Colocation

The Benefits of UK Single Server Colocation

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Single-server colocation, putting your own server hardware in a data centre cabinet rented by the U, sits in a useful middle ground between full-rack colocation and managed cloud hosting. For the right workload it is the most cost-effective and predictable option you have. Here are the practical benefits.

1. You own the hardware

Cloud hosting bills you forever for compute you use. Colocation bills you for space, power and network only. After 18 to 24 months of cloud spend you have usually paid for an equivalent server outright, but in colocation you still own it. For long-lived workloads this is dramatically cheaper over a typical four to five year hardware lifecycle.

2. Predictable monthly cost

One server, one slot, one monthly invoice. No autoscaling bills, no surprise egress charges, no per-IOPS storage costs. Our Single Server Colocation starts at £52.50 per month with A+B power redundancy and a sensible bandwidth allowance included.

3. Full control of the stack

Your hardware, your operating system, your hypervisor (if any), your application. No multi-tenant noisy neighbour. No cloud provider’s idea of how your workload should be scheduled. If you need to install a specific Linux kernel or run an older Windows Server build for a vendor compliance reason, you can.

4. UK data sovereignty

Your data lives in our ISO 27001 Sheffield data centre. UK-resident, UK-managed by our own engineering team, no AWS region puzzles, no overseas hops. For GDPR, ICO compliance, and any sector with data residency requirements (finance, healthcare, public sector), this matters and can be evidenced.

5. Real physical security

24/7 access by prior arrangement, photo ID at reception, visitor log, internal CCTV, locked cabinets. ISO 27001 certified facility with annual audits. Worth knowing what you are getting for the security spend.

6. Tier 1 network

Multiple Tier 1 carriers, BGP peering, low latency to UK ISPs. Standard ports unmetered with no 95th-percentile billing tricks. Add cross-connects to other carriers if you have specific peering needs.

7. Remote hands when you need it

Most issues do not need you physically on-site. Our engineers can swap a drive, power-cycle a server, check a cable or attach a crash cart console under remote hands. The first 30 minutes per month are typically included in single-server contracts; further work is billed in 15-minute increments.

8. Room to grow

Start at 1U, expand to 2U or 4U as needed, then move to a Quarter Rack when you need three servers or more. The same data centre, same network, same engineering team. No platform migration needed when you scale up.

9. Hardware refresh is on your timeline

Cloud forces you onto whatever generation the provider has deployed. With your own hardware you refresh on a schedule that suits your tax treatment and your application lifecycle. Three-year-old kit you still trust can keep paying for itself in colocation, where in the cloud the equivalent instance type would have been deprecated and re-priced multiple times.

Where it does not fit

Single-server colocation is not the right answer if your workload is bursty (cloud auto-scaling earns its premium for spiky traffic) or if you do not want to own and operate hardware at all (use our Virtual Servers instead). For everything in between, especially long-lived production workloads with predictable resource needs, single-server colocation is hard to beat on price.

Pricing summary

From £52.50 per month for 1U, our Single Server Colocation in our UK Sheffield data centre. No setup fees, monthly contracts. Free remote hands on the first 30 minutes per month per contract. Talk to us about your hardware spec and we will size and quote the same working day.

11 Things to Know About Server Colocation in the UK

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Server colocation looks simple on paper: rent a slot in a data centre, install your server, plug in power and network, done. In practice, there are a handful of things that catch new colocation customers out. Here are eleven things to know before you sign a contract.

1. What you actually get

Space (1U through to a full 45U rack), power (typically two redundant A+B feeds), cooling, IP transit, physical security and 24/7 site access. Your hardware, your operating system, and your applications stay your responsibility.

2. Power is sized in kilowatts, not amps

Modern servers draw more power than they used to. A common mistake is sizing colocation by rack units when the kW envelope is the real ceiling. Ask your provider how many kW you can draw per cabinet, not just how many U you have. We size quarter, half and full rack plans by both.

3. A+B power redundancy is standard, not optional

Two independent power feeds per cabinet, each backed by UPS and generator. If your server only has one PSU, you are wasting half the resilience you are paying for. Dual PSU server hardware is cheap insurance.

4. Network bandwidth is usually included, but with caveats

Most UK colocation plans include a 100 Mbit or 1 Gbit port with a sensible monthly traffic allowance. Check whether the allowance is fair-use, 95th-percentile billed, or a hard cap. Ours is unmetered on standard ports with no surprise bills.

5. Cooling is hot aisle / cold aisle, not just AC

Modern data centres use hot/cold aisle containment to keep server intakes at a stable temperature. You may be asked to install blanking panels in unused U so airflow stays correct. Worth checking before you ship hardware.

6. Physical security is layered

Reception with photo ID, mantrap, biometric or key card access, internal CCTV, locked cages. For ISO 27001 compliance, all of this matters and you should ask to see the auditor’s report.

7. 24/7 access exists, but is by appointment

You can visit your hardware day or night, but you book the slot in advance so the on-site team is expecting you. Walking in unannounced is not a thing. Bring photo ID, sign the visitor log.

8. Remote hands is the unsung hero

Most colocation contracts include 15 to 30 minutes of remote hands per month. Use it for power-cycling a stuck server, swapping a hot-spare drive, checking a cable, reading a console message. Anything beyond the included allowance is billed per 15 minutes.

9. IP allocation is small and justified

RIPE policy means IPv4 allocations are tight. Plan to use one or two public IPv4s per server, ideally with proper IPv6 dual-stack on top, not a /29 just because you asked. Justification on the order form is normal and required.

10. ISO 27001 matters more than ever

If your customers ask where their data lives, ISO 27001 certification on the facility is the answer they want. UK-based, audited yearly, evidence of physical, network and personnel security controls. Worth paying a little more for.

11. Pricing is monthly, with a few add-ons

Most reputable UK providers price colocation as a flat monthly fee per cabinet size, with extras for extra power, extra IPs, cross-connects or significant remote hands work. Avoid anything with a setup fee on basic plans, or anything that locks you in for years.

Where to start

If you are sizing your first colocation, look at our Single Server Colocation (1U to 4U) for compact deployments, or Quarter Rack Colocation from £162.50 per month if you have 5U or more. Both run from our UK Sheffield ISO 27001 data centre, with the 24/7 access, A+B power, remote hands and Tier 1 network described above.