What are colocation services exactly? Simply put, colocation enables businesses to rent space to house their technological equipment such as server, storage, and networking machinery in third-party locations. It’s similar to the services provided by a rental storage company. The only difference is that instead of storing household or commercial goods, furniture, or appliances, they’re renting space for high-tech equipment.
Prov.net deep-dives into what is colocation, how does it work, and the benefits it provides.
What is Colocation?
By renting a quasi-shared facility, colocation is a service by which companies can enjoy physical hosting of their systems and servers without having to bear the high costs of infrastructure and other facilities. In addition to physical space, the features of colocation include other services such as, redundant electrical power, network connectivity, cooling, and of course physical security for protecting not only expensive technological equipment but also the sensitive company and client information that they may contain.
How Does Colocation Work?
To host their hardware, companies can rent just a fractional or full cabinet, or an entire room, depending on their specific requirements. Therefore, a colocation center, also called a “carrier hotel”, is a data center that provides physical space, bandwidth, and other resources to multiple tenants.
Benefits of Colocation
Opting for third-party storage services rather than housing computing and telecommunications equipment onsite at the company’s own facility is becoming quite common. It’s because businesses are becoming increasingly aware of the multiple benefits of colocation services that include low cost, reliable and uninterrupted power, high-speed connectivity, and enhanced security.
Eliminate Heavy Infrastructure Expenses
Colocation services provide significant cost savings. The infrastructure and other facilities needed to not only house servers and other hardware but also monitor and protect them require heavy capital expenditures that companies can do without. By opting to rent space in a shared facility, they can cut down on a majority of the costs involved with hosting equipment in a an environmentally controlled and secure facility, with uninterrupted power and extensive connectivity
Besides the financial resources, storing and monitoring equipment in-house also requires human resources. By outsourcing this aspect to a data center, personnel can focus on the core business activities rather than on time-consuming tasks that do not add any direct value to the bottom-line. The right colocation service provider will provide security, support, connectivity, and reliable power backup to back a business’s IT hardware at a reasonable cost.
Benefit from Enhanced Security on All Counts
Businesses benefit from the security measures adopted by colocation service providers to protect the hardware and data of their clients. To that end, providers ensure foolproof equipment and network security. In terms of physical protection, a combination of security personnel, access authorization with the help of biometrics or electronic access cards, 24/7 camera surveillance, and other effective measures are leveraged for enhanced security.
At the same time unauthorized virtual access and cyber threats must also be prevented by implementing the latest security protocols and state-of-the-art software. Colocation service providers provide enhanced security in all respects as they invest in building a robust security capability to maintain the integrity of client data and equipment.
Enjoy Reliable Connectivity
Colocation services also offer enhanced connectivity with excellent speed and functionality to ensure clients don’t face any downtime in their business operations. To achieve this, providers deploy a multi-pronged approach that includes leveraging the services of multiple internet service providers and advanced hybrid cloud architecture, ensuring reliable connectivity at all times.
It’s yet another crucial benefit of colocation services as it eliminates the need for businesses to invest in cutting-edge connectivity infrastructure to improve or expand their internet network.
Scale Up As Your Business Grows
Scaling up, if need be, is much easier with a colocation service provider than it is with an in-house setup. Colocation data centers are designed for scalability to accommodate the varying needs of their diverse and vast customer base. As you make important strategic decisions to support your company’s growth, you can count on the increased capacity and performance of a data center’s scalable infrastructure and network to meet your business’s increasing demands. Additionally, not only can you avail of increased capacity when the need arises but without incurring heavy expenditures on infrastructure and cutting-edge technologies.
The above benefits apart, some other features of colocation such as an uninterrupted power supply and cooling to maintain the hardware in the best environmental condition are crucial. With multiple backup generators and systems, colocation services provide the power redundancies and backup that would prove to be very expensive for companies to incorporate onsite.
Are you ready to take advantage of the considerable benefits of colocation? Contact Us for a Customized Technical Solution!