Data Center Location: Does it Matter?

[Kane]

I have Namecheap hosting and I use the US data center. I also get to choose the UK data center but I am required to pay more. This makes me wonder if the data center location actually matters. On Namecheap, choosing the UK data center costs more than the US data center. Why is that so?

 

[linux.poet]

I think it has to do with the price of electricity in the United States versus that in the United Kingdom. Recently I was watching a video about Saudi Arabia (of all things) and it mentioned that electricity is more expensive in Europe than it is in the U.S. That is probably due to the fact that the U.S. is a bigger landmass with more natural resources and more rivers for hydroelectric power.

This article mentions electricity as a factor in data center pricing: https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2015/02/26/what-affects-dynamics-of-data-center-pricing

 

[Kane]

Thank you very much for sharing the article link, I will check this out. However, I was wondering if the price od data centers are just about how much the company is paying for the electricity, why should customers choose expensive data centers when they get a chance to choose cheaper alternatives? In my case, why should I choose the UK when the higher price is just the result of the energy price?

 

[Jason]

The choice in a data center might effect geographic targeting as in a UK data center would mean a UK website.

Myself, I'm American and I have a UK based site, but I'm not concerned with SEO.