The main difference between managed hosting and colocation hosting is the amount of control that you have over the server. Because you actually own your own server with colocation hosting you have absolute, total control over it. With managed hosting, however, you don’t actually own the server, so you have much less control. Colocation hosting allows your business to keep your servers on the host’s premises and share their larger bandwidths whereas managed hosting you lease a server from your service provider. 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 a secure hosting environment.” –
– Marc Orcutts
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What Is Managed Hosting?
With managed web hosting you will have a server that is dedicated solely to your company, however, you will not have full administrative control over that server. Your web hosting provider will be the one responsible to maintain the server including its integrity, reliability and performance. Because your hosting provider is responsible for administering your server, you will need to pay extra for this service. Managed hosting is very convenient as you or your staff are not required to manage your server.
Who Is It Suited For?
Managed hosting is an especially good choice for companies that have limited technological experience or expertise and would like someone else to handle tasks that require this knowledge for them. It is also a good choice for a company that doesn’t want to have the initial capital expense of purchasing their own server.
What Is Colocation Hosting?
With colocation hosting your company purchases its own server, sets it up, and then physically takes it to the data center that is providing the space to house your server. Colocation centers generally offer a great amount of bandwidth that you can tap into; this is generally a much more cost-effective way for a smaller company to get a lot of bandwidth as the cost of getting a similar amount of bandwidth into your company on its own would be much more expensive. The colocation provider will provide the IP, bandwidth, and power necessary to run your server.
Who Is It Suited For?
Colocation hosting effectively allows a smaller business to have the features of a large IT department, without the high price tag of set-up.
What Are the Differences between Managed Hosting and Colocation Hosting?
Cost: Your startup costs will be higher with colocation hosting because you will need to purchase a server. Managed hosting will cost you monthly leasing fees so the price is spread out over a longer period of time.
Ownership: With colocation hosting you own your server whereas with managed hosting the server is owned by your hosting provider. You are leasing the space to house your server with colocation and with managed hosting you are leasing the actual server.
Control: Because you actually own your server with colocation hosting you have absolute total control over it. With managed hosting, on the other hand, you have much less control. This is because you are only leasing space on a computer and you don’t actually own it. Many companies do prefer this option though because they don’t want to have to deal with managing their server themselves.
Hardware Upgrades: If you think that your server is running too slow and perhaps needs more memory, then you are free to upgrade it yourself with colocation hosting. If you use managed hosting, then your hosting provider will need to upgrade your machine.
Software Choices: With colocation hosting, you can choose the types of software that you want to install. If you decide to use ColdFusion or ASP you can simply purchase the application and install it yourself. With managed hosting, you the hosting provider will need to install the software or tools that you need or want to use.
Expertise: If you choose colocation hosting, then you or your staff will need to have the expertise required to do your own hardware and software upgrades and other types of set-up and maintenance. If you choose managed hosting, then you don’t have to have that level of technical expertise on your staff as you will be paying your service provider to do these maintenance tasks for you.
What Are the Similarities Between Managed Hosting and Colocation Hosting?
Dedicated Servers: With both managed and colocation hosting your company will have the great advantage of having a server that completely dedicated to your use. You will not need to share it with another organization.
Off-Site Locations: Whether you use managed or colocation hosting, your server will be located at a different site from your actual business. This is a great advantage for the safety of your data. If a disaster hits your main business location, your data stored off-site will probably not be affected by the same disaster and thus protected.
Protection Against Downtime: Managed and colocation hosting can also give you less downtime. Most hosting facilities have backup power or generators that will kick in if there are power outages as well as network redundancy plans to make sure that your Internet connection is not interrupted.
Scalability: Both managed and colocation hosting is scalable. As your business grows, you can increase your service by either leasing more space on a server or by placing another server at the colocation site.
DSC – The Most Reliable Colocation Hosting and Managed Hosting Provider in Atlanta
Whether you choose a managed hosting or a colocation hosting option, Digital Service Consultants can help.. At DSC we offer fast, safe, secure, and reliable managed and 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.
Sources:
The Difference Between Managed Hosting and Colocation Hosting
What is Colocation and Why Would You Choose it for Web Hosting