There are different options for colocation hosting of servers and other phone or network service equipment. These options include different physical space, power, Internet bandwidth, phone services, plan term lengths, etc.
Colocation Hosting Phone Services for VOIP
If you are looking for colocation hosting for your VOIP service equipment such as the voice gateway, etc, you will also need to get phone service plans. Depending on your service that you plan to offer you may need local phone service, long distance minutes, DIDs, toll free 800 numbers or other specific plan needs. All of these phone services can be delivered by a variety of phone services that are available within a colocation data center. When looking to select a data center to host your VOIP services it is important to consider if the data center has a large monthly fee for services, such as phone services, delivered over a cross connect. Different data centers offer different services and fees. For instance at Equinix there is a charge of $250/month for each line cross connected within the facility to your collocated equipment, while at Hurricane Electric colocation facilities there is no monthly cross connect fee to bring in these phone lines to your colocation hosting cabinet, rack or cage. This can add a significant cost to our monthly fees if we don’t properly take it into consideration when setting up the facility.
Internet Bandwidth Plans
There are a variety of different Internet bandwidth plan to be had out there within any colocation hosting facility. These can range from 1 megabit through 10,000Mbps per Internet port. The most common plans include 1Mbps, 5Mbps 10Mbps and 100Mbps, but there are special plans that can range in 1Mbps or hundreds of megabit increments. The cost for Internet bandwidth plans can vary dramatically from provider to provider. Usually, the more Internet bandwidth that you get, the less the cost per megabit of Internet bandwidth. Bandwidth plans available in the market seem to rise and fall based on demand and availability.
Colocation Hosting Power Plans
Considering your equipments power needs is one of the most important things when looking at colocation hosting plan options. Often, because the cost of premium power in a colocation data center is one of the larger costs to consider, it is wise to look into this before purchasing your equipment. Sometimes you can save a small fortune in colocation fees just by ordering new equipment with a more standard power type.
Today, most servers consume 60% more power than is needed because the power supplies are able to handle a wide variety of voltages that your servers motherboard does not need. When equipment is purchased, if the power supply is properly matched to the voltage needed for the motherboard, a server can use as much as 60% less power yielding a significant colocation hosting cost savings.
Colocation Hosting Data Center Space Options
Data Centers offer a range of space options that ranges from secure, individual locking cabinets, to racks in cages, and suites to meet a variety of colocation customer needs. When considering your space options it can be valuable to consider your future growth plans within the facility. Some colocation hosting customers seem to prefer cages because they want to have an easy method to cross connect their racks without any walls between them. Cages do present a certain value, but space growth options are very different from cabinets. If a colocation hosting customer wants to upgrade in a cage, they will either have to get the whole cage and pay for all of the racks in the cage or share the cage with other companies. The disadvantage of sharing a cage is that someone could inadvertently trip on a network or power cable and push a plug as they reach out to keep from falling over, etc. The possibilities for a simple accident such as tripping causing an Internet outage are too great within a shared cage. Thus for security reasons you have to get the full cage, but once you get the full cage the cost for all the extra racks grows significantly. This is the very reason that most customers prefer secure locking cabinets. Colocation hosting cabinets give them the easy upgrade path to be able to add one more cabinet at a time and only have to pay for the cabinets they need, while still maintaining greater reliability and security that a secure locked cabinet provides.
If a company’s colocation hosting needs are lager enough, they can get a full suite with 60, 90, or 300 cabinets all in their own room. This is excellent option that companies such as Hurricane Electric and Equinix offer for large networks, hosting providers and other Telecoms.
There are a variety of other specialized colocation services that many hosting companies offer. Please read on and enjoy the articles that help with your colocation and knowledge needs. Enjoy!
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