Colocation Services Tips
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Why Use Colocation Hosting
If you are a business owner with several large website and want to include online gaming, large databases, chat rooms, or custom applications which will take large amounts of RAM from a server, you should consider using colocation hosting. You will get superior security, instant bandwidth management, reliable Internet connections, and greater flexibility with content. You may not have the resources to maintain your server with proper temperature and physical security, but a colocation hosting provider does. Once you purchase the server, you have full control since you own the server. But the colocation hosting provider will offer you a connection, physical security and uptime guarantees.
Questions to Ask Colocation Service Provider
When searching for a colocation service provider it is important you do your research. There are many options available and a range of pricing. You should understand exactly what you are getting. Does your collocation service provider charge per server or per rack? What bandwidth will be available? What type of support do they offer – are they trained engineers or non-technical customer support technicians? What is their physical security like – does your server run the risk of getting damaged, stolen, or is it in a secure environment? What type of data security is offered? Will you have access 24/7? Is the company stable financially? How will you manage your server – will you have remote access for reboots? What type of reports will you get about bandwidth utilization and port connection? Where will your server be physically located? What uptimes are guaranteed? Read the fine print. All colocation service providers are different.
Colocation Server vs. Dedicated Server
Having a colocation server means that you buy a server from a hardware vendor and you give the server to your hosting provider. The hosting provider then plugs your server into its network and power supply – connecting your server to the Internet. The hosting provider makes certain the network is working and you take care of maintenance, support and repair of your server. Some hosting providers offer management of your server so you can purchase maintenance agreements similar to a managed dedicated server. The dedicated server is owned by your hosting company and you lease it from them. A colocation server is owned by you.
Benefits of Colocation Hosting
There are many benefits of colocation hosting. If you have access to a full server rather than a small portion of a shared server, you will gain a measurable amount of speed, performance, and reliability. Plus collocation hosting is perfect if you have custom needs for your web site, including high traffic, bandwidth, multiple domains, or high security needs. You have the control over what goes onto your server without having to maintain the physical security and monitoring of your server. Colocation hosting providers offer physical facilities to protect your server, backup generators, and monitoring that your system remains online.
Why Use Colocation Hosting
Colocation services are available for people and businesses who require more control over their server and web hosting than is offered by regular shared hosting. When you purchase your own server you are able to utilize the full capacity of the server. This leads to greater reliability, speed and flexibility. Small to medium sized businesses with larger websites and high traffic are perfect examples of who could benefit from colocation services. Companies who provide eBusiness, web services, healthcare, financial services and government agencies also would benefit from colocation services. They gain greater security and performance without having to maintain their own facilities for their server.
Questions to Ask Colocation Service Provider
Having a server colocation means that you buy a server from a hardware vendor and you give the server to your hosting provider. The hosting provider then plugs your server into its network and power supply – connecting your server to the Internet. The hosting provider makes certain the network is working and you take care of maintenance, support and repair of your server. Some hosting providers offer management of your server so you can purchase maintenance agreements similar to a managed dedicated server. The dedicated server is owned by your hosting company and you lease it from them. A server colocation is owned by you.
Colocation Server vs. Dedicated Server
If you decided to purchase a managed dedicated server, here are few highlights of what a managed dedicated server includes with some companies: 1500GB bandwidth, 100 percent network uptime, dedicated server expert support, up to 5 IP addresses, free manual reboots, remote reboot options and options for firewall protection.
| Guru Spotlight |
| Sherril Steele-Carlin |
