What Is a Colocation Centre and How Important Is It?

A colocation data centre refers to a managed facility where organisations can lease space. Here, the space could be within a separate and defined cage, a dedicated cabinet or a rack. There is a huge difference between colocation centres and outsourcing to a wholesale data centre. In the latter, you will have to lease a fully built data centre. On the other hand, with a colocation data centre, you will lease a smaller space with cooling, power, security and engineering services as well as connectivity to suit your needs.

Is It Wrong to Keep My Kit On-site?

You can always keep your kit on site or in a dedicated facility. However, with time, your organisation will need more computer power and resilient connectivity as well as flexible capacity. Therefore, providing the right data centre needs might become more complex and eventually expensive. Building, maintenance and management of an in-house data centre takes up a lot of resources, especially with IT and CapEx. Also, it will use much-needed office space and might produce a lot of unnecessary noise.

Why Should I Use a Colocation Facility Immediately?

Although having an in-house data centre is a good idea, sometimes it’s not worth the risk. It takes up too many resources to build and maintain an in-house data centre. Therefore, if your company is changing, you might be forced to use a colocation centre. On the other hand, you might have reviewed the existing IT delivery model and found it’s not worth having an in-house data centre.

Sometimes, you might be forced to choose a colocation centre because of an office relocation, acquisition, merger or growth that is putting a lot of pressure on your office space forcing reallocation of your costs. Whatever it is, choosing a colocation centre will be a good choice at this time in your organisation’s lifespan.

Do All Colocation Facilities Have the Same Services?

Well, most of the colocation facilities have the same services. These include resilience, security, cooling and connectivity. However, if you do further research, you will find that there are huge distinctions between them. Therefore, take your time to see what each facility offers before making up your mind.

What Should I Look out for?

When looking for a good colocation facility, here are some of the things you should be on the lookout for.

• Location – It should be easy for you as the client to access the centre but should be hard for intruders to access.
• Resilience – How much resilience does your business need? What level of resilience can be found in the colocation centre? Evaluate each to find your exact needs.
• Security – Check the data centre to see the access controls and the security present.
• Power – It should be energy efficient and eco-friendly.
• Connectivity – There should be connectivity options and cloud services for the best results.
• Services – What support services are available? Do you know who to reach out to if there’s anything wrong? Make sure the colocation centre has an excellent support system.
• Accreditations and site visits – You need to check the third party accreditations and visit the site on your own to find out how they operate. You can also check the security levels and resilience during this time.
• Flexibility and business growth – When you sign up for the services, are you tied up on a fixed contract depending on the space available? Will you have enough space to grow and flex your needs depending on the power usage? Does the colocation centre have specialist service providers on standby? Is there any support necessary for business flexibility and growth?

Colocation is the ideal way to get what you need when you need a proper data centre. That way, you can support your business efficiently and at an affordable cost. Therefore, you need to take the time to find the best colocation centre that meets all your needs. Check all the qualities of a good colocation centre and find the one that best meets your organisation’s needs for data storage or servicing, including data centre cooling.