Host database locally or remotely?

[thesingr]

I have to find documentation as to why it's better to own your own database and data on your own servers rathan host the database and data on a remote server. We really want to locally host it. We have the equipment, but need to convince the decision make. Can anyone help?

Thanks

 

[Craig0201]

Do you have the time and expertise to host it locally? These are prime considerations as well as the kit required.

What are the costs of local hosting? Not just the cost of doing it but also the costs of not being able to do something else with the equipment and people (the opportunity cost). Add it all up. If this costs less than remote hosting then it's the way to go. If there's not much difference then the decision is marginal.

Craig

 

[thesingr]

I wish this would solve the problem.

We have all the equipment, matter of fact, we send 10's of thousands. The problem is we need to covince the big guy why we should host it on our own servers rather than remotely. We need something in writing, or from a very reliable source. Not to ssay we're not reliable. I'm sure you've been in our shoes for some reason or another.

 

[ecobb]

What's in the database and is your boss comfortable with people outside your company having full access to that information?



Hope This Helps!

Ecobb

"My work is a game, a very serious game." - M.C. Escher

 

[thesingr]

I'm actually talking about hundreds of databases. This is going to be an enterprise. These databases are going to hold an enormouse amount of data. We are a government agency and have a need for all this. The remote site is a trusted site, but we want the data here. The task is a mixture of politics and technical I believe. It's a matter of using the right words.

 

[thesingr]

Ok, i have a little more clearification

It's a program only we use. The big guys want to consume it and store it with databases from other organizations, thousands of them. This database i am talking about will only be used by us. We feel since it is only used by us, we should store it locally. We are looking for tactfull ways of putting this. I guess one would be to take into consideration the bandwidth that is being used.

 

[CajunCenturion]

Performance and Security are two issues that immediately come to mind.

I'm actually talking about hundreds of databases. This is going to be an enterprise.

It's a program only we use.

Can you reconcile these two statements?

Good Luck
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[skiflyer]

Pops to my mind, and painted with a broad brush, each point is actually more subtle...

Pros:
Security, we can lock down access.
Performance, less likely to have database connection problems, also latency should be reduced.
Agility, we can modify/create not only database information, but physical hardware/disk partitions and the like.
Growth room, if you start adding space/databases/whatever, it will likely be cheaper to scale a properly setup internal system than to upgrade your contract.

Cons:
Security, can offload external security to "the experts", however opens up inside job to those people.
Performance, assumbably the hosting company really knows how to tweak and run their servers for these databases.
Backups, any good external hosting plan is going to be in charge of your backup system (no trivial matter).

 

[SQLSister]

Suggest you write up a decision analysis document.

Formally compare both possibilities on evrything you cn consider as an important decision making factor. Include at a minimum, cost, security, speed, maintainability. You can probably think of other factors. Give each factor a weighting factor depending on it's importance and then assign a value from 1-5 for each possibility. Then multiply by the weighting factor and sum for each possible choice. Then the decsion is clear to everyone. It really helps if you have management set the factors and the weighting values. Then they won't argue with you later when the thing tells them what you want them to hear but won't hear without hard numbers. Example below:

Factor Weight Local Remote

Cost 5 3 15 4 20
Security 4 5 20 4 16
Ease of maintenance 1 3 4 2 2
Data Access speed 2 4 8 3 6
Totals 47 44


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