Managed Hosting Vs Colocation - What's The Difference?

When you start thinking about hosting services, one of the biggest questions you will face is whether you should go with a managed hosting service or a colocation option. Both configurations have their pros and cons, and both may work well for you, given your individual needs and level of experience in the area. But what is the real difference between these two options? More importantly, how will either of these choices fit your needs?

What is Managed Hosting?

In the simplest of terms, managed hosting is a situation where somebody else other than the end user takes control of the website and services. Most commonly, this is done by signing up for a free website through a service like WordPress or by purchasing a domain and paying a regular fee for special services provided. Using this option, an individual or a business doesn't need to worry about details such as server management and hardware configurations because that is all handled by the service provider. However, it also means that the user has no control over the services provided. Outages or periods of downtime might interfere with your plans, especially if you rely on frequent web updates.

What is Colocation?

Colocation means that you have your own hardware and software on site and that you manage your web services yourself. This requires a larger initial investment, since you have to buy all the equipment you need beforehand. It also means that you need to keep at least one IT specialist on site so you can react quickly to technical difficulties and perform server maintenance as needed. Using this option, you effectively set up a data center for your business and manage everything on-site. This does require a greater financial and personnel investment, but it also makes it easier to customize the server to fit your needs and keep things running according to your schedule rather than someone else's.

Making a Decision

So which option will work better for you? Do you ask somebody else to manage your hosting services or do you take the task on yourself? The answer will probably depend on the scope of the services you need and the amount of help you can afford to have on hand. Most large businesses prefer to have control over their own equipment, and it is probably the best option for those who can afford it. However, you need to do a little bit of a cost versus benefit analysis on the subject. Some things you should consider when making this decision are how much you rely on your online presence, what your plans are should an outage or loss of information occur, and what your long-term expansion plans are.

Using the information above, you should have a good idea as to whether using a managed plan or a colocation option will be best for you. This is a decision that will affect the trajectory of your business for a long time to come, so you need to think carefully and make sure you make the right move.