Colocation services are scalable as needs for bandwidth and servers increase.
Any plans to expand the company’s IT architecture involves a lot of considerations having to do with security, physical location and use of bandwidth.
On-premise networks can become a haven for legacy hardware and enterprise as the technology curve steepens, allowing businesses and organizations to benefit in cost-effective ways.
A “Colocation Buyers Guide,” posted at onestopclick.com, offers an overview on the dynamics of colocation as it relates to its offering of scalability for today’s businesses.
WHAT IT IS…
Colocation is all about space, connectivity, security and expandability. More so, it offers a component that can fit a growing company’s need for bandwidth, now and into the future as the company expands.
Business owners contract with a colocation facility to lease-out or rent ‘rack space’ that will accommodate a company’s server (s). What’s more, the servers tap into the colocation’s bandwidth without having to lay their own fiber lines.
The total space used by a colocation facility is calculated in Rack Units, and a ‘U’ is equivalent to a vertical measurement of 1.75 inches.
MANAGED SERVERS (MSP)
This arrangement gives added peace-of-mind if a company wants their hardware (servers) and “processes” completely monitored, including the backing up of data and resolution of issues with the ISP.
COLOCATION TYPES
Colocation server services: Companies pay a traditional ‘housing’ or rack fee to place their company-owned hardware at the facility; too, the cost of the uplink to the Internet is an extra charge, as is the expense of adding more servers.
Dedicated server services: A business can ask the colocation provider to build a custom server for them, and it is rented—or, in some cases owned—by the hosting company.
This option is the most expensive of the two choices, but the full complement of services and hardware can make up for it; the hosting service in this case provides all the hardware and software, plus the bandwidth.
It’s considered easier to expand services with this arrangement as leasing provides quick modifications with huge cash outlays.
To get more information on your specific colocation requirements contact us at Atlantic.Net today.
