Colocations

I used to sell collocated hosting before but it didn't make much profit and most customers used much bandwidth. Today, we only provide dedicated hosting. It has better profit margin.
 
This service is still around. Many companies still use colocation services. In some cases colocation can be cheaper than in house colocation.
 
I still have two servers that I colocate at a local datacenter. The upside is that it's my hardware and it's at the spec I needed. The downside however is that it's an semi-open cabinet that others have access to also (not to the machine, but the same rack. Mine are in a locked shelf, but wires are exposed etc).

There's still a need for colocation - but I haven't seen a big push for it lately. Most just rent the machines direct from the centers.
 
We are all web hosting providers here on the topic. As owners of infrastructure, we obviously colocate servers and equipment in one or more data centers.

Most consumers go for dedicated servers and Cloud services. Many just want to use services on subscription basis without spending on hardware purchases.
 
I guess the definition of colocate needs to be provided;

Colocation is when a client is provided space, power and data connection, but the client provides their own equipment and has full control over the hardware and software.

Not many independent hosting companies are doing this.

Most people are leasing equipment, or renting dedicated servers in that the datacenter provides the connection, hardware and maintenance. They may also provide services such as rebooting, formatting and ISO backups.

So to say that "we obviously colocate" would be incorrect, based on the common use and definition of the term "colocation".
 
I can tell you when I first started selling colocation, it was huge, but that was 20 years ago. That same data center today has very little interest in acquiring new colo clients.
 
I would say it's still viable options for where certain hardware are hard to come by. Like for larger game service providers, storage servers and so on where rentals may be insanity to do.
 
I would say less than half of our customers are web hosts. A lot of companies use colocation as a place to put servers for disaster recovery or as a more secure location for their servers then in an office building.

We even have media companies whose primary use for their colocation is our faster backbone connections so they can upload media more quickly.
 
I lease a cabinet in a data center and provide my own hardware. Definitely cheaper to provide my own hardware than leasing it from the data center. And when I say I provide my own hardware I mean I buy the parts and build my own servers. I don't buy prebuilt servers.

So I am still trying to wrap my head around what is meant by colocation. I always have thought colocation is when the data center provided space and power to the hosting company. I have been in a couple of different data centers and that is what they called it.
 
I always have thought colocation is when the data center provided space and power to the hosting company. I have been in a couple of different data centers and that is what they called it.

That's the definition by most datacenters. They provide a connection and power, and you provide the rest. SOME centers will also provide firewall services, but many offer a pass-through situation.

Any time the center provides a server, it's usually classified as "server lease" or "rental" etc.
 
I guess if I have a cabinet and extra space I could offer colocation but I really wouldn't call it that. Its more of a sublet or subcolo.
 
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