Web Hosting Reviews & Ratings

February 10, 2011

Deciding Between Colocation and Dedicated Hosting

Colocation and dedicated web hosting are two of the most expensive hosting types currently available in the industry, and each one is capable of accommodating the needs of a different type of webmaster or online business owner. Dedicated web hosting gives the webmaster the ability to lease a private dedicated server that is used exclusively to meet the demands of their websites. Colocation web hosting gives web server owners the ability to store their web server in a secure, state-of-the-art facility that is monitored by surveillance 24 hours a day.

In essence, a dedicated hosting plan is a service that lets you lease a powerful web server, while a colocation hosting plan is a service that lets you store your web server in a safe and ideal location. The following information should help you decide between a  colocation and dedicated hosting plan.

Budget and Current Assets

If you're on a budget, as most business owners are, then a dedicated hosting plan will most likely be a more suitable solution, unless you already own a private web server. A private server can cost anywhere from $1000 to $6000 or more depending on the brand, capabilities of the server (including random access memory), and the distributor. Although the Linux operating system is an open source software that can be installed for free, business owners that have the need to utilize Windows will also have to pay to install the Windows Server operating system, which will add another $500-$1000 to the total expense. However, if you already own a web server, then it wouldn't make much sense to lease another one, and it may therefore be more ideal to pay for a colocation web hosting plan.

Web Hosting Expertise and Experience

The majority of colocation web hosting plans do not include sufficient technical support, unless you purchase a more comprehensive plan. If you do not have experience in maintaining your own web server, especially from a remote location, then you may want to consider the benefits of a dedicated hosting plan. With a managed dedicated web hosting plan you never have to worry about performing daily administrative tasks to keep your web server functioning optimally. Dedicated hosting is therefore the ideal solution for webmasters that do not have the time or expertise to manage their own private server remotely while it is stored at a colocation facility.

Web Hosting Needs

Surprisingly, a dedicated server hosted by a conventional web hosting provider is just as powerful as a private dedicated server being stored at a colocation facility. Thus, when deciding which type of hosting plan would be best for your website performance and web hosting needs, it is more important to select a suitable web server, rather than focusing on selecting a specific colocation or dedicated hosting provider. Dedicated web hosting provides the advantage of being able to upgrade at any time to a more powerful web server, while colocation hosting only allows you to utilize the web server that you own, and is therefore not ideal for webmasters that may need to upgrade in the foreseeable future.

Tags: colocation,  colocation web hosting,  dedicated web hosting,  private dedicated server,  technical support