Understanding Colocation More 

Are you considering getting colocation services for your business? Doing so is practical. You do not need to maintain and keep a server physically if you intend to own one. You may buy your own server and have another company take care and maintain it. This is recommended if you do not possess the technical expertise and if your business  lacks a comprehensive and wide IT administration. 

Colocation is a Web hosting option specifically designed and structured for small businesses. The service is particularly suited for minor firms that aim to enjoy features of huge IT departments, but without the adjoining and appropriate costs. Most huge corporations and businesses invest in major online infrastructures so they could be able to host their very own Web servers. They even employ numerous IT professionals who manage and at the same time design their online sites.

Colocation is allowing a small business to place its own server machine into another business’ rack. The two may agree to share a single bandwidth. In general, colocation is costing more than the usual and standard Web hosting. However, it is less costly compared to the amount needed to buy and operate a bandwidth on your own.

Managed colocation, also known as dedicated server rental, makes use of a preconfigured dedicated server. The selected software and applications within the service could be used within limits. Additionally, the provider is also taking responsibility in providing software upgrades to provided applications within the system. It includes general maintenance like backups, reboots, and hardware issues. This is specifically useful to small businesses with limited IT resources or individuals who do not have the technical expertise and inclination. It is also recommended to firms with less capability to handle mundane troubleshooting as well as maintenance. 

If you aim to have a greater control over your need for a server, unmanaged colocation is for you. This service is ideal if a technical requirement of operating or running a server is demanding applications not supported by the colocation provider. As mentioned, you may opt to take a bigger control over configuration and your own use of the Web server. This way, this type of colocation service is different from the managed colocation.

Usual costs are  associated with the use of colocation servers. Rental fees are costs associated with having the server located or stored in the colocation provider’s own datacenter. The measurement is usually the height of the server being hosted. In most cases, servers are in 1U or 2U configurations. In other cases, servers could be significantly larger, about 3U or 4U in configuration. In simple terms, a user is made to rent the use of the Web server. This is actually what colocation is all about.

Connection charges also apply. Instead of measuring total volume of gigabytes being transferred every month, connection average could be preferably used. For example, in a 1 mbp/s connection, the user has an average of 1 megabyte of data transferred every second for a whole month. The concept of fees associated with colocation could get further complicated.

Do not be surprised when there are additional charges imposed for the services. Such extra fees could actually be assessed based on items required for the support of the server. You have to look at several common and additional fees you may encounter. Some colocation providers are including services in base prices so be sure to carefully read all the terms in your contract. Extra charges are usually incurred from services like rebooting, DNS servers, remote hands, IP addresses, and server backups. 
