your server.

Your initial investment will obviously be higher but if you buy a quality server, the costs will be lower when averaged over a long period of time.

How Much Does Colocation Cost?

The cost will depend on how much space your server takes up. Data centers normally house the servers in racks, which are then housed in cabinets.

A cabinet is normally 40 rack units high - each rack unit being 1.75'. Rack mounted servers are measured in rack units - 1U being 1.75'. The most common sizes for servers are 1U, 2U and 4U, so your costs will depend on how many units your server uses.

The other factor in how much colocated will cost is the bandwidth you use. Because your server is connected to the internet via the data center's connection, your cost will depend on how much of data is being transferred, and how much of their connection is afforded to your server.

Colocation vs. Dedicated Hosting

With colocation, you're in charge of the hardware which in turn means you're responsible for maintaining it in case of problems. If a hard drive crashes or a CPU malfunctions, you will need to arrange for it to be replaced.

With dedicated hosting, the web company is responsible for these things so they'll take care of any problems that arise.

With colocated servers you're also responsible for any software licensing costs, such as the operating system and any server-based software you need. Dedicated hosts usually include the necessary software for you to run your server.

In the end, you need to decide whether the additional cost of dedicated is worth the time and up-front investment saved compared to colocated hosting.

If you have the resources to maintain a colocated server, and your resource requirements are high, colocation may be your best choice.
John Lenaghan writes about web hosting and related topics on the Hosting Report website. Find out more at www.hostingreport.org

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