Planning and implementing your IT infrastructure is one of the most crucial decisions you will make for your business. With the increase in global data center traffic, how and where businesses store their data has become more important than ever. There are several options to manage and store data and applications, with two common services that businesses often struggle choosing between: Colocation vs. Cloud
What is the difference between Colocation and Cloud?
The main difference between colocation and the cloud is the way the data is stored and managed. With colocation you have physical assets versus the virtual assets of the cloud. Typically, with colocation you lease a secured space in a in a data center facility with power, cooling, and connectivity, while retaining full ownership and complete control of your equipment, including physically maintaining the hardware. This involves the largest capital expenditures and sourcing efforts from your team.
With cloud hosting, you rent the equipment, space, and manpower to manage it and keep it running. One of the key benefits of the cloud is cost-effectiveness, no upfront costs are involved. Services are being provided to businesses on-demand, meaning you only pay for what you use.
Comparing Colocation & The Cloud
What are the advantages of Colocation?
- Full flexibility when it comes to both your software and hardware within your space and power agreements
- With colocation you have complete control of your equipment
- With remote hands, you are able to quickly respond to emergencies, reduce travel time to and from the data center, improve equipment uptime and reduce the cost of infrastructure management
- Fixed monthly costs
What are the disadvantages of Colocation?
- Responsibility for setting up your server and keeping it running
- Although remote hands is often available, assistance might be limited due to lack of knowledge of your environment in case of issues
- Keep spares of your hardware in stock to ensure speedy recovery in case of issues
- Large capital expense
What are the advantages of the Cloud?
- You can easily scale up, as your needs increase and scale down when your business needs changes.
- Services are being provided to businesses on-demand in a pay as you go model.
- You have access to data anywhere and anytime regardless of the machine
What are the disadvantages of the Cloud?
- Cloud services run on remote servers that are completely owned and managed by service providers. Not every business is willing or capable of putting their entire infrastructure in someone else’s cloud.
- You are dependent on the quality of the internet, in case your internet connection is down, you won’t be able to access your data or applications in the cloud.
- Cloud service providers are often faced with security challenges
Which solution is right for my business?
Today’s data management and IT infrastructure strategies are not an either/or decision between cloud or colocation. Utilizing cloud computing and colocation together can provide you a complete package that suits your IT needs and gives you more control over cost, security, and scaling. A hybrid data center infrastructure brings together best of all worlds i.e., cloud, virtualization, hardware, and colocation – and allows businesses to benefit from both on-premise and cloud solutions.
Check out our blog post on: What is a hybrid Cloud Environment?
With the security and control of a dedicated on-premises infrastructure or private cloud and with the flexibility and scalability of the public cloud. Colocation can help businesses realize the many benefits of hybrid cloud, as it provides the best environment to ensure high-quality connectivity between on-premises infrastructure and private and public clouds.
Still not sure about cloud or colocation for your infrastructure? Check out our recent infographic on the benefits and advantages for Colocation and Dedicated Services. Click here to read.
Netrouting’s Solutions
Determining which applications are best suited for your business, whether it may be colocation, or cloud. Keeping mind what the requirements and security measures you need for your business(needs) to create the most effective and efficient infrastructure for your business.
Whatever the case, Netrouting is here to help you make the right decision for your business needs. Our experts are happy to assess your business needs with you to help improve your business’ IT infrastructure. Please contact us at sales@netrouting.com or +31 (0)88 270 02 00
