What is Colocation Hosting?
Colocation is an option used by small businesses in order to function like a large IT unit but without the expenses. Many large companies have the Internet foundation to host their web servers with a team of IT professionals while small companies do not. There are many options available from easy hosting to running web servers from a dedicated Internet connection. One of those options is colocation hosting.
Colocation hosting allows a company to share bandwidth as if it was their own. This option is more expensive than standard web hosting but less expensive than having your own bandwidth in the business. Once your server machine is set up, you will have to physically take it to the place that has the bandwidth you want to share so they can install it or you can rent a machine from the company. The company will assign power, IP and bandwidth to share with your server machine. You will access the site as a host but you will actually own the hardware.
The biggest advantage of colocation hosting is the price of the bandwidth. This cost is less because you are sharing bandwidth instead of purchasing it on your own so you share the cost. The facilities that offer colocation hosting will have great outage protection and are usually prepared with backup power and power generators. Since you own the machine, you do not have to wait for a service provider to upgrade your server. Another advantage is the convenience it offers while you move from one office to the next. You do not have to worry about outages while you move because the servers can be left running while moving. The servers are always stored in secure locations to ease the worry about security. With location hosting you can also have someone maintaining and managing your service but at an extra fee with their team of IT professionals.
Colocation hosting also comes with disadvantages as well. It is convenient to have a colocation-hosting provider near your office in the event you have to upgrade or maintain your servers but you will find that they are hard to find unless you live in a city with major network hubs. The only cost that will be expensive is when you need to upgrade. You will have to purchase the hardware and then have it installed. Reaching the colocation provider may be difficult at times, because you can usually one reach them during their business hours. If you move out of the hosting area, you will have to find a new colocation-hosting provider or leave them at their site and pay a maintenance fee. Another disadvantage to colocation hosting is that the pricing can sometimes fluctuate. This depends on the amount of data transferred or a large amount of traffic during each month.
Most small companies or people who use blogs do not need the level of service provided by colocation hosting. It can be the best option if they really need a more robust server than what is offered by standard web hosting. It is also a great option for small companies who want a large presence on the Web without large items such as network connections.