To the average person, colocation isn’t an everyday term used when discussing web hosting. It may be familiar to some, but considered a grey area to many.
Colocation is effectively moving a web server or a number of hosting servers into a data centre environment. The hosting company would usually provide the connectivity, power and space. The data centre infrastructure provides redundancy, security, and reassurance to the company and is therefore a popular web hosting solution.
Whilst considering and discussing colocation, you may hear various terms and phrases you don’t understand.
Not to worry… read on and be prepared for the technical colocation jargon…
1U
1U is the minimum size for a rack-mounted server; the size refers to the height of the server. Different specifications and brands of servers come in different sizes.
UPS
UPS stands for uninterrupted power supplies; backup power is essential in a data centre environment to ensure your co-located servers are not affected in the event of a power outage.
FM200
Fire suppression system used in a data centre environment. The waterless system is capable of extinguishing a fire in less than 10 seconds.
Cluster
A server cluster consists of multiple servers operating a single task. Different server cluster setups are common in complex hosting setups.
Full rack/half rack
A rack is the container for multiple servers and devices, a full rack can hold up to 42U.
BGP
BGP is routing technique; it is often used in a data centre environment to switch connectivity across multiple Internet providers to create an effective fail-over system.
NIC
Network Interface card is a hardware device common in most servers, its required to connect your servers to the network to serve as a web server.
CAT 5
The common type of cable used when connecting standard devices or servers.
VPN
Virtual private network is a revolutionary way of using the Internet to connect devices containing sensitive data using encryption techniques.
SAN/NAS
Two similar types of storage devices often used as a central storage point in complex hosting setups. Transfers speeds are usually one advantage of using a specific storage device.
