Any online undertaking requires hosting, that is, running the websites and applications on physical hardware units – servers. However, it’s not so easy to maintain servers, as they, unlike regular home PCs or laptops, need to be kept in special conditions, where they can run uninterruptedly without risk of technical crashes or power outages, which is provided by the uninterruptible power supply and advanced cooling systems. These conditions need special rooms and additional equipment, so very few companies really deal with housing servers on their own.
Renting servers from data centers is a common way to solve the problem of hosting, but if you want more control, you can as well use the collocation services, that is, house your own hardware in a third-party data center. So, today we are going to look at how beneficial collocation services are and whether there are any pitfalls you have to consider.
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Pros and Cons of a Colocated Server in 2024
Pros of a colocated server
Time and cost savings
As you may have already guessed, the first reason why people choose colocation services instead of in-house hosting is that you are going to save a lot of money and time. The whole infrastructure, special buildings, and rooms with all the necessary complementary equipment like cooling towers, sources of backup power supply, etc. is already there and maintained by professionals. You only have to buy and install the server itself.
Reduced maintenance costs
With colocation services you also don’t need to hire a team of professionals to take care of the equipment. The data center team is doing all the work for you, while you only enjoy your excellent hosting.
Better bandwidth
Another benefit of a colocated server is that it’s provided with better infrastructure by default. Hence, your data will be able to be transmitted at a higher rate with increased bandwidth, maximizing the efficiency of your website, and increasing your customer’s content as well as your site’s SEO rankings.
Guaranteed uptime
With the infrastructure of a server colocated at a good data center, you can be sure that you’ll receive the maximum 99,99% or more of uptime due to a well-developed and well-maintained system of power supply. Power outages are virtually excluded, so you can forget about losing revenues because of downtimes.
Flexibility
With server collocation, you are already prepared for the case if you want to expand. Rescaling your capacities is now not a challenge, but an ordinary task. You don’t have to rebuild your infrastructure or anything of this kind. Just opt for a more advanced plan and solve the problem within minutes.
Maximum resources under your control
With colocation services, the number of capacities available to you will not depend either on the plans of the hosting provider or on your server neighbors like it’s the case with shared hosting. You only pay for the place in the data center as well as for the maintenance services. The rest is in your hands.
A variety of locations
With colocation services, you are no longer bound to the region where the offices of your company are situated. You can choose from a broad selection of datacenter offered by the colocation provider. The choice of location is a game-changing feature, as you can choose it with an eye on your target audience, opting for a place that is situated as close to them as possible, so they can access your web resources at the lowest rate of latency, which is beneficial not only for individual users but also for the search engine rankings of your website.
Compliance
When hosting anything anywhere, you have to take into account the legislation of this or that place, documenting your site’s compliance with a long list of standards regarding data security and other aspects: HIPAA, PCI DSS, ISO, and others. Luckily, good colocation providers also take care of these legal aspects, saving you even more time and money.
Cons of colocated server
Colocated servers may have some disadvantages for certain clients, so let’s have a look at them.
Distance to the colocated server
First, if someday you need your employees to perform some manipulations with your colocated hardware, they will likely have to travel to the colocation location, which means additional costs and time spent. If you want your colocation data center to be more accessible, you will have to search for something in proximity.
More start-up costs
If you are a starting business, it might be a better idea to consider renting a server, since colocation still suggests a more serious capital investment. You are also bound to your hardware, which is not as easy to exchange for something different as it is with VPS or dedicated server hosting plans. Also, not every company needs as much computing power as a whole physical server can provide, so if you wonder if you really need colocation service, the answer will depend on the scale of your project.
Conclusion
A colocated server is an efficient hosting solution that allows you to have your own server located in a professional data center with all the necessary equipment and infrastructure. It’s a cost-effective and flexible solution, but it’s more adapted for already large-scale projects. If after reading this article you realized that it’s exactly what you need, then we recommend you to check out server colocation by a reliable hosting provider. Thank you for your attention, take care!
