Of course, this doesn’t mean it can’t be done, otherwise it wouldn’t be offered anywhere.  If this is a service that you need, then you can still find lots of good companies that can offer this to you.

However, you need to ask one important question first.

Is there another way?

There is not much that colocation hosting can offer you that you can’t get through other services, such as managed hosting.  Sometimes even just a normal shared/budget hosting account can give you everything that you need.  Remember also that most of the advantages that come from colocation, such as near-100% uptime and 24/7 support, usually come bundled with other reputable service providers.

On the other hand, colocation comes with the distinct disadvantage that, since your server is specialized, your tech support is likely to be down a notch or two even at the best companies.  Web hosts standardize their services for a reason.  A quarter-million accounts is enough trial-and-error to hammer out just about every software bug a host might encounter.  Bring a server in with its own toys and you introduce the possibility of unforeseen problems that they’ll be addressing from scratch.  When that happens, you’re not going to wish the server was right in front of you, not a thousand miles away with a technician who will call you back.

Not scared away yet?

You’ve taken into account the problems and still want to obtain a colocation hosting account.  Good for you: this is still a viable service.  So how can you make it work best for you?

Here are a few quick questions to ask:

1)      Does your host normally support your operating system?  Even if a host offers to the contrary, don’t go with a host that doesn’t have your machine’s operating system among their normal offerings.  Even with an honest effort, the learning curve will be too high.

2)      How will server updates be handled?  Will you be perofmring them or will they?  And is there a per-installation fee?

3)      What are the data transfer rates?  This one could go either way.  Though hosts have the kind of bandwidth that you don’t, they also know the associated costs.  Sometimes, what you are already getting at home will actually be cheaper.  Note, though, that this is a market dynamic that most experts see as coming to an end.

Colocation might be the most specialized of all of the “normal” offerings you can get from a web host.  That doesn’t make it undoable.  Double-check to make sure it’s for you.  If it is, there are plenty of good places out there for your site.

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• July 21, 2011 – Data Foundry Opens Data Center in Austin
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• June 30, 2011 – Telconet Scheduled to Build Two New Data Centers
• June 14, 2011 – Ascent to Partner with Comcast
• June 1, 2011 – Latisys Expands Credit Facility to $125 Million
• April 1, 2011 – Three Reasons Why Colocation Hosting Is More Expensive
• December 15, 2010 – Maintaining Redundancy at a Colocation Facility
• November 1, 2010 – Why is Colocation Hosting so Expensive?
• September 1, 2010 – Colocation Hosting – Is it Right For You?
• August 6, 2010 – Telehouse America Expands to China

Location of the Data Center

The data center is located on a 40-acre data ranch campus in Austin. The opening is the initial phase of the 250,000 square foot facility which is fully functional. Despite the recent opening, the first customers have already begun to move in. Data Foundry currently operates two other carrier-neutral data centers in the state. The first is the ADC which is also located in Austin. The second is the HDC in Houston.

Texas 1 Specifications

Aptly named, “Texas 1”, the infrastructure boasts a diversity of independent power sources, water and network connections with no single points of failure in its cool, power and network systems. The location’s power system is maintained by two independent substations. Also, there is an unground power connection that is enclosed in a concrete duct. This is an extremely rare feature at colocation facilities.

Cooling Solutions

The water system is chilled allowing for flexible cooling solutions which include high-density configurations and single cabinet deployments. Therefore, the most complicated, high performing computing environments can be effectively cooled by the Texas 1 data center. Furthermore, the location boasts over 17 network carriers so customers have a choice between providers.

Announcement from Data Foundry

According to representatives from the Data Foundry implementation team, Texas 1 is the result of 17 years of experience in the operation of data centers. Throughout those years, the team has toured many facilities across the globe which has led to the creation of the Texas 1 data center. These visions will allow the company to compete on a global level. The facility provides an innovative design with flexibility which will benefit customers for many years.

The amount of planning that went into the design, development and opening of the data center is incredible. The company is even offering a full online tour of Texas 1 so customers can view the incredibleness of the location. No detail was missed so customers have complete security and control over their equipment in this high-tech colocation facility.

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• June 30, 2011 – Telconet Scheduled to Build Two New Data Centers
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• June 1, 2011 – Latisys Expands Credit Facility to $125 Million
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• August 6, 2010 – Telehouse America Expands to China
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Creating a Flexible Commercial Model

The Savvis Markets Infrastructure will allow users to utilize flexible solutions from within a commercial model. As a result, clients will be able to tailor information technology needs by incorporating a range of capabilities such as colocation, managed and cloud-based hosting. This will provide enough storage, computing power, network services and a high-level of security.

Advantages of the Platform

The web hosting community will benefit from this launch because of the cost-effective connectivity directly to marketplace data, trading partners, execution venues and service providers throughout Savvis’ globally managed, high performing, low-latency network. The system is transparent allowing different parties to view various aspects of the financial organization thus improving communication.

Savvis’ Extensive Data Network

The recent launch will introduce a new commercial model for financial service providers. Future scheduled releases will deliver an enhancement of tools and features. Currently, Savvis boasts 32 data centers across the glove with low latency connectivity through over 200 exchange and liquidity venue feeds. This allows for some of he highest performing data centers available.

Experience with Financial Entities

Savvis has extensive experience with regards to traditional equities and derivatives exchanges, foreign exchange, alternative trading venues and fixed-income electronic communication networks. Therefore, the experts are well aware of the common hardships and limitations faced by modern financial firms from a systematic standpoint and have implemented them into the infrastructure.

Furthermore, Savvis Financial Systems was recently awarded a $9.8 million contract by the United States Federal Election Commission. In early June 2011, NYSE Technologies released a cloud-based platform for the financial industry, more specifically financial traders. This is further evidence of Savvis experience with the financial marketplace and how they can improve companies in the same industry.

The launch of this innovative software package should assist the financial industry with streamlining many processes while providing the other elements required for a successful company. Being that Savvis has experience in the financial market, this platform will cater to those needs and be implemented successfully. The first phase should eradicate the majority of bugs in the system allowing for a clean infrastructure to be implemented in the future.

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• July 21, 2011 – Data Foundry Opens Data Center in Austin
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• June 1, 2011 – Latisys Expands Credit Facility to $125 Million
• April 1, 2011 – Three Reasons Why Colocation Hosting Is More Expensive
• December 15, 2010 – Maintaining Redundancy at a Colocation Facility
• November 1, 2010 – Why is Colocation Hosting so Expensive?
• September 1, 2010 – Colocation Hosting – Is it Right For You?
• August 6, 2010 – Telehouse America Expands to China

Three Options

The new location will be a colocation facility with low, medium and high-density options. The facility will also play host to physical servers, server virtualization, networking, virtual storage and processing. The company is attempting to cater to clients attempting to post applications in a private or public cloud. Due to the popularity of cloud hosting, Telconet must offering the service to remain competitive with other hosting providers.

Basics Specifications of the New Data Centers

Additionally, the new data centers will be specifically designed to meet Standard 942-2 TIA. Also, the Uptime Institute will provide Tier ratings of the facilities. Tier ratings are an industry measurement of different aspects of the center. Furthermore, each location will feature 1500 square meters of floor space, all of which will be dedicated to computing. The Quito location will be a Tier III with 180 racks. The Guayaquil facility will be Tier IV and feature 400 racks.

Equipment Providers

GE, Schneider Electric APC and Cisco will be a few of the many providers of equipment which will all be interconnected by a fiber optic network with a maximum transfer rate of 20 Gbps. This speed will certainly enhance available backup options.

External Connections to the World

Each data center will be externally connected to Ecuador and the rest of the world through NAP of the Americas high speed connections which is based out of Miami, Florida. Additional connections will be made through Cloud Latin or Cloud Latin American Internet Peering Group which connects Columbia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Chile, Peru, Argentina and Brazil.

The Growing Demand for Internet Services

With more individuals accessing the Internet on a daily basis, the demand for web hosting services continues to grow. In emerging markets such as South America and China, Internet connectivity is growing a rapid pace. Therefore, website creation and access to websites is also expanding. With the construction of these two new data centers in Ecuador, all South American customers will benefit from the technology.

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Data Center Specifications

The data center is a 20,000 square foot, SAS Type II certified facility located in RIDC Park, O’Hara Township; approximately 12 miles from downtown Pittsburgh. The combination of services between the two companies is a response to the growing demand for cloud hosting services. Both companies are hoping the partnership will offer small and mid-sized businesses with the resources to improve data security and information technology through a point-to-point connection.

Growing Success of Both Companies

Comcast is excited about the collaboration as it will help to continue driving success for both companies through a dedicated Metro Ethernet bandwidth that provides a secure and scalable solution to meet customer’s expanding bandwidth demands. The pairing of services also bring Comcast’s fiber-optic based network together with Ascent’s secure data center to provide customers with quality, performance, robust solutions and exceptional value.

Ascent Company Information

As the leading provider of data center services in the Pittsburgh area, Ascent offers a variety of services including managed, colocation, server virtualization, data security, cloud hosting and business continuity. All customer information and applications are protected by their state-of-the-art data center. Applications and infrastructure is outsources to third-parties which significantly improves operational efficiencies and decreases business risk.

Comcast Business Services Company Information

Comcast Business Services is the leading provider of business-grade Ethernet, video solutions, phone and internet for all types of customers. The voice and data plans come packed with features developed to assist the continued growth of businesses. Comcast’s Metro Ethernet features a 40 gigabit fiber-optic backbone, the largest in the nation. Packaged with the Ethernet is reliable, around the clock support resulting in a robust, scalable solution for organizations of all types.

Ascent Data and Comcast Business Services are leading service providers in their respective industries and regions. Therefore, the partnership between the two organizations should result in a major increase in new customers for both parties. As Comcast continues to expand its services into other industries, the company is continually improving its products and services provide for to a wider audience.

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• June 1, 2011 – Latisys Expands Credit Facility to $125 Million
• July 21, 2011 – Data Foundry Opens Data Center in Austin
• April 1, 2011 – Three Reasons Why Colocation Hosting Is More Expensive
• September 1, 2010 – Colocation Hosting – Is it Right For You?
• August 6, 2010 – Telehouse America Expands to China
• September 15, 2009 – How Will You Host Your E-commerce Site?
• August 25, 2009 – Layer Technologies Breaks Through on Inc. 5000
• April 16, 2009 – Novella Reveals Plans for New IT Solutions
• March 18, 2009 – Hosting Considerations for E-commerce

Expanding Efforts with the Extra Credit

The new funds will be utilized for supporting customer growth and expanding capacity at Latisys’ 123,000 square foot data center campus in Northern Virginia. At the beginning of 2011, the firm added 14 megawatts of power and expanding the floor space at the facility by 26,000 square feet. At the same time, Latisys announced a new data center that was optimized to meet the growing demand for high-density space, power and cooling.

Other Recent Expansions

Since then, Latisys has strategically improved its overall operations by acquiring and expanding current facilities while investing in resources toward improving the managed hosting arm of the company. Additionally, the enterprise has expanded its cloud computing capabilities. By increasing the credit facility, Latisys is able to take advantage of the many business opportunities in the Greater Washington, D.C. area and other large markets.

Source of the Credit Facility

The $125 million credit facility is primarily funded by an existing group of eight financial institutions including, RBC Capital Markets, Bank of America, CapitalSource, GE Capital, Caterpillar Financial Services, TD Securities, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and Madison Capital Funding.

Current Facilities

Latisys currently boasts state-of-the-art data centers in Northern Virginia, Denver, Chicago and Irvine, California resulting in coverage across all U.S. time zones. This allows for unmatched scalability and multi-site redundancy for all information technology infrastructure demands, setting them far ahead of the competition.

Information about Latisys

Latisys provides managed hosting and services, colocation hosting and disaster recovery solutions to government agencies, enterprises and medium-sized businesses. Founded in 1994, Latisys has been serving customers utilizing multiple high-density SAS70 Type II data centers across the United States. The company continues to offer its popular scalable outsourced IT infrastructure management solutions providing everything a customer could need.

Latisys is a major player in the web hosting industry boasting some of the most hi-tech facilities and best managed solutions. With this credit facility expansion, the company will be able to further its presence and continue to have a commanding edge over the competition.

Related posts:

• June 14, 2011 – Ascent to Partner with Comcast
• July 21, 2011 – Data Foundry Opens Data Center in Austin
• June 30, 2011 – Telconet Scheduled to Build Two New Data Centers
• April 1, 2011 – Three Reasons Why Colocation Hosting Is More Expensive
• September 1, 2010 – Colocation Hosting – Is it Right For You?
• August 6, 2010 – Telehouse America Expands to China
• December 1, 2009 – Nine Unique Advantages of Managed Hosting
• September 15, 2009 – How Will You Host Your E-commerce Site?
• March 18, 2009 – Hosting Considerations for E-commerce
• December 11, 2008 – Peak 10 Makes Enhancements to Raleigh Data Center

Futuristic Data Centers

A “colocation facility” is actually a data center, which is a large building that houses hundreds (or even thousands) of web servers in futuristic environmentally controlled rooms. Overall, a datacenter contains millions of dollars of equipment, and many of them maintain multiple high-speed Internet connections with various Internet service providers simultaneously. By providing multiple connections, colocation hosting providers can offer redundancy, so that your web server will be online at all times. Data centers are also equipped with highly effective fire extinguishing systems, professionally trained in-house Internet technology specialists, and air filtration systems that cost as much as $10,000 in each room. In order to provide this server care and service stability to customers, colocation hosting providers must charge a more expensive monthly fee.

State-Of-The-Art Surveillance

The second reason why colocation hosting is generally more expensive than conventional web hosting is the amount of effort and the monetary investments that the hosting provider devotes to keeping your web server secure. Not only are the facilities monitored by state-of-the-art surveillance technology, but all of the equipment (including your web server) is insured, so there is no risk of having the hardware damaged or stolen without it being restored or replaced. Colocation datacenter facilities are usually guarded by several tall watch posts, and barbed wire fencing exceeding the height of 8 feet around the entire perimeter the facility. Since the colocation hosting provider has a lot of expenses in terms of employee payroll and equipment overhead, these additional expenses have to be passed on to the customer to make the business profitable.

The Additional Value of Optimizing Web Server Performance

By dealing with a colocation facility you are gaining access to multiple high-speed Internet connections from various Internet service providers. Thus, you have the advantage of maintaining an optimal connection to the Internet for your web server at all times, regardless of the local or regional circumstances affecting the Internet and other hosting providers. This type of assurance is not possible if you choose to store your privately owned Web server within your home or office, because if the single Internet connection is lost, so are all of your current server tasks (such as keeping your websites online).

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• November 1, 2010 – Why is Colocation Hosting so Expensive?
• September 1, 2010 – Colocation Hosting – Is it Right For You?
• August 6, 2010 – Telehouse America Expands to China
• May 21, 2010 – Is Colocation Hosting Right For You?
• September 6, 2011 – Understanding Colocation Hosting
• July 21, 2011 – Data Foundry Opens Data Center in Austin
• June 30, 2011 – Telconet Scheduled to Build Two New Data Centers
• June 14, 2011 – Ascent to Partner with Comcast
• June 1, 2011 – Latisys Expands Credit Facility to $125 Million
• March 31, 2011 – The Freedom and Flexibility of Colocation Hosting

An Overview of Redundancy

Redundancy is the ability of a system to distribute the load from a failed system across the remaining pieces of equipment without any performance issues or overload. One major issue with colocation facilities is there is no industry standard, regulations or rankings. As a result, it is often difficult to detect the quality of the redundancy systems.

Redundancy Calculation

Redundancy can be calculated with the formula n+1 which indicates that a system is meeting its optimal capacity plus one unit. For instance, if two UPSs are in the overall power system, each should be running at 50 percent to balance the load. If one fails, the other system can maintain the load. If there are three UPSs then each manages 33 percent of the load and if one fails, they each handle half of the third.

In an ideal situation at a colocation facility, systems will be paralyzing redundant with many units running at the n+1 setting with each unit being able to manage the remaining load if all other systems fail.

Powering Redundant Servers

The most important aspect of redundant servers is power. Without it, the equipment will not work thus creating downtime. Power outages can stop the cooling systems (potentially resulting in equipment damage), fire suppressant systems and Internet connections which can be disastrous for the customer.

How to Maintain Redundancy

To maintain redundancy at the server level it is important to keep the colocation facility powered with generators in case of an outage, ensure the generators can handle a large power load and inspect circuit breakers and switches regularly. Switches tend to be the most common point of failure.

The basic premise is that colocation facilities should have backups of everything; backup and redundant servers, backup generators, backup of the backup generators, backup cooling and backup Internet connections. Although it may seem excessive, the clients that rely on these facilities to operate their business expect the best and close to 100 percent uptime. Maintain redundancy at a colocation facility takes a great deal of work to be secure.

Related posts:

• April 1, 2011 – Three Reasons Why Colocation Hosting Is More Expensive
• August 6, 2010 – Telehouse America Expands to China
• September 8, 2011 – Colocation Hosting – A Hard Fit
• July 21, 2011 – Data Foundry Opens Data Center in Austin
• July 6, 2011 – The Launch of he Savvis Markets Infrastructure
• June 30, 2011 – Telconet Scheduled to Build Two New Data Centers
• June 14, 2011 – Ascent to Partner with Comcast
• June 6, 2011 – Surviving Website Downtime
• June 1, 2011 – Latisys Expands Credit Facility to $125 Million
• April 13, 2011 – Using Captcha Scripts to Prevent Spam

State-of-the-Art Datacenters

Colocation hosting plans differ form every other type of hosting, because rather than leasing web servers it provides storage space for private web servers. If you currently own a web server and you are storing it in your house then you should strongly consider the benefits of a colocation hosting plan. Even though the monthly cost may seem unnecessary, it may cost much more to replace a web server after dust destroys it or it is stolen. With a colocation datacenter you can be sure that your web server is completely safe and well taken care of. In order to provide this kind of safe environment for your web server a lot of precautions are taken by colocation hosting companies, and only optimal conditions are tolerated. The cost of maintaining such a facility is not cheap, so this cost is passed on to the customer.

Superb Surveillance and Security

Another reason why colocation hosting is so expensive is the incredible security offered. Every web server is monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (even holidays), not only by cameras and other surveillance devices, but by actual security professionals that are technically trained to deal with web servers in the event of an emergency. The datacenter is guarded by tall fencing and stations that are patrolled by human guards at all times of the day and night. In order to pay these employees and keep the datacenter safe the colocation company has to spend a lot of money on payroll and security equipment, and this expense is passed on to the customer as well.

Extended Server Life

All of the above features of colocation hosting not only increase the cost, thy also increase the length of time in which your server can operate ideally. Eventually every electronic device will wear down and need to be replaced. However, colocation datacenters preserver your server by keeping it in perfect conditions permanently. Theoretically, if a web server is left in this condition it can continue to function properly indefinitely. Even though the cost of colocation hosting may be significantly more than other plans, it is important to note that you will be saving money in the long run because you will never have to replace your web server. With colocation web hosting the only time you need to purchase another web sever is when you current server runs out of space, which is very unlikely unless you are using it to operate dozens of massive web sites.

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• July 21, 2011 – Data Foundry Opens Data Center in Austin

In essence, you are simply paying for storage space so that you can store your dedicated server without problems such as hardware damage and theft occurring. While this may seem as if it is a great service that everyone should use, only a small percentage of webmasters will ever need colocation hosting. If you are not sure whether or not your business needs access to a colocation hosting service then you may want to consider the following information.

Do You Own a Web Server?

If you do not own a web server then you should know that you will need to purchase one before a colocation hosting service will be of any use to you. Web servers can cost anywhere from $1500-$10,000, depending upon the model and its capabilities. If you can afford to invest that much money in to a web server, and you are ready to pay for the monthly cost of colocation hosting, then it may be within your budget ton purchase a colocation hosting plan. However, if you are like the majority of webmasters, then you will not be able to afford or justify such a purchase.

What Kind of Sites Do You Own?

If you own a single medium sized web site then you may not have a need for a dedicated server at all. Dedicated web servers are ideal for people that have dozens of web sites or a single corporate web site that needs to be maintained professionally and kept at peak performance. With the availability of cheap and powerful web hosting you should be able to find a plan that will accommodate your needs with ease. Dedicated servers and colocation hosting is only recommended for corporations and enterprises, or people that own hundreds of sites.

How Technically Skilled Are You?

As mentioned, a colocation hosting service is simply a web server storage service, which means that most colocation hosting plans do not come with technical support. As such, you will need to provide your own technical support for server maintenance and administration. Most administrative duties can be done remotely, however this requires an advanced level of knowledge in the way web servers work. If you do not have a decent amount of experience in dealing with web servers then you may want to consider a colocation hosting solution that includes technical support.

Unfortunately, in order to have full technical support included with your colocation hosting plan you will need to pay an extra fee each month. When you add this fee to the mountain of other expenses associated with colocation hosting, it becomes clear that this type of hosting solution should only be utilize by highly successful online businesses.

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• April 1, 2011 – Three Reasons Why Colocation Hosting Is More Expensive
• July 21, 2011 – Data Foundry Opens Data Center in Austin
• June 30, 2011 – Telconet Scheduled to Build Two New Data Centers
• June 14, 2011 – Ascent to Partner with Comcast
• June 1, 2011 – Latisys Expands Credit Facility to $125 Million
• March 31, 2011 – The Freedom and Flexibility of Colocation Hosting
• November 1, 2010 – Why is Colocation Hosting so Expensive?
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