Our data center in Beijing has been providing us good, reliable, inexpensive service for over 5 years. They are free of spammers and hackers and their IP range has not been blocked the entire time we've been with them. A rarity in Beijing.

While many IDCs have gone bust through the years because of the shrinking margins and failed dotcom clients, our IDC has apparently grown. Great service attracts more clients. While we were one of their first clients, and we still only own a couple racks for our servers, the place has grown so much that now Tom.com apparently has half the room we're in and many other firms populate the place.

So our annual contract is up for renewal next month and their sales person wants us to pay an entire year in advance if we choose to stay there. That's ridiculous. We told her we could change from monthly to quarterly billing if given a discount, but it seems that so many folks are desiring to get into the IDC that they have leverage. They don't speak English there, so I can safely relay that ultimately we might pay annually, though I'm sure we might be able to get every 3-4 month payment cycles. Annual payments worry me because the IDC might go bust, itself, in a few months. Who knows. Or more likely the sales person is about to quit and wants her commission in one lump.

Either way, it's good to have other options. And we're talking to other IDCs. Moving servers is like moving into a new home–it's exciting, worrisome, and full of adventure. Geek.