Dedicated/Colocated. What's the difference?

In a sense, there really is no difference. Colocation is dedicated hosting.

However, there definately are differences.

Dedicated generally refers to a consumer renting a server on a monthly/quarterly/annual basis, from a server provider. You do not own the server, but rather you are renting it from the provider.

Colocation is the process of buying a server, shipping it to, or simply buying it from the datacenter, then renting rack space in the datacenter.

With colocation you pay for support staff, rack space, the server, shipping and handling of the server, etc. You own the server, and can move it to a new DC at any time, etc.

Essentially, Dedicated hosting is the renting of a server on someone else's premises with them entailing all the costs of a dedicated server. Depending on your provider, you may find that you get a heck of alot in Dedicated hosting, but some are little more rigid in what they give you. Some hosts also claim they give you a dedicated server, when in fact its really only a Virtual server and is hardly dedicated at all. I know that quite honestly I have done this once or twice in order to try and cut costs and the client hardly ever notices.
Colocated hosting is a slightly less popular option as it involves major investment from the beginning. You can buy a server from anywhere and colocate it at a datacenter with full control (usually down to remote root and restart capabilities). It is probably a little less expensive in the long run, but you would have to already be making a quite healthy income for you to be justified in spending so much money on it.

Flexibility vs Price...
~Equinox

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Dedicated and co-located? Big difference. Co-located - you're providing the hardware and putting it in a facility that is providing the bandwidth. With dedicated, you're getting the hardware and bandwidth.

Roj

juliansmith, at no time did the OP ask for offers, and the rules clearly tell you that you cannot make an offer outside of the offer/request forums.

Colocation :

Colocating the server gives you the greatest flexibility. You get to choose the hardware configuration of the server and the software that goes on it. The hosting company maintains the connection to the Internet and deals with environmental details such as uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs), fire controls, and air conditioning. On the other hand, you're responsible for that server's upkeep.


Dedicated :

A dedicated web server hosting involves the leasing of an entire server from a dedicated server host company. The hosting company owns, maintains, and backs up the server while providing all the security, power management, and other aspects of maintaining a data center. The site developer is responsible for all web server software issues.

The main advantage of dedicated is that you don't have to bother with the hardware.. The hosting company manage this part...