While searching for technology solutions for your business, you’ll encounter many options. Modern data centers offer a range of services, from data storage, colocation, and edge computing to managed IT services, data backup and recovery, and more. To find out which technology solution is best for your business, you’ll need to have a clear understanding of your business’s data needs. In today’s digital age, virtually every business uses some type of service offered by a data center, whether that’s website hosting, cloud storage, or edge computing services, depends on the type of business, the scope of their data needs, and their technology service budget. To learn the difference between colocation, private cloud storage, and public cloud storage, continue reading below to find out which service is right for your business.
What is Colocation?
Colocation allows a business to house privately-owned servers and networking equipment in a third-party data center. By collocating servers in an independent data center and not in-house, companies gain access to the data center power redundant facilities. In addition to saving money on power and ensuring the continual upkeep of collocated servers, colocation users can also expect reduced latency.
What is Public Cloud Storage?
Public Cloud storage (like Apple’s iCloud, Microsoft’s Azure, or Amazon’s AWS) gives your company remote access to your data that is stored on a shared server. As the name suggests, public cloud storage involves storing data over the internet on servers located in data centers used by multiple users/organizations. Public cloud storage is the most affordable and popular cloud storage option used by individual users and organizations alike. Public cloud storage offers users a scalable, low-cost solution with subscription-based pricing. Services that use public cloud may range from email, apps, and storage to enterprise-grade OS platforms and infrastructure used for software development and testing.
What is Private Cloud Storage?
Private cloud storage gives your company the ability to store data over the internet on third-party data center servers dedicated entirely to your business. Private cloud storage infrastructure is isolated and uses a secure private network. Additionally, private cloud storage can be customized to meet your unique business and security needs. They offer greater visibility and control into the infrastructure, so organizations can operate compliance-sensitive IT workloads without comprising security or performance.
Colocation vs. Cloud Storage
The primary difference between colocation and cloud storage is how the data is stored and managed. With colocation, you’re paying for the storage and management of a physical asset. With cloud storage, you’re paying for virtual storage. If your business wishes to continue to use company servers but offset their cost by colocating to a facility where things like redundant power, cooling, and security are taken care of, colocation may be right for you. If you’re looking for pure data storage without any upfront IT costs or infrastructure required, cloud storage may be exactly what you’re looking for. Both colocation and cloud storage have a myriad of benefits and are sought-after services by businesses across multiple industries. Cloud storage provides the flexibility to scale and only pay for what you use, while colocation allows you to use as much storage as your servers will allow without an increase in cost.
Thin-nology is your one-stop solution for business technology services. We operate a fully compliant Tier III Data Center in North Austin. We are a full-service, seven-layer service provider. We provide Texas Colocation Services, Private Cloud, Remote Workplace Solutions, Managed Hosting, Server Rental, Disaster Recovery Services, Backup Services, Systems Management, and Support, and of course, Managed Security for your infrastructure.
