Colocation Services.

Colocation, often abbreviated as ‘colo’, refers to the practice of housing privately-owned servers and networking equipment in a third-party datacentre. This arrangement provides a range of benefits, including enhanced security, reliability, and scalability, without the need for a company to invest in and manage their own datacentre infrastructure. Here’s a more detailed explanation of what colocation involves: 

Key Components of Colocation: 

Datacentre Facility: 

• The physical building where servers and other equipment are stored. 
• These facilities are equipped with high-speed Internet connections, advanced cooling systems, backup power supplies, and robust security measures.

Rack Space: 

• Customers rent rack space (measured in rack units or ‘U’) within the datacentre to house their servers. 
• Options range from 10 rack units to entire multi-rack suites, depending on the customer’s needs. 

Power and Cooling: 

• Reliable power supplies with backup generators and UPS systems to ensure continuous operation. 
• Advanced cooling systems to maintain optimal temperatures and prevent overheating of equipment. 

Network Connectivity: 

• Access to high-speed Internet and multiple network providers for redundancy and optimal connectivity. 

Security: 

• Physical security measures such as surveillance cameras, biometric access controls, and security personnel. 
• Cybersecurity measures to protect against digital threats. 

A  colocation data center is a facility designed to house & manage computer systems, servers, & networking equipment for the purpose of processing and storing large volumes of data. It serves as a centralized hub for an organization’s IT infrastructure, providing essential resources for running applications & storing information. Key features include robust hardware, networking infrastructure, cooling systems, & security measures. Colocation data centers are critical for ensuring the reliability, security, & continuous operation of digital services for businesses & organizations.

ANS owns and operates 5 datacentre facilities, all in the Manchester UK area.

All major carriers are onsite, including Cogent, BT, Zayo, Vodafone, Virgin Media, Neos, Telia and Lumen, so you can continue to use your existing connectivity supplier. If you don’t have a preferred network provider already, ANS also operates its own super-fast and fully-redundant fibre network, so can provide connectivity, bandwidth and IP addresses if required, for a fixed monthly cost. 

A carrier-neutral provider is a data center or network facility that does not favor any specific telecommunications carrier or ISP.

It’s our duty as a carrier-neutral data centre operator to provide you with a wide variety of connectivity and communications options, including IP Transit, point to point, Ethernet and diverse dark fibre and wavelength. You can connect to your preferred carrier as easily, robustly, and affordably as possible.

Completely! All our cabinets are fed by A+B power supplies from different commando sockets. The power to all colocation cabinets is fed through Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) units, which are effectively huge battery banks. These are fed by utility grid power from redundant dedicated substations, and we have N+1 diesel generators onsite, to take the load if there is any interruption to the mains power. All systems are constantly maintained and are tested on a regular rolling basis.

A peering arrangement refers to a mutual interconnection between two or more separate Internet networks for the purpose of exchanging traffic directly.  Peering involves the voluntary & reciprocal connection of networks to allow the exchange of data traffic without the need for routing through third-party networks or Internet service providers (ISPs).

ANS have agreements in place with LINXP, LONAPP, LIPEX, & IX Manchester, as well as relationships & provisions with pioneering Tier 1 and Tier 2 carriers, such as BT, Virgin Media Business, IXReach, & Metronet UK.

Yes, speak to your Partner Manager or get in touch to discuss your requirements. 

Yes. ANS holds multiple certifications and accreditations, and our datacentre personnel are cleared to a high Government standard.

Our team are onsite 24/7/365 and so you can visit as often as you wish – just raise an access request in our https://ans.glass portal. Conversely you may not be local to Manchester, so may never visit, instead relying fully on ANS’ technicians for all hands-on tasks.

The short answer is no. Certain workloads are perfectly suited to the public cloud and others aren’t. If you already own your server hardware and operate your own on-site datacentre or IT suite, or if you require high-bandwidth or high-resource computing or would prefer a fixed and predictable monthly cost, colocation is likely to be a great fit for you. 

You are responsible for your equipment within the cabinets, and for controlling logical access to your infrastructure. ANS is responsible for the facility’s physical security, the heating, cooling and fire suppression equipment and the network infrastructure. 

Yes – Get in touch with our team to arrange a data centre tour.