The trend is clear: as the magnitude of data is constantly increasing, the physical infrastructure is, if not already out of, on its way out of corporate facilities and into the hands of specialised neutral multi-tenant data centers. The promises of the "cloud", as enticing as they once were, soon became clear that were not suited for large deployments. Many corporations and businesses were – and still are – unwilling to put the entirety of their digital operations squarely within the hands of another entity, clinging vehemently to their privately owned and oftentimes internally housed data centers. Enter hybrid cloud.

The hybrid cloud promises a "best of both worlds" approach, through the recombination of on-site infrastructure, private cloud systems, and public cloud services, with tailored orchestration between the platforms. However, the on-site infrastructure, given the ever-growing demands both in raw computing capabilities as well as the peripheral infrastructure required for the reliable operation of the installation, is limited in more ways than one: spatially, as the infrastructure occupies a physical space, whereas the limitation associated with energy is twofold: in terms of consumption as well as in terms of dissipation – in other words, cooling. Enter colocation.

The limitations of the on-site installations become prevalent in the present, as the proliferation of power- and resource -hungry systems such as big data, machine learning, neural networks and other cutting-edge technologies is skyrocketing. Data centers can no longer be housed in basements, nor can they fit, let alone expand as the need arises, in "a" room. Colocation is no longer a luxury but a necessity. Moreover, in addition to the equipment and the necessary space and power, colocation reaps the benefits of on-site monitoring, physical and digital security, seamless expansion and/or upgrades, interconnection, as well as reliable and proven disaster recovery plans ready to ensure the uninterrupted operation of your infrastructure.

Colocation, within a neutral multi-tenant data center, like the ones that Lamda Hellix, A Digital Realty Company owns, allows your business to grow to have full control over your infrastructure and your data – providing a clear pathway to the operations model of the hybrid cloud. The security and control of dedicated in-house deployments, combined with the cloud's scalability and flexibility, produce a combination that has no equal. Colocation is a practice already proliferating among businesses and can be the perfect solution to the torturous dilemma tormenting most business managers: on-site or off-site?

Want to discover more about the importance of colocation in the hybrid cloud era? Contact us via this form and let our experts inform you accordingly.