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Administrating a server or multiple servers can be a significant responsibility especially for business with no previous experience of operating IT infrastructure from remote locations. There is a need to understand your ability to remotely access the machine and whether such methods are time and cost effective.
Choosing a suitable operating system is essential. For example, UNIX based operating systems are developed to be administered by remote while windows operating system often require third party software such as VNC to access the server. If this is the case, be ready to spend the time learning the software and also accepting the additional expense. If this is the case, be ready to spend the time learning the software and also accepting the additional expense.
If you are taking responsibility for supplying the machine it is worth over specifying as access to a machine at a co-location place is not always easy. You need to think how you are going to remotely administer the machine; with UNIX this is easy you can use telnet or SSH but with a Windows based system you need to look at packages such as PC anywhere. Some co-location provider will limit the type of cases the machine can be in this is normally so that they can rack mount the machine; this is done as they take up least amount of space.
Most co-location providers require contracts. This is can be a double edged sword since if the service is below standard; it is costly to break out of the legal binding agreement. So before signing the contract, study the contract from top to bottom several times. Look for key components such as a SLA (Service Level Agreement). SLA is legal assurance that the co-location provider must maintain services at a level which is satisfactory to all the parties involved (in particular you as the client). This may include issues including 99.9% uptime for the network and support response times of no less than 2 hours. If you are comfortable with the contract (or the SLA) then shop elsewhere.
Co-location is an approach that comes with its own responsibilities. For example, tasks including system administration and security are two important areas that need constant monitoring. This can be time consuming. If done properly patches should be tested out on a non production machine before being put on the public facing server. And a degree of technical know how is required to ensure things run smoothly. The monthly cost of co-locating a server can vary from around $100 upwards in terms of paying a provider but can be a lot more in terms of time taken to ensure your system runs smoothly.
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