How do most places charge for colocation? Do they start billing from the time of order or from the time the server goes online? Seems like a rip-off to me that some places start charging from the time of order, regardless of when the server is setup; that way they could simply charge you and delay the setup of your server on various grounds forever!

That would be unethical. They can bill you for the setup fee (if there is one) They can't on the monthly since you haven't used the network or space yet.

Originally posted by Hostkookster
That would be unethical. They can bill you for the setup fee (if there is one) They can't on the monthly since you haven't used the network or space yet.

I feel the same way but apparently this is what I received from @webhost for how they bill for colocation. Guess I have to start looking for a provider from scratch now.

Dang, that could get expensive if your server gets lost in the mail....

Colocation space is much like an apartment you might lease. The apartment provider must get everything ready for you to move in on a certain date. If you move in a month later, the apartment provider may have lost revenue as they had another tenant ready to move in a month earlier. Another analogy that might help: telephone company. You order a telephone line to your house but forget to plug in your phone for a month. Will the phone company credit you for the unused month? Not likely.

Our contracts have a commencement date in them and we bill based on that date. If a customer wants to move in three months from now we simply move the commencement date forward three months. If the customer fails to move in on time (1 or 2 months late) and requests a refund we typically give it to the customer. I assume most companies will be reasonable if you talk to them.

Originally posted by alexmuse
Colocation space is much like an apartment you might lease. The apartment provider must get everything ready for you to move in on a certain date. If you move in a month later, the apartment provider may have lost revenue as they had another tenant ready to move in a month earlier. Another analogy that might help: telephone company. You order a telephone line to your house but forget to plug in your phone for a month. Will the phone company credit you for the unused month? Not likely.

Our contracts have a commencement date in them and we bill based on that date. If a customer wants to move in three months from now we simply move the commencement date forward three months. If the customer fails to move in on time (1 or 2 months late) and requests a refund we typically give it to the customer. I assume most companies will be reasonable if you talk to them.

Now, that I can live with!

Webhozt,
You could try acool.net, they seem pretty good.
I know a guy who works there, you can contact him via ereese@acool.net
they charge a setup fee if you lease a server, nonetheless, your month starts as soon as you go online, the way it should be!
take care, and good luck

colocation is a bit different from dedicated servers. Dedicated servers are put online by the host, so they have control over the date. My past experiences with a few hosts is that it is billed when the server goes online.

colocation is slightly different. The host have absolutely no control when you will put the server online. To give an example, you can order 1 full rack, and only start bringing your first server 1 year later. I know this is an extreme example. But that's to show why they typically charge from the day you start with them. And where colocation is concerned, it's opportunity cost... space that someone could have used or they could have sold to someone.

However, I would recommend you talk to whoever you wish to colocate with. Most hosts I am sure would be flexible to give you a couple of days grace period to setup the server if you give and take some. (i.e. perhaps you need to prepay a couple of months) Or if you can commit a reasonable timeline, perhaps some will be glad to offer it to you as a service without charge. Bottomline, all said, discuss it with your chosen host.

odd....
for colocation we begin billing on the day it goes online

most of our customers either send us their server and we stick it online when we get it... or they come by and set it up with us...

i can understand charging from contract date for a rack... but not for a single server

complx.net: guess I should put a disclaimer that that's a general statement and won't apply to all :D

In any case, webhozt didn't state the space he got (got jolly well range from 1U to a full rack). If it is a single server I don't reckon it will be of much issue either.

Yeah, the quote I got was for a single server - mid tower! :o