What Is Colocation and How Can It Benefit Your Business?

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The US economy is doing well, and growth is expected to hit 2.1% in 2019.  

If your business has benefited from this growth, you may find that you need to expand your IT capabilities.

If that’s the case, consider the option of using colocation services. In doing so, you can upgrade your IT systems without having to exceed your IT budget. 

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This post will cover colocation and how this concept can help your business. Read on and won’t be long before you can comfortably answer the question – ‘what is colocation?’. 

Let’s begin! 

What is Colocation? 

Colocation is when you rent space for IT equipment such as servers or other devices that store data. 

When paying for colocation services, a company is paying for the space the hardware is using. But they’re also paying for the power, and network bandwidth costs used by the hardware.

Sometimes, the cost of colocation might also include a service charge. This charge often relates to someone checking on the servers, to ensure everything is operating smoothly. 

Free up Space

One of the great things about colocation is that it can free up a lot of space.

This is because, if you didn’t use a colocation service, you’d have to store the server racks within your premises. While this sounds convenient, the racks can be very big, and they can also make a lot of noise. 

By using a colocation service, you do away with this problem, without having to give up on using servers.

Improved Scalability

When using a colocation service, you’re working with a company that has a lot of experience regarding servers and networks. 

This is good for you because you can use their help if you ever need to upgrade your network setup.

For instance, if you find that you need more servers, you can buy these servers from the colocation company. If you need more network bandwidth, again, the company can upgrade your setup so it can handle more data.

Should Everyone Use Colocation? 

Sometimes, it might be better to have servers within your premises as opposed to using colocation services.

One example of this relates to businesses that place a huge emphasis on security.  That’s because if you have your servers within your building, you can take steps to ensure nobody touches them.

It’s important to remember that this isn’t a one size fits all approach and each business will have different needs. If you’re stuck between the two options, this post can help you figure out which is best for your situation. 

Will You Use Colocation? 

After reading this post, you should know how to answer the question – ‘what is colocation?’. 

Many companies offer colocation services, and so it’s crucial you do plenty of research so that you end up picking the right one. You might do this by reading the reviews of a company or by talking to their sales team. 

There’s no doubt that colocation can be a difficult concept to grasp. But if you take the time to learn how it works, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to lower your IT bills dramatically. 

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