The Case Against Running Your Own Server Room: A Pragmatic Perspective

Running an in-house server room may seem like a viable option for some businesses, but a closer examination reveals numerous drawbacks that outweigh the perceived benefits. In this era of advanced technology and evolving business needs, opting for affordable hosting services in Los Angeles or other data center solutions provided by Electric Kitten proves to be a more strategic choice.

Cost Considerations:

While hosting your own servers may give you a semblance of control, the financial implications are substantial. Servers demand a trifecta of resources – cooling, power, and space – each contributing to escalating operational costs. In contrast, utilizing professional hosting services offers a predictable pricing model, often more cost-effective than managing your own infrastructure. This financial prudence allows businesses to allocate resources to areas that directly contribute to their core competencies.

Moreover, the rapidly evolving landscape of technology means that hosting providers can leverage economies of scale, continuously updating and maintaining their infrastructure without imposing additional costs on your business. This dynamic adaptability ensures that your organization remains at the forefront of technological advancements without straining your budget.

Security Concerns:

Maintaining a server room introduces a plethora of security risks that may compromise sensitive business data. Unauthorized access to network infrastructure can lead to data theft or malicious damage. Furthermore, the concentration of traffic through a single point creates an increased vulnerability to Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, jeopardizing business continuity.

On the other hand, reputable hosting services invest heavily in robust security measures, including firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and round-the-clock monitoring. Entrusting your data to professionals not only mitigates security risks but also ensures compliance with industry standards and regulations, instilling confidence in clients and stakeholders.

Physical Limitations:

Server rooms have inherent physical limitations, accommodating only a finite number of servers. For businesses with burgeoning data needs, this constraint poses a significant challenge. Scaling up the infrastructure requires additional space and cooling capacity, often translating to exorbitant costs that could be better utilized elsewhere.

Modern data centers are designed with scalability in mind, offering the flexibility to expand infrastructure seamlessly. This adaptability is crucial for businesses experiencing growth, ensuring that their technological backbone can evolve organically without the need for disruptive and costly expansions.

Accessibility Challenges:

A frequently overlooked drawback of server rooms is their geographical remoteness, leading to increased distances between employees and their technology infrastructure. This can result in inefficiencies, longer response times, and hindered collaboration.

Professional hosting services, strategically located for accessibility, eradicate this concern. With data centers strategically positioned, employees can experience enhanced connectivity and reduced latency, fostering a more efficient work environment.

The decision to maintain an in-house server room or opt for external hosting services necessitates a thorough evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages. Embracing the efficiency, security, and scalability offered by reputable data centers in Los Angeles or elsewhere often proves to be the strategic choice for businesses looking to thrive in today’s competitive landscape.

Threat modelling 101

Blog provided by Electric Kitten

At its most basic level, threat modelling is the process of going through all IT systems in an organization, listing threats, and coming up with mitigations. In a sense, it is about identifying all possible issues and putting things in place to make sure you can recover quickly or prevent them altogether. Let’s look at a more detailed version of the process.

Step 1

The most important part of the process is identifying all systems. If you miss one, you leave a potential gap for future failure that can affect one or more of your other systems. Part of how you negate that risk is to include people from all departments as part of the first step. The systems in question can be internal or external, physical, or virtual, hardware or software. Get this step right and this process will be a success.

Step 2

Now that you have a list of systems, start looking at all the threats and risks associated with that system. You could have a web app to handle transport requests. That could potentially be attacked, hacked, or defaced. Those could be three different threats for each with the result being a denial of service.

Step 3

Now that you have a list of threats, start putting mitigations next to those. If you have mitigations in place, that is great, if not list possible mitigations. When organizations do this process the first time, the list can be quite large, so it is important to prioritize your mitigations. Commercial enterprises can assign dollar values to the threats to make it easier and less political when assigning priorities.

If you’re looking for colocation or server hosting in Los Angeles, contact Electric Kitten. For almost two decades, they have provided reliable colocation service, along with other web hosting options such as shared hosting and dedicated servers. Their colocation clients will have access to a state-of-the-art SAS-70 facility located in the One Wilshire Building in Los Angeles. Their hi-tech setup will ensure you recover quickly and efficiently from any technical disasters that may happen. For more information, call them today at 877-821-HOST or email them at sales@electrickitten.com.