Dedicated server and co-location server are very similar. The main difference between the two is that with a dedicated server , the hosting company provides you with the hardware. With a co-location server, you provide the server. If you are colocating a server, there are a number of
factors to consider that don't apply to dedicated servers.
A major difference is that both rental fees and connection
fees apply to a colocated server. Rental fees are the
charges for physically locating your server in the web
host's data center. The server is measured by its height,
usually from 1U to a full rack. Most servers are either
1U or 2U configurations. However, servers with a large
number of hard drives could be as large as 3U or 4U.
Co-location server is not the best choice for inexperienced webmasters who require extensive customer care. Co-location is an industrial-grade option best suited for professional content distributors with extensive IT skills in server deployment and administration.
Co-location programs offer webmasters a number of advantages over dedicated server, in that they offer higher degree of control. In addition, Co-location also ensures that your equipment is safe and secure, as most providers offer temperature controlled rooms, fire-safety equipment, fast internet connections, 24 hour security, UPS backup, exceptional bandwidth, and specially designed server rooms.
If you have the hard ware, it may be wise to simply ship it to your local data center and co-locate it. This option is especially attractive when you are knowledge in the hardware and software running on your system. For the rest of us, who don't own hardware and cant afford to buy hardware, we'll be stuck paying for dedicated servers.
So you have decided to go with collocation for your Web server, but now its time to consider the different options available from the majority of collocation providers. The first decision that must be made is whether to use a managed collocation service or unmanaged. This can have a significant impact on things such as how much maintenance will need to be done be the customer versus the provider, what things can be run on the server and pricing.
When considering colocation service, keep in mind that your
server will not be located on your premises. You will want
to ensure that your server and your data are adequately
protected.
How fast will your server be able to connect to the
Internet? That depends on the bandwidth offered by the
hosting company. You will need to determine how important
speed is. Some companies offer amazingly high speeds and
equally high prices.
Technical support is critical with any type of web hosting.
You will want to be assured that the colocation company
hosting your server is staffed with knowledgeable support
people.
Get it in Writing: Your server does you absolutely no good
when it is down. Look closely at the level of uptime the
host company can guarantee. How will you be compensated if
that guarantee is not met?
Managed Colocation
Managed collocation is often referred to as dedicated server rentals. When using this form of service, the provider has a dedicated server that is preconfigured to certain specifications with selected software applications on it that the customer can use within limits. In addition to this, the provider generally takes the responsibility of providing any software upgrades to the provided applications on the system and general maintenance such as reboots, hardware issues and any backups they may include.
Unmanaged Colocation
Now if the technical requirements of running the server require applications that are not supported by the provider or you want to have more control over the configuration and use of the server, unmanaged collocation is typically the best choice. This is very different from the managed services though. Customers are required to provide their own hardware and manage all of the hardware and software on their own. This allows for much greater flexibility in what can be done but has the drawback of more work by the customer.
