Advantages of Utilizing Co-location Hosting
A co-location server is one that is situated at a dedicated facility and houses a customer’s equipment. These facilities usually offer high-security, regulated power, filtered power, backup power generators, secured cages, a dedicated internet connection, security, support, fire detection and extinguishing devices. This allows firms to house their hardware in a more secure location than at an office.
Consequently, there are numerous advantages to utilizing a co-location facility to house network equipment. These advantages include better connectivity, customization, amount of storage space, easy disaster recovery and Improved security
Better Connectivity
The first advantage to co-location is improved connectivity. It’s much more cost-effective and economical to run a line through a co-location facility. Most co-location centers support multiple ISP’s through fiber optic lines. Also, with fully redundant network connections, the uptime of the server will be maximized.
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Customization
Co-location facilities are customizable to specific customer needs. Since the customer is providing their own hardware, the co-location centers offer specific storage, connectivity, recovery and security options to fit the needs of the client. Many of the storage rooms are designed specifically for the servers and are fire-safe, temperature and humidity controlled and completely secure.
Financial Gains
A major and appealing advantage for utilizing co-location centers are the financial gains. Many small and medium sized businesses have found enormous savings on infrastructure, technology and human services such as external customer support services. In most co-location centers, there’s a group of certified technicians that monitor the functionality of the servers so firms don’t have to pay costly information technology personnel.
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Storage Space
By placing the bulky equipment in a co-location facility, this leaves much more room at a small to mid-sized office. Servers can occupy a good deal of space, be noisy and give of an enormous amount of heat. Storing them in a different location will eliminate this and allow employees to work without distraction.
Disaster Recovery
Co-location centers often have disaster recovery sites as a backup. If there is ever an issue with a few servers, there are backup servers available. The network will switch to a mirrored site within a few minutes to ensure little or no data is compromised. This also costs less than any disaster recovery system in an office.
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Improved Security
Many co-location centers provide some of the best network and in house security available. These features include updated firewalls and IDS applications which detect unauthorized intrusions. Also, these centers have security networking personnel, security guards, cameras and other precautionary measures to ensure full protection.
Co-location server hosting has many benefits that offer better connectivity, customization, financial gains, improved storage space, disaster recovery and better security. If each of these features were individually added to an office at the level co-location facilities offer, it would cost the firm an exuberant amount of money.
