Colo: 11 Things You Should Know!
1 – What is Colocation?
Colocation (or Colo) is a service where you can keep your servers in a Data Centre. The Data Centre will make sure that your server is:
– Always powered
– Kept cool
– Kept physically secure
– Connected to the internet
– Provide you access to your server when required
2 – It’s Cost Effective!
One of the biggest drawbacks to housing your own server locally is that the initial setup costs and on-going bills can be very expensive. Unless you have the scale of servers housed to make the costs worth it, it’s usually more cost effective to house it somewhere else via Colocation (especially if you only a single server!).
3 – What’s Included?
Our Colocation service includes:
– Power: to always keep your server on
– Cooling: servers are kept in temperature-controlled rooms to ensure they stay cool
– Security: 24/7 security measures, such as CCTV and controlled area-access, to keep your servers safe
– Internet: Synchronous Internet connections starting from 100Mb, so your servers are always connected
4 – Physical Access:
Physical access to your server is always available. Quarter Rack, Half Rack and Full Rack customers; you will have access to your server whenever you want and will be given keys etc.
For Single Server Colo customers, you can have escorted access whenever you like during office hours and can request access out of office hours – which, is subject to a £60/hour charge.
5 – Secondary Internet For ILO:
You should consider preparing for using a second internet connection for ILO purposes, as well as other remote management means. This means you can access the backend of your server – even if the OS has crashed completely.
6 – Up Time:
Here at HA Hosting, we aim for 100% uptime for your servers – we’re so confident in fact, that we offer you credit on the rare occasions your server uptime fails below an acceptable level.
7 – Service Level Agreement:
– Contract lengths from just one month
– Lead time next working day for single servers
– Includes moving in support to get you up and running
– Support tickets addressed and responded to within 4 hours
– Out of hours support is subject to a £60/hour charge
– Office hours: Monday – Friday, 8am – 6pm.
8 – Remote Hands:
Colocation with us comes with remote hands support. This is so you can have someone physically interact with your server – saving you a trip! Particularly helpful for small fixes or replacing hot swap components. We include 15 minutes of Remote Hands support per day – anymore maybe subject to a charge.
9 – What You Need to Bring:
– Rack Rails: You’d be surprised at how many people forget they need rails to hold their servers in place!
– Power and Network Cables: Make sure you bring enough cabling so you can set up your server properly! Again, you’d be surprised at how many IT companies won’t bring any/enough!
– If your missing something let us know, preferably beforehand and we will do our best to find what you need.
10 – IP Addresses:
With our Colocation we allocate your IP Addresses beforehand, so you can start to configure your servers before you get here. This means you can show up on your moving in day with a working server. If you need helping configuring your server, let us know and we’ll be happy to help!
11 – Dual Power:
If your server has dual power, most quality servers do, you can order a second socket. Our Colocation has the option with ‘dual power’. Our full racks all come with A/B power which means your server will be powered by multiple sources. All Colo power is protected by UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply), which offers more reliability and uptime should the main power be lost and if that happens, we have backup generators too.
Any Questions?
If you have any questions about Colo then you give us a shout here.
To find out more about our Colocation, click here.
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