Colocation server hosting is a type of web hosting designed for small businesses which are keen to enjoy features of large IT departments minus the heavy costs. The colocation server hosting provider will lease out the space within a data center for customers to set up their own equipments. They will also provide clients with bandwidth, power, IP addresses and cooling systems to deploy the server properly.

How does colocation work?

Colocation server hosting basically lets you place your machine on someone else’s rack so that you can share their bandwidth. This makes it more expensive than regular web hosting plans but entails much lower costs in terms of bandwidth which you can enjoy. You can physically take your server to the site of the provider and place it on their rack or you can rent a server from the colocation server hosting provider.

What are the benefits of colocation server hosting?

• By far the greatest advantage of choosing colocation server is the bandwidth cost. A cheap limited bandwidth DSL line will cost approximately $200 but for this price or even lesser price you can place a server in a colocation facility which gives high bandwidth speeds and higher redundancy.

• The colocation sites will have superior outage protection. At times, during severe natural calamities, the server may stop functioning normally and websites start to slow down. However the colocation provider facilities are better equipped with power generators so that there is always backup power to guard against such crisis situations.

• When the machine is found to be too slow or lacking in memory, it can be conveniently upgraded. It is not necessary to wait for the hosting service provider to upgrade it. Even during shifts, the server is left running all the time. When you host domains, you have to ideally pay for two lines for a while when you are shifting to a new location but in this case colocation server takes care of the server operations during this time.
• Colocation server hosting also guarantees additional security for the machines because your server is kept in a secure environment.

• Most providers will also maintain your servers in exchange for an additional charge. This is very beneficial when your IT staff is not technically trained or when your office is at a distance from the provider.

These are some advantages which colocation server hosting offers businesses. It is basically the practice of keeping private servers in a third-party data center. Companies co-locate their networking equipments by renting spaces in colocation facilities. Businesses prefer colocation services due to the extra security which is made available to them compared to their in-house security measures. Moreover, colocation lets customers exploit superior data center infrastructure of the colocation facility and at the same time maintain control over the configuration and upkeep of servers which belong to them. Besides being cost-effective, it helps to free office spaces. It saves resources that are likely to have been spent in managing the logistics of in-house server maintenance.