Collocate Charily
Do you judge yourself as a veteran webmaster? If yes, then server collocation is an excellent option for you to implement total control over your Internet server. Web hosts will place your server on their premises and will permit you to make use of their bandwidth and facilities, and of course, you preserve complete control over your equipment, software and operating system and simply lease physical space and high-grade, tier one network access from the hosting provider. This arrangement is well suited for successful industry veterans with a great amount of experience, for professional content distributors with extensive IT skills in server deployment and administration, since setting up a collocated server is not an easy task and requires a large amount of IT expertise.
You will require a modern Internet server, and will be solely responsible for pre-loading it with both the operating system and Web server software that you desire, plus configuring it according to your hosting company's specifications so that it can be installed to integrate with their infrastructure without a glitch. With collocation, the hosting provider will only allocate your server: rack space, an Ethernet connection and a block of IP numbers.
Collocation is a "no-frills" service. This means that your hosting provider will not help you prep your equipment for hardware or software installation or maintenance. If you require any extra services, it will not be their contractual responsibility to assist you. You must therefore expect to pay extra for any help or consulting services they provide. For that reason, collocation is not the best choice for inexperienced webmasters who call for extensive customer care.
Web hosting firms providing collocation services will expect you to have a high level of technical competence. Most firms will not be clued-up in your server configuration unless you select equipment that they by and large use. Neither will they be overly fervent to fix equipment that differs from their own. For these reasons, you or your organization must display competence concerning all administrative issues.
Ensure however that any collocation service you purchase comes with free "reboot" privileges. Sometimes a server will need to be physically restarted on occasion, especially if it is running applications on the Windows platform. It will therefore be necessary to call upon your hosting firm's personnel to restart your equipment at anytime of the day in case of a fatal CPU crash. For this reason, you must build good relationships with your firm's customer support representatives.
Other considerations you should take under advisement when retaining collocation services is selecting a host with a minimum of T3 connectivity. Most established firms team up with powerful broadband providers who have high-tech network facilities. Obtaining collocation services from such hosting firms will allow you to leverage these relationships.
Most of these broadband providers and telcos have multiple network operation centers (NOCs) that are intermeshed with peering points connected to OC-12 ATM or full 45Mps DS-3s lines minimum. Hosting firms who locate their own shared and dedicated operations in these NOCs will also locate your own co-located servers in one of these centers. Many hosting companies also operate their own network operation centers, or operate equipment within "meet-me" rooms. It is always advised that you use accomplished hosting firms as your intermediary with tier-one providers, because they usually have the connections and know-how to deploy your box quickly and effectively.
Notwithstanding the security precautions involved with first-class NOC facilities, make certain that your equipment is insured. A good business insurance policy will ensure the speedy replacement of your equipment in case of natural disaster. Also make sure to insure your server when you ship it to your Web hosting firm for deployment. Freight insurance will protect you from financial loss if the server is physically damaged during shipping.
Another concern is about your server's scalability. You should make sure that your server's memory and disk space is maximized, since it will be very costly to make additions once the server is deployed. You will also want to ascertain that your equipment is new and has an on-site service guarantee, allowing repairs to be done at the NOC in case of equipment failure.
Remember that the key to successfully collocate your Web presence is maintaining quality and speedy services, which equal credible services, necessities for any successful, high-traffic site.
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