February 10th, 2011 By: THN News Data Center Content Sponsored by Extreme Networks Data Centers In the web hosting world, however, colocation (also commonly referred to as colo ) refers to the practice of locating your own information technology infrastructure – servers, storage, networking gear, and more – into a data center. While many hosting providers lease or resell server space that someone else owns, colocation arrangements are a bit more rudimentary. They supply the internet exchange , network access, security, power, air conditioning, and basic onsite monitoring and support and your organization would supply the server hardware, network switches and other components required to connect your overall system together, and then the operating systems and application/web software required to operate your solution. If you are seriously considering a move to a colo arrangement, it is best to first get references of others who have made the shift with environments of similar complexity. Does the hosting provider respond effectively in the case of an emergency? In the event of power or network failures, have their redundant/failover measures kicked in and performed? Once you have narrowed to a handful, depending on how critical this move is to your business, many opt to perform a site visit at the facility to verify in person that the security and disaster recovery measures are what are claimed in marketing and sales materials. It is also good to put a face with a name by meeting your admins or hosting management team in person.
