefully those described above offer a good starting point from which to develop your own points of interest. If you need help in understanding colocation in more detail, or to see how Netwise Hosting successfully fulfil all of the above requirements do contact us for more information.

In May this coming year we will be exhibiting at the Great British Business Show, with a stand right in the middle of the exhibition floor. We welcome visitors to come and meet with us, it would be fantastic to see you and explain a little more about who we are and what we do. More information about our attendance will be made available in the coming months.

We are also going to be altering our dedicated server offerings, providing clients with more powerful servers than ever before.

Heres to the future, we hope you are as excited as we are!

A Hot-Aisle at Netwise Hosting's NH:DC1.

Business today is certainly a cut-throat environment. Getting noticed is essential for success, particularly as a small new start-up. Thankfully, the internet has made getting your organisations name out to a mass audience a lot easier; becoming especially apparent when compared with the processes involved in advertising and business networking 20 years ago. Yet the impressive scope and accessibility of the internet is also one of its major downfalls. Getting noticed in the vast pool of information on the web can prove just as challenging as the age old methods of getting your brand out into the open.

Whilse these top tips do incorporate basic elements of SEO (to help your searchablity), they fundamentally focus on business impact - and getting noticed online. If you are specifically looking for SEO guides, have a look around on Google - there is some great advice out there. However, the fundamentals below are just as important, so get these in place first.

1) Websites are Key

Your website is your virtual shop front. As such, it is essential for drawing in interest. Highly successful enterprises on the highstreet will have a constant flow of visitors, primarily because of their enticing frontage. The same applies online; keeping your visitors engaged is key. Have a website you are proud of, one that not only conveys the relevant information, but one that does so in an interesting and well developed manner.

But remember, this doesnt mean you should endulge in a flashy overcomplicated beast of a website with all the gimicks you can cram in. Less is more, and it is the simple designs that are most effective. Faster websites are rewarded by search engines, so dont over do it. Have a look at the websites you use every day, and pay close attention to what it is you like about them, and how they enrich your experience. Dedicated server hosting will allow your website to run far quicker than it would on a shared web server hosting platform - something to bare in mind.

Even the smallest of businesses have no real excuse to have no private website today. Just being on directories and business listings is not really enough in most cases, and with the cost of webhosting now so low, a website can be an affordable yet effective addition to your business.

2) It's all about Image

Focus on your content. How the information on your site is read and interpreted will shape a customers perception of what your business is all about. Pay close attention to your image, and how you want visitors to interpret every aspect of your organisation. Intelligent use of language and maintaining a solid, professional online space can make smaller businesses appear larger - and more experienced. Naturally, the aim is not to deceive. It would be irresponsible and immoral to lie about your business. Yet having a well thought out, well executed image online can promote feelings of security, familiarity, and experience in your site visitors.

3) Don't Spam!

Its all about quality, not quantity. There is no need to lay every last piece of information out, page after page, bogging users down with mountains of text. Keep it brief and concise. The same applies for social media output - people dont want you clogging up their social feed with useless information. Put out quality information, and you will be rewarded with quality responses in return.

Many people only see 'spam' as an unsolicited email sent to thousands of readers, directly asking for their custom. The fact is that spam encompasses so much more - any pointless, unrelated output can be classed as spam, and thats something to avoid.

4) Grow Online

As your business grows, your web presence should reflect the changes underway, building upon your increased experience. Linked closely with image (discussed in point 2), maintaining a website in keeping with your changing business is vital. A successful retailer on the highstreet experiencing rapid growth would not simply maintain their current outlet and 'make do'. They would open new outlets, explore new avenues of business, and rebrand in accordance with their size. This is no different online, with web presence scaling vital to your overall exposure on the internet.

Ensure you have room to grow online. Shared web server hosting platforms can be limited, and do not favor websites with growing demand for traffic. Dedicated server hosting solutions give you the room to breath - able to handle far more traffic, contain far more storage space, and can scale with your business. Remember, moving web content is a real hassle, so start of on a basic dedicated server and build upon its specification from there.

5) Be Bold

Make waves. Getting noticed anywhere, not just online, is all about being big, bright and bold. Do things differently (but do them well of course), and people will sit up and look at what you are doing. This doesnt just mean sliding a plethora of unusual colours into your website - that can be offensive to the eyes, and tantamount to wearing garish clothes to a party just to get some attention. Be clever with the way you do business online, and people will take note. Don't simply slot into existing preconceptions of what a business in your sector should be doing.

Good luck, and remember, SEO is wonderful - but to get truly noticed online, you need the fundamentals in place first. Be creative.

As a smaller, much more boutique provider of hosted environments out of Europe's leading communications hub, the Netwise Hosting data centre brings together years of experience in the hosting industry, culminating in a facility combining both enterprise-level utilities and personable, transparent business practices - a refreshing approach in an otherwise stale industry.

For more information, visit the Our Data Centre page on the main website, or call 0845 430 9900 to book a private tour.

1) Hot/Cold Aisle Containment

Keeping hot and cold air seperate inside a datacentre is essential in maintaining high levels of energy efficiency, and ensuring the optimum climate for server hardware is controlled accurately. Conditioned air that enters the front of a server should have a clear and seperate path back out of the facility, as mixing will raise temperatures, and recycle warm air - reducing the sites efficiency.

2) Biometric Security

Keeping data secure is of the utmost importance. State of the art firewalls and digital protection systems are fantastic, and are standard fayre in most datacentres today. Yet such systems are rendered useless should access to the site be achieved by those seeking to compromise your critical data. Biometric security systems will not allow access to the site without finger-print recognition. This means access is essentially impossible, unless you have authorisation. Stolen keys are not a problem with biometric systems, as your finger is the key.

3) IPv6 Infrastructure

Discussed many times on this very blog, IPv6 is the future of internet protocol technology. With the total exhaustion of IPv4 fast approaching, housing your data inside a future-proofed facility, able to support IPv6 throughout, will pay dividends.

4) Eco-Cooling

Cooling a datacentre can be a tall order. Many older datacentres still operate cooling systems that rely on refrigerants. These are very expensive to run, meaning services tend to cost more than those housed in more modern facilities. They are also far less efficient, meaning that the more densely populated the datacentre, the more harmful emissions are produced. There are a wide range of eco-cooling systems available, all of which become more efficient the more they are used. At capacity, many can reduce carbon emissions by upto 90%, and pass related savings onto you, the end user. Note that Netwise Hosting maintain a PUE of just 1.15, thanks to a state of the art evaporative cooling system.

5) Active Monitoring

Whilst your individual services may not be actively managed, ensuring your data is kept within a facility boasting 24x7 active monitoring is essential. This means that the facilities core services are constantly monitored, keeping the datacentre floor running smoothly at all times. Digital air sampling, advanced network analysis and active conditioned power monitoring are just some of the measures employed by top datacentre operators, with the aim being to keep bulletproof SLA promises a reality.

Naturally, this barely scratches the surface of the available technologies on offer today. However, ensuring your choice of datacentre utilises a wide range of modern, futureproof technologies - all implemented with your best interests at heart - will safeguard your IT deployment against any number of threats, and make certain that constant accessibility is always maintained.

Netwise Hosting's new datacentre facility incorporates most of the leading technologies available, which work together in forming one of London's most efficient, reliable and above all affordable hosting locations. Please contact us to request a full specification.

The good news is that work is almost complete at the new site, and equipment will soon be entering the new building. Our final launch proposal documentation is in its final stages, making this a very exciting time for all of the team here at Netwise Hosting. We are hoping for an impressive launch, and would love for our customers to be a part of the ongoing success. Tours of the new facility can be booked through the website directly. (Please bear in mind that images currently available on the 'Our Data Centre' page are temporary photographs taken of our current facility, and will be changed for professional shots of the new facility soon).

The new facility - situated just a few miles from our current location - offers users a truely bespoke private London data centre, bringing together our mantra of "Speed, Security, Stability" at levels of uncompromised value.

Colocation services are becoming a far larger part of our business, with our new facility lending itself perfectly to those searching for a colocator in line with their exacting requirements. Colocation in London is becoming an expensive luxury for many businesses. We hope to push against the grain, and allow businesses to reinstate the hub of their technological requirements within the financial capital of the world - without breaking the bank.

As we get ever closer to the launch date (which is as yet unconfirmed - this will be solidified soon), we will publish more comprehensive technical information for your digestion.

Naturally, if you are interested in obtaining more detailed information regarding our move, please do not hesitate to contact us directly. We are more than happy to help. Enquiries about colocating with us in the future are also very welcome, and can be disussed with us in detail.

In the mean time, we are still offering our enterprise-level dedicated server packages and our ever popular online backup solutions.

To browse through some of the current winners and losers resulting from the change, click here.

Google's intentions may well have been in favor of the searcher, but have undoubtedly effected many large sites negatively - and for no good reason. Some of the sites now making complaints have noted that they only publish original and relevant content, yet are still heavily penalised by the new algorithm. It will be very interesting to see where the results will settle over the coming months, particularly as more companies begin to question the validity of the changes.

One factor causing major concern for many malefactors of the new algorithm is the positive impact the changes have had on Google's own subsidaries, such as Youtube. It could be argued that this is simply because they, as owned or part-owned subsidiaries, understand exactly how to work with Google's indexing requirements. However, many are beginning to shift towards the opinion of subtle sabotage - amplified by the negative effects felt by many large competitors owned by the likes of Microsoft. If one thing can be said for certain, it is that heavy-hitters like Microsoft will not sit back quietly and allow their page rankings to slip. With Ciao.co.uk (Microsoft's large online shopping portal) having lost -93.83% of their Google traffic, there is no doubt that changes still need to be made, whether that be at Google's end, or at the end of those effected.

It should be noted that the changes are ongoing, and will settle over time.