subject: Benefits Of Colocation Service [print this page] Colocation unites entities, typically smaller businesses, through the availability of shared bandwidth at a lower cost than hosting options used by larger corporations. Large corporations are able to handle the financial burden of hosting services whereas small businesses typically do not have the same availability of funding. As a result, they turn toward the option of colocation services. Colocation provides small corporations with an abundance of bandwidth that comes from hardware that the business owns rather than the bandwidth provider. This unique service allows companies to use bandwidth offered by someone else so that they can use it for their own purposes.
In order to take part in the benefits of colocation service, a business owner must set up a hose machine. Once the machine is setup, they simply have to deliver it to a colocation provider and rent a rack. The provider then installs the host machine into the rack so that the company receives high-powered bandwidth featuring high redundancy rates. Colocation providers offer bandwidth, IP services, and enough power to allow the small business to run multiple PCs that use the same bandwidth at once and at a cheaper rate than most hosting companies do.
Colocation service offers the availability of higher bandwidth speeds than most bandwidth providers do. Since the business owner owns the host machine providing the available bandwidth, they can easily upgrade the hardware components when necessary in order to provide continued juice to the company's network. However, when businesses go through a bandwidth provider, they must wait it out until the provider updates the equipment. Therefore, colocation services offer a great deal more convenience than bandwidth providers do. For an extra fee, a colocation service provider may offer IT management and maintenance of the host system, which is especially helpful if the location of the colocation provider is not nearby.
The only downfall to colocation services is that there are not many providers. Finding a provider can be a difficult process and once one is located, it usually entails a lengthy drive to the location. If the colocation provider is not located near the business using the provider's service, it can make it difficult for the business to keep track of the host machine and any maintenance performance that it needs. That is why businesses should either hire an IT team or allow the collocation provider to take over maintenance and management of the host machine.
