FAQ

What is colocation?

Colocation refers to the process of locating IT and networking equipment at an outsourced facility that has abundant and reliable data center power, mechanical systems and network access. Because i/o Data Centers designs, builds and operates its data centers, it can execute on a scale not before achieved.

What is conditioned power?

Conditioned power refers to the clean power that i/o delivers to its colocation and outsourced data center customers. To condition the power, i/o Data Centers builds sites with significant capabilities from the electric power utility. These redundant feeds from our street power enable us to achieve and often exceed 99% reliability. In the event of a utility failure, we have standby diesel generators, which automatically activate and provide full-load power. We keep approximately 24 hours of fuel on hand and have significant fuel supply diversity. This reliable power stream is routed through an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) that contains a transformer and batteries. One of the key benefits of UPS is smoothing over any sags or spikes in the power supply. Power is distributed to the data center floor via Power Distribution Units (PDU).

What is high-density colocation?

High-density colocation refers to i/o Data Centers' cabinet colocation and cage colocation services that, depending on location, can support 50 to 200 watts per foot.

What kind of IP Bandwidth do you offer?

We offer i/o Data Centers' bandwidth as well as connections to any carrier of your choosing. Specifically, i/o Data Centers offers direct connections to routers on tier 1 Internet service provider(s) and/or direct connections at any capacity including Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, GigE and 10 GigE. i/o uses Cisco networking equipment.

What is 10 Gig Colocation?

10 Gig colocation refers to i/o Data Centers' high-end data center offering coupled with 10 GigE ports offered by top-tier internet service providers. This best-in-class combination powers some of the largest and most impressive web properties in the world.

Which is it? Colocation? Collocation? Co-Location? Or Colo?

Searching for the definition and term colocation will avail various spellings and descriptions in the search engine results, which has resulted in a long-term debate in the IT and data center service provider industries. The question still looming in the minds of some dictionary-searching Lexicographers and in telecom/tech trade journals is, how many Ls should be in the word colocation/collocation?

This spelling of colocation/collocation is an on-going debate in the data center marketplace and some of the uncertainty is derived from the semi-obscure verb collocate. Both the Collins and Oxford English Dictionary refer to the placement, of the words, colocate and collocate next to each other.

i/o Data Centers findings revealed an answer, which is to spell colocation with one L. Per due diligence in search of the correct spelling of colocation, i/o Data Centers found published articles and several definitions in support of spelling colocation with the single L variant, which is not mentioned in traditional dictionaries, but favored by online dictionaries.

Webopedia lists the definition for co-location as: "a server, usually a web server, that is located at a designated facility designed with resources which include a secured cage or cabinet, regulated power, dedicated Internet connection, security and support."

In that definition it is spelled with a hyphenanother divisive issue, but to a lesser degree. In the1990s the world of telephony changed from an oligarchic industry to a diverse and deregulated, wireless opensource. Escalating advances in the telecommunications industry lead to the Telecommunications Act of 1996. New terminologies and standards for the growing wireless sector of commerce emerged in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which spelled co-location, with a hyphen. The term co-location, implies a particular space/place/setting where tower facilities, sites or centers exist for wireless providers. Co-location is still used, but not as often as "colocation" and "collocation."

The Knowledge Base Digital Media and Internet Dictionary dropped the second L and the hyphen when it defines colocation and it ascribes more than one meaning:

1. i. placement of one telephone operator's equipment on premises owned by another to facilitate direct connection between networks or;
2. ii. the placement of a web server at the facility of an Internet service provider.
3. iii. moving and placing telecommunications equipment together, with some implied order, in a provided space, like on a service providers premises.

The online community prefers and favors the spelling utilizing the single L. In addition, industry insiders add weight to recommendations that PC spell-checkers on PCs (particularly in the U.S) questioned the proper colocation spelling during the infancy of off-site data service provider solutions.

After ongoing analysis, Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica adopted "colocation," which refers to the premises in which servers are hosted.

Colo: an abbreviation for colocation center
Col-location: typically a misspelling or search entry and refers to the same definition as colocation