Co-location Website Hosting

In this way, the customer has full control over their web server and simultaneously benefit from the 24/7 server monitoring and maintenance provided by the secure data center. Depending on the monthly bandwidth and the hosting rack space required, typically co-location hosting prices range from $500 - $1000 per month.

This type of web hosting is best suited for highly experienced veterans with a great amount of hosting experience. Configuring and managing a colocated server is not an easy task and requires a large amount of technical experience and knowhow.

Colocating your own web server(s) at a data center has a lot of advantages. However there are things to consider, start-up costs, your business strategy, number of web servers you wish to colocate, bandwidth providers and a lot more.

Some companies that offer colocation say they're moving away from this service and encouraging their customers to rent a server, this is also known as dedicated hosting.

With colocation hosting you pay for the physical space that your server takes up. The server itself will cost around $3000 for a low-end model, and $8000 for a midrange server. A half-rack of space at a colocation facility could cost between $500 and $1000 to start up and the same amount again each month. Servers are stored in cabinets on what are called 'racks'. Cabinets can be caged-off, locked, and/or grouped together in 'suites' depending on your needs.

Colocation providers charge you for the amount of 'rack space' your servers take up in their cabinets. The more 'rack space' you use, the more it'll cost you per month. Essentially, you are leasing 'rack space' from your provider for a monthly charge.

You'll also have to buy a switch or a router, which will cost between $1300 and $1800 at the low end. This would result in an initial outlay of at least $7500 and it doesn't include the costs of staff time for setup and configuration, or the cost of equipment depreciation, insurance, and the standby equipment.

Most companies that offer server colocation service also sell service contracts to maintain the server and its connections. These service contracts will guarantee a certain percentage of uptime per month, and the fee will increase as the guaranteed uptime increases.