The Future of Business Information Technology

Colocation facilities offer many service options for companies of all sizes. These are services that many companies find themselves needing more and more. The other alternative for companies is to setup their own in-house data centers, which can be quite expensive. Large enterprises can usually afford their own private centers whereas small-sized businesses cannot. However, even for large-sized firms, it makes sense to opt for colocation due to the number of benefits it provides.

 What are Colocation Benefits?

 When a company decides to opt for colocation, it purchases or transfers all of its server equipment to a facility. A colocation facility has the proper staff to assist with installing these servers. Customers retain complete control over their IT equipment. They can manage it either onsite or remote management via a high-speed Internet connection.

 The infrastructure of a colocation facility consists of large servers protected through fire suppression and cooling systems. Servers are installed within racks that are kept in locked metal racks or cages. Colocation facilities also provide both physical and network security. Physical security measures include biometric identification systems at entry point, as well as around-the-clock video surveillance. Network security includes the most comprehensive protection against hackers, viruses, etc. The more advanced the security protocols a facility has, the more expensive the pricing will be.

 Colocation Pricing

 Colocation pricing involves considering a number of different factors. Server space is one of them. Server space is measured vertically. There are different types of server manufactures, and each server type has different dimensions. The server's data configuration does not have any impact upon colocation pricing. Providers establish a certain rate that they will charge a single client for the space a server takes.

 However, colocation providers consider the amount of data that you are going to transmitting to and from server before charging a specific rate. They may charge a flat monthly rate for bandwidth. They might also charge on a per-use basis or through the 95th percentile monitoring. These charges will vary from provider to provider. However, the more server space a firm requires, the more expensive it will be in general. Nevertheless, compared with setting up a private data center, co-location services are much cheaper. That is why colocation pricing plays a significant role in helping firms realize cost savings.

 Colocation Security

 Server security is also another very important factor to consider. There are some firms that have data of an extremely sensitive nature. If not, most companies do not want their equipment or mission-critical data to fall in the wrong hands. For such companies, it is imperative that high security protocols. This includes both the physical security and virtual security of a facility. Since data is being transferred to and from a center, it can be intercepted by hackers. Intrusion protection is accomplished by data encryption, as well as firewalls. Advanced digital security protocols can be pretty expensive. However data security breaches can be much more expensive, so the cost is worth the peace of mind.

 Nevertheless, colocation is a much cheaper option as compared to other alternatives. Pricing factors are just a few of the reasons why companies are slowly basing their future growth in such facilities. These companies definitely have a marketplace advantage over those that reject colocation services.

 Stanley Keith Guffey believes there are many factors to consider when evaluating Colocation. His articles educate readers about the features that set different data centers apart. Learning how those features dramatically impact cost allows readers to determine whether the provider is worth the price.