Colocation or Dedicated Servers – What is Best for my Business?

Ever tried to decide between Colocation Servers and Dedicated Servers and wondered what the differences are that can make the Colocation option preferable or not? The information below will make your decision more informed and easier.  Of course, every decision depends on your particular situation and current needs. That being said, by the end of this blog you will have the proper knowledge to make the correct decision for yourself.

What is a Colocation Server?

A colocation server is a server that you build and customize or order pre-built from the manufacturer or Hosting Company. You can have it tailor-made to your business needs or you can use an off-the-shelf model. This depends on the level of technical competency you or your IT staff has with respect to the design and build of your project’s server(s). A colocated server is operated from a data center where security is much greater and power and bandwidth is easily tapped into and always available. The Colocation Host will see that the colocation server has internet access, cooling, and electricity. You will pay a colocation fee on a monthly basis. Often these fees are greater or higher depending on the data center where the colocation is desired. Such things as electricity cost, bandwidth selection, redundant power or emergency power provisions, privacy and security certifications, location, and service all go into the price you will be charged in your monthly colocation fee.

What is a Dedicated Server?

A dedicated server is leased from a hosting provider such as Limestone Networks, Inc. The dedicated server will be located either within whatever data center you select, or whatever data center is available. Sometimes there is a setup fee but the fee is typically negotiable if you agree to a long-term contract or are deploying in bulk.  Dedicated servers usually come with some items pre-installed, and there can be a spectrum of support available depending on how much the business is willing to pay. Some dedicated servers will come with no support, and other dedicated servers can be configured with support upgrades like proactive management or troubleshooting. You can even find hosting companies that specialize in managed services. There are numerous hosts that offer dedicated servers, and it’s important to find a host with good up-time and a responsive support staff. Take a look at this great offer for dedicated servers. 

What should I consider when deciding between these solutions?

A colocated server is all yours. Like a house or car, once you buy it the expenses of running, maintaining, improving, and managing it are your responsibility. While a colocated server allows you more control over the actual hardware you must be able to manage it on your own.  This could be more expensive on a monthly basis, at least in the short term, than leasing a dedicated server from a hosting company. You can completely manage a colocated server, but that will require a local technician to work on it directly for you, or you will need to pay the colocation host a remote hands fee to repair, diagnose, replace, or troubleshoot any problems you have with your equipment. This means that colocated servers are best suited towards businesses that require advanced technology and that have the budget for IT staff or remote hands. Look for hosts that provide both month to month servers and colocation. Check to see if they will also finance hardware. They may be willing to build to your specifications and provide overall financing for the same term as your colocation contract.

A dedicated server belongs to the hosting company provider, not you, so if a hardware part fails you just open a ticket and they will fix it or replace it at their expense, typically within a short hardware SLA guarantee. Colocation servers belong to you and you are responsible for troubleshooting hardware issues and handling that on your own or by hiring someone, usually the colocation host provider, to resolve your hardware or software problem. If you start with updated equipment and infrastructure you can still rely upon your manufacturer’s warranty. Consider a colocation provider who will provide proactive management and monitor your hardware periodically.  A dedicated server is an excellent choice for businesses that do not require highly technical specifications or do not have the staff or expertise to manage the server(s). Dedicated servers may have higher monthly fees but will have lower upfront costs.

Are There Any Other Options?

Many businesses are moving towards cloud-based computing. Cloud-based computing can take a little time to adjust to and may require additional training. In the long run, it could prove more useful, efficient, and cost-effective than other options. Cloud-based technology has similar benefits to colocated and dedicated servers by allowing connectivity on a global scale, but rather than being a single server it connects to a network of advanced servers that are owned by the company providing the network.

Understanding your options and your particular needs and how those go hand in hand is where you start. Weighing the possibilities of each against your time, experience, and particular business needs and circumstances can be confusing so do not hesitate to contact a hosting provider with specific questions regarding their service and hardware selection options. 

Private vs Public Cloud

(Written by Keren Gosdin)

The simplest way to begin this debate is to first explain what a public cloud is. In its simplest form, a public cloud is an infrastructure built using shared computing resources that can provide service to multiple clients rather than being utilized by a single entity with sole access to the cloud. The data is stored in a data center offered by a provider who is also responsible for the up keeping and management of your cloud and the data center itself. Companies that are looking for quality cloud management at an affordable price should consider using a public cloud in order to have lower costs while maintaining peace of mind knowing their data is secure and properly hosted. Other key features that public cloud offers include the pay-per-use model along with quick access to resources otherwise difficult to obtain. Having a company managing your public cloud allows businesses to focus on company growth without having to worry about their data.

A private cloud on the other hand, typically resides within a company’s intranet or data center. This option can become pricey, as it requires the individual company to maintain it, replace servers as needed, and manage any issues that may arise. Technology is ever changing, and with these changes come upgrades, new software, and new infrastructure. The downfall of owning a private cloud comes with having to come up with funds to upgrade to these changes each and every year so as to not become obsolete. For clients looking for dedicated resources, Limestone Networks offers dedicated hardware on their d1 class instances in addition to bare-metal servers that will never be shared with another customer. Clients looking to keep their resources to themselves can trust Limestone Networks will have a solution.

Cost wary businesses recognize that they may not always have the funds to stay on top of these changes and instead turn to solutions like Limestone Networks’ public cloud, OnePortal Rapid. Trust your data to a company that has built their cloud using the latest open source technology to provide a swift, feature rich, highly available platform.

Several other key features include:

Flexible Billing:
Scale up or down as needed. Down to the minute, consumption only, utility-style billing model for OnePortal Rapid starting at $0.02 per hour.

Network Protection:
All instances come standard with security group firewalls. Any instance can be built with DDoS protection.

Solid Network:
Fast, low latency 100Gbps+ network connects our hypervisors to the Internet and private network over IPv4 and IPv6.

Limestone Networks is committed to offering its clients quality service and strives to continually roll out new features to OnePortal Rapid in order to ensure its clients are continually using state of the art technology without having to compromise price for quality. As more and more new features and changes roll out, it’s no wonder more businesses continue to turn to public cloud for their hosted services.

Looking for a public cloud solution? Ask for a test drive of OnePortal Rapid in live chat.

Photo by Jorg.

Bare-Metal Backup

Bare-Metal Backup provides safe, secure and scalable data protection, bare-metal recovery, and on-site and cloud backup of any data, anywhere, anytime. It is a fully managed service – we will take care of your data protection and you focus on primary business tasks!

Powered by the Acronis AnyData Engine, Bare-Metal Backup backs up disks, partitions, and files to our storage in a secure data center and allows to quickly recover selected files, folders, applications, or an entire system.

With unified Bare-Metal Backup, you get the dual protection you need in the event of a disaster. The Acronis AnyData Engine backs up to local storage on your premises for quick restore and to secure Acronis Cloud for recovery in the event of a disaster.

Why do you need Bare-Metal Backup powered by Acronis?

• To protect your data in the event any disaster
• To quickly and easily implement a hybrid protection strategy
• To replace tape and other legacy backup solutions

Why businesses choose LSN’s Bare-Metal Backup?

• Protect Windows, Linux, VMware, Hyper-V, and PCs.
• Hybrid Protection: 3 locations, 2 types of media, 1 offsite.
• Easy to manage backup service for small IT department.

Why businesses choose Bare-Metal Backup powered by Acronis?

• Backup admins trust LSN’s proven bare-metal recovery
• IT Managers value multi-platform data protection
• CIOs trust Acronis’ brand, proven track record, and expertise

Key Features

• Physical and virtual systems – protection of both physical and virtual systems in one service
• File and disk image-based backup – backup of selected files or complete disk images
• Bare-metal recovery – recovery to same or dissimilar hardware, even from the cloud
• Local and cloud storage – support of local and safe cloud storage in our secure data center
• Initial seeding to easily move large volumes of data to the cloud:
  1. Backup to an external HDD
  2. Courier it to Limestone Networks data center or direct to the Acronis data center
• Multi-level security – AES-256 encryption, password protection and SSL
• Acronis’ secure software-defined storage data center are equipped with all latest disaster prevention technologies, and are SSAE 16 certified

Supported Platforms

Please visit one of our live chat representatives to take advantage of this important service.

Scaling the eCommerce Mountain Without a Harness

You want your website to attract more traffic, because more traffic equals more conversions, right? But what kind of experience will new visitors receive with high traffic volumes? Scalability is key when considering the future of your organization. If you aren’t prepared to handle the surge of new visitors your marketing campaign brings, your competitors will accept them with open arms.

Problem

Cramming your website onto a crowded hosting server is like inviting the entire community to your restaurant’s grand opening but only having three tables to seat them at. As the word-of-mouth spreads, it is not unusual for great concepts to experience rapid spikes in website traffic.

Each company is unique and has different needs. Traditional shared hosts often only offer one operating system and supply all users with identical light-version control panels, limiting program and application compatibility and forcing your company to conform to the one-size-fits-all configuration provided.

Solution 

Unlike traditional shared hosting, the cloud delivers instant scalability and added redundancy in the event of hardware failure. Your bandwidth, memory, and disk space can be adjusted any time as your business needs change. This ensures that no customer is denied the high quality experience you intend to give them, even as traffic spikes, converting would-be customers into customers.

Because cloud servers use special software platforms across multiple dedicated servers, configurations are fully customizable. This will allow you to utilize solutions tailored specifically to your company’s vision and goals. Your site’s optimized layout and functionality will lead to increased conversions and cultivate your company’s growth.

About the Author
Scott studied Marketing at the University of Texas at Dallas and is now an Account Executive with Limestone Networks. He helps organizations achieve alignment between their business strategy and infrastructure by offering customized, scalable network solutions. Outside of the office, Scott can be found exploring the great outdoors or enjoying a cold one while watching the game.

Say hello:
s.claeys@limestonenetworks.com

Load-Time and the Art of Infrastructure Selection

According to a 2012 study by Brand Perfect, 51% of US shoppers say they would abandon an online purchase if the site loaded slowly. Radware’s 2013 study found only a 2 second delay in page load times led to abandonment rates of up to 87%. Studies by Akamai.com go on to indicate that 47% of consumers expect a web page to load in 2 seconds or less, 40% will abandon a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load, and 44% will tell their friends about unfavorable web experiences. Load-time, along with IP quality, also affects search engine rankings.

Today, slow load-times simply aren’t tolerated. It doesn’t matter how great your product or service is if no one is looking at it by the time your page gets around to loading.

Problem

With traditional web hosting, your site is hosted on a dedicated server with specific memory and bandwidth limits, but you’re not alone. Numerous other sites are operated on the same server, each vying for their piece of the pie. The media-heavy sites and sites experiencing higher-than-normal website traffic on your server will use larger chunks of the available bandwidth and disk space, leaving your site with access to less. This can give your potential customers a headache in the form of inconsistent performance.

Accomplishing faster page load times on an overcrowded server commonly means stripping page content, leaving your company to be represented by a forgettable skeleton of the original experience you intended your website would provide.

Solution

With a dedicated server, you are entitled to the entire bandwidth and disk space. Your pages will be delivered rapidly to your customers, without being impacted by other sites. The full bandwidth and disk space supported by a dedicated server also allow your company to stand out with engaging, content-rich pages, designed to optimize every web interaction. Dedicated servers do cost more than hosting plans, but site abandonment means fewer conversions. So, then, which actually costs more?

About the Author
Scott studied Marketing at the University of Texas at Dallas and is now an Account Executive with Limestone Networks. He helps organizations achieve alignment between their business strategy and infrastructure by offering customized, scalable network solutions. Outside of the office, Scott can be found exploring the great outdoors or enjoying a cold one while watching the game.

Say hello:
s.claeys@limestonenetworks.com