What are the benefits of having your data center be located in another country than you are? Besides money, I mean. (Because it's cheaper to build one in certain other countries than the US/UK/Canada/etc, right?)
Besides the money factor, there would also be other considerations, such as security, and restrictions. Some countries have fewer restrictions on what can be stored on a server than others.
Gambling would be one thing that would be better served with offshore data centers; another is the p*rnography industry. Things that are illegal inside the USA are not always illegal elsewhere.
This is a good answer, short and to the point. Most times people will try and use "Off -Shore" hosting for Gambling sites.
Have you heard the recent poker news? The Department of Justice closed most online poker rooms because they were hosted on off-shore servers accepting money from US players. Millions of dollars changing hands. Just another reason to watch out for off-shore accounts, hosting/servers, etc.
I have, they had international payment processors which stole from them. Another reason why you shouldn't look into international hosting, you have little to no control, physically or legally.
it is slightly risky to have an off shore data center. admitted, that you can host businesses that are banned in your country and that it is cheaper. but the data center will be subject to the regulations of that country. you also have to look into the power consistency and expert availability in that locality. most companies are not comfortable with their private data so far away from home. most of them wouldn't mind paying a little extra to keep the data close enough to be monitored.
I look at one more aspect of having a off-shore datacenter. it provides you a Disaster Recovery option. As it is in different geographical location, all kind of disasters in your locations will not impact your business data. your business data is safe in other part of world which porivde you more peace of mind.
but thecommis, you are forgetting that the fact that the place you have located your data center is not immune to natural calamities! yes, maybe the data center and you will not be struck at the same time but placing the data center outside the country alone will not make it safe and ensure continuity to the business.