Colocating the server gives me the greatest flexibility. I get to choose the hardware configuration of the server and the software that goes on it. But what is this colocation hosting? The hosting company maintains the connection to the Internet and deals with environmental details such as uninterruptible power supplies, fire controls, and air conditioning. Companies that offer colocation they’re moving away from this service and encouraging their customers to rent a dedicated server. This means renting an entire server from the hosting service, but having the hosting company service and maintain it. When we opt for dedicated server colocation with the hosting company, we pay for the physical space that our server takes up.

Colocation hosting usually requires a higher startup cost than renting a server from a hosting company, according to figures from Digital Nation. We’ll have to purchase a switch or a router, which will cost between $1500 and $2000 at the low end. This would result in an initial outlay of at least more money and it doesn’t include the costs of staff time for setup and configuration.

Not all colocation service providers require the same capital outlay, however. Concentric Networks’ colocation plan includes connecting to a monitored network, fire suppression, redundant power. Most companies that offer server colocation services also sell service contracts to maintain the server and its connections. These service contracts will guarantee a certain percentage of uptime per month. In this way, this colocation is very much expensive than our normal way of hosting because we have to use a server for this kind of service.