Data Center Colocation: Is it Right for your Private Cloud?
September 28, 2018When it comes to the choice of a business utilizing data center colocation, public cloud and/or private cloud, coming to a decision can be fairly complex. While most businesses should start with an understanding of how cloud and colocation fit together, the choices can all be brought down to a manageable scale when viewed through the lens of specific needs. For many enterprises and SMBs that will include decisions surrounding whether data center colocation for private cloud use is the right choice.
Today, more businesses are looking to keep their cloud services and private cloud under the same data center roof. A recent 451 Research found that 82 percent of IT leaders polled favor having their cloud services located in the same facility as their collocated infrastructure.
As enterprises increasingly seek to reduce their on-premise data center footprint and its associated costs, this scenario of colocation and private cloud is increasingly attractive. This doesn’t change the fact that the combination can bring a lower Capex must be weighed against the reality of business investment in servers and associated hardware that are at the heart of private clouds.
A colocation data center for private cloud becomes more attractive when the data center provider has closer physical proximity to the business. Another consideration is that close collocation proximity can provide a fully equipped disaster recovery site. Since many enterprises seek private clouds for greater data control due to data security and regulatory compliance among other reasons, a colocation data center with proximity can enable company IT staff supervision.
Efficiency and cost control are always issues for enterprises and SMBs, so the combination of data center colocation and private cloud can be a good pairing. Businesses can gain greater cost and utilization optimization through virtualization and orchestration technologies like OpenStack or Kubernetes for containerized applications.
Another consideration is that leading data center colocation providers can deliver a balance of security, performance, cost control, and flexibility for private cloud users. They also have the means to accommodate the greater networking and power infrastructure demands that private cloud users can put on the provider’s data centers.
As businesses take advantage of the benefits of hybrid cloud strategies, a colocation data center and private cloud can play a crucial role. In this scenario, private and public clouds can deliver the same types of virtualization and orchestration technology for on-demand server deployment, fast server scaling, and infrastructure automation. These businesses still remain in control since only their code and data on their own physical servers will touch their private cloud.
Data center colocation providers can give private cloud users the necessary control over Colocation load balancing, spinning up virtual environments on the fly, and usage surges that can come from both public and private cloud scenarios. They also offer the connectivity, neutrality and IT service management options that businesses require.
In the bigger picture, the question of whether data center colocation is right for any particular business’ private cloud needs can be a moot point. That’s because the available options and compatibility of the two working together can deliver the flexibility, cost-effectiveness, reliability and control that any business seeks in almost any scenario. What it will come down to is choosing the right colocation provider that can deliver on all of these options and necessities.