What is a Colocation Center?
A colocation center, which is sometimes referred to as a carrier hotel, is a type of data center where numerous customers locate server, storage gear and network and interconnect to various telecommunications and other network service providers with minimum complexity and cost. A majority of Internet exchange points provide colocation services.
Increasingly, businesses are realizing the benefits of moving their mission-critical equipment to a colocation center. Colocation is growing in popularity because of the cost and time savings a business can realize as a result of using shared colocation center infrastructure.
Significant benefits of scale, mechanical systems and large power, result in large colocation centers, typically 50,000 to 100,000 square feet. With communication facilities and IT in safe, secure hands, internet, telecommunications ASP and content providers as well as enterprises businesses enjoy the freedom to focus on their core business and less latency.
Additionally, customers of a colocation center reduce their traffic back-haul costs as well as free up their internal networks. Moreover, by outsourcing network traffic to a colocation center with greater bandwidth capacity, Web site access speed should improve considerably.
Major types of colocation center customers include:
- Major enterprises that use the center for offsite data backup, disaster avoidance and business continuity
- Web commerce business that use the center for cost effective and safe environment as well redundant Internet connections
- Telecommunication companies that use the center to inter-exchange traffic with other telecommunication companies
Colocation centers provide businesses with physical security, power, cooling, internal connections and external connections.
Physical Security
Most colocation facilities have extremely high levels of physical security and are commonly guarded around the clock. Some colocation centers require that employees escort customers, especially in facilities where there are not individual locked cabinets for each customer. In other centers, a proximity card or PIN code access system allows customers into the building and individual cages. Biometric security measures such as voice or fingerprint recognition are becoming more commonplace in newer facilities.
Power
A colocation center commonly has generators that start automatically if utility power fails. These generators usually run on diesel fuel and have varying levels of redundancy, depending on how the center is built.nnBecause these generators do start instantaneously, colocation facilities commonly have battery backup systems. In many colocation centers, the operator of the center provides large inverters to provide AC power from batteries. In other instances, the customer may install smaller UPSes in their rack.
Cooling
The operator of a colocation center usually provides air conditioning for the telecommunications equipment and computers in the building. These cooling systems usually include some degree of redundancy. In older centers, the cooling system capacity commonly limits the amount of equipment that the center can operate.
Internal Connections
Colocation center owners have differing rules in regards to cross connects between customers. These rules may allow a customer to run such connection free of charge or allow a customer to order these connections for a monthly fee.
External Connections
A colocation center generally has numerous locations for fiber optic cables to enter the facility, to provide redundancy so that communication continue if one bundle of cables gets damaged. Many colocation facilities also have wireless backup connections.
About the Author:
Rick Crutchley is Vice President and General Manager of Corelink Data Centers, a leading provider of data center a colocation services in Seattle, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Chicago. For more information about our colocation center, visit our website.
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