Remote hands are the facility's technicians doing physical work on your equipment: a reboot, a cable swap, a drive replacement, a look at a status light. They're cheap to ignore and expensive to underestimate, because they're billed by the hour on top of everything else.
Remote hands vs smart hands
Facilities usually split the service in two. Remote hands are simple, scripted tasks: power cycling, reseating a cable, reading a label. Smart hands involve judgment: installing and cabling new servers, replacing components, troubleshooting. Smart hands cost more per hour, and the line between them is set by each facility's rate card.
How it's billed
- Bundled hours: some plans include a few hours a month. Published Chicago list plans include 1 to 2 hours (GigeNET).
- Billing increments: 15, 30 or 60 minutes, often with a minimum per ticket.
- After-hours and urgent rates: a multiplier on nights, weekends and short-notice tickets.
- Prepaid blocks: a discounted bank of hours used across the term.
How to budget for it
Multiply your expected hours per month beyond any bundle by the rate card, then add the escalator. For a 36-month view:
| Hours per month | 36 months at your hourly rate |
|---|---|
| 1 | 36 hours x rate |
| 2 | 72 hours x rate |
| 4 | 144 hours x rate |
| 8 | 288 hours x rate |
Then ask each bidder for its rate card, increments and minimums, and put them in the comparison. The calculator takes hours and rate as inputs.
Reduce the hours you need
- Out-of-band management (IPMI or iDRAC) and switched PDUs for remote power cycling
- Labeled cabling and an up-to-date rack diagram on file with the facility
- Spares on site, so a swap is one ticket, not two
Questions
Sometimes a few hours a month are bundled; beyond that they're billed per ticket at the facility's rate card. Ask for the increments and minimums.
Remote hands are simple, scripted tasks; smart hands need technical judgment, such as installs and troubleshooting, and cost more.