What Is Server Colocation? Choosing 1U, 2U or 5U

Server colocation means placing a physical server that you own in a cabinet in a data centre, with power, cooling, network connectivity and physical security provided by the data centre. The hardware is yours; you rent space, electricity and an internet line. This article explains when colocation makes sense, the difference between 1U, 2U and 5U, and what you need to do before sending your server. For the packages, see the server colocation page.

The difference between colocation, a dedicated server and a VDS

If you do not have a server, a dedicated server or VDS rental does the same job with less investment. The selection criteria are in the guide to choosing a dedicated server.

When does server colocation make sense?

• You already have the hardware. You want to move a server running in the office to an environment with uninterrupted power and a fast line.
• You need special hardware. A GPU server, multi-disk storage or a particular RAID card is not available in the rental models.
• The licence is tied to the hardware. Your software licence is assigned to a specific machine.
• The long-term calculation. If you will use a high-resource server for years, buying and colocating it can work out cheaper than renting.

Running a server in the office has hidden costs: power cuts, air conditioning failures, a residential internet line and an IP address that is not static. A data centre removes these.

What do 1U, 2U and 5U mean?

U (rack unit) is the unit of height inside a cabinet: 1U = 44.45 mm. The price is set by the height your server takes up in the cabinet.

• 1U: thin, rack-mount servers. Most web, database and virtualisation servers are this size.
• 2U: servers that take more disk bays and expansion cards. For storage-heavy work and multi-disk RAID arrays.
• 5U: servers converted from a tower case to rack-mount, GPU systems and large storage chassis.

You can find out how many U your server is from the manufacturer's documentation or by dividing the case height by 44.45 mm.

What is included in the Fiberserver server colocation packages?

All three of the 1U, 2U and 5U packages in the Istanbul location include the following:

• Colocation with power included
• 1 Gbit line, unshared bandwidth
• Free /30 subnet
• Redundant Juniper and Cisco network infrastructure, 99.8% network availability guarantee
• Free installation and entry-level configuration
• Free system reinstallation
• Discount on cPanel/WHM and Plesk licences
• 24/7 support

A /30 subnet is a block of four addresses; one is the network address and one is the broadcast address, and of the remaining two one becomes the gateway and the other your server's address. If you need more addresses, you can buy an additional IP address.

Checklist before sending the server

1. Rail kit: the rails that mount the server in the cabinet should be in the box; a server without rails is placed on a shelf and takes up extra space.
2. Remote management: enable the iDRAC, iLO or IPMI card and change its password. This is the way to reach the server when the operating system does not boot.
3. Disks: check the SMART values and replace worn disks before sending.
4. Power supply: if possible, use a model with dual power supplies (redundant PSU) and note the power the server draws at full load.
5. BIOS and firmware: update them; enable the "power on automatically when power is restored" setting.
6. Backup: a disk can be damaged in transit. Take a full backup of the data before sending.
7. Label: attach a label to the server showing your company name and its serial number.

How does the process work?

1. You order the package that fits the size of your server.
2. You plan the delivery method and date with our support team.
3. The server is mounted in the cabinet, the network connection is made and your IP addresses are assigned.
4. You connect to your server through the remote management card or SSH/RDP and carry on where you left off.

If you know your server's model and how many U it is, take a look at the server colocation packages; if you are not sure, write the model name to our support team and we will work out the suitable package together.