![Esso garage, Teignmouth Road, Torquay - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Esso_garage%2C_Teignmouth_Road%2C_Torquay_-_geograph.org.uk_-_289684.jpg)
Colocation (or co-location) is the act of placing multiple (sometimes related) entities within a single location.
Examples
* In an organization, it refers to placing related roles or groups in a single room, building or campus.
* In business, it refers to the practice of locating multiple similar businesses in the same facility.
* In trading, it often refers to placing multiple data centers in proximity to trading centers
* In telecommunications, primarily wireless telecommunications facilities such as mobile wireless (cell sites) and radio broadcasting, it refers to the practice of locating multiple wireless broadcast facilities/providers within the same facility. Many jurisdictions now mandate the colocation of mobile wireless carriers within a single facility to avoid the proliferation of wireless communication towers.
![KFC Taco Bell, Fitzgerald](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/KFC_Taco_Bell%2C_Fitzgerald.jpg)
* In the
fast food restaurant
A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast-food cuisine and has minimal table service. The food served in fast-food restaurants is typically ...
industry, one primary use of this concept is
Yum! Brands
Yum! Brands, Inc. (or Yum!), formerly Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc., is an American fast food corporation listed on the Fortune 1000. Yum! operates the brands KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill, except in China, where the ...
with its
KFC,
Taco Bell
Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includin ...
, and
Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut is an American multinational restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas by Dan and Frank Carney. They serve their signature pan pizza and other dishes including pasta, breadsticks and dessert a ...
menus appearing in the same restaurant. All of the
WingStreet chain locations are co-located with
Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut is an American multinational restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas by Dan and Frank Carney. They serve their signature pan pizza and other dishes including pasta, breadsticks and dessert a ...
.
* In the retail sector,
Sears Holdings
Sears Holdings Corporation was an American holding company headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. It was the parent company of the chain stores Kmart and Sears and was founded after the former purchased the latter in 2005. It was the 20th- ...
often operates its large-format
Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...
stores with an income tax services office, an optical shop, and other independent operations.
Walmart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
is also known for this, in addition to including fast-food restaurants such as
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...
,
Subway or
Dunkin' Donuts within its stores.
Target
Target may refer to:
Physical items
* Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports
** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports
** Aiming point, in field artillery, f ...
often includes
Starbucks and Pizza Hut in its stores.
* In the airline industry, colocation commonly occurs at
airports. Airline alliances will be assigned or build a fortress out of certain terminals or dominant carrier-specific terminals;
Star Alliance
Star Alliance is the world's largest global airline alliance. Founded on 14 May 1997, its CEO is Jeffrey Goh and its headquarters is located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. , Star Alliance is the largest of the three global alliances by passenge ...
in particular makes colocation in a single terminal alliance policy (termed "Move Under One Roof"). An example would be at Tokyo's
Narita Airport
Narita International Airport ( ja, 成田国際空港, Narita Kokusai Kūkō) , also known as Tokyo-Narita, formerly and originally known as , is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Haneda Airport ...
, where local carrier
All Nippon Airways
, also known as ANA (''Ē-enu-ē'') or is an airline in Japan. Its headquarters are located in Shiodome City Center in the Shiodome area of Minato ward of Tokyo. It operates services to both domestic and international destinations and had m ...
, a Star Alliance member, and its partners operate in one terminal to facilitate partner connections and product offerings, even offering combined check-in, member lounges, and ground services.
Data
Colocation is often used in the data sourcing industry to mean off-site data storage, usually in a
data center. This is very important for businesses since the loss of data can be crucial for companies of any size, up to and including disciplinary action for employees or loss of their job. An unexpected loss in data can result from fires, earthquakes, floods, or any sort of natural disaster.
Data colocation technology began to take hold in the telecommunications industry. Colocation enables multiple customers to access network, server, and data storage space, connecting them to a variety of service providers.
Colocation: The Logical Home for the Cloud
'' Computerworld'', Cyrus One.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colocation (Business)
Business terms