Page 2 - Colocation vs Dedicated server hosting

I stayed with dedicated a long time. I thought I needed it.
They used control panels.
Almost all of my issues were with the control panel.
Not knowing anything about the os and how things worked left me where I needed their help.

I realized I only needed help rarely. And many times I was calling due to the server having an issue like apache shutting off (it was the control panel)

If you do not feel you can keep the server up yourself, just go dedicated.
IF you have a little time, and a local tech guy, go colo.

There is a learning curve to go colo, but once you pass it you will be fine. Steep curve. Curve is somewhat lessened with a pro nearby to help you, but better if you learn as he does it.

if you know how to manage the os, colo is safer, more secure, faster, better computers, quicker service, quicker replacement time, and did I say way cheaper?

The downside to dedicated is long, but if you cannot manage the server yourself you do not have much choice.

You will find that 'managed' does not mean competent. Control panels will do most for you and the 'techs' can do the little stuff for you. Your main concern is replacement if parts break and that call in the night when the server is freaked out and you need help.

Always go with someone that has 24 hour phone support.

I would take a old comp at home and install linux and play with it. Once you get a few books and read, you will see there is not that much to it.

Nothing is better than to have your server a few miles from your house just in case there is a problem. (colo)

The amount of money you save over a few years is tremendous. The computer you buy now will last for many more years without upgrading versus the dedicated that you will keep upgrading.

With the money you save, you can buy more computers and do more things.

And lastly, if you look at your yearly costs, and watch what type and how much of tech support you really use on your dedicated, you will see colo is better. Your local colo may be cool enough to do a 'per incident' manage for you to help you out. Do not be surprised.

One year colo at 100/month= 1200
cost of super computer = 2000
total one year = 3200 + tech help

Dedicated with the same uber computer
setup- 200-800
monthly ~800
total one year = ~10,000

If your colo is within a hop or two, or right on the backbone then you may be faster than your dedicted will be. Bandwidth is usually starting at 1Mpbs for colo.

I have done shared, vpn, and dedicated for a long time. I had one host move themselves and it was a disaster. Big company at the time. Sites were down for weeks and many busiesses not only could not run, but they could not even access their stuff to grab it and move it elsewhere.

It all depends on what you are doing too. IF you are not running a heavy duty business that is making you lots of cash, then it won't matter as much. However, it is really easy to get a lemon computer, a lemon host, and a lemony bugged control panel.

But as they say, if you are not ready for colo, then do not go colo.

If you do want to go colo, keep watching that site for more step by steps.
Buy the books.
Find a local competent person.

You will be surprised how many people have skills with linux and webservers who want to help really cheap just to get the experience. You can colo a test server, cheaply, while running your production server too.

Either way....let the headaches begin...lol

alleyOOPs, thanks for the interesting post, I have a few remarks, however, if anything goes wrong with your own server that you collocate with a provider, it's up to you to bear all the expenses .
I don't understand also why there's no need to upgrade the server it it's yours, if you have been using it for a few years. I think you will also want some better performance, so some investment is also essential.
I think the factors that should be considered while choosing between dedicated and colocation are time you are going to run your prijrect for and how mission-critical is your project.
My top colo service providers are the Planet.com and Serverpoint.com, I think they both provide dedicated deals as well, so there's a choice for their clients.

IF you go colo, you go colo. Having one by your house makes it better, for me, to do anything I want without paying a 'helping hands' charge.

Dedicated is fine. but a huge cost over a two year period. Your comp is paid for with your initial set up fee, add on fees, 1st and 2nd month, etc... this should just about cover your computer cost for them. ANd if you had used that same money you could have bought a much better computer.

Then I just looked at the cost. My comp that I built would have cost in excess of 900 a month and had little in the way of management outside of 'off/on' and network issues. Over two years that was about 21 grand. Versus the 150/month for 2Us of space in a rack at a cost of about 3 grand for two years to colo.

18k is a lot of cash. For me, it is a better computer and more secure. For me.

Once set up properly (and not using buggy control panels) you should need little management over monitoring and just making sure it is okay.

I think it comes down to, can you manage your own server? If you cannot then go dedicated. If you can, then go colo.
If you have a reliable tech person in your area, you can hire him/her and get taught how to manage. (it is not that hard).

Most problems I have with dedicated were

1- the webhost companies network had issues
2- they screwed up the nameservers a bit and caused resolve issues
3- control panel would shut off mail or apache at times.
4- server would just shut off once in a while (caused by control panel)
5- shared cabinet space means shared bandwidth. A colo will give you that 1Mbps and able to burst higher, your dedicated will not (though they say they do).
6- dedicated hosts firewalls sometimes are flooded and slow things down.
7- using the control panel keeps you from updating hte software until the control panel says it is okay. I hate that.
8- they may have 24 hour support, but that does not mean they are experts at 3 in the AM.
9- real problems mean escalation and 'when they can get to it', my colo means I take 10 minutes drive down and replace a broken drive.

I loved shared hosting until it became evident of the issues. Then I went to a vps system, shared but less people, that ended up bad after a time. I went dedicated and have been for 7 years or so.
Now that I have installed linux and built a server I am kicking myself in the butt for the money and aggravation I went through with the dedicated.

Of course, I have not had the colo long enough to know good and bads, but the cost difference is HUGE. The computer is waaaaayyyyy better than what I could get at a host, especially for my 150 a month.

I feel free.

And I have a headache from learning BIND/DNS... that part was a biatch. But only because I did not want to use a nameserver service, I wanted my own and that has nothing to do with colo.

I say go for the gusto and try it at home....it is free to set up the software and play with it...you will be surprised how easy it is.

now if you are using 5 servers you would be paying about 400 a month at colo for a 1/4 or half rack.
If you set them up as a network you would buy a firewall and a router to go with that. And that is a bit of a learning curve. And can be expensive for good stuff.

Cost of 5 awesome servers per month at the dedicated...about 900/month each (assuming good build) so that is 4500 a month. Two months of payments and you have spent money that could have got you a good firewall and router.

But, the learning curve to netowrk them all is big...But to trust the dedicated hosts to do it right...and secure...is very scary too.

No matter what you do, there will be big pros and cons. Security is number one for me, followed by bandwidth and quality hardware. Dedicated provides none of those three for me.

Great! Thanx, very detailed, I think lots of people will go colo after reading your post, it's just that not all of them need to host 5 servers and know how to manage it, that's why dedicated hosting industry still has some chances to survive)).

I have just a few sites myself and using a shared plan, but once my needs grow, I'll move to a managed VPS plan.

Alley, are you a host yourself?

There are a great deal of managed hosting providers in the industry. Do a google search for "managed dedicated servers"

RackSpace is always in mind when it comes to management, but they are very pricey. There is also Chicago's FastServers.net and Server Central. Both good companies.

Dan