What are Colocation Services?
A colocation often referred to as ‘colo’ service is a data centre facility where the business rents outs his space for servers along with other computing-related hardware. To a customer, a colo provider offers building, cooling, power, bandwidth along with physical security to the customer.
Colo data centres are a remote facility storing in-house crucial information. Security measures in a colocation service become an important aspect to consider when a budget is defined for data centre services.
Both physical and virtual security measures are considered when it comes to securing colo data centre services.
Physical security includes full-time monitoring as well as restricted access for ensuring high-security measures to the colo data centres.
Virtual security mechanisms could include biometrics, which is a popular method for securing crucial information about the organization.
In return, the customer offers servers and storage. Today, many colo providers have expanded their offerings in order to include managed services for supporting the business initiatives of their customers.
Also Read: Is Cloud Hosting good for your IT Business
Considerations Related to Colocation Services
Following are some considerations that one needs to keep in mind when going for a colocation service-
- Every business organization looks for quality, and a faster internet connection to optimize and carry out their daily operations. The connectivity alternates along with services offered by colo data centres are more reliable and affordable as compared to the in-house hosting services.
- One of the major reasons why businesses go for a colo data centre is because they offer enhanced security levels.
- The colocation budget for any data centre provider is directly influenced depending on the condition of supply and demand taking place in the market. The colocation provider needs to keep itself updated with all the latest trends and changes taking place in the market.
- Colocation facilities are always in need of energy and thus power configurations play a major role when considering the colocation costs. The power costs of a colocation depend on factors like- facility size, power source, and location.
- To avoid high maintenance costs, it is becoming crucial to make a one-time yet high investment in colocation services for providing high-standard solutions for protecting the equipment housed in a data centre facility.
Concluding Remarks
With colocation in place, it allows the business owners to leverage the benefits of higher bandwidths as compared to the in-house data centres.
Also, colocation maximizes uptime using redundant power and Internet connections. Colocation is a more cost-effective solution and when one opts for renting out space in a shred colocation facility it reduces overhead costs of the business.
