Factors That Impact Your UK Colocation Pricing & How to Control Them
If you are considering colocation servers, UK colocation pricing could be one of your top search phrases on Google. This post from Grid Hosting will cover various aspects related to the pricing of Colocation servers.
UK Colocation Pricing: Contributing Factors
The trend is hot these days. Regular maintenance and monitoring of hardware equipment are time-consuming. You must house it in a reliably regulated, temperature-controlled facility that is secure and relatively accessible simultaneously.
So colocation servers make the best alternative. You rent space for your servers in a data centre specifically designed to keep computer equipment operating in an optimal environment.
But how much does that cost you? Let’s examine some factors that separate cheap colocation UK from expensive colocation UK.
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Rackspace:
Data centres are equipped with racks that hold servers and other IT equipment. We refer to the physical amount of space that your server takes on the rack as Rackspace.
So the price of 1u colocation UK will be half or at least less than 2u colocation UK. U stands for the unit here.
There are 36 units in one rack, typically. So full rack colocation prices will be many times more than 1u or 2u.
1u is 1.75 inches in height, and 2u is 3.5 inches in height. Thus, the full-size rack is 42u high. Its width ranges from 19 to 23 inches.
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Setup:
You have to pay an initial setup fee in the early stages. Hereafter, the equipment has to be physically moved to the data centre. It is time-consuming. The internal team at the data centre has to perform their duty.
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Internet:
An internet-based VPN connection lets you access your equipment at the data centre from your office. Distance is a crucial factor.
The more the distance between two locations, the more bandwidth you require to allow the software to operate at high speed. Sometimes, your current ISP does not service the data centre. As a result, you will need to buy a dedicated IP address.
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Support:
There are high chances you may have to send some of your staff to data centres for maintenance and monitoring. That will increase the costs further.
How to Control UK Colocation Pricing
Let us tell you two tips that can help you reduce colocation pricing to a minimum.
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Choose a Smaller Data Center
They will charge less. You will enjoy the perks of working with a smaller company. For example, you get more customized customer service. It is because they have a smaller staff, and you get to know everyone personally.
In addition, smaller businesses pay exclusive attention to every individual client. Large companies never do that.
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Pick a Data Center from Suburbs
They are cost-effective as compared to those in a downtown core. The reason is costly real estate in metropolitan cities. Moreover, visit your colocation provider in a downtown location, and you will be paying hefty parking fees. Even finding the parking will be problematic.
On the flip side of the coin, the data centres in the suburbs have lots of free parking.
Prices In Major Cities
Atlanta is the server colocation heaven. The city offers reliable connectivity, abundant power, a low risk of natural disasters, excellent transportation, and many expansion opportunities.
Normally, data centres charge a monthly fee for their colocation hosting. That includes a set amount of bandwidth and IP addresses. The average monthly cost is between $45 to $300 per unit per month.
You may find colocation London prices as high as $700 monthly. Also, they could be as low as $60 per month. Equinix colocation pricing is $515 per month. At times, it could be more expensive than UK colocation pricing. Equinix is a renowned data centre in Germany.
Types of Server Colocation
- Single server colocation– As the name suggests, you have one server
- Partial racks – The servers take up 1/4, 1/2, or other portions of a rack
- Full racks – You rent a full rack
- Private cage – In this case, you rent more than one rack in your own cage
- We always collocate the dedicated servers. That is why sometimes the term ‘dedicated server colocation’ is also used to refer to server colocation.
- Custom suits for bigger companies with larger space requirements.
How to Find Hidden Fees of Colocation
You can compare different packages effectively if you know how to look for hidden fees in any UK colocation pricing. For example, there is a fair chance that you buy looking at the price tag of $800 monthly and end up paying $1500 every month.
Focus on these points to figure out hidden costs.
Bandwidth – Often, companies do not include bandwidth costs in the total price you get to see.
Cross Connection – This is the link to the network provider for your internet connection. Chances are, you will have to pay a one-time setup fee for this connection and then a monthly fee on top of that.
Technical Support – Another chance is you have to pay for a minimum amount of monthly “remote hands” support whether you want or need it to qualify for the special price.
Power Distribution Unit – Things change depending on whether you have to buy your own or lease a power distribution unit from your provider. You have to pay on average about $50 extra per month if you are leasing one.
How to Negotiate
- Divide your discussion into parts. Then, discuss each section separately. Fighting one big war will not get you results.
- Take some time to research what others are charging and then ask for a bargain if they are charging more. If they do not have a fair justification, do not buy.
- Do not get caught up in little unnecessary details.
- Make sure that they know you are on a tight deadline and you are also consulting other providers. This way, you get a quote quickly.
Putting It All Together
To find out facts about UK colocation pricing from the internet is challenging due to the complexity of the subject. However, we hope that this article from Grid Hosting made this task much easier for you than before.
Do you want to know more about the subject? Feel free to drop your message. Our team will get back to you in a short time.
