Hi All,

I understand that colocation is basically taking a server you supplied and putting it into someone else's DC.

I am however not in US so I can not really buy a server or build one here and send it to a DC. Are there some companies that can build a server for me and then send it to a DC or are there other options with this?

Also what are the legal/technical aspects with colocation?

I understand that the box is 100% mine, but what rights does the DC have to my box?

Is the box, my little place on the net and I can store anything as long as I don't transfer 'bad' stuff using their net?

Are there any general rules to keep in mind with colocation?

The reason I'm asking is that most of the dedicated servers have HUGE setup fees and high monthly charges, I realise that B/W charges stay the same but I was wandering if it's worth to have a coloc in the long run...

As always, thanks for the help ...

Do you think Colo is good option if you are not in US. Suppose anything goes wrong with your Hardware then what will you do.. wait for someone to supply hardware to your datacenter.

Well I don't know ... that's why I'm asking ... maybe I can get some sort of mainetnanace to use the DC tech guys ...

As I said all new to me so exploring all avenues ...

Since I will not need bandwith with speend exceeding 256k line - basically good ISDN speed - all I need is to optimize my hardware costs ...

just get a cheap dedicated server. It may be more cost effective and you do not need to worry about hardware maintenance, purchase and so on. The cost is also pretty low. It's probably a good way to go if you are overseas.

Greetings:

The choices may be better stated as co-location vs. dedicated vs. managed dedicated (beware of the term managed).

Co-location is where you supply all or most (usually all) of the equipment necessary to host your operation. You place that equipment (via direct shipping from manufacturer, shipping from you, or in-person) in an area that you rent from the co-location facility.

The co-location facility typically supplies you with three P's --- ping, power, and pipe. Ping (not to be confused with the ping network utility) means they supply with with connectivity to their network. Power means just that -- they power your boxes with electricity. Pipe means how much / fast a connection you rent from them (please note it can also mean the size of their network pipe and from whom -- such as Cable & Wireless with BGP4 and UUNet).

In most co-location situations, you are completely responsible for maintaining your own equipment; and, for insuring your equipment.

The data center providing co-location manages their network; you manage your equipment.


Co-location terminology (not meant to be complete)
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Burstable - Is your bandwidth (data traffic) per second or month fixed (capped) or can you burst (go higher)?

Burstable will allow you to go higher (have more than what you've contracted to purchase) which means no lag of network speed. Non-burstable generally means you connection is slower during the time where bursting would be nice to have available.

MBps (Megabytes per second) and KBps (Kilobytes per second) - a measure of bandwidth (data traffic) per second.

Ping, Power, and Pipe (the three P's) - often used to describe the meat and potatoes of co- location. Ping means network connectivity to the Internet. Power means electricity to the devices. Pipe means how much bandwidth (data traffic) is being provided.

Rack - A cabinet (can be open or locked; opened means anything from no door to just no key) which holds rack mountable servers. A standard rack can hold 42 rack units.

Rack Unit (RU) - A unit of rack space measured as being 1.75 inches high.


Hidden costs of co-location
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If you remember that the equipment you are placing at the co-location facility is YOUR equipment, then most of the hidden costs should make sense to you.

* You are responsible for maintaining your equipment.
This not only means the software on the machine, but it also means the hardware.

So if the hard drive fails, do not expect the co- location provider to have a spare in stock unless you've made arrangements before the failure took place.

*You are responsible for insuring your equipment.

Generally the insurance runs 1% on the dollar; so don't let the statement frighten you.

* If you ask for burstable bandwidth, be prepared to pay hefty overage charges if you do burst.

Let's say you are paying approximately $2.00 to $2.50 per GB of data traffic; and, that you've contracted for 64 KBps (which is 20 GB per month).

Now you burst to 25 GB one month; then you can expect to pay as high as $5 (sometimes more) per GB of overage.

* Whether you decide to physically visit the data center to make repairs or updates, or you have the data center staff do the work for you, expect to pay the data center.

That's correct, even if you are doing the work, you may have to pay the data center a fee for their staff to watch you for security reasons as it relates to the data center itself and other customers housed in the data center.


Co-location cost savings
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Co-location, when done correctly, can save you thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in hosting fees.

How is this possible?

Well when you contract for a dedicated server, you are basically doing the equivalent of renting an apartment instead of buying a house.

Under normal circumstances when you rent an apartment, the apartment is never paid off. You keep making the same monthly payment (or more over time), and there is never a time when the payments stop.

The same is true for dedicated servers. While a part of your monthly fee goes to paying off the equipment you are using, you will never own the equipment.

And because you are not the owner of the equipment, and the provider is renting you the equipment as part of the over all services, your payments will never go down.

Depending on the type of hardware you need for your solution, the hardware portion you are paying to the provider to rent their hardware can range anywhere from a hundred and change per month to several thousand per month. That adds up over time.

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Dedicated servers is where the data center purchases all of the equipment you need for your solution, and then rents / contracts that equipment to you.

It is important to note that you will never own the equipment in a dedicated and managed dedicated situation. This is like renting an apartment; you never own the apartment.

Typically the data center providing dedicated servers is responsible for managing their network and the physical hardware they are providing for your use; you are typically responsible for providing the day-to-day management of your equipment in terms of system / server administration.

Where as in co-location most bandwidth is sold based on speed per second, dedicated and managed dedicated solutions typically sell bandwidth in quanity per month.

This allows for more fixed costs even when overages occur.

Typically dedicated servers make the most sense when you don't have the ability to manage the physical equipment or if ownership of the equipment is not necessary.

Given that the typical rule for Mean Time Before Failure (MTBF) results in servers being replaced every three to five years, owning equipment puts the burden of replacing and upgrading in your hands.

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Managed dedicated servers can have many meanings. In the past it meant that the data center took care of everything for you with any additional fees period (or if there were additional fees, they would be clearly defined, a rarity, etc.).

Today, a managed dedicated server can mean you have a browser-based control panel where YOU handle the management.

Yes, that's a complete joke.... they call it managed because YOU do the management <sigh>.

And there are companies who provide no more than dedicated servers (they manage the network and the physical hardware) who call themselves managed; and, you get nothing more other than the "word."

It is like getting a promotion and new title without any change of compensation.

So in the realm of managed hosting, you must be completely on guard; you must ask a ton of questions.

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I hope this gives you a start.

Take care, and thank you.

Buy your server from Dell, and purchase the onsite repair service contract; that should solve all your problems.

This site could provide some assistance:

http://www.colosource.com/

That's correct, even if you are doing the work, you may have to pay the data center a fee for their staff to watch you for security reasons as it relates to the data center itself and other customers housed in the data center. Really, wow I have never heard of that!

I heard of it, but never really encountered it. The colo I encountered have all racks locked up, so you can't really do anything to it. They also have security cams which is monitored from the NOC monitoring room.

Others I encountered don't allow you to visit 24/7, but they don't really accompany you either.

But I am sure different centers have different practices and procedures to maintain security. And I heard of it before. So it probably happens at some centers.

Greetings:

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That's correct, even if you are doing the work, you may have to pay the data center a fee for their staff to watch you for security reasons as it relates to the data center itself and other customers housed in the data center.
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"Really, wow I have never heard of that!"

One of our Canadian dedicated customers came from the co-location world, and he had to pay the Canadian company with whom he co-located one server $150 per hour for their staff to baby sit him while he worked on his own server.

A well known, local to our company, competitor of ours charges $90 per hour to have their staff watch you work on your stuff.

The main reasons for this type of charging are two fold:

1. For security purposes an in-house staff person should watch non-employees working on equipment to ensure they are working on only the equipment which is being co-located.

2. The in-house person's time is of value. The company has to pay the in-house person for that time. That in-house person may have been able to do other billable work other than to watch the customer.

Thank you.

Wow, I would stear clear of any company that does that.