July 4th, 2025
Colocation hosting gives businesses the ability to house their own servers in a professional data center without the high costs of building and managing one in-house. To understand the monthly price, it helps to break it into several core components:
1. Rack Space (Physical Footprint)
This is the space your servers occupy in the data center—typically sold as quarter racks (10U), half racks (20U–22U), or full racks (42U+). Pricing is based on rack units or square footage, and volume discounts may apply at larger scales.
2. Power Usage
Colocation providers charge based on kilowatts (kW) or amps consumed. Standard setups use single power feeds, while higher-reliability options have redundant power (A/B feeds, UPS backup). Expect to pay more for redundancy and higher power draw.
3. Bandwidth and Network
Pricing varies by port speed (100 Mbps, 1 Gbps, 10 Gbps), data usage (metered vs. unmetered), and network quality or redundancy. High-performance, low-latency connectivity typically comes at a higher cost.
4. Remote Hands and Support
On-site assistance like reboots, hardware swaps, or troubleshooting can be included or billed hourly as “remote hands” services. It's important to understand how your provider handles technical support. Learn more in our blog post Remote Hands: An Essential Service For Colocation Success.
5. Physical Security
Security measures such as biometric access, surveillance, locked cabinets or cages, and access control are all built into the cost of colocation. These protections are critical to keeping your infrastructure safe.
6. Cooling and Environmental Controls
Cooling is a major part of operational overhead. Data centers use dedicated HVAC systems, airflow management, and monitoring to keep your equipment within optimal temperature and humidity ranges.
7. Add-Ons and Optional Services
You might also choose to pay extra for:
- Cross-connects or private VLANs
- Dedicated firewalls or managed routers
- Out-of-band management (KVM over IP, IPMI)
- Custom power distribution or monitoring solutions
8. Location and Market Pricing
Pricing can vary depending on the geographic location of the data center. Regional power costs, real estate, and demand can all impact what you pay each month for colocation services.
9. Hidden Fees and Overages
Some providers may charge extra for exceeding power or bandwidth limits, or for on-demand support and engineering time. Always request a full breakdown of recurring and potential one-time fees.
Bottom Line
Colocation pricing isn’t one-size-fits-all. Two businesses using identical racks could pay very different monthly totals based on power draw, bandwidth use, support levels, and service extras.
When comparing providers, ask for a detailed quote that includes:
- Rack size and layout
- Power allocation, redundancy, and usage tiers
- Network access and port speeds
- Support SLAs and remote hands policies
- Security, cooling, and environmental controls
- Optional services like VLANs or cross-connects
Need a Reliable Colocation Partner?
At Sectorlink, we provide transparent colocation pricing, optional power redundancy, high-availability network access, and responsive remote hands support. Contact us today to learn more.