Server co-location is an excellent option for only the most experienced webmaster.
The co-location option allows webmasters to exercise total control over their Internet server. A host will place your server on their premises and will permit you to make use of their bandwidth and facilities. You retain complete control over your equipment, software and operating system and simply lease physical space and high-grade, tier one network access from the hosting provider.

This arrangement is well suited for successful industry veterans with a great amount of experience. Setting up a co-located server is not an easy task and thus requires a large amount of IT expertise.

You will require a state-of-the-art Internet server, and will be solely responsible for pre-loading it with both the operating system and Web server software that you desire. With co-location, the hosting provider will only allocate your server: rack space, an Ethernet connection and a block of IP numbers. Your responsibility will be to configure your server according to your hosting company's specifications so that it can be installed to integrate with their infrastructure seamlessly.

Co-location is a "no-frills" service. This means that your hosting provider will not be obligated to assist you prep your equipment for hardware or software installation or maintenance. If you require any extra services, it will not be their contractual responsibility to assist you. You must therefore expect to pay extra for any help or consulting services they provide.

Co-location is thus not the best choice for inexperienced webmasters who require extensive customer care. Co-location is an industrial-grade option best suited for professional content distributors with extensive IT skills in server deployment and administration.

Web hosting firms providing co-location services will expect you to have a high level of technical competence. Most firms will not be knowledgeable in your server configuration unless you select equipment that they normally use. Neither will they be overly enthusiastic to fix equipment that differs from their own. For these reasons, you or your organization must display competence concerning all administrative issues.

Ensure however that any co-location service you purchase comes with free "reboot" privileges. Sometimes a server will need to be physically restarted on occasion, especially if it's running applications on the Windows platform. It will therefore be necessary to call upon your hosting firm's personnel to restart your equipment at anytime of the day in case of a fatal CPU crash. For this reason, you must build good relationships with your firm's customer support representatives.

Other considerations that you should take under advisement when retaining co-location services is selecting a host with a minimum of T3 connectivity. Most established firms will team up with powerful broadband providers who have state-of-the-art network facilities. Obtaining co-location services from such hosting firms will allow you to leverage these relationships.

Most of these broadband providers and telcos have multiple network operation centers (NOCs) that are intermeshed with peering points connected to OC-12 ATM or full 45Mps DS-3s lines minimum. Hosting firms who locate their own shared and dedicated operations in these NOCs will also locate your own co-located servers in one of these centers. To learn more about network operations centers, please read Inside the NOC.

It is always advised that you use an accomplished hosting firm as your intermediary with tier-one providers. They usually have the connections and know-how to deploy your box quickly and effectively.

And despite the security precautions involved with first-class NOC facilities, make sure that your equipment is insured. A good business insurance policy will ensure the speedy replacement of your equipment in case of natural or seismic disaster. Also make sure to insure your server when you ship it to your Web hosting firm for deployment. Freight insurance will protect you from financial loss if the server is physically damaged during shipping.

Another consideration that you should make is your server's scalability. You should make sure that your server's memory and disk space is maximized, since it will be very costly to make additions once the server is deployed. You will also want to make sure that your equipment is new and has an on-site service guarantee, allowing repairs to be done at the NOC in case of equipment failure.

Remember that the key for successfully co-locating your Web presence is maintaining quality and speedy services. Quality and speed equals credible service, a necessity for any successful, high-traffic site.