Collocation
Welcome to Collocation
What Is Collocation?
Most modern businesses rely on their websites to bring in new customers, and their email systems to keep them in touch with their customers and clients. Often this involves running their own web and email servers, but what happens if they have a power cut or a break in at their office?
Internet servers are such a vital part of any modern company that it makes sense to house them in dedicated facilities with reliable power supply, fast internet connections, and robust physical security. If you only need to house a few servers, then rather than setting up your own datacentre, you can colocate your equipment at a colocation facility alongside other companies' equipment.
Colocation providers such as ZebraHosts Ltd provide secure facilities, with battery and generator backed up power supply, multiply redundant internet connections and 24/7 monitored security systems.
Rack Mount Servers
Everything you ever wanted to know about colocation and servers
If you're looking for a rack mounted server to colocate at a datacentre there are several important things you need to take into account:
- Size
- Power consumption
- Features & Reliablity
- Ease of repair
Size
Most colocation providers charge according to the size of the equipment you want to colocate. Rack mounted equipment is typically measured in "rack mount units", or "U". One U is 1.75 inches, and servers range insize from one or two U (for standard web or database servers), up to six, eight or even 10 U (for large disk arrays and blade server chassis).
Power Consumption
This is becoming more and more of an issue as servers (particularly their CPUs) become more complex and power hungry. Most datacentres were designed when servers used a lot less power, and so their ventilation and power supply systems were designed for much lower power densities. Most modern servers are now a lot more powerful, and often smaller thanthey used to be, so ventilation systems now need to be able to remove more heat from smaller volumes, and this is stretching some colo facilities to their limit.
Most of the London datacentres are now drastically limiting the amount of power they provide for their customers, or charging extra for anything over the most basic power supply. This is leading to some interesting changes in the internet industry. Facilities outside of London are now becoming much more attractive, since power and land is less expensive.
Features & Reliability
Several companies can supply you with 1U cases so that you can make your own server from off-the-shelf PC components. This can obviously work out a whole lot cheaper in the short term, but does limit your choice of features. Many standard PC motherboards will simply not fit in a 1U case, as components like audio connectors can be too large, and 1U CPU heatsinks are difficult to find.
If you want a fast server with modern features then you are far better off buying equipment from one of the large manufacturers. Most pre-built servers include features like RAID disk controllers, extra power supplies and diagnostic indicator lights. Buying from a large OEM means that you'll get cutting edge technology such as fast processors, without having to worry about your server overheating because of a poor choice of components.
Ease Of Repair
Buying a pre-built server means that you're much less likely to have problems with hardware failure, and even if you do, they'll be a whole lot easier to sort out. Manufacturers like Dell and HP offer comprehensive support contracts, so you can have an engineer on site within hours, fixing your equipment. Even if you choose to buy the server without a support contract, most of the parts in your server will probably be marked with individual part numbers so that you can order replacements quickly and easily.
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