Estimate your monthly data center infrastructure costs
Standard RU (1.75 inches)
Estimated power consumption
Unmetered or committed rate
Number of static public IPs
Installation/Rack-and-stack
Standard / Low Cost
Tier III / Mid-Market
Tier IV / High Demand (NYC, London, etc.)
Adjusts for local real estate/energy
Cost Breakdown
Monthly Recurring Space & Power:$0.00
Monthly Bandwidth & IPs:$0.00
Total Monthly Recurring (MRC):$0.00
First Year Total Expenditure (TCO):$0.00
Understanding Colocation Pricing
Colocation pricing is built on a modular model. Unlike managed hosting or cloud computing, you are essentially renting physical real estate, conditioned power, and connectivity for hardware you own. This calculator helps you forecast the operational expenditure (OpEx) of moving your on-premise servers to a professional data center.
Primary Pricing Components
Rack Units (U): Space is measured in units (1.75″). You can rent single units, 1/4 racks, 1/2 racks, or full 42U cabinets.
Power (kW): Often the most expensive component. Data centers charge based on "Draw" (actual usage) or "Breakered" (capacity allocated).
Cross-Connects: The physical cables connecting your rack to a carrier's network.
Bandwidth: Measured in Mbps (megabits per second) or by data transfer (GB). High-tier facilities often provide blended carrier services.
Example Colocation Scenario
If you have 4 standard servers (1U each), you would need 4U of space. If each server draws 250W, your total power requirement is 1kW. In a mid-market Tier III facility:
4U Space: ~$240/mo
1kW Power: ~$250/mo
100Mbps Bandwidth: ~$100/mo
Total: Approximately $590/month before setup fees.
Important Considerations
When evaluating providers, check if their pricing includes "Remote Hands" (technical support on-site) and what their SLA (Service Level Agreement) guarantees for power and cooling uptime. Tier IV facilities offer the highest redundancy but come with a significant price premium.
function calculateColoCost() {
// Input collection
var rackUnits = parseFloat(document.getElementById("rackUnits").value);
var powerKw = parseFloat(document.getElementById("powerKw").value);
var bandwidth = parseFloat(document.getElementById("bandwidth").value);
var ipAddresses = parseFloat(document.getElementById("ipAddresses").value);
var setupFee = parseFloat(document.getElementById("setupFee").value);
var multiplier = parseFloat(document.getElementById("regionPremium").value);
// Error handling
if (isNaN(rackUnits) || isNaN(powerKw) || isNaN(bandwidth) || isNaN(ipAddresses) || isNaN(setupFee)) {
alert("Please enter valid numbers in all fields.");
return;
}
// Baseline Unit Rates (Estimated Industry Averages)
var pricePerU = 65;
var pricePerKw = 220;
var pricePerMbps = 1.25;
var pricePerIp = 3.50;
// Monthly Logic
var monthlySpace = rackUnits * pricePerU * multiplier;
var monthlyPower = powerKw * pricePerKw * multiplier;
var monthlyBandwidth = bandwidth * pricePerMbps;
var monthlyIps = ipAddresses * pricePerIp;
var totalMonthlyBase = monthlySpace + monthlyPower;
var totalMonthlyAddons = monthlyBandwidth + monthlyIps;
var totalMRC = totalMonthlyBase + totalMonthlyAddons;
// Annual Logic
var totalYearOne = (totalMRC * 12) + setupFee;
// Output formatting
document.getElementById("resMonthlyBase").innerText = "$" + totalMonthlyBase.toLocaleString(undefined, {minimumFractionDigits: 2, maximumFractionDigits: 2});
document.getElementById("resMonthlyAddons").innerText = "$" + totalMonthlyAddons.toLocaleString(undefined, {minimumFractionDigits: 2, maximumFractionDigits: 2});
document.getElementById("resTotalMRC").innerText = "$" + totalMRC.toLocaleString(undefined, {minimumFractionDigits: 2, maximumFractionDigits: 2});
document.getElementById("resYearOne").innerText = "$" + totalYearOne.toLocaleString(undefined, {minimumFractionDigits: 2, maximumFractionDigits: 2});
// Reveal result box
document.getElementById("colo-results").style.display = "block";
}