Running servers in-house works, until it doesn’t. Maybe your business is outgrowing its current setup, or you’ve hit a wall with cooling, power, or space. Maybe your IT team is spending more time keeping things running than focusing on what’s next.

A co-location facility can take that weight off your shoulders. It’s a practical way to upgrade resilience and connectivity without losing control over your own hardware.

Here’s what it actually means, and why more businesses are moving this way.

Key Takeaways

• Co-location offers enterprise-grade physical security for your sensitive data and infrastructure.
• Storing your own hardware in a colocation data centre gives you full control over your data storage without the overhead of maintaining your own data centre.
• Flexible data centre space lets you scale quickly as your business grows.
• Built-in redundant network connections and backup generators help ensure continuous operation, even during outages.
• Many colocation facilities include service level agreements that guarantee uptime and performance.
• The ability to house networking devices and computing equipment in a secure, remote physical location enables businesses to focus on growth, not hardware.
• Modern data centres offer high availability, resilience, and support for data backup – without needing to invest in your own building.
• For many businesses, co-location delivers serious cost savings compared to building or expanding an on-site setup.

What Is a Co-Location Facility?

Think of it like a high-end home for your servers – without the DIY headaches. A co-location facility (or ‘colo’) is a professionally managed colocation data centre where businesses rent space for their own servers, networking equipment, and storage devices instead of keeping everything in an in house data centre.

You bring the server hardware and other computing equipment. The colocation provider brings everything else: reliable power supply, precision cooling systems, battery backup systems, fire suppression systems, and high-speed network connectivity – all underpinned by robust security measures. It’s your infrastructure, just hosted in a location designed for continuous operation and performance.

What’s the Difference Between Co-Location and Cloud?

Cloud and co-location both keep your systems offsite, but that’s where the similarities end.

With cloud, your infrastructure is virtual – you’re renting cloud resources from a cloud provider or one of the many global cloud service providers. You don’t own the hardware. You’re billed for access, usage, and scale.

In contrast, colocation services mean you own the gear. You simply host it offsite in a secure, connected, and climate-controlled environment. It’s ideal for businesses with compliance requirements, control preferences, or IT infrastructure that doesn’t suit the public cloud model.

Many businesses use both. Hybrid models, where critical systems run on owned equipment and less sensitive workloads live in the cloud, are becoming increasingly common.

Why Choose a Co-Location Facility?

Here are a few key reasons businesses consider data centre colocation as a smart, scalable option:

• Reduced risk – enterprise-grade facilities offer greater resilience than most office setups
• Lower capital expenditure – avoid the upfront cost of building your own data centre
• Scalability – expand infrastructure without needing new real estate
• Connectivity – benefit from high-speed, redundant networks and interconnects
• Security – from locking gates and access logs to environmental sensors and on-site teams, security is a key feature of most colocation data centres

For businesses looking to scale without compromising performance or control, co-location offers a practical path forward.

Why Asanti?

At Asanti, we offer co-location that’s designed around your real-world needs. Our UK-based colocation facilities are designed to support growing infrastructure needs with:

• Flexible rack space and power options
• ISO 27001 certified data centres that offer robust infrastructure, high energy efficiency, and strong physical and network defences
• High-density cooling and dual power feeds
• Direct connections to leading cloud providers and carrier neutrality for flexible network options
• On-site remote hands for support when you need it

We work with fast-growing businesses, MSPs, and tech-led teams who need infrastructure they can count on – without the maintenance overhead.

Want to see how co-location could work for you? Speak to our team and let’s talk through your options – whether you’re replacing an on premises data centre exploring disaster recovery, or simply trying to lower significant costs tied to owning a private suite and managing power consumption on-site.