How does Server Colocation Relate to Data Centers?

To understand how server colocation relates to data centers, it is necessary to understand what the terms mean and what their advantages and drawbacks are. The data centers are essentially centralized locations in which computing hardware and networking equipments are kept for storing, processing and distributing data. The servers which are housed in a data center are connected to communication networks and this lets people access them and get information from them remotely. Almost every company or government organization is going to need a private data center to maintain its data securely. Alternately, it can house its data in a third party space from where it can access it remotely. These rack spaces provided by third parties are called colocation facilities and businesses are now making a switch to server colocation for cost saving benefits.

The server colocation facilities are essentially huge data centers which started to come about in the wake of the Internet boom, around early 2000s. These colocation hosting service providers will typically have their servers spread all across the globe. This is to cater to the constant demands for information. So, server colocation is basically the process of deploying or running company-owned servers within a managed facility. The colocation provider will offer power supplies, cooling systems, bandwidth and network connectivity, security measures and tech support for clients. While the operating systems, servers and apps will continue to be under the client's control, the physical space, network and power resources will be the responsibility of the managed service provider or MSP.

When you wish to understand the co-relation between cloud, server colocation and data centers, you have to realize that in server colocation, servers will still be your property but they will be managed and monitored by a third party. So, as a client, you get to access these servers via a VPN or across the Internet. The main reason why server colocation is being preferred to privately-owned data centers is to cut down costs. Businesses can now get enhanced IT amenities and supports without having to break the bank. Besides technical supports, the colocation hosting provider will also offer you physical security, bandwidth, uninterrupted power supplies for smooth functioning of your site, sufficient power supplies and backup provisions. So, server colocation is very much like owning a dedicated server, except that in dedicated hosting, you get a server offered by the host.

Your in-house data centers are basically server rooms which have to be completely managed by your internal IT staff. So, all cooling facilities, power supplies, backups, bandwidth provisions and security arrangements have to be your own. While you may own everything and you have full freedom to customize these, you are also fully responsible for all glitches which may arise from time to time. The hardware remains on-site and your staff can access it or maintain it without hassles. But, if your in-house staff is not adequately qualified, you may have to get extra technical support which turns out to be much costlier in the long run. You will never have to worry about SLAs or licensing charges; but the benefits you get for the amount you pay extra are worth every penny you spend. You can count on your host to guarantee redundancy and backups at any time; they will also offer effective disaster recovery solutions to ensure that your operations do not get stalled because of any calamity or outage.

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