Co-location - A Viable Solution for Serious Webmasters

When most people make a big investment, for example the purchase of a house, car, or shares of stock, they typically don`t keep important documents sitting in a file cabinet in their home or office. Instead, to give themselves added peace of mind, most people entrust these documents to the safety and security of a safety deposit box. So why should an investment in expensive server equipment be any different? The web hosting equivelent of a safety deposit box, Co-location programs are the premier way for you to protect your web site`s equipment, and allow you to rest assured knowing that your investment is in secure hands.

Co-location programs are an excellent way for webmasters to protect their investment, and are essentially luxury accomodations for your hosting equipment. With Co-location, you provide the equipment, and are responsible for maintaining and upgrading it, and the provider offers a safe, secure, storage facility.

What are the Advantages of Co-location?
Co-location programs offer webmasters a number of advantages over Virtual Hosting programs, in that they offer an unparalleled level of control. Because you are the owner of all equipment, you have the ability to upgrade and update your server whenever you desire. As a result, you have direct control over the availability and speed of your site, and are ultimately responsible for the success or failure of your online business. In addition, Co-location also ensures that your equipment is safe and secure, as most providers offer temperature controlled rooms, fire-safety equipment, fast internet connections, 24 hour security, UPS backup, exceptional bandwidth, and specially designed server rooms. In addition, some providers also offer a realtime web page where you can view the temperature, status and even images of the person opening your server cabinet!

What are the Disadvantages of Co-location?
With the various competitive advantages of Co-location, you might think it`s a wonder that more people don`t choose Co-location over Virtual Hosting. Think again. In addition to its numerous advantages, Co-location possesses one significant disadvantage that puts it clear out of the reach of many webmasters: a hefty price tag. It`s not that Co-location programs are necessarily expensive themselves, but rather that subscribers to Co-location programs must be able to put up the capital needed to purchase expensive server equipment. In addition, Co-location also requires that you provide someone to act as a web server administrator, which is another added expense.

When one considers the various advantages and disadvantages of Co-location programs, it should become apparent that Co-location programs are ideal only for the most serious webmasters. Although Co-location requires a high initial investment, this investment will decrease over time, and the equipment you purchase with that initial investment will ensure your site the maximum performance possible, making your investment well worthwhile.