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colocating

Colocating, in information technology, refers to placing an organization’s hardware in a third‑party facility rather than on premises. The term is associated with colocation services, in which a company rents space, power, cooling, and network connectivity for its servers and storage in a data center operated by a provider. The organization retains ownership of its equipment and is responsible for its software and security, while the provider supplies the physical infrastructure and basic management services.

Colocation facilities offer features such as raised floors, redundant power and cooling, carrier‑grade networks, physical security,

Benefits of colocating include predictable operating expenses, the avoidance of capital expenditure on facilities, scalable space

Risks and considerations include limited control over the data center environment, ongoing facility fees, dependence on

See also: Colocation, Data center, Hosting, Hybrid cloud.

and
monitoring.
Customers
install
and
maintain
their
own
servers,
storage,
and
networking
gear,
and
connect
to
the
provider’s
infrastructure.
Service
levels
cover
uptime,
power
availability,
and
access
to
on‑site
technicians
under
defined
terms.
and
power,
improved
network
performance
through
proximity
to
carriers,
and
enhanced
disaster
recovery
options.
It
is
commonly
used
by
enterprises
seeking
control
over
hardware
while
gaining
data‑center
economies
of
scale,
or
by
organizations
needing
compliance
with
data‑residency
requirements.
the
provider’s
reliability,
and
potential
latency
if
the
primary
data
path
is
not
optimized.
Due
diligence
should
cover
security,
SLAs,
data
sovereignty,
uptime
history,
and
total
cost
of
ownership.