Colocation means you own the servers and we run the building around them. You ship or drive your hardware in, we rack it in a locking cabinet, and it runs on our power, cooling and network instead of an office closet on a business internet line. You keep full control of the machines. For the routine stuff, like a reboot, a drive swap or a reseated cable, our remote hands do it so you don’t have to drive in.
Server colocation in Chicago, Los Angeles and Ashburn
Bring your own servers. We give them a locked cabinet, power, cooling, a network uplink and engineers who can put hands on them at 3 a.m. Pick Ashburn (East), Chicago (Central) or Los Angeles (West). Chicago has flat packages from $99 a month for 1U; LA and Ashburn are quoted per deployment.
- 1U from $99/mo in Chicago
- Single server to full rack
- SOC 2 Type II data centers
- Free remote hands time in every Chicago package
- 99.5% network uptime SLA in writing
- 1U from $99/mo in Chicago
- Single server to full rack
- SOC 2 Type II data centers
- Free remote hands time in every Chicago package
- 99.5% network uptime SLA in writing
Colocation services
Your hardware in our data center
GigeNET colocation
Rack 14 — Row B
Other client
Your hardware
Yours
Your hardware
Yours
Other client
Redundant power
Climate control
Physical security
Carrier connectivity
Remote hands available
On-site support, or full access when you need it
Locations
Three places to put your servers
One site on each coast and one in the middle. Pick the one closest to the people and systems your servers talk to. Chicago is the cheapest way in and the only site with published packages. Los Angeles and Ashburn cost more, so we quote them per deployment.
| Region | Facility | Pricing | Good fit for |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Ashburn, VA | Washington, D.C. area, the East Coast’s biggest interconnection market. SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 | Custom quote | East Coast users and the short hop to Europe |
| Central Chicago, IL | Our largest facility and headquarters in Arlington Heights: 17,000 sq. ft., engineers on site 24/7/365 | Flat packages: 1U $99, 2U $199, half rack $799, full rack $1,400 a month | Central US users, the lowest-cost start, one box or a full rack |
| West Los Angeles, CA | Digital Realty LAX10, 600 West 7th Street, downtown LA. SOC 2 Type II | Custom quote. Single server or multi-U. Priced higher than Chicago | West Coast users, Asia-Pacific traffic, a second region far from Chicago |
Deciding between Chicago and Ashburn? We wrote up Ashburn vs Chicago with measured latencies.
Chicago colocation packages
Four flat packages, month to month. Each one includes rack space in a locking cabinet, a 1Gb/s uplink (10G available on the half and full rack), a /29 of IPs, its power allotment and free remote hands time. LA and Ashburn are quoted, so tell us what you're bringing.
1U · 1Gbps
$99
/month
Best for
Single server, small projects, testing colocation before scaling
1U rack space, locking cabinet
1Gb/s uplink
/29 — 8 IP addresses
Redundant dual-circuit power
1 hour free remote hands
$100 setup fee
2U · 1Gbps
$199
/month
Best for
Small clusters, redundant pairs, growing setups
2U rack space, locking cabinet
1Gb/s uplink
/29 — 8 IP addresses
Redundant dual-circuit power
1 hour free remote hands
$200 setup fee
Popular for SMBs
Half rack
$799
/month
Best for
Multi-server deployments, established infrastructure
20U rack space, locking cabinet
1Gb/s uplink (10G available)
/29 — 8 IP addresses
Redundant dual-circuit power
1 hour free remote hands
$1,000 setup fee
Enterprise
Full rack
$1,400
/month
Best for
Large deployments, dedicated infrastructure teams
40U rack space, locking cabinet
1Gb/s uplink (10G available)
/29 — 8 IPs (/24 available)
Dual 20A 120V circuits
2 hours free remote hands
$1,500 setup fee
1U colocation
Colocating one server
You don’t need a rack to colocate. A 1U slot holds one rack-mounted server, 1.75 inches tall, and in Chicago it’s $99 a month plus a $100 setup fee. That’s the right size for the server that’s been living in an office closet, a mail or DNS box that has to stay up, a backup target, or a trial run before you move more hardware.
In Los Angeles we also take single servers, and a few rack units at a time. LA space costs us more than Chicago does, so the price is higher and we quote it per deployment. If the lowest monthly bill matters most and your users aren’t on the West Coast, Chicago is the better deal.
More detail: can I colocate a single server? and what 1U colocation costs in Chicago.
What's included, and what we handle
These are the terms on our Chicago packages today. In LA and Ashburn the same things are set per quote. Service levels are in our SLA.
A locking cabinet
Your space is in a locking cabinet, from 1U up to a 40U full rack. Nobody else touches your hardware.
Power sized to the package
Power is sold per package, not per kW. Each Chicago package includes redundant dual-circuit power; the full rack comes with dual 20A 120V circuits. Measure your real draw under load before you pick.
Remote hands
Reboots, drive swaps, reseated cables. Chicago packages include free time: 1 hour, or 2 on the full rack. Extra time is quoted on request.
Uplink and IPs
A 1Gb/s uplink and a /29 (8 IPs) on every Chicago package. 10G is available on the half and full rack, and more IPs on request.
Private network between packages
Run two 1U slots, or a 1U next to a 2U? We can link them on a private network so replication and backup traffic stays off the public uplinks.
Uptime in writing
Colocation is covered by our Network SLA at 99.5% availability. Miss it and you can claim a service credit.
Choosing a provider
How to compare colocation providers
Most colocation quotes look alike until something breaks. Ask every provider on your list the same questions, in writing, before you sign:
- How much power is in the price? Amps and receptacles per package, and what an extra circuit costs. Power, not space, is usually what makes the bill jump.
- What does remote hands cost after the free time? Get the hourly rate and the response time. A $50 cheaper rack with slow, expensive hands isn’t cheaper.
- What’s the SLA, and what does a miss pay? Look for the availability number, how credits are calculated and what’s excluded.
- Can you get in? Ask about physical access hours and how you ship hardware in.
- How is bandwidth sold? Port speed, whether it’s metered, and what 95th-percentile overage costs if it is.
- What happens if you grow? Can you add a unit or a rack in the same row without renumbering your IPs?
We answer all of these on the quote. For the math on whether owning hardware beats renting it, see colocation vs dedicated: a 36-month cost breakdown and colocation pricing explained.
Tell us what you are bringing
Send the number of servers, how many rack units they take, what they draw under load and roughly how much bandwidth you expect. We'll recommend a location and a package, and quote LA or Ashburn if Chicago isn't the right fit.
✕
✕
✕
24/7/365
US-based support
99.5%
Network uptime SLA in writing
Since 1998
Hosting in Chicago
SOC 2
Type II certified
Server colocation FAQs
Further reading: Colocation pricing explained · What remote hands covers · Data center locations
What is server colocation?
You own the servers and rent space for them in a data center. The provider supplies the rack space, power, cooling, physical security and network uplink; you keep control of the hardware and everything on it.
How much does colocation cost?
In Chicago, $99 a month for 1U, $199 for 2U, $799 for a half rack and $1,400 for a full rack, plus a one-time setup fee of $100 to $1,500. Los Angeles and Ashburn are quoted per deployment and cost more than Chicago. Colocation pricing explained walks through what drives the number.
Can I colocate a single server?
Yes. In Chicago a 1U slot is $99 a month plus $100 setup. In Los Angeles we take single servers and multi-U deployments on a custom quote.
Do you offer colocation in Los Angeles?
Yes, at Digital Realty LAX10, 600 West 7th Street in downtown LA. It’s priced higher than Chicago and quoted per deployment. See Los Angeles colocation.
Is colocation cheaper than a dedicated server?
Over a few years it can be, if you already own the hardware or buy it well. In the first months a dedicated server is cheaper because you don’t pay for the server up front. We ran the numbers in colocation vs dedicated: 36-month cost breakdown.
Can you host high-density or GPU servers?
Not in our facilities. We don’t sell high-density or GPU colocation. Send the request anyway and we’ll place it with a partner facility built for that power draw.
What SLA comes with colocation?
Our Network SLA at 99.5% availability, in writing, with service credits if we miss it. The High Availability Guarantee isn’t available for colocation. Details are on our SLA page.
How do I get a quote?
Use the quote form. Tell us the location, how many servers and rack units, their power draw under load and your expected bandwidth. For Chicago packages you can also use the Chicago colo quote form.