Best Colocation Providers in the UK (2023)

One has to consider a whole lot of aspects when managing a growing business. The decision to add owned servers to meet the customer demands better comes as a shock in such a situation. Moreover, it is extremely difficult to put together a fully reliable environment for your servers.

If you are facing a similar situation, and looking for UK colocation providers, then you are at the right place. This article can help you make the right choice.

What is a colocation service provider?

A colocation service provider offers you space for running your servers. This facility comes with high security for your equipment, network availability, power supply, and cooling systems.

The whole responsibility of managing the space lies with the colocation service provider. The ownership of the server, however, lies with you and you will be responsible for its maintenance.

7 Best UK colocation providers in (2023)

1. Servermania

With decades of experience under its belt, Servermania offers excellent services and infrastructure for a smooth and reliable colocation experience. The company’s UK colocation facility is spread across 22,000 sq. ft. to house all your hardware efficiently.

Features of Servermania data centers:

• High-density power and cooling ability
• 100% uptime guaranteed with a Server Level Agreement (SLA)
• Green powered facilities
• Safe Harbor certified
• Level 1 PCI service provider
• Multi-homed redundant network
• CDSA certified
• Availability of colocation managed services like technical assistance in case of need
• Easy to scale
• Excellent customer support with 15-minute response time
• Secured facilities with 24/7 on-site staff
• Offers low latency
• Tier 4 design with redundancy ensured via UPS.
• High bandwidth capacity achieved through top-tier network providers.

Servermania Data Center Locations

Servermania has 1 data center in the UK which is located in London.

The company has 7 global data centers as well. These are in the:

• Montreal, Canada
• Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Auckland, New Zealand
• Buffalo
• New Jersey
• Los Angeles, California
• Dallas, Texas

Servermania Colocation Starting Price

The company specifies that colocation pricing is application-specific but lists an approximate price structure on its official website. The prices begin from $79 per month for a single server which comes out to be around £60 per month approximately.

Visit ServerMania

2. HostDime

Incorporated in 2003, HostDime now is an established name in the colocation market. It has carefully placed its data centers to provide better performance to your business. With its global edge data centers, the facilities are located closer to the end-users in the UK and selected cities around the globe.

Features of HostDime data centers:

• Contained environment for each client which is unaffected by other racks and their temperatures
• Low latency
• You can easily scale from 1U to a full rack or a private suite with HostDime.
• Contained fire suppression and availability of fire suppression means
• Lightning-fast speed on deployment
• Availability of hybrid cloud solutions with personalization for added security and cost-effectiveness
• 100% uptime because of UPS and generator backup availability
• Secured data center facilities with access only to HostDime employees and escorted guests like you.
• Availability of unlimited reboots monthly
• Efficient network connectivity
• Availability of remote experts on-site 24/7/365
• Excellent customer support available via ticket, email, phone, and live chat

HostDime Data Center Locations

HostDime’s UK data center is located in Maidstone

Additionally, the company has 9 global data centers in:

• Orlando, Florida
• Miami, Florida
• Los Angeles, California
• Guadalajara, Mexico
• Bogotá, Colombia
• João Pessoa, Northern Brazil
• São Paulo, Southern Brazil.
• New Delhi, India
• Hong Kong

HostDime Colocation Starting Price

The pricing for a HostDime’s Single Server 1U begins at $100 per month which is about £75 per month approximately.

Start with HostDime

3. Servacus

Servacus was originally built to expand the in-built resources of a software development company but now offers a variety of colocation services to other businesses as well. The company aims to remain transparent in its dealings and doesn’t charge any hidden fees.

Features of Servacus data centers:

• Power redundancy offered via UPS and diesel generators
• Provides unique customer portal for easy management of your colocation
• Offer in-depth network graphs for monitoring your server performance
• Multiple servers from your account are considered as a single resource to prevent overcharges
• Free server setup available within 6 to 48 hours
• 99.99% uptime guarantee via SLA
• On-site support available
• 24/7 secured data centers
• Free unique rack configurations and custom server building are available on request
• Efficient cooling systems installed in the data centers with temperature sensors
• Fire detection availability with automatic triggers
• Inventory check performed on each server entering the data center
• Free hardware replacement on failure
• Availability of remote hands with experts on site.
• Internal and external security monitoring with 24/7 security cameras
• Physical security ensured with security gates, raised walls, fobs, and keypads
• Additional security from local police and other authorities in case any alarm triggers

Servacus Data Center Locations

Servacus has one data center in the UK in Rothwell, Northamptonshire.

Servacus Colocation Starting Price

The starting price of colocation is £20 per month for a single server.

Visit Servacus

4. Simply Hosting

With 15 years of experience, Simply Hosting offers reliable colocation services for your business. Its UK data center facility is spread across 50,000 sq. ft. and has 4 data halls. The company is proud of providing a 10-minute support ticket response to solve all your queries.

Features of Simply data centers:

• Availability of a wide range of colocation
• ISO certified Tier 3+ data center
• On-site support available
• Availability of Dedicated Account Managers for consultation and other support services
• Custom-built infrastructure with a sealed rack design that separates hot and cool air to efficiently cool the server area
• Efficient fire detection system automatic fire suppression system
• 100% SLA for power with efficient backup power availability via UPS and generators
• Assurance of physical security with the gated facility, Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) vehicle access, Iris scanning, Mantrap system, and presence of security personnel on-site 24/7/365
• Availability of remote hands service 24/7

Simply Data Center Locations

Simply Hosting has 3 data centers in the UK:

• London
• Slough, Berkshire
• Reading, Berkshire

Simply Colocation Starting Price

Simply provides colocation at £750 per month for a half-rack and charges a setup fee of £400 for the same.

Visit SimplyHostinggggg

5. Fast2host

Fast2host is a family-owned company that provides both web hosting and colocation services. Started in 2001 as a small hosting company, Fast2host now owns and manages a private data center in the UK with a capacity of housing hundreds of servers.

Features of Fast2host data centers:

• Power fed individually to each server rack from the distribution board
• 100% SLA on power with backup provided via diesel generators and UPS
• 24/7 HTTP and ICMP monitoring with alerts
• Racks are protected by circuit-breakers for emergencies where an electrical fault appears
• Availability of emergency support at all times
• You can power on or off your servers remotely at any time
• Network monitoring via Cacti tool
• 99.99% SLA on Network provided via Virtual LAN (VLAN) and dedicated subnet.
• 24/7 availability of technical support staff
• On-site security available
• 24/7 physical access to the data center location by appointment
• Availability of remote hands service

Fast2host Data Center Locations

Fast2host has one data center in the UK in St Neots, Cambridgeshire.

Fast2host Colocation Starting Price

Fast2host provides single servers to full racks and offers a starting price of £50 per month for its colocation services.

Start with Fast2Host

6. 4D Data Centers

Established in 2007, 4D Data Centers offer extremely powerful infrastructure for your colocation needs. The High-Performance Computing (HPC) solutions offered by the company are reliable and flexible for all your colocation needs.

Features of 4D data centers:

• Scalable colocation solutions
• Physically secured with gated entrance, Passive InfraRed (PIR) sensor, and alarmed fencing
• ISO-certified data center facility
• 24/7 availability of support staff
• 100% power availability provided via UPS and generators for power backup
• 99.999% network uptime
• A wide variety of colocation options are available in the form of half, full, and quarter racks to individual suites and cages.
• Availability of remote hand service with technical staff on-site 24/7
• The data center has free WiFi access for your convenience
• Provision of roof space for telephone and satellite mast installations
• Carrier-neutral facility with 500+ network connections on offer
• Secured client servers
• Availability of an efficient cooling system containing award-winning cooling towers for server protection

4D Data Center Locations

Simply Hosting has 4 data center locations in the UK:

• Poplar, East London
• Crawley, West Sussex
• Byfleet, Surrey
• Maidstone, Kent

4D Colocation Starting Price

4D charges £1,110 a year for a 1U shared colocation service with 0.5Amps. The setup costs are £125.

Visit 4D

7. Hyve

Hyve has strategically located its data centers in global business hubs to ensure the excellent performance of your servers. The company has the best-in-class infrastructure because of its partnership with the world’s top data center providers.

Features of 4D data centers:

• Tier 3+ data center facilities
• Scalable colocation options
• 100% network uptime guarantee with SLA
• Availability of business consultation for customized colocation solutions
• 99.999% power availability guarantee with SLA
• Provision of extensive bandwidth with extremely low latency
• Availability of remote hands service
• 99.99% temperature and humidity guarantee with SLA
• Physically secured data centers with biometric scanners, video monitors, 24/7 CCTV, card readers, and mantraps that restricts access to the facilities
• 24/7 phone and ticket support available in the UK

Hyve Data Center Locations

Hyve has 2 data center locations in the UK:

• London
• Woking

Hyve Colocation Starting Price

Hyve offers customized quotes for your colocation needs. You can contact them via live chat available on the company’s official website. The team prefers to call you to discuss all your requirements and will typically need a week to make a customized plan for you.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of colocation?

Colocation services come with both advantages and disadvantages. Let us consider them here to make the right decision for your business:

Advantages of Colocation

• It prevents capital expenditure in the form of investment in a building.
• Colocation makes scaling much easier for your business.
• It prevents the expenditure of staff recruitment and maintenance of the data center facility.
• Get better uptime for your customers without worrying about it.
• It takes away the stress of securing your servers at all times.
• You don’t have to continuously monitor the power availability of your server.
• Colocation ensures high-speed and redundant network connections.
• It lowers your power and bandwidth costs.
• You can get access to technical support with many colocation service providers.
• Your IT bill is stabilized and predictable with a fixed monthly investment.

Disadvantages of Colocation

• It might add to your travel costs if you need to visit the colocation facility frequently.
• Some colocation providers require you to make an appointment before visiting which might require rescheduling your other plans.
• Uptime might be an issue with some colocation providers.
• You might have limited physical access to your servers because of location constraints.
• The cost of colocation might be high for a small business.

Conclusion

Colocation can save you a lot of money and time that goes into building and managing a server environment.

Will you choose the ‘flexibility to scale’ that comes with a colocation service or the ‘freedom of physically visiting your server any time’ that is provided by an owned server environment?