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Let us know which data center you'd like to visit and how to reach you, and one of team members will be in touch shortly.
If you are looking into secure storage options for your business’s sensitive information, you might be considering colocation and cloud computing. Although both are reliable and useful methods for storing and managing your data, they are vastly different in the way they work and the features they offer.
In this guide, we simplify colocation and cloud computing so you can make better decisions when choosing the ideal way to store and manage your data. Let’s jump right in!
Colocation refers to the renting of physical data centers from a third-party data facility to store network servers and equipment. Along with space and IT infrastructure, the third-party data facility also provides maintenance services. Usually, these services include security, cooling, and power.
Cloud computing refers to the renting of virtual servers from a data service provider to use its computing services. In such a setup, the service provider uses its tools and technologies to offer remote services to clients, which they can access over the internet.
In addition, cloud services do not require physical safeguards, cooling, or power configurations as colocation centers do.
Beyond the surface-level differences, here are some ways clients will find colocation and cloud computing useful for their business requirements.
For starters, many companies prefer colocation to cloud due to the amount of control they have over their servers. And since colocation centers take up physical spaces, they allow clients to monitor and manage them using CCTVs, man traps, fire detection, and suppression systems.
All of this isn’t possible with cloud infrastructure. To put it simply, cloud infrastructure is only as reliable as its provider.
Since the client owns and manages colocation servers, they also have complete control over their IT configuration and infrastructure.
In comparison, cloud providers retain the main access to servers and configurations.
Companies have to abide by compliance regulations to ensure data security. But these regulations keep evolving all the time, which can put small and medium-sized businesses in a tight spot.
In this regard, cloud computing is the better choice of the two. Cloud storage options ensure their services meet all compliance regulations as they evolve.
Companies share colocation facilities, which reduces the costs one organization incurs. However, the upfront equipment and server costs might be quite high. And so are any updates that may be necessary down the line.
Cloud computing, on the other hand, comes with a much lower entry cost. Since the client only uses cloud services, the fee for cloud computing may be quite low initially. However, this fee can get quite expensive when clients try to upgrade to support larger amounts of data, or if clients use a hyperscale solution.
When it comes to which one of the two is more affordable, it depends on the type of business and operations. Small or medium businesses with fewer servers will find the cloud a better option. It gives them the option of paying a smaller fee while delegating most of the maintenance tasks to the provider. Large corporations might find setting up their servers in a colocation environment a better choice for the long term.
When it comes to connectivity, cloud and colocation are almost on par.
Clients can expect up-to-date network hardware and connectivity devices that deliver on their promises when using cloud computing. With colocation, too, the responsibility of deploying and maintaining the system architecture lies with the data center provider.
However, you do want to ensure your colocation center is closer to your users to optimize page load and processing times.
Flexibility is a strong suit of cloud computing services. It allows clients to both scale up and down on compute resources whenever they want to, depending on their business requirements. With colocation, you must remove or add equipment if you ever choose to scale up or downsize.
However, if you’re looking for the flexibility that comes with total server control, colocation is the ideal choice.
Yes, colocation and cloud computing can work together.
Some businesses require a more tailored solution that brings the benefits of both cloud and colocation.
With a hybrid solution, you can easily get compliance and scalability along with faster access to servers to meet different business needs. It’s also more cost-efficient than simply going with either cloud or colocation services.
Both colocation and cloud computing are powerful data storage and maintenance solutions for all types and sizes of organizations. They’re certainly better than setting up an on-premise data center.
But if you’re planning to take your business into the future, you want to consider adopting a combination of both cloud and colocation.
Related Resources
Colocation 101: A Complete Guide [What it is, Types, Features, How it Works, Benefits]
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