Colocation--Managed and Unmanaged Services

Often small and medium-sized online companies are now outsourcing data centers to colocation, offsite colocation providers. Their main reasons are security in power and data storage, faster access to their sites and lower bandwidth costs.

Like dedicated servers, colocation solutions come in two different types of services - managed and unmanaged. For those who are still looking for colocation providers, it is best to understand these differences and their exact requirements before choosing a colocation data center.

Whether to use a managed or unmanaged colocation service can have a significant impact on your business. These include factors such as how much maintenance needs to be done, what can be run on the server, pricing and others.

Here is a brief description on the differences between managed and unmanaged colocation services.

Managed Colocation

Right from the start, managed colocation is the best option for businesses that don’t have the time and IT resources needed to maintain their own equipment. With the service, your company is spared from having to do the manual work needed to keep your systems online.

Managed colocation is often referred to as dedicated server rental. The provider has a dedicated server that is already configured to certain specifications for use by their various co-located clients.

Services

Their services include access to other expected services, including maintenance such as reboots, troubleshooting hardware issues, and backups. The client will simply pick up their equipment and have their business up and running immediately.

This arrangement is useful for those who are not technically inclined and don’t have the time or resources to handle troubleshooting and other maintenance tasks.

Disadvantages

There are a few drawbacks to this setup, foremost among them being the high price of the pampering treatment. There are also some restrictions such as only supported applications are allowed to run on the server. (You cannot use any application required for your site if it is not supported by your provider.)

Unmanaged space

Choosing unmanaged colocation gives you and your company more flexibility. This freedom of choice comes in handy when deciding the hardware, software and other components you want to include in your server.

In fact, you can install applications necessary for your needs but not supported by your provider. You have more control over the configuration and use of your server, unlike in managed services.

Access

Depending on your contract, your technical people can come and go to the facility as needed and perform all your related work using your devices. The disadvantage here is that your people must be available to travel to the colocation center in times of trouble which is always unpredictable.

Comparison

Finally, it should be clear that managed and unmanaged services meet the needs of two different customers. If you have IT resources (including employees), an unmanaged service will work best.

On the other hand, the managed version will allow you to move your hardware and leave all the technical aspects to the colocation services people. Overall, it is best that you know these differences and their consequences on your business