We’re judged by the company we keep. It’s human nature, and while it might not always be fair, spend time with unsavory characters and people will draw conclusions. When it comes to comparing the networks of managed dedicated server hosts, we’d be wise to follow this advice.

The fact is not all data networks are created equal. High end servers, fiber optic cables, and blistering fast routers and switches don’t do any good if they don’t talk to anything, but all too often small and medium sized business end up putting too much focus on the back end infrastructure. The obvious example is a shiny new shopping mall, but the only way to get to it is by driving down a long unpaved road.

A data center that has connectivity to multiple backbone peers delivers redundancy to the servers that are hosted there, but that is just one benefit, and in some ways not even the greatest one. The risk of losing customers or users due to a total network outage isn’t what it used to be. Even consumer grade connections are more reliable than ever before. The trick isn’t simply having a reliable connection; it’s having the fastest connection possible.

Success or failure on the web has become a game of milliseconds. Here’s a familiar scenario that we all encounter daily- searching for information on a product or service in anticipation of making a purchase decision. You browse through the results from your favorite search engine, clicking to the most relevant pages. If a particular site loads slowly, it’s abandoned, and you return to the search results to try another one. In real world daily applications, 5 seconds is a long time, 10 seconds is an eternity. If repeat customers are the lifeblood of a business, new customers are the oxygen that keeps the lifeblood fresh. Can your business afford to lose potential new customers before they’ve even seen your offering?

Going back to our shopping mall example for a minute, let’s say Mall A has one highway bringing in customers from the north, and Mall B has four highways that bring in customers from the north, south, east and west. Locating your business in Mall B gives you the best opportunity of success, allowing the most customers the fastest way possible to reach you. This same train of thought should inform your decision on a managed dedicated server host.

Consider the NaviSite data center at their headquarters in Andover MA. It boasts network connections to backbone providers that include Level3, Sprint, Global Crossing, Cogent and AboveNet, with N+1 redundancy and BGP4 routing. The philosophy isn’t cheapest path, it’s fastest path. NaviSite understands that in today’s environment, speed is everything. World class server architecture needs to be supported with world class bandwidth.

Whether you are shopping for a new managed dedicated serverhost or evaluating your current one, consider the company they keep. Hang around with the best of the best, and you’ll make your mom proud.

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NaviSite – Data Center
NaviSite owns and operates 18 data centers around the world. Our largest data center is at our headquarters in Andover Massachusetts, USA.
All NaviSite Dedicated Servers, Virtual Dedicated Servers and Instant Reseller Systems are in our Andover data center. The Andover location has many advantages for a data center, residing outside of fault zones and hurricane zones, and having a great pool of educated technical professionals in the Boston and greater Northeast area.

NaviSite’s Andover network connections are all N+1 configured and BGP4 routing paths. Our providers include: Level3, Sprint, Global Crossing, Cogent and AboveNet. NaviSite has a fastest path, not cheapest path philosophy.

Tags: data center, networks, tips for selecting hosting company, Why NaviSite Dedicated Hosting