Colocation America Blog

What if small business owners could work together to cross promote each other through social channels? That's the question that engineers at BizBrag Inc. have tried to answer with their new cloud based social marketing and SEO platform. BizBrag has designed a social network called the 'BragForce' that encourages local and complimentary businesses to connect with each other and share content to their social accounts. Users build social web pages called 'Braggits' which can be forwarded to Facebook, Google +, Twitter, LinkedIn, Wordpress, Blogger, and Tumblr. Braggits are also sent to members of the user's BragForce who can in turn forward them to their social networks. Imagine the social reach that can be achieved just by connecting with a few other businesses.

All Braggits are hosted on dedicated servers, ensuring that they are always available to be viewed or shared. This allows many small businesses to create web content without worrying about hosting costs, SEO, social media management, or the scalability of their campaign. The platform is easy to use, with a simple three step process that allows users to create and publish Braggits across the web in a matter of minutes. Braggits can also be scheduled, so an entire month's social media posts can be created on a Saturday, and posted throughout the week.

BizBrag has been a big hit right out of the gate with franchise organizations, because the platform allows franchises to create content to be posted to all of their franchisees' social networks. Distributed organizations can now exponentially grow their social reach just by getting their companies connected, and are provided with a full suite of analytics and monitoring applications to ensure that their campaign is progressing. If a business just doesn't have the time to manage a social campaign, BizBrag's team of marketers and writers will do it for them for a low monthly fee.

When large organizations have huge marketing budgets and teams of marketers pushing their message to the social web, it only makes sense for small businesses to combine their social marketing efforts. BizBrag seems to have found an excellent way to make this possible. To find out more visit their site: Small Business Social Marketing by BizBrag

Cloud computing is a relatively simple concept: documents are stored remotely and can be accessed via any device that can connect to the internet and make contact with the server. But, in practice, cloud computing is actually quite demanding.

The large amounts of data that resides on servers can cause them to easily become overloaded, resulting in more and more servers being added to the mix. New entrants to the cloud computing space may find themselves overwhelmed, out of space, and financially struggling to maintain their assets.

Because these problems are all too common, it's important to consider colocation services as a way to create a sustainable cloud computing environment. Using colocation helps to get the burden of server hardware out of the office, and it lets someone else do the hard work of maintaining servers, ensuring they're in the proper environment, and making sure that they'll be online even if the internet goes down or the power goes out. Simply put, a colocation provider gives peace of mind to cloud computing providers.

Reliability Increases When Using a Colocation Data Center Facility

Many new entrants to the cloud computing industry opt to host their servers in-house at an office facility where they perform the rest of their usual work. This is a big mistake that can lead to large gaps in service and regular downtime. Traditional office spaces are simply not as redundant as colocation data center facilities, and that means that every server is subject to the whims of the building's broadband connection and energy availability.

Choosing instead to use a colocation facility to store these servers means that a cloud computing services provider will have their servers backed up by multiple redundant broadband and power connections. The facilities contract with multiple broadband service providers to ensure that each server is actually connected to multiple broadband services.

Data center facilities contract almost exclusively with Tier 1 service providers, such as Cogent, Verizon Business, and Level 3. These companies provide a fast and secure internet backbone and, because colocation facilities work with multiple internet connections, downtime at one internet service provider will not cause entire servers or server cabinets to go offline. A simple office space cannot offer that peace of mind.

Likewise, colocation facilities have copious amounts of backup generators and power supplies, and they contract with multiple power companies just as they do with broadband providers. The goal of these facilities is to be online even when the power is out, an emergency has caused complications, or a natural disaster is affecting their immediate area.

Colocation Facilities are Tightly Managed and Monitored

Operators of colocation data center facilities don't take their jobs lightly. These vast buildings are constantly monitored, with most of them having round-the-clock front desk service and 24-hour technicians on-site. These professionals are tasked with ensuring that the facility is at the right operating temperature, and that servers are always in the ideal environment to be functioning at top speed -- without overheating.

Technicians are onsite to ensure that no technical glitch prevents a server or a server cabinet form going dark. They make sure that Ethernet ports, HVAC systems, power supplies, and broadband connections are functioning properly through the facility; should anything experience a glitch or a technical problem, they're on the case in minutes. Again, no company can provide that kind of service for its own cloud computing servers in an office setting.

Guaranteed Uptime and Reliability

Because cloud computing services need to be in near-constant communication with mobile devices and the wider internet, there is simply no room for error when it comes to uptime and reliability. For that reason, many colocation data center facilities back up their redundant broadband connections and power supplies with an uptime guarantee of 99.9 percent or better. In fact, the best colocation companies guarantee their customers nothing less than 100 percent uptime on all of the servers they host.

Should colocation companies fail to live up to their promises of guaranteed uptime, they'll gladly refund a prorated portion of a customer's hosting bill in order to compensate for the inconvenience. That's a testament to just how confident they are in their ability to provide outstanding, completely reliable service.

An Affordable Way to Achieve Peace of Mind

Colocation might sound complex, and people often associate complexity with a high cost of service. But that is simply not the case for the vast majority of colocation companies. Colocation is actually an extremely affordable service when compared to the cost of maintaining servers in-house. Monthly fees are consistent, customers pay only for features and maintenance that they approve and agree upon with the service provider, and no contracts are generally required to initiate service.

When paired with the enhanced reliability, data speeds, and peace of mind that comes from outsourcing server placement and maintenance, colocation is virtually a no-brainer among the growing number of cloud computing professionals.

Author Bio: Stephanie C. is a car insurance specialist who takes pride in her ability to find the cheapest car insurance for her clients, friends, and family. In her spare time, Stephanie enjoys hiking, swimming, and biking.

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In case you haven't heard, which seems nearly impossible, major websites, plus some 10,000 other sites, are protesting the SOPA bill. Now what is the SOPA bill exactly? First off, SOPA stands for Stop Online Piracy Act.  If passed, the U.S. Senate and the Department of Justice have the right to shut down and make search engines remove links to sites deemed 'copyright infringement.' Mostly, SOPA is aimed at stopping domestic access and funding to foreign-based websites that offer pirated material. Essentially, this bill will cut off funding, advertising, and access to said sites. For anyone that has been on YouTube, copyright infringement on the internet is a real thing. YouTube even has different options of copyright and licensing for a person's created material and that of others.

 

Now what does SOPA mean to the average internet user? Perhaps nothing. As seen by the massive amount of popular websites on strike, this bill may never happen. As of Noon, Pacific Time, House Speaker John Boehner said that legislation was not ready for a vote, only to say it will come back in a month. Some senators commented that the bill is simply not ready, while others are outright withdrawing their support claiming 'free and open access' to everyone. Regardless of what US Senators are preaching, the internet remains free from the SOPA bill.

 

But really, what does SOPA mean for the average website owner? Again, it is uncertain the effect it will have. One thing is certain, however, that websites that are on shared IP addresses may be in trouble. Imagine the internet as it is currently. A website may be on a shared IP with a small video site (imagine with me). This small video site has pirated material that SOPA has deemed unfit for the public eye. In response to this discovery the Department of Justice bans the small video site's IP which, in turn, is your IP address. To prevent this from happening, sites may choose a dedicated IP address. Once a website owner sees the advantages of a dedicated IP address they may choose one of the other services that give them more control over their site. These services include server dedicated, colocation, or managed server.

 

Now what should the average website owners and users do? Well, they should do their research on the issue. Before you protest, strike, write, comment, Tweet, Facebook, or whatever it is you do, do the research. Figure out the reasons behind the bill and how it will affect you. Chances are you will find out more information about the internet and piracy laws then you ever wanted to know. Be engaged and have your own opinion on the bill before you go all gung-ho on being anti-government.