When you decide to relocate or broaden your data center, you need to take into account the costs, operational capability, and security. Considering this, more businesses are realizing how collocation offers the answer they need with no burdens of handling their own data center.
This is the number one reason why companies choose data center colocation options. And this could work for your business too if you have similar data needs.
Let?s take a more in-depth look.
What Is A Data Center Colocation?
A data center colocation is also known as colo and it is a particular set of data center services that usually mainly deal with providing safe space for enterprise companies to store data, storage-related hardware and other pieces of equipment.
As a business, you would have to engage with the colocation provider in a manner that is similar to a tenant?s relationship with a landlord, for example. In short, you are a customer that pays for space in the facility of another business where you store your stuff.
Keep in mind that in most cases you have to supply the equipment. This means that it is up to you to provide servers and other pieces of hardware necessary for daily tasks.
The colocation company will store it securely in an environment that is cool and monitored – perfect for servers. It also ensures that bandwidth needs are appropriate.
Finally, data centers offer different service tiers which guarantee various amounts of uptime.
Colo Provider Types
- Wholesale colocation providers deal with large spaces. For instance, that could be a 10,000-square-foot data center. Basically, this space is empty besides the power outlets and cooling devices.
The ?tenant? does the work of rolling in the servers and racks, cabling up the gear, and making sure it all works.
- On the other hand, retail providers deal with smaller spaces. For instance, they could offer individual servers or ?cages? and there is more setup help available. And of course, it comes at a certain price.
Benefits Of Data Center Colocation
Let?s see why businesses across all industries place their faith in data center colocations once their data storage needs start growing.
Uptime
This is definitely the main reason why enterprises are attracted by data center colo services. When a business chooses a specific tier, every enterprise server customer is guaranteed a certain share of uptime without the payroll expense to take care of or other fees. You can learn more about colocation with Macquarie Data Centres.
Risk Management
Companies using data centers within their data recovery strategies do this with the aim of mitigating risk in the case of some external mishap (unfortunate events such as natural disasters).
Relying on these services ensures the continuity of a business in the case of a disaster. For example, if your office block faces a power blackout, the traffic on your network will remain unaffected.
The levels of redundancy that are usually provided at a data center colo are much more sophisticated than most businesses are able to afford in-house. Various businesses will consider the external location to be their main data storage location but keep copies of data as backup onsite.
Security
Data centers are almost always fitted with the latest tech related to security. This includes check-in desks, cameras, biometric readers, and so on.
These facilities are secured 24/7 both on the cloud and in the physical world. All of these measures are important since no data center can afford a data theft situation or data leaks.
Costs
This is probably the second most adored benefit of data center colocation solutions. Colocation leads to cost savings and this is especially true when compared to managing an on-premises data center.
For many businesses, renting the space that is needed from a data center is a practical option that is cost-effective. With colos, you don?t have to fret about planning for UPS or other capital expenditures, power grids, multiple backup generators, and so on.
On top of that, there are maintenance costs linked to managing and maintaining an on-site server.
Bandwidth
Colo can provide the bandwidth that your servers need in order to work optimally. With great bandwidth that powers multiple businesses, data center colos support businesses like no common office location.
Scalability
Image by Daniel Reche from Pixabay
With growth comes the need to expand the infrastructure of your IT. And you can do so through colocation.
Not every industry will have the same requirements when it comes to features they need from their data center. Support, power, security – all these will differ. But have no worries because your service provider will consult you to learn about your needs and create proper modifications.
Final Words
If your data is bound to grow and you realize how beneficial it is to avoid in-house data management, it is obvious that you need to consider data center colocation options.
You have seen the benefits, the way they work, and you just have to determine if your business needs fit into this equation.