What is Cloud and Colocation

Cloud, as an investment,

Simply put it's about taking the hardware and software that used to exist on premises, and migrating it to the more resilient and cost efficient Cloud. 

Be it any "X" aaS offering. Whether you're considering Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Desktop as a Service (DaaS), Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS),  Backup as a Service (BaaS), or any other "X" aaS, it's all about the Cloud and more flexibility.  

SERVICES 

  • Managed Office 365 - email services are managed by a service provider and stored in   the provider’s data center.
  • Desktop as a Service (DaaS) - virtual desktops are stored in the provider’s data center and accessed through a secure web portal 
  • Backup as a Service (BaaS) and Disaster Recovery as a Service
  • (DRaaS) - protects a copy of a customer's data in the cloud as a failsafe 
  • Managed Public Cloud - layering managed services on top of a public cloud provider (AWS, Google Cloud, MS Azure, etc. 
  • Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - virtual servers that are located in the service provider’s data center 

Colocation overview

Over the years, businesses have owned most aspects of their IT systems. They have been responsible for the equipment, location where that equipment is housed, and managing the connectivity, power, and cooling that keeps it powered up. But with limited power and connectivity options available, and questionable security, business are left with costly, unsecured systems that are prone to power and network outages.     

Colocation is the answer to these concerns. Organisations can use these services to place their existing hardware in purpose built datacenter facilities, ensuring reliability with redundant power, cooling, and connectivity to guarantee uptime for applications. Comprehensive security protects your IT environment. These data centers also house cloud service providers, meaning extra capacity is just a cross-connect away. Customers can move to the cloud or migrate as they depreciate hardware in a true hybrid cloud configuration.  

WHAT IS COLOCATION? 

Colocation is basicaly floor space, power, cooling, and in some cases bandwidth in a service provider’s data center. These data centers are redundant with many carriers, dual fiber paths, and dual power sources, meaning they offer redundancy and protection against network or power failures. The amount of space leased is entirely up to the customer from a partial rack to an entire data center. Enterprise class service providers offer various compliances (SSAE 16, PCI, HIPAA, NIST, etc.) and more than 99.9% SLA’s for uptime. This service can be combined with other cloud solutions such as cloud computing, managed applications, and managed databases.   

WHY CONSIDER IT? 

  • Office Relocation
  • Compliance requirements
  • Reliability – 99.9% uptime or more 
  • Cost – maintenance, labor 
  • Scalability and performance
  • Security – protection from disaster, theft, network/power loss