Colocated Hosting

Once you have decided that a dedicated server suits you best and will be ideal to meet all your requirements, there is one thing that you need to take into consideration. You need to decide whether you would rent or buy your server. Although dedicated hosting implies that you essentially rent out a server from the web host, you have an additional option of buying your own server. The web host can then provide services to house that server and provide an internet connection. This type of hosting is termed as colocated hosting.

Colocated hosting offers all the benefits of a dedicated hosting service. The additional benefit over dedicated hosting comprises of lower cost as you save the monthly fee against hardware maintenance since you own the server. However, the initial investment could be a tad higher as you need to purchase the server. In the long run, however your average cost with colocation hosting will be much lesser if your server is of good quality and remains at its peak efficiency.

The other factor that determines the cost of the colocation hosting is the amount of space your server occupies. Data centers house servers in racks that in turn are housed in cabinets. Cabinets are usually 40 rack units in height, with each rack unit equal to 1.75′. The cases of server computers are measured in rack heights – 1U = 1.75′. Typical sizes for servers are 1U, 2U and 4U, so the physical size of your server will determine how much the collocation host will charge per month. Bandwidth is another factor affecting price.

You have many options to choose from when buying a server and delivering it to the collocation data center. If you happen to live close by to the data center, you could buy the server locally and set it up at your place. Once that is done, you can just deliver it to the data center. The other option available if you happen to live far away from the data center is to purchase the server from a mail order retailer and get that delivered to the data center. This saves you the shipping charges as well as the damage costs incurred during transit. The only downside that remains is that you have to set up the server remotely through a web interface. The other option that may be considered is to buy the server from the host directly. A few hosts do sell servers and may offer set up assistance as well as easy finance facilities.

Colocation or Dedicated?
If you opt for collocation service, the entire responsibility for maintaining the hardware is on you. So in case you face a hardware failure, the entire onus is on you. However, if you choose to select the dedicated server package, it is the responsibility of the host to replace or repair any blowout or malfunction in the CPU or hard drive. Collocation server costs higher than the dedicated service package, as you need to buy the server as well as pay for insurance and software licenses whereas all these charges are inclusive in the dedicated hosting plan. In the event that you need to upgrade your hardware, it will cost you more than the dedicated hosting.

A collocation plan offers more flexibility in terms of greater control over network configuration as well as offers lower monthly charges as compared to dedicated hosting plan. Weigh all your options and make sure that you choose a reliable collocation provider as they will be responsible for hosting both your hardware and data. Other vital factors that need to be taken into account include security, network redundancy, protection from fire and earthquakes, and backup generators in the case of power outages.