- August 14, 2023
Digital document storage has turned into an everyday essential. Whether it’s for professional purposes, learning, or social interaction, the digital economy plays a significant role in our daily routines. Due to this, the demand for data storage and data center colocation is currently at an all-time peak. This heightened requirement for secure, off-site storage is what’s driving the evolution of the modern data center.
Traditionally, company information was housed on in-house servers and networking equipment. With the emergence of “cloud storage,” numerous businesses were attracted to off-site solutions. Companies no longer wish to handle the expenses and upkeep that come with maintaining cumbersome servers and data storage infrastructure. Nevertheless, the data must have a location to reside.
What is Colocation & What Does It Mean?
Colocation solutions furnish companies with the area, electricity, cooling, and protection necessary to accommodate their IT hardware in a data center. Colocation security suppliers provide a vast array of services customized to the prerequisites of businesses of all magnitudes, from petite enterprises that might require just a couple of server racks to expansive corporations that necessitate complete data halls.
Amidst the ongoing importance of cyber security, it’s advantageous to collaborate with IT professionals who can assist in the storage and administration of your information. Specialized third-party service providers comprehend precisely how to accomplish that, irrespective of your firm’s dimensions or sector.
Difference Between Colocation & a Data Center
A data center stands as a location. Colocation represents a service.
Remembering this is the simplest approach. While your in-house server room is prone to limitations in terms of space, expenses, or power and cooling capabilities, business-oriented data centers empower you to expand your IT framework as your enterprise progresses. You can also leverage the data center’s economies of scale and their potential to be more energy-efficient and eco-friendly, aligning with your own sustainability objectives.
Colocation serves as merely one offering within the array of services that a commercial data center can supply. Numerous will also present supplementary services like Remote Hands (for minor maintenance tasks and problem-solving), cyber security, server colocation, and cloud infrastructure, transforming them into more than just physical structures – they can evolve into comprehensive managed infrastructure providers. Entrusting these responsibilities to external sources grants you more time to dedicate to your enterprise, all while assuring that your IT is in capable hands.
Benefits of Colocation Services
Efficiency
Electronic devices can be finicky. They function optimally within a temperature-regulated, dust-free setting. Even the most pristine workplaces can’t match the cooling and air purification systems that professional data centers supply. Colocation platform delivers redundant cooling mechanisms, ensuring that components are thermally regulated to facilitate continuous airflow and maintain an acceptable temperature.
External Maintenance
In numerous instances, companies solely consider server support equipment when issues arise. Data centers conceptualize, oversee, and manage support systems, boasting dedicated infrastructure and personnel to guarantee optimal server performance.
Dependability
Colocation centers provide consistent server cooling systems, power, and communication setups that guarantee uninterrupted connectivity. Businesses can invest in equipment and strategies to establish similar setups in-house, but doing so might necessitate a substantial financial investment, workforce, and space. Data centers also deliver heightened safeguarding against power blackouts due to the multiple data backups in place.
Concrete Security
Data centers are constructed to assure the safeguarding of your systems against theft and other hazards that might jeopardize the integrity of your data. They provide elevated levels of physical defense and impose stringent protocols for data security, including video surveillance, private chambers, fire detection and suppression setups, and mantraps (a confined space featuring two interlocking doors).
Swiftness
Colocation facilities extend budget-friendly connections directly to various internet service providers, ensuring superior performance even during connection disruption or overload.
Factors to Consider Before Choosing the Right Colocation Service
Enhanced Security
Security is the first thing for businesses when choosing the best colocation data center. Since the data serves as a backbone of any business, a high security is a must-have for the colocation service of your choice. You need to see if the facility that you are choosing has a multi-layered security system installed. It must have physical security measures (monitoring, access control) and digital security measures (intrusion detection systems, firewalls) in place.
24/7 Support
Find the colocation data center that offers round-the-clock customer support service. Make sure that the service has experienced and savvy technicians capable of delivering quick solutions to problems that may arise at unfortunate times.
Financially Feasible
Of course, businesses are attracted to cost-effective services that have transparent pricing models without any hidden charges. Before making this big decision, look for the total ownership costs, such as upfront costs, potential downtime costs, and ongoing maintenance costs.
Conclusion
The colocation data center sector is far from stagnant. It’s perpetually transforming and adjusting to the evolving demands of its clients. Colocation centers are growing more inclusive, distinguished by an elevated level of granularity. When picking your colocation vendor, you must look past the cost and contemplate other crucial qualifications, many of which have been showcased on the list above.
Need a hand with your IT operations? Worry not, We at Advanced IT understand the growing demand of Managed IT services in Chicago and provide businesses with the seamless experience. Now, you can focus on what you can do best while we handle your IT infrastructure from top to bottom.
