For colos I have dealt with, you will end up needing to get a specific quote for your setup at each site and then compare them and play them off each other a bit. Sometimes depending on the provider they may be running "package" deals with a fixed amount of space, power and bandwidth for $X (see that more in the mid-west than east). Single-server colocation is a different matter, and many places will not bother with anything less than a full cabinet (rack). If you are more flexible with your location that you can put the equipment, you can save more $.
Things to consider:
- Duration of contract can impact the NRC/MRC significantly, most all places will do a 12mo term, but you may have to haggle with them to get there and it may add to the cost (competitive quotes help)
- How much space do you need, or are going to grow to during term of contract, can you fir in a fractional cabinet?
- Do you need dedicated private locked space or are fine sharing the same cabinet with other people, who could potentially touch your equipment?
- Power needs, compute it out in VA or Watts as a starting point then can your stuff handle 120, 208 or 240 equally well? Do you need managed PDU's? Single or dual-fed power?
- If the facility can bill you on actual / average power used vs. provisioned power you can save significant $ by choosing efficient equipment
- Bandwidth, if you can get it from the provider directly using their in-house blend of providers or need to deal with a 3rd party
- Fixed rate, bursted or "un-metered" port? How much are overages, and are the computing it based on the 95th percentile or something else?
- IPv4 and IPv6 address needs, be prepared to pay per IP now in the USA depending on the provider, they are pulling in blocks from RIPE and other registries to fill the demand.
- Frequency & ease of access - if you are going to drop the servers off and not need to go back for months years, or in there often changing things around like Patrick does with his gear that is being tested.
- Get a tour of the facility. Will give you a good idea of the hassle to get in/out. Badging through 5 doors to your space is a royal pain if you have to do it dozens of times in a day. Is there only escorted or fully supervised access?
- Remote hands availability and cost - have someone power cycle something or swap a drive for you
- Make sure they have crash carts (KVM carts), corresponding chairs and working equipment carts at the facility.
Like most sales things with dedicated salespeople, you can *always* negotiate and often get better deals at the end of a month/quarter so they can pad up their number for that cycle a little.
You can always start with something like
Data Center Map - Colocation, Cloud, Managed Hosting etc. and call around to those places, then google for colocation in the areas you are interested in. If you need just a few servers/U in Boston metro PM me - I signed some space in Boston to be set up later this month but have a lot of space free in my cabinet.
Another good source of recommendations is Linux or Sysadmin focused user groups in the area. If they don't have their own equipment in local colos they may know folks who do or work at places who have equipment in local facilities.
