Definition of Colocation Server and its Best Features
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February 22, 2022 11:20 am
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4 min read
If you are a business owner, you know how vital your server is to your business. Whether storing product information for an e-commerce site, sales history for a physical retailer, or customer records for a business-to-business service provider’s clients, data stored on private servers is critical to a company’s success. This data is valuable, and the steps required to maintain it are an expensive but essential element of running any modern business.
For years, the only practical solution for data storage was on-premises or physical servers. These servers rarely come cheaply and require maintenance by specialized, well-paid, and highly trained IT professionals. Beyond the upfront costs of suitable hardware and personnel, the underlying costs of running a server room add up quickly. Physical space, power, temperature settings, network requirements: all these factors must be considered.
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Of course, there are many hosting services out there that offer alternatives with just as good support. While this service includes various hosting solutions, what if you could reduce costs without completely redoing your current digital infrastructure? Through colocation server hosting, business people can find the best solution with more advanced and complete features to meet complex business needs.
Understanding the Definition of Colocation Server
A colocation facility, or colo, is a data center facility where a business can rent space for servers and other computing hardware. Typically, a colo provides building, cooling, power, bandwidth, and physical security, while customers provide servers and storage. Space in a facility is often rented out by shelves, cabinets, cages, or rooms. Many server colocation providers have expanded their offerings to include managed services that support their customers’ business initiatives.
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There are several reasons businesses choose colo over building their own data center. Still, one of the main drivers is the Capex or capital expenditure associated with building, maintaining, and updating extensive computing facilities. In the past, colos was often used by private companies for disaster recovery (DR). Currently, colocation servers are very popular among cloud service providers and organizations or companies that rely on them for their tasks and data storage.
How Colocation Server Works
Maintaining and managing servers starts with ensuring the environment allows them to work at total capacity. However, businesses face a significant problem with typical dedicated server racks. If the company is unable to maintain the rack, they will look for a data center that offers server colocation services. Server colocation works for businesses that already have hardware and software but cannot provide the conditions for storing them.
Therefore, clients rent space from their service providers who offer housing for hardware and environmental management. Clients move their hardware to the data center, set up, and configure their servers. There is no physical contact between the provider and the client hardware unless they specifically request additional assistance, known as remote handing. While the hardware is hosted, the data center bears all the responsibilities for environmental management, such as cooling, reliable power supply, on-site security, and protection against natural disasters.
Benefits of Using Colocation Server
There are several reasons why a business may decide to use colocation instead of building its own data center. The main drivers are usually the capital expenditures associated with building, maintaining, and upgrading extensive computing facilities and the need for a dedicated IT team to be responsible for its maintenance. Some world-class colocation facilities also offer disaster recovery and business continuity services.
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Without a business continuity or disaster recovery plan, you’re risking mission-critical systems, applications, and data. In addition to the threat of natural disasters, common accidents such as equipment failure can stop operations and damage the reputation of your business in the eyes of clients and customers. Colocation providers that also offer disaster recovery and business continuity services can ensure the uninterrupted performance of IT operations and mission-critical systems in the event of a disaster. The features and support that you can get from a colocation server provider that can benefit your business include:
- Colocation servers are actually designed for high-density cloud computing environments.
- Supported by 24/7/365 remote hands-on technical support for tactical responses to troubleshoot problems and obstacles quickly and accurately
- Connect with an advanced network backbone to serve the next generation of computing needs
- Scalable to help customers prove their future business advantage
- Highly trained and industry-certified technicians diagnose, isolate, troubleshoot and resolve problems in a highly controlled manner
Although every colocation server provider offers and has its way of doing things, features vary from one colocation hosting company to the next. Even so, a feature that is relatively common among colocation server providers is the example you have read above.
