What is Colocation?

Data Center Colocation or “colo” is a practice of outsourcing in-house server equipment in a third-party data center where shared space is rented to store hardware related to data storage and other equipment. Typically the customer supplies the servers and other equipment needed to run their daily operations and the colo provider rents them a secure, monitored space with service options that guarantee a certain amount of bandwidth and uptime, ongoing maintenance, support, and power.

Why Colocate your in-house server equipment?

Many companies do not want the hassle of constantly maintaining and monitoring equipment or they don’t have the infrastructure, expertise, and budgets to do it themselves. Colocation of your servers in a data center provides security, power, space, cooling, redundancy, reliability, and fast connectivity. It’s the optimal environment to keep your business data secure and available at all times.

Many companies decide to use a Data Centre to host mission-critical data, if this data is damaged or lost it could cause significant financial or reputational damage to the organization. Another alternative for many businesses is to outsource their Data Centre as a recovery location. In this scenario, companies will host their data in their office location and then use the Data Centre as an off-site backup location for their data in case of an emergency.

A data hosting solution for companies of all sizes

Colocation is an advantageous hosting option for businesses of all sizes. Small businesses gain access to a large IT department without the capital investment that many simply cannot afford. Medium to large enterprises can expand their infrastructure capacity as their business data grows and technology advances, increasing the availability and performance of their applications. Whether your business is small or large colocation enables you to focus on your core business without having to worry about the costly logistics and infrastructure that goes along with building an in-house data center.

Top benefits of Colocation

Cost savings

When you collocate there is no costly capital investment required and you save on fixed and variable costs that go along with the environment needed to house your equipment and host your data like security, energy usage, and IT resources. By hosting your data through a Data Centre you can free up the time of your IT department so they can focus on more important things and the money you save can be channeled for more growth in other areas of your business.

Room to grow

As your company’s business data volumes grow your colocation strategy can be optimized to host and handle your equipment and technology needs. Colocation enables organizations to expand or reduce their data center footprint as needed, so you only pay for the space you need as you need it.

Security

Colocation services give you the benefit of increased security with 24/7 video surveillance, swipe card access, climate and fire detection/control, and more. Maintaining this level of security is difficult and costly for many businesses to do on their own.

Guaranteed uptime

Data Centers typically offer an uptime guarantee because downtime is not an option. A single outage can cost a company millions of dollars. With colocation, you get permanent connectivity and flexible bandwidth to ensure you are always connected.

More bandwidth

Data Centers are built to process data. Having this level of processing ability may not be accessible at your office location. Data Centers handle the data through large bandwidth pipes and have redundancies in place to ensure access doesn’t deteriorate.

Your business data is a valuable asset that deserves a secure and controlled location where it’s not vulnerable to disruption or loss. Data Centers are designed to keep your computer equipment operating in an optimal environment that has the capacity to handle high volumes of data and traffic with minimal, latency. Colocation services can maximize value and streamline your operations so your business can reach new levels of success.

Call us at 1-877-561-6771 or visit our Data Center page to learn if Colocation is right for your business.

Learn more about Execulink’s Colocation Services today!