Company
Date Published
Author
Jaime Sanchez, Partnerships
Word count
1144
Language
English
Hacker News points
None

Summary

Strategically selecting a data center site is essential for optimizing long-term performance, as it impacts factors ranging from energy efficiency and cooling to carrier availability and regulatory compliance. Critical considerations in site selection include geographic and environmental conditions, such as climate and terrain, which affect cooling needs and risk exposure; infrastructure and connectivity, emphasizing the availability of power and network redundancy; and compliance, costs, and potential risks, including local data privacy laws and geopolitical stability. To formulate a strategy, businesses must define their objectives and constraints, develop a trade-off framework prioritizing performance, cost, and risk, and evaluate sites under various scenarios to ensure resilience. Additionally, integrating geospatial mapping and leveraging platforms like Felt can enhance decision-making by visualizing data and testing scenarios in real-time, thereby facilitating more informed and collaborative site selection processes.