Why choose Colocation?



Posted: Friday, July 24, 2009

by Andrew Marhall

Colocation is a type of web hosting, where you store you server at a Data (or Colocation) Centre. The server is owned by the customer but they then hire rack space where they store the server.

In terms of price Colocation is cheaper than hosting your own server, but more expensive than basic hosting. Therefore whether it should be considered a cheap option or not should come down to the specifications you require. If you want control of your server, and have the skills necessary to perform tasks on the server, then Colocation is a cheaper option than fully hosting the server yourself. The control you can have over your server is one of the main factors why many go for Colocation. You can customise the server exactly how you want and upgrade it as you please. This gives you a high amount of flexibility, as anything you want to do, you can.

The condition where the server will be stored is favourable to hosting. The area where it is stored is specifically designed for the purpose. This may be something that you would be unable to replicate if hosting at your own premises, or it may be too expensive to. The temperature, for example, is controlled so it suits hosting. There is also plenty of backup should there be a problem, such as a power cut. Flexibility is higher than hosting the server yourself, as there is a high amount of bandwidth. If you need more bandwidth therefore, it is easily obtainable. Due to the facilities at Colocation Centre's there will invariably be a fast and powerful service.

If you are hosting your own server but move premises, the entire server will have to move with you. This could cause problems such as downtime. This doesn't need to be an issue with Colocation though, as the server can remain in the same place. Most Colocation Centre's have some assistance on hand. This can be useful if you want to control your own server but are not one hundred per cent certain that you have all the skills necessary. Package are often available that include a certain amount of support.

As you can see, there are many positives to Colocation. Whether or not it is the best option for you all depends on your situation. If you are only after basic hosting, then it is not the best choice, but if you have more requirement and own your own server it may be easy, cheaper, and more convenient that hosting the server yourself.

Andrew Marshall

Colocation

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