What is colo and how is it useful for business enterprises? Colo is a short form for colocation center. It can also be called as a carrier hotel. Colo is nothing but a data center where space to store data, the equipment required for it, the additional system accessories such as the telecommunication systems, the security systems, servers, etc. are available for lease to the business enterprises.
Most of the colo centers provide services to all kinds of business enterprises irrespective of the size of the establishment and the turnover of the businesses. The businesses can choose how much of storage space, bandwidth, the power they will need to store and access their data. The day to day management of the colo centers is handled by the data center companies. They ensure that they have an adequate security system to keep the data safe.
For a business enterprise, selecting the best colo server would mean that the cost of leasing space is much less than the cost of creating an infrastructure for the data centers on their own, along with a subsequent reduction in risk from natural disasters, protection for their investment, sustainability of data and services, and access to advanced innovation in the industry.
The building of a data center is unique in design. It is structured to include the cooling systems on the top, fire protection systems throughout the building, smoke detection equipment, non-inflammable walls, and strong doors. Air conditioning systems are extensively used to maintain the temperatures at an optimum level for the data centers to run efficiently without any trouble. The buildings are usually located in areas that are not prone to natural calamities and are away from any kind of toxic release from other industries.
The best colo server providers are ones who manufacture most of their data centers and use 100% renewable energy resources. They make sure that the data center is not causing additional harm to the environment. They also invest in research and development and are constantly trying to find advanced facility standards to help offer their clients the best of services at a lesser price than that of the market.
The interior of a data center is divided into,
Cabinets
A locking unit that holds the servers in which data is stored. The data could belong to more than one enterprise. The power and cooling systems are shared among the enterprises.
Cages
A dedicated server space with mesh walls. Once can enter inside after unlocking the door. It shares the power and cooling systems with other tenants.
Suites
These are private spaces in the data centers which enterprises can hire. Only the data belonging to a particular enterprise will be stored in the servers from the suites. They may or may not share the power and cooling resources with other tenants.
Modules
These are standardized compartments that can be added, integrated, removed to and from the data centers depending on the usage of the servers and client requirements.
Many of the data centers follow the module system of infrastructure to secure the data for the clients and simultaneously allowing them to pay only for space and resources they use.
One of the best colo server providers in the market has come up with an advanced and innovative facilities standard named as the 21508719Tier 5 Platinum. Tier 5 is seen to be flexible than Tier 4 standard and focuses on the physical security aspect of the data center and the use of renewable energy resources.
They have a seven-layer security system with continuous surveillance and restricted access. Each of the cages and racks with servers can be individually secured. The access to the critical network systems and networks can be secured. The security team conducts regular threat assessments and constantly upgrades the security system.
Selecting a colocation center is always cost-effective compared to building one from scratch. It saves the enterprises time, money, and personnel they need to invest to maintain their own data centers. This helps the enterprises focus on the core aspects of their business while the data centers handle the safekeeping of data.
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