Co-location – Is it right for you?

Server co-location allows customers to exercise total control over their internet server. A co-location host provider will place your server on their premises and allow you to use their bandwidth, rack space and other facilities. You retain complete control over your equipment, software and system while leasing the physical facilities and high grade network access from a hosting provider.

Co-locating your server is a completely unmanaged service which means the provider will not help you prepare your equipment for hardware or software installation or maintenance. If your system requires any additional support, it will not be their contractual responsibility to assist you and you can expect to pay extra for any help or consultation they provide.

Web hosting firms that provide co-location services will expect you have a high level of technical and administration expertise. This type of web hosting is best suited for professional content distributors with extensive IT skills in server deployment and administration. Setting up a co-located server is not an easy task and is geared towards industry veterans with strong administration skills.

If you think you're equipped and prepared to co-locate your server, there are several things you should look for and know when choosing a hosting provider. A major thing to consider when choosing a provider is whether or not your service comes with free “reboot” privileges. Sometimes your server will need to be restarted manually on site; therefore it will be necessary to call upon your hosting firm's personnel to restart your equipment in the event of a CPU crash. For this reason it's a good idea to build and maintain a good relationship with your hosting firm's customer support representatives.

Finding an accomplished service provider who has the ability to meet your bandwidth and rack space needs will require some research. Many established firms team up with powerful broadband providers that have high tech state of the art facilities. Many hosting companies also operate their own network operation centers or “home base” which ensures that the capability of the hosting firm is retained throughout the system. No matter how secure the providers system may appear, it is always strongly advised to insure your equipment to ensure that in the case of a natural disaster or other event, your equipment will be replaced quickly.

As far as your equipment goes, you should check your server's scalability, in other words its ability to grow and improve as your needs change. You need to make sure that your server's memory and disk space is maximized; it will be extremely costly to make additions once your server is in place. Also, make sure your equipment is new and has an on-site service guarantee so repairs can be done at the NOC in the event of equipment failure.

The key to successfully co-locating your server lies in maintaining quality and rapid delivery to your customers. Maintaining your equipment and supplying excellent administration to your web presence will enable you to handle high traffic volumes and satisfy your customers.