Here at QuoteColo we get questions and concerns from many customers and potential clients concerning finding the best cheap colocation solution to meet their IT needs. Now, while this is a common want and question, more often than not we will walk the buyer through why cheap server colocation might not be such a great idea. Due to this, we are going to take this time to chat about why the cheapest colocation and cheap managed hosting might harm your business more than help it.
Cheap Colocation Buys Cheap Data Centers
The defining characteristic of a colocation hosting is the data center which your colo servers are housed in. Unknown too many colocation seekers, data centers comes in levels known as tiers. These tiers run on a scale of 1 to 4. Higher rated data centers offer better redundancy and uptime. To learn more about data center tiers, check out our previous post on data center tier differences. When looking for cheap colocation hosting, you need to understand your total investment. In choosing cheap managed hosting or cheap colo means you will be investing your money into a non redundant and low tiered data center. At the end of the day, you want to make sure the services you provide are delivered to your customers. By finding the cheapest colocation, i.e. the cheapest data center, you’re risking your name, service delivery and reliability to your clients.
Cheap Colocation Hosting Buys Cheap Server Management
Alright, so maybe you’re alright with having your IT business solutions housed in a low tiered data center. You should know though, cheap colo hosting means that you are not only investing in a cheap data center, you are also investing in a cheap server management team. Beyond anything, colocation is a human effort of keeping servers online through power, cooling, security and management. With top level colocation hosts, you are paying for both the elements of the data center and the team of IT engineers who handle your colocation web hosting gear and the data center’s internal network and infrastructure. The same principle applies when you seek out “affordable” server colocation. While finding the best cheap colocation hosting is excellent on your wallet, it might cost you more money in the long haul for the sole reason of the cheap outsourced data center IT support team you sourced might mess something up causing downtime and customer attrition.
Cheap Colocation Hosting Buys Third Party Colocation Hosting
There is a dirty secret with cheap server colocation companies. That secret: they don’t own or operate their own data center. Sometimes, even worse than being invested in a cheap colocation data center, is being invested with a cheap managed hosting provider who utilizes a third party data center solution to house your colocation hardware. By doing this, your colocation host doesn’t have full access to the data center and your colocation servers. This means your colocation host doesn’t have full access to deploy power and cooling needs as they would like. This means your colocation host doesn’t have full security clearance to the data center housing your colo hosting or to the meet me room which houses all of the data center’s Internet connections.
Of all the situations you can find yourself in, the colocation host who utilizes another colocation provider to house your IT solutions is the worst. And yet, hiring a colocation provider who uses someone else’s data center is a common enough story. Don’t let it happen to you.
So, we ask again – Is cheap colocation really worth it?
Given the aforementioned – cheap data centers, cheap colocation management teams, cheap providers utilizing an additional provider – the answer should be evident. No, cheap colocation is not worth it.
Think about colocation like this: You need your fully managed colocation solutions to keep your business running – to keep revenues coming in. Why in the world would you want to cheap out on that which keeps your business running and your family fed?
Be smart. Cheap colocation hosting isn’t a good idea.