Server Colo Versus Dedi Servers Hosting

By Rory Greer


Businesses are in a constant search for modern and cost friendly avenues of conducting their operations. Costs play an important role in determining the level of profit. An online presence is a must for any business that hopes to succeed. This can initially be hosted on shared servers but will definitely need higher capacity once online traffic picks up. For a majority of business owners, own hosting foes not present a viable option. Colocation servers and dedicated servers are the two reasonable options in such a situation. Your choice of either one of these services, dedicated or colocation will be guided by the pros and cons of each and the way the relate to your business plans for now and in the future.

Renting a dedicated server is an easy and straight forward affair. The service provider will offer you solutions that are an entire and complete package. You could also undertake managed hosting which means that even the administration of your server is done by the service provider. For those who may have less technical recourses and lower security needs on their websites, these are very viable options. Dedicated server fees over a period of years can easily accumulate to very significant amounts and this option should be considered only as a short term solution. When compared to server colocation, the biggest advantage here is the lower initial capital requirement.

Server collocation on its part involves the purchase of your own server and handing it to the service provider who supplies rack space, bandwidth, security and power. Though capital requirements for this option are initially higher, there are several reasons why businesses opt for this service. The first major advantage that can be stated here is that you buy a machine with the exact specs you need for your work. Your desired specs will have to be compromised when renting a server from service providers for dedicated hosting. Clients who opt for server collocation will not have to bear these kinds of issues. Another plus is the ease with which you can move your hosting. Incase of breach of contract or the service provider is unable to deliver for whichever reasons, you will be able to quickly relocate your serer since it is your property.

Those operating several servers will find that collocation can be significantly cheaper as compared to renting dedicated servers. Being the owner of the equipment means that you can upgrade the hardware easily. Despite requiring greater technical abilities, this is a preferred option especially among those who have sensitive data on their servers. There is a danger of compromised security when third parties are used to conduct server administration.

The major factors that influence your choice of service are budget as well as you business plans. It must however be pointed out that collocation services come with greater long term benefits.




About the Author: