It wasn’t very long ago that all servers were entirely in-house. The company invested in the server room, the backup systems and security. Also, the company hired staff with specific skills to manage the different systems. Today, the story is very different, with cloud hosting or an LA data center, these same organizations have the option to stay in-house or move everything out. Here is a quick look at the advantages and disadvantages of maintaining your server room:
Advantages:
The main advantage is that you own all the systems. Everything happens on your schedule, and any costs can be deferred or incurred as you see fit. It is a lot of work, but it comes with the sort of customization that is difficult in most third-party environments. You can modify or change any component of the system to your needs, where in any other setting it might clash with the policies of the host or the requirements of other clients.
Disadvantages:
There are two big disadvantages. The first issue is with the resource requirements. You want your IT staff working on solutions and improvements to the technology related to running the business, rather than working to keep the data center running. The other is security. According to Rack Alley, there is an ever-increasing threat of new and advanced malware, viruses and malicious Internet traffic, which requires the sort of security expertise that is expensive to maintain in-house.