Server colocation provides an affordable and reliable way of hosting a site for your small business. This makes it possible for you to compete with large organizations in your industry. For a small business, resources are scarce and this makes it difficult for them to set up large IT departments to maintain their sites. Large companies have an advantage because they can afford to put an IT department in place therefore they can focus on their customers.

With server colocation, a small business is able to share equipment and resources with other entities. This provides the full time IT support that is required to run the business. One of the main benefits is being to compete with the large organizations in your field.  For small businesses, using server colocation also means that you do not have to keep worrying about your system. The host will ensure that it is running efficiently at all times. Businesses that run their own systems have to keep close watch to prevent them from crashing.

The server colocation services also offer increased bandwidth at a reduced cost. This is very important for a small business that does not have a lot of money to spend on IT infrastructure. With increased bandwidth, it means that your site will be able to accommodate more online users without slowing down.  If you decide to use this option, it is important for you to know that there are various options available and your choice is supposed to be based on what your small business requires. The most popular options are managed and unmanaged. The choice you make will determine if you are the one who is going to be in charge of maintenance or not.

With the managed option, your system will be configured to a specific specification. The service also offers you some particular software applications that your customers can use within the limits that you set. In this service, the provider will offer any upgrades that are required. They will also handle the maintenance, backup, hardware issues and reboots. This is a good option if you do not have an IT team in place to handle maintenance and troubleshooting. The disadvantage of this option is that it will only support specific applications. This means that you must check the applications that are supported before you use them in your system.

If you prefer to have more control over your system, you can get the unmanaged option. For this option, you are required to provide your own software and hardware and also manage them. This provides you with more flexibility compared to the managed option. The provider will still expect you to follow their agreement if you choose to use this service. A majority of the providers in the market get to decide what you can host and what you cannot on the system. This is done to ensure that the system does not crush as a result of increased traffic.