Business Tech: Is the public cloud not right for your business? Try colocation, instead
By Mike Herrington
Many businesses are making the move to the cloud. But depending on your specific workload and compliance needs, a public cloud might not be the best fit. So how do you get all the benefits of the cloud while maintaining security, control and cost savings?
Colocation just might be the answer.
What is colocation? Colocation is a situation where an organization will rent space within a datacenter to host that business’ computing infrastructure. The business owns the hardware and software, and manages the infrastructure while the colocation provider offers a secure facility and network.
This allows businesses to take advantages of all the benefits of a data center: Redundant solutions for Internet, heating, cooling, power and more. Many data centers are built to be earthquake proof and to withstand disasters, boasting huge generators and multiple backbone Internet connections.
This also puts the business in the driver’s seat to manage its security and configure its servers and storage as it sees fit. This allows for more flexibility for specific or taxing workloads and allows the business to manage security to maintain compliance.
There are a lot of potential benefits to colocation. Cost can be a big one. Building a data center is a massive capital investment. Having a server in a colocation facility can potentially save costs over having that server in-house.
Management costs tend to be lower as there is less likelihood of hardware failure due to overheating in a poorly cooled area or a power outage. Custom cloud usage from a provider like Rackspace, Microsoft or Amazon can get pricey quickly, as well. Frequently by managing your own hardware, you can save significantly on monthly costs.
Security is another big benefit. Many businesses that have specific compliance needs — such as PCI, HIPAA, SAS 70 or others — can manage their security with that compliance in mind. This allows you to ensure that you’re fulfilling all the requirements. In addition, colocation facilities offer advanced security features such as access control, video monitoring and more.
Business continuity can be increased as well. Having your gear in a data center will automatically decrease the likelihood of downtime with the additional redundancy provided. This also opens up some great opportunities to create infrastructure capable of high availability or to put in place additional backups and disaster recovery solutions.
Scalability is another benefit of colocation. Typically, datacenters sell rack space by the full or half rack. If you need more space to accommodate increased infrastructure, simply purchase some more rack space. Scale your hardware up and down as needed. There is plenty of power and bandwidth available to scale solutions up as needed.
Most of the data centers have centralized monitoring facilities for all the servers hosted in them, using dedicated personnel to ensure that customers are notified whenever a server or application is not available. This can allow your team to be more proactive when supporting the infrastructure by responding faster and by reducing downtime and problems.
There’s more than one way to slice the cloud and if traditional public cloud solutions aren’t a great fit for your business, colocation may be the answer. Depending on the application and the workload, virtual private servers or managed server hosting might be a good fit, as well. It is recommended that you discuss your specific needs with a qualified IT professional and see what he might recommend as a good fit.
Mike Herrington is vice president of sales for i.t.NOW, where he consults with business owners on IT solutions and strategy.