Shared hardware considerations

A shared or virtual hardware configuration means that multiple customers share the same physical hardware. Some service providers offer the shared configuration option as a lower-cost alternative to dedicated hardware products. The first questions that arise when contemplating shared hardware are probably related to performance and security.

Service providers may institute a couple of parameters to guarantee your performance. First, they may limit the number of customers that will be sharing the same hardware. The number of customers sharing the hardware depends on the hardware used. There's probably not much negotiation you can do here, but if you know that number as well as the hardware specification, you can perform your own research to find out whether you are comfortable with the vendor's contractual claims.

Second, some service providers will guarantee your throughput while using the shared hardware. Since shared hardware means that many customers share a single uplink, you need to know the uplink's throughput guarantee to see if this application is acceptable for you. The service provider must be able to state the throughput in the same terms as the dedicated hardware, and the numbers are the same as those given in the above section on aggregate throughput. High-end service should support aggregate throughput of over 1Gbit/sec., average service should support from 500Mbit/sec. to 1Gbit/sec. and low-end service should support anywhere from 100Mbit/sec. to 500Mbit/sec.

It's possible that some service providers will stipulate lower performance for shared hardware. That's OK as long as the performance meets your needs. The point here is to ensure the service provider clearly states the performance of the service.