When it comes to choosing the colocation host that is right for your company, there are a lot of options on the table. Two of those options are Telecom and IDC. In this short article, we are going to explore the differences between Telecom Colocation vs. IDC colocation in terms of provider types, varying tiers of data centers, carrier neutral vs. non-carrier neutral and a few other small aspects which you should be aware of.
Telecom vs. IDC Colocation: Data Center Tiers
Above all issues, the first thing as consumers you need to look at when investing in colocation web hosting solutions are data center tiers. Although we have already taken the time to discuss the difference in data center tiers, consumers should always be looking for a colocation provider who utilizes Tier 3 and above data center solutions.
When it comes to Telecom Colocation vs. IDC Colocation, Telecom data center facilities are operated out of Tier 1 and Tier 2 data center facilities. This means their uptime isn’t great, their redundancy isn’t great and their security measures are equally not as great. On the other hand, IDC Colocation operates out of Tier 3 and above data center facilities. This means investing in IDC colocation means utilizing highly redundant power and cooling, 24/7/365 onsite security and the highest level of uptime across the industry.
With the choice in having colocation with redundant power and cooling vs. colocation web hosting without guaranteed redundant power and cooling equipment, the choice between Telecom Colocation and IDC Colocation should be pretty simple.
Telecom vs. IDC Colocation: Carrier Neutral
Another aspect of colocation web hosting (be it dedicated server solutions or Cloud hosting services) is your host’s status as a carrier neutral facility. For those of you who do not know,
“A network-neutral data center (or carrier-neutral data center) is a data center (or carrier hotel) which allows interconnection between multiple telecommunication carriers and/or colocation providers. Network-neutral data centers exist all over the world and vary in size and power.
While some data centers are owned and operated by a telecommunications or Internet service provider, network-neutral data centers are operated by a third party who has little or no part in providing Internet service to the end-user. This encourages competition and diversity as a server in a colocation center can have one provider, multiple providers or only connect back to the headquarters of the company who owns the server.” – Wikipedia
The two main benefits of carrier neutral data center providers are a) the ability to switch provider without having to physically move colocation servers to another data center facility and b) the ability of the colocation data center provider to supply consumers with interconnections running between multiple data center facilities/colocation providers.
In terms of Telecom Colocation vs. IDC Colocation, Telecom operates out of all non-carrier neutral colocation data center facilities while IDC operates out of all carrier neutral data center facilities. Now trust us on this one, it is better to be invested in a carrier neutral data center facility than a non-carrier neutral data center facility.
Telecom vs. IDC Colocation: Bandwidth
Another major selling point of colocation is bandwidth. Without getting into it too deeply, investing in colocation solutions carries the benefits of getting higher allotments of bandwidth at lower rates. This is where a major issue comes into play when considering Telecom Colocation vs. IDC Colocation. Concerning bandwidth, IDC has bandwidth options that far and away exceed those of Telecom.
From data center Tiers, to carrier neutral data center facilities and to bandwidth options within the data center facilities, it should be clear that IDC is a better colocation provider option than Telecom colo.