Colocation hosting allows your business to keep your servers on the host’s premises and share their larger bandwidths. Unlike cloud hosting, you actually own your servers. In this post, we will teach you everything you need to know about colocation hosting, including what it is, why you need it, and where is the best location for it. If you are looking for the best colocation hosting provider in Atlanta, contact DSC today.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
“Great facility – Digital Service Consultants has a staff of dedicated, caring professionals that addressed not only our colocation needs, but also our consulting needs for secure hosting environment.”
– Marc Orcutts
Read more customer reviews
What is Colocation Hosting?
With colocation hosting, your business can rent physical space in a data center where you can house your own server(s) and other computing hardware. The server remains the property of your company and its operating system and applications are all controlled by you as well. The colocation hosting provider supplies the physical space for your server, the power that it needs to run on, the security to ensure the safety of your data and equipment, and all of the network resources required, including ample bandwidth and IP addresses.
Why Do You Need Colocation Hosting?
One of the biggest reasons why you would want to have colocation hosting is to provide a safe place for your data. In today’s business world, having access to your company’s data and making sure that it is up-to-date and readily available is critical to your business running smoothly. There are a number of things that can threaten the safety of your data that a data centre can protect it from.
Power Interruptions: Power interruptions such as blackouts or brownouts can put a halt to your business; most businesses cannot afford to have this type of interruption. A colocation hosting site is designed with a constant supply of power. They ideally will be connected to utility power from separate substations, so if one substation loses power, they can be fed by a secondary one. This type of set-up is called an uninterruptible power supply or UPS . Most data centers will also have diesel generator backups which can be topped up with extra fuel if a blackout lasts for an extended period of time.
Overheating and Humidity: Excessively high or variable temperatures or humidity can be detrimental to IT equipment. A server generates a lot of heat and therefore needs to be in an environment where there is an HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system that is able to regulate the temperature in the area where it is stored. A colocation hosting site can provide you with such an area.
Fire: Fire can also be a big risk for your data, that is why most server colocation centers will enforce strict fire policies that carry severe penalties if not followed precisely. Some of the more common policies include never leaving a cardboard box in a server room. They are usually also built with extremely thick firewalls designed to prevent a fire from breaking out in one of the rooms and spreading to another. They will act as an insulation barrier to keep the equipment in the adjoining rooms cooler for a few hours while the fire is being put out.
Internet Downtime: Business is so competitive today that having your connection down is not an option. A server colocation centre provides you with a secondary network that can be easily activated if your primary internet connection fails. This feature is known as network redundancy.
Theft: A good colocation hosting site will be able to protect your data from theft by providing a secure facility with electronic locking systems. At the same time, it will allow you to access your data 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all year long.
When Would Colocation Hosting Be Beneficial to Your Business?
When You Want the Features of an IT Department Without the Costs: Colocation hosting is perfect for smaller businesses that want all of the features of a large IT department without all of the costs involved in setting up and maintaining one of their own.
When You Need the Highest Bandwidth At the Lowest Cost: One of the great advantages to colocation hosting is it gives you access to higher bandwidth speeds and better redundancy for the same price or less than it would cost you to purchase bandwidth at your own facility.
When You Want Control Over the Software You Use: Because you own your own server, you can decide what type of software to install and use on it, and you don’t have to wait for your service provider to do upgrades! You can simply do them yourself when you want them done.
When Your Business Moves to a New Location: If you have your servers located in a colocation site, then you don’t have to worry about downtime if you are moving your business location. During your move, your server will continue to be up and running.
Where Is the Best Location for a Colocation Data Center?
Overall, a colocation data center located in the suburbs offers you more advantages than one located in the downtown of a city. This is because:
Costs Are Lower: Because real estate is usually much lower in the suburbs, locating and expanding a data center is less expensive. These savings can be passed on to you, the business owner.
Land Is Plentiful: There is simply more land available for developing a data centre in the suburbs as opposed to in an already-crowded city center. The additional space means that data centers in the suburbs can be built to the best specifications for housing such a facility. The extra space also means that there should be ready land available for rapid expansion as your business grows.
Your Data Will Be Protected Further Away In a Disaster Situation: If a disaster strikes your business, then it is helpful to have your data stored far enough away from your actual business that it wouldn’t be affected by the same disaster.
Parking Is More Convenient: Parking is almost always more plentiful and usually free in a suburban location as opposed to the high-priced and limited options of a downtown area.
Who Offers the Best Colocation Hosting in Atlanta?
Looking for reliable server colocation hosting in Atlanta? Contact Digital Service Consultants. At DSC we offer fast, safe, secure, and reliable server colocation services at incredibly competitive rates. We know how to help you get the most out of your system and we offer 24/7/365 technical support so you will always be up and running. DSC has been a trusted name in the IT industry in Atlanta for more than 30 years. We also provide a full range of internet- related services including cloud backup, system monitoring, software hosting, dedicated email, website development and implementation, web hosting, e-commerce, security, and a variety of related products and services. We also provide network support for Linus, Microsoft server and workstation platforms, Fortinet firewalls, and Cisco Systems. Contact us today for all of your internet-related requirements.
