Colocation vs cloud is an ongoing battle amongst enterprise companies. Infrastructure is an integral part of modern organizations that use digital tools for themselves or their customers.
If you’re looking to change the way you store and manage data, you’ve probably been thinking about the difference between colocation and cloud quite a lot.
The truth is, both solutions have something to offer if you know what’s best for your business.
In this post, we’ll explain why you would choose colocation compared to the public cloud and what the best choice is for your business.
What is Colocation?
Colocation services provide you with a safe and secure place for your data to be stored.
You can colocate your own server equipment in colo space, which means that you’re renting out the same hardware as other people are occupying.
Colocation companies provide internet access, power, and cooling so that your data can be stored in a safe and secure place.
Colocation firms usually charge a low flat rate for dedicated server hosting vs. hourly fees or per GB pricing of cloud providers.
Colocating equipment for your company means buying or leasing the physical servers to house them in an onsite location such as a colocation facility. It’s more expensive than the public cloud, but the reliability and performance can be better.
What is the Public Cloud?
Public clouds are multi-tenant environments with each customer using the same IT infrastructure. The host offers shared resources for customers, such as apps, servers, and storage.
A public cloud is a type of colocation service where the servers are located in multiple data centers. These shared servers have processing and storage capabilities. Resources are usually rented from third-party providers, like Amazon Web Services.
The benefits of colocating equipment include higher availability and reliability. As well, the cloud provider will manage patching and security updates, so colocation firms only need to worry about cooling.
Public clouds are also scalable, so they can meet demand. But colocation firms may find that their own servers are not as expensive to manage and maintain over time as renting from public cloud providers.
What Are the Benefits of Colocation?
The benefits of colocation include the ability to monitor and maintain servers onsite, manage power usage more efficiently, gain full control over security, reduce downtime due to hardware failure or natural disasters, and ensure that you have access to any upgrades necessary.
Other benefits of colocation include colocation companies being better equipped to handle an increased load. This can include colocation firms anticipating growth in network traffic or colocating equipment with the latest hardware and software tools for handling increasingly complex tasks, such as apps, servers, and storage.
What Is the Difference Between Colocation and Cloud?
When you use colocation space, it’s possible that your server might be co-located with someone else, which usually won’t happen on a public cloud.
The public cloud is less expensive than colocating equipment for a company with low server demands, but colocation facilities are also more cost-effective for companies that require high availability or reliability.
Colocation providers have better performance due to dedicated bandwidth and hardware. Cloud providers are limited by shared resources which can slow down your site if others on the same server use high amounts of data in a short time period. This is especially problematic when you’re trying to stream or download media files.
How to Choose Colocation vs Cloud
The question “colocation vs cloud” tends to come up when a company is considering whether or not they’re going to make the investment in colocating equipment.
Choosing between colocation and the public cloud requires some careful consideration because there are pros and cons of both services that need to be weighed carefully before making your decision.
There are many benefits to both colocation and cloud management, depending on the needs of your business.
Colocation is an attractive option for companies that have a lot of equipment and want the control of managing it on their own or are looking to get out of physical data center space.
In addition, colocation offers benefits like redundant power systems and 24/hour access to IT staff as well as protection from natural disasters.
A public cloud is a good option for companies that need to reduce IT costs and are willing to give up some of the benefits that colocation offers.
The public cloud is also ideal for companies who want ready-made solutions, don’t have a lot of technical expertise on staff, or need more resources than they can afford right now.
A third option is a hybrid model where colocation firms offer the benefits of both on-premise equipment and the public cloud for customers who want to save on the cost of colocation equipment.
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