Before diving into the benefits, it is probably a good idea to establish exactly what colocation hosting is. The same service is sometimes called carrier hotel and the hotel analogy is probably a useful one. Colocation hosting is based around a data centre that has space, equipment and bandwidth available to rent. So, just like a hotel, you first of all pay to rent the space you want, then pick out optional extras that will deliver the service you want.
You can get managed colocation hosting or unmanaged colocation hosting. The management is usually an optional extra, just like additional bandwidth or additional space, that has the potential to make life easier for you.
The principal benefit of Co-Lo hosting is that it takes responsibility for storing servers and the physical hardware that makes up your hosting infrastructure away from your organisation. That means maintaining the correct environment, air conditioning, power supply, security and fire protection becomes someone else’s problem. Choose wisely and it becomes the problem of an expert in those matters.
With Co-Lo hosting, you usually rent your servers from your web host. That cuts down your initial investment when you start hosting and ensures you can quickly and cost-effectively upgrade to new or improved hardware when the time is right.
Opt for a managed Co-Lo hosting service and you will not have to worry about day-to-day management of your servers. From routine monitoring and maintenance, through to 3am emergency calls, there are obvious advantages to offloading responsibility to someone else.
Server location can be a crucial factor in user experience, SEO and data sovereignty. Co-Lo hosting offers a relatively nimble way to achieve all of your requirements in terms of location at a comparatively low startup cost. Of course, it also allows you to select a data centre of your choosing based on reputation and the services it provides.
Co-Lo hosting is often a very cost-effective form of hosting. Particularly if you’re coming from maintaining an in-house data centre, it is likely to offer considerable savings.
The net benefit of everything we’ve discussed so far is that Co-Lo hosting saves time and money that might have been spent on storage, management and maintenance of your servers. We're sure you don't need our input on the array of possibilities as to where your time and budget would be better spent.
We offer flexible and cost-effective colocation hosting in London, Dublin and Belfast.
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