Colocation in a data center can be a handy tool for small businesses that are searching for server hosting options. It can give your business all the features of a large IT department but without the burden of the heavy cost. Many large corporations have the infrastructure to host their own servers; they can afford a personal team of IT professionals to architect and manage their infrastructure. Individuals and small companies often do not have this opportunity; this is where colocation can be beneficial.
If you choose the feature of colocation, here are a couple things it allows you to do. It allows you to place your server or servers in a rack at a data center and share their bandwidth as if it was your own. Colocation generally costs more than standard Web hosting services but it is typically less than all of the related costs of keeping a server in-house when you factor in the additional power, cooling and security, etc.
At the start of the colocation process, after you have your server set up, you physically take it to the location of the colocation provider and install it in their rack. Services within collocation include: rack space, an IP block, bandwidth, and power to your server; with optional services of monitoring, help desk, patch management, professional services, and more. Once the server, that your business provided, is up and running, you can access it much like you would access a Web site. The difference being that you own the hardware.
There are many advantages to colocation; one of the biggest is the cost for bandwidth. In a data center you will be provided higher bandwidth speeds and redundancy from multiple network carriers. You will also have power outage protection. This comes in the form of battery back-ups and a generator that will ensure your equipment will not skip a beat. You even get the benefit of knowing that your equipment is in a secure facility that is monitored at all times. Even the employees are required to use fingerprint key cards to pass through any door leading to the data center. Even though your equipment is located off site it is still yours. You can work on it remotely or you can come to the colocation facility 24 x 7 x 365. It is always accessible to you.
These days a business’s success is completely encapsulated in the protection, storage and proper functioning of their computers. Just like the saying goes, “A mechanic is only as good as his tools.” There are few tools in the business world as relied upon as computers. Server Colocation and other services provided by CyberTrails can help you ensure that this important instrument of your business is always up and running and secure.
