Are you confused between cloud and colocation? Don’t fret. Misconceptions can’t hold you back further. A measurable mix of colocation cloud capability takes your businesses out of pressure to drive digital transformation. Both colocation cloud facilities provide managed services for better reliance on secure, flexible and balanced solutions. IT specialists are looking to leverage cloud and data center colocation strategies to improve the scalability and efficiency of the IT infrastructure.

Bloomberg 2024 reports reveal that Oracle projected record high $1.97 billion cloud growth whereas on the other side, Amazon to invest huge capital of $9 billion to expand cloud infrastructure. Yahoo Finance reports that the Philippines Colocation Data Center is projected to exceed the capacity of up to 400 MW. Let’s explore the details of the key differentiation between cloud and colocation approaches in the tech industry.

Your Guide on Colocation vs Cloud

Businesses use both colocation models and cloud techniques to keep their operations streamlined. If you have conventional applications or specific security needs, you still require quick and business-aligned technical methods to experience cost-efficiency and manage disaster recovery in any cybersecurity situation. Let’s witness a breakdown comparison of colocation vs cloud to make a well-informed decision.

Colocation – A Complete Overview

Are you also one who thinks colocation is merely a data center where you get floor space, network services and electric power on rent? You need to revisit it. Colocation provides more than data center facilities. The modern-day colocation centers offer a myriad of services.

• Managed IT and hybrid cloud services
• Colocation significantly reduces latency
• Provide huge power density to support new technologies
• Direct connection to the top cloud service providers

Let’s take a view of the conventional colocation models.

Retail: You lease space inside a cage in this model. It is a perfect choice if your power demand is minimal to fit your equipment within less space.

Wholesale: This model provides you with data centers on a lease that are tailored to meet your business needs. Get this perfect model if you have a large data center infrastructure with more power requirements.

Cloud – A Detailed Introduction

Cloud computing provides services through an internet connection, enabling users to access cloud-based services without a hitch. It helps to access different software, applications, storage, and other resources by leveraging any compatible device, and location. The third-party cloud computing service providers don’t require companies to invest large amounts of infrastructure or hardware for maintenance or day-to-day management tasks. For the knowledge of all the new bees in the cloud industry, it rose to popularity in the early 2000s. Its variety of capabilities are listed below.

• Basic to a large amount of data storage
• Higher data processing quality
• Better scalability to run mission-critical apps

Different Types of Cloud Computing

Businesses choose the type of cloud computing that best aligns the IT infrastructure and preferences. Let’s check out the variety of types below.

Private Cloud – Private cloud provides on-premises solutions and is best for businesses who want to directly control their workloads.

Public Cloud – The public cloud is the most budget-friendly option and doesn’t require on-premises purchase, maintenance, or management.

Hybrid Cloud – It is based on cloud and non-cloud infrastructure and is preferable for businesses with more cumbersome workloads and stringent compliance requirements.

Multi Cloud – It is a mixture of more than one public cloud solution and it is a popular option for consumers.

Cloud vs Colocation: Points of Differences

Some of the key differences between the both are listed as follows.

• One of the distinct differences between cloud and colocation lies in equipment requirements such as agility, cost, scalability, time to market, level of involvement and innovation opportunities.
• Cloud computing models such as SaaS, IaaS, and PaaS are more hands-off in case the infrastructure is hosted and managed by a cloud service provider. While colocation makes you more responsible as you have a facility on rent unless you work with a colocation service provider.
• The cloud provider is a more scalable option to manage workloads than colocation. The cost may vary based on the needs.

Similarities of Cloud and Colocation

The colocation cloud computing comes with a bundle of similarities that need to be considered for better results.

• Flexibility and scalability lie at the core of both colocation and cloud computing techniques allowing customers to manage their resources with accuracy.
• Both services come with robust redundancies such as high availability of potential backup facility in situation of power system failure to run the business operations
• Cloud and colocation mutually depend on data centers such as either on-premises or third-party data centers to better operate IT infrastructure.

What is Hybrid cloud?

Before understanding the term hybrid cloud colocation, let’s know about hybrid cloud first. It is referred to as a computing environment that mixes public and private cloud services.

Benefits of Hybrid Cloud

Hybrid cloud ensures flexible distribution of workloads between public and private environments depending on factors such as performance, security, cost and compliance needs.

The hybrid cloud technique is an ideal option for businesses that need to manage sensitive data on-premises.

Hybrid Cloud Colocation

It is a technique that integrates both the elements of hybrid cloud and colocation services customized to create an IT environment that best resonates with your business preferences.

This model allows businesses to colocate their critical infrastructure such as databases, specialized hardware and more in a vast data center facility for 10x security and performance.

Simultaneously, cloud integration in a hybrid setup provides a public cloud environment for sensitive workloads or those requiring more scalability and flexibility.

The benefit of Hybrid Cloud Colocation

By leveraging a hybrid cloud colocation approach, businesses can experience a flexible and balanced approach allowing them to optimize their IT infrastructure depending on the workload requirements, cost consideration and compliance needs.

Which Approach is Best For You?

Colocation and cloud both services offer quality services to businesses in multiple ways to store, process and manage data. Cloud is a popular approach, while consumers are looking for hybrid cloud models as an alternative to integrate security in their hybrid IT infrastructure. Colocation offers services both on-premises and at data centers. It can also leverage direct connection paths to potential cloud service providers such as AWS, Google and more. If you prefer convenience then a professional colocation service provider like AdvancedIT right in the heart of the city is an ideal choice. With Interxion Cloud Connect, have the benefits of both cloud and colocation to reach your business goals.