What is web server collocation?

June 6th, 2008 | by admin | as Colocation, Dedicated Servers

Server collocation is a new method for maintaining mission-critical data in which customers allocate their servers, networks and storage equipment in a datacenter usually referred to as a Collocation Center. In essence these customers will store their own hardware and all other network equipment in a datacenter alongside that of other customers, to be interconnected with telecommunications and other network service providers.

Resorting to such a technique presents several benefits to the customer. Maybe the most noticeable, apart from the obvious financial gains, is that Collocation Centers permit companies to focus on their core business while resting assured that all the technical aspects pertaining to the network and system management have been taken care of.

It should be no surprise to learn that many large organizations have discovered that large sums of money and valuable time can be saved by sharing datacenter infrastructures. This solution permits internal networks to be freed-up for other uses while eliminating latency issues, seeing as collocation service providers enjoy superior bandwidth capacity and thus resulting in improved web site access speeds for customers. Clients interested in these services are generally Internet Service Providers (ISP), large online retailers, content providers, telecommunication enterprises and any just about any other businesses that rely heavily on network infrastructures.

Collocation Centers offer other services and advantages depending on the individual requirements of each customer. Datacenters can be used as a critical offsite back up facility for securing data in case of disasters or any unforeseen eventuality and in this way insure that the precious data is always available. When it comes to physical security Collocation Centers employ better safety measures that can include closed-circuit television cameras, on-site guards and locking systems for individual server cases to protect individuals from gaining unauthorized access.

Although security and maintenance costs of running a network are the main reasons for using Collocation Centers, there are other compensations that should be mentioned. Building a datacenter requires a lot of space and resources, soothing that can be extremely costly even for large corporations. The physical building has to offer an adequate cooling system is the form of air conditioning for maintaining the servers cool, power generators in case of power failure and expensive fiber optic cables to insure connectivity. Obviously these and other resources are offered by Collocation Centers for a reasonable monthly fee, translating into a serious saving for consumer in technical and investment costs.

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