Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Colocation and Data Centers : A dumb question, what is co-location?

[DediPlace]

Hi!

I just want to ask this dumb question, what is actually a co-location? What are the benefits? Is it the same as mirroring your server ? Is the co-location server is like a remote server/backup?

Thanks

[Jim_UK]

A lot of the dedicated server offers you see here involve leasing where you pay a set fee every month for the rental of the server/hardware, the rackspace and bandwidth. This is usually a fixed cost and is paid each month that you have the server with the provider. This IS NOT colocation.

Colo is when you actually own the machine so it doesn't need paying for each and every month because you have already purchased in (either on your own or via the provider). The bandwidth and rackspace rental still needs paying (usually monthly) though.

Due to you already owning the hardware, colo is usually a bit cheaper. However, the downside to this is that you are usually responsible for keeping spares and taking care of any hardware problems and upgrades.

HTH

[Kx-2]

Co-Location also requires you to be responsbile for your own hardware (and some software) issues - compared to managed or dedicated hosting.

If something breaks, you either have to replace it yourself or get the service provider to fix it for you.

[Dragoon]

There is greater flexibility with colo. You supply your own equipment which you can customize any way you like.

Conversely, dedicated server providers often have fixed hardware and software offerings with limited options.

However, with colo you have the hassle of shipping your equipment to your provider. You also bear the risk of your equipment being damaged, stolen, or held for ransom by your provider. There are seemingly endless horror stories of providers that went out of business and literally disappeared with their client's hardware. There have also been instances where providers have tried to hold equipment for unpaid bills even when the amounts where in dispute.

If you aren't happy with your dedicated server provider you can move to a new one with far less hassle and expense.

[Kx-2]

Good points there Dragoon!

[bizness]

on the other hand, you can build a Dual Xeon with Raid 5 + hot spare and all the bells and wistles and pay a fraction of the price for dedicatng the same machine.

[colochris]

Hi,

This should help explain, in plain English:

http://belowzero.biz/BelowZero.htm

[spiv]

You can actually break it down further. The main criteria are who owns the equipment, who manages it, and what is allowed/disallowed:

colo -- customer owns equipment, customer manages it

leased or dedicated server - data center owns equipment, customer manages it

managed server - data center manages the server; can be a colo or a dedicated server; usually a dedicated server but some data centers will "qualify" your own machine and then manage it

With colo you can do anything you want on the server

With leased or dedicated you might have limited ability to install custom apps or additonal software other than the "standard load". Or if you do, support options will be limited

With managed, the key is to understand what is managed. Basic services might be OS patch and security mgmt, but "app services" such as website provisioning, ftp, etc. might be your own.

A good "acid test" of managment is whether you are given/allowed an admin-level login. there are multiple schools of thought on this -- empowering you as the owner of the server versus security/control and protection against self-inflicted problems.

Choosing between these options involves more then just absolute cost.

With colo, you can "prep" the server locally, and tweak it to your heart's content before delivering it to the data center.

"Moving" is also not clear-cut -- sometimes it might be easier to move if you have a leased server (just move the apps and data) but if you have a lot invested in configuration and setup then just grabbing your server, changing the ip address and putting in a different data center can actually be easier and faster.

Management is too diverse to mention here as services can be anything from a few hundred dollars per month to thousands, tens of thousands or more for large complex applications.

Expertise is probably a red herring, if you "don't know what you are doing" you are likely to screw up no matter what kind of service you have.

Colo might be "better" because you are responsible from the beginning. Dedicated or managed (by the wrong people) might leave you in the lurch without the knowledge to "take over" when you grow and need to.

If you don't have or want to develop the technical skills to run everything, better to have a partner that does, even if you opt for a dedicated or managed server. The more you understand what's under the hood, even if you don't do the oil changes yourself, you can make better decisions.