When we talk about the benefits of colocation, cost savings, uptime, and availability are often the go-to topics discussed. As cloud applications and hybrid IT gain in popularity, colocation data centers are proving valuable as hubs for connecting enterprises (and smaller businesses) to a host of services beyond just power, pipe, and ping. A recent NetworkWorld article explores the colocation data center as a communication hub, bringing dozens of carriers along with connection to hyperscalers at lower cost and greater speeds than on-premise solutions – a scenario that we’re seeing time and again with our clients as they exploit the value of these facilities. This value really cannot be overstated for any organization who is not 100% in the cloud.
You Can’t Build Carrier Neutrality
When considering the age old question of build versus buy, the cloud becomes a major consideration – even for physical hosting. For most businesses, an on-premise solution can be supported by only a handful of carriers at best, which can inflate pricing and latency to the hyperscale providers. Colocation data centers typically have access to dozens of carriers and, as this article points out, direct connectivity to the public cloud and other network services that are difficult – if not completely impossible – to procure on-premise. In our data centers, connection to providers such as Megaport offer a wealth of options for our clients to access AWS, Azure, and the like – often at a significant reduction in expense and significant improvement in performance when compared to traditional routes.
Optimizing Hybrid IT
Hybrid IT environments allow you to leverage the strengths of cloud, colo, and on-premise hosting to suit your organization’s unique needs. Treating the colocation data center as the communication hub for your infrastructure, as this author suggests, ensures that performance is optimized and latency is kept to a minimum. You can still connect your on-premise legacy gear, but that shouldn’t be the core of your IT environment. Further, by deploying SD-WAN, you ensure that critical applications get priority and user experience is maintained. That makes everyone’s job much easier.
