I am in the process of setting up a number of servers and was just wondering where I should locate these servers? There are so many providers in so many countries.
So, I am just looking for some thoughts on issues affecting the selection of a hosting provider's geographic location, assuming the dollar costs are similar.
Network performance. This is an obvious one. I am planning to consider the physical links (i.e. submarine cables) connecting the audience country directly to the hosting geographic location? Or am I just being too 'over-kill' on this and the performance differences are negligible?
Local laws - the equivalent of 'tax havens' for digital audiences. Assuming that the site may host objectionable content for certain audiences (e.g. the vb.ly case). Which are the most liberal countries, when it comes to action taken by hosting providers against objectionable content?
Any other thoughts?
I'd consider office hours.
I know that servers have to run 24/7 and a lot of communication is done via e-mails and support tickets, but if you need to actually speak to someone about your account or system they need to be in their offices at a time convenient to you.
I personally would recommend http://www.leaseweb.com for Europe they also provide relatively good international speeds (to asia and US) I currently had a Dedicated server with them but have had a collocation as well before
In terms of network performance which locations are you planning to serve? is this a domestic site for your county or will it serve people from all over the world.
In terms of local laws locations such as switzerland are relatively lax to my knowledge
If you're storing customer data, keeping the data out of the EU can cause massive DPR issues. I'm not sure how it affects PCI compliance.