col·lo·ca·tion n.  the act or result of placing or arranging together

What is Collocation?

Collocation facilities vary widely from a bare-bones “shell and core” building where you have to supply everything to a fully equipped facility where you just move your servers in and plug into the power and networking cables. In the fully equipped sites, you rent either rack or cage space, and pay for power and bandwidth.

You gain physical access to your equipment according to the rules set out in your collocation agreement. Some sites allow full visitation, so you can service the system whenever necessary to change disks and backup tapes, perform scheduled maintenance, etc. Others restrict access, and require that you use in-house people for these services.

Essentially you move all your servers and associated communications equipment to the collocation site, and install it with the help of technicians and engineers on site who will pull cables, run power and connect you to the backbone of your choice. You may or may not be charged for such installation services, depending on your contract. You start your system, make sure it’s running correctly, and walk away from it, secure in the knowledge that it will be running in an environmentally optimal environment, supplied by clean power and connected to fast networks. In a good collocation facility, you are guaranteed that your equipment will no longer be subject to environmental or power problems.

Collocation Levels of Service

Basic collocation consists of customers leasing rack space and bandwidth, but not managed service. This is popular because of strong demand from businesses to outsource server housing to reduce costs and enhance performance.

Web hosting customers locate their website on a single server or set of servers owned by the customer. The provider offers site mirroring and fail-safe provisions. In some cases, the collocation provider offers consulting and professional services, such as website design, security consulting, and ecommerce capabilities. The collocation company does not touch the customer’s servers, data, or content.

An extension of this, in which customers lease rack space and/or servers, makes provision for monitoring and management. However, the provider may or may not manage the content or integrate back-end processes or information systems (i.e. databases) with the customer’s website.

The highest level of service is a fully managed service in which customers buy dedicated racks and servers. They allow the provider to monitor and manage the website, including content delivery, caching, storage, and security.

Why Collocate?

• Collocation is popular due the amount of time and money the customer can save by using someone else’s facility. Customers enjoy faster access to the market and freedom to focus on their core business, because their IT communications facilities are in safe, secure hands.

• Collocation allows an organization to move into a new geographical market with minimum effort – no actual facilities to build or ongoing maintenance. In addition, facilities offer multiple connectivity plans to provide the best in performance and costs.

• Due to the high power requirements inherent in collocation, power contracts are negotiated on advantageous and protected terms. Companies can benefit greatly by removing this overhead.

• Customers choosing to establish themselves in a collocation facility face an initial capital outlay – a one-off expense offset against economies of scale and other efficiencies enjoyed from outsourcing their communications/IT needs over time. The long the stay in the “hotel” the greater the accrued benefits

Find Out More
For more information on how Lightwave Consulting Group can help your business please contact us online or call us toll-free at 1-866-544-4898.