Colocation, often referred to as “colo,” is the practice of housing your own servers and networking equipment inside a third-party data centre. Organisations retain full ownership and control of their hardware while the facility provides the power, cooling, physical security, and network connectivity.
At LINX, colocation brings your infrastructure and interconnection together in one place. Making it simpler to peer, connect to cloud providers, and manage your network through a single trusted partner.
What is Colocation?
Colocation is when an organisation places its privately owned servers and networking equipment inside a shared, third-party data centre, rather than hosting that hardware on its own premises.
The colocation provider supplies the physical facility, power redundancy, cooling, physical security, and network access while the organisation retains control of its equipment. This is widely used by ISPs, network operators, enterprises, and content providers who need reliable, well connected infrastructure without the cost of building and operating their own data centres.
The Benefits of Colocation
Colocation replaces provides a predictable monthly fee, eliminating the overhead of maintaining your own facility. Purpose-built data centres offer redundant power, diverse fibre routes, and resilient connectivity that some in-house environments cannot provide.
For network operators, placing hardware at the right facility also unlocks direct access to the right partners, turning a straightforward infrastructure decision into a strategic connectivity advantage.
Colocation provides:
- Reduced operational costs: Shift from high cost in-house infrastructure to a predictable monthly cost model.
- Greater resilience and uptime: Redundant power, cooling, and connectivity minimise downtime risk.
- Scalability on demand: Scale from quarter racks to dedicated cages as your requirements grow.
How Colocation Supports Network Performance
Colocation centres act as connectivity hubs, providing access to high-speed internet connections and a diverse range of telecommunication carriers. This not only ensures low-latency connectivity but also offers network engineers the ability to implement redundancy strategies. CTOs can rest easy knowing that their organisation’s critical operations won’t be compromised due to a single point of failure.
Why Colocate With LINX?
Colocating with LINX places your infrastructure and connectivity under one roof, with services available across London, Manchester, Scotland, LINX NoVA in Northern Virginia, and LINX Nairobi in Kenya.
- Flexible colocation options: LINX negotiates on behalf of members to get them exactly what they need, from quarter racks to full, dedicated suites.
- Infrastructure and connectivity together: Place your hardware and connectivity in the same location for easier management, peering with other LINX members, and direct access to cloud providers and other services.
- Simpler support and service: With a single number to call, you get faster resolution to issues and the ability to seamlessly scale services up and down.
Find out more about our Colocation Services
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between colocation and cloud hosting?
With colocation, you own the hardware and colocate it in a third-party facility. With cloud hosting, both the hardware and infrastructure are owned and managed by the cloud provider. Colocation gives you greater control and can be more cost-effective at scale.
What is included in a colocation service?
Typically, rack space, power, cooling, physical security, and network connectivity. LINX colocation also includes cross-connects, remote hands, managed access, and a dedicated account manager.
Is colocation suitable for smaller networks?
Yes. LINX offers flexible options starting from quarter rack, making colocation accessible for networks of all sizes — not just large enterprises.
How does colocation improve network redundancy?
Colocation facilities provide access to multiple carriers and diverse fibre routes, making it straightforward to eliminate single points of failure and build resilient, redundant network paths.
Can I colocate and peer with LINX at the same location?
Yes. LINX colocation is designed to bring your infrastructure and interconnection together. Colocating at a LINX-connected facility gives you direct access to the LINX peering fabric, cloud connectivity, and the wider LINX member community.
< Go Back