All You Need to Know About Colo Server Hosting

With more and more businesses turning to an increasingly digital world, the pressure is higher than ever before to keep a robust, secure and scalable IT infrastructure.  

The good news? There is a solution, it's called colo server hosting. This business service, also referred to as colocation hosting involves the company leasing server space in third party data centers.  

It provides members with enterprise level equipment. The best part? You don’t have to spend the time and money to build your own facilities.

So, what benefits does colocation server hosting actually have for businesses?  

Colocation hosting allows companies to get better cost efficiency and increased security when it comes to their IT needs.  

In this guide, we will explain what colo server hosting is, the benefits, key considerations of it and upcoming trends in the world.  

We will also help you make informed decisions to fuel your business growth.

Why Should You Prefer Colocation Hosting for Your Business?

If your business is expanding or your need for IT grows, you have the option of using colocation hosting to free up space and save money versus creating your own space and managing servers in house.

What is colocation hosting, then?  

Put simply, a colocation hosting provider provides a service where you rent a space in their data center for your physical servers.  

Using this approach, businesses can enjoy state of the art infrastructure including power redundancy, cooling, and the highest level of security, without the massive capital investment to build and maintain their own data center.

Unlike in-house data centers, this approach saves IT infrastructure costs while providing top-notch security, flexibility and scalability.  

Here is a quick comparison between Colocation Hosting and In-House Data Centers:

Select the Right Colocation Hosting Provider

Your colocation hosting provider selection is extremely important as it will affect your business for a long time.  

A quality colocation hosting provider will meet your current needs. But the right one will do more than that. They will help you grow and stay secure as you expand.

Here are key factors to consider:

Evaluate Colocation Hosting Provider Security Standards

It is a top priority to ensure your data security.  

A good colocation hosting provider should provide multiple layers of security features like biometric authentication, 24/7 surveillance, and high-level fire suppression systems.  

Over 40% of CEOs have data security as a top concern, so it’s worth evaluating your provider’s security.

Expert Tip: When choosing a data center provider, consider their track record in preventing data breaches. Look for providers who conduct annual disaster recovery drills to ensure data safety.

Understand Power and Cooling Infrastructure for Colocation Hosting

Your colocation hosting provider must provide advanced cooling systems as well as an uninterruptible power supply (UPS).  

The Uptime Institute tracks 15 % of downtime in data centers stems due to cooling failures.

Expert Tip: When looking for a colocation hosting provider check if they have an uninterruptible power supply and cooling, preferably with Tier III or Tier IV certifications.

It should support high performance and advanced cooling system, which does not allow for downtime due to temperature-related failures.

Colocation Hosting Scalability Options for Business Growth

Businesses considering colocation hosting need scalability.  

You want to make sure you can grow without having to move, and this includes having the flexibility that your provider can offer high density colocation racks, if needed in the future.

By 2025, 60% of data centers will be able to provide flexible scalability options, Equinix states.

Expert Tip: Look for a colocation hosting provider that provides scalable solutions: high density colocation racks and on demand space expansion. This helps a company grow without needing to overhaul their legacy.

Data Center Location and Latency Impact for Colocation Hosting

Latency and disaster recover abilities depend on how close your data center is to where your business is.  

One of the huge reasons why businesses prefer to host their data centers near their headquarters for low latency purposes.

Expert Tip: When choosing a data center, make sure that they are closely located to your main operations to gain a better disposal recovery and latency performance.  

Colo Server Rack Options for Your Business

One advantage of colocation hosting is that you can make the rack setup exactly as you wish for your colo server.

There are many server rack options depending on how large your company is and what your server performance requires.  

High-Density Colo Server Rack Solutions for Maximized Efficiency

High density colo server racks enable businesses to keep servers performing at peak levels by covering a smaller physical space.  

The racks can support more than 30kW of power per rack and they’re great if you want to centralize your hardware.

Multi-Tier Rack Options for Redundancy

Multi-tier racks provide built-in redundancy for businesses that need high availability, from A/B power setup ensuring constant operation in the event of a failed power supply.

If you don’t want to pay huge bucks for downtime and want your business to operate in case of any disaster, try opting for multi-tier racks.

Modular Rack Solutions for Flexible Growth

The modular colocation racks enable growing businesses to grow within.  

These allow for incremental additions on these racks which streamlines the possibility to add without making very large infrastructural changes.

Colo Server Hosting Trends to Watch in 2024

Stay ahead of the curve by embracing the latest colo server hosting trends:

• Edge Computing Dominance: Now, with the integration with IoT and 5G, businesses can easily process data, interact with edge data centers, in real time.

• Green Data Centers: Green data centers are getting increasingly popular with 70% of the businesses dedicated to sustainability.  

• Hybrid Cloud Deployments: Cloud and colocation hosting provides both flexibility and best efficiency via seamless integration.  

• AI-Optimized Operations: IPL offers AI driven cooling, power and ability to sustain maximum efficiency.  

• Enhanced Security Protocols: In addition to biometric authentication, AI based threat detection is standard in the new fight against never ending cyber threats.

Conclusion: Colocation Hosting is a Brilliant Investment for any Business Growth

Today’s fast digitizing implementations allow colo server hosting to become no longer luxury but a must for businesses looking to scale, safeguard business operations and limit costs.  

Colocation server hosting gives you access to enterprise infrastructure, freeing resources to concentrate on the core business: the business that makes money from your server hosting clients.

The new face of IT infrastructure is not the eventual cost savings but resilience, scalability and efficiency.

At the same time, in this era of colocation and edge computing, even more companies are moving on. The people who get on these first will be ahead of the game tomorrow.

As a Gartner study states, "The goal of colocation is not just to save costs, but to enable scalability and resilience in an increasingly data-driven world."