Colocation

Unlike cloud services, where the provider owns and manages the infrastructure, colocation allows the company to retain ownership and control of its equipment. The data center provides the physical space, power, cooling, and network connectivity necessary.

A primary colocation site offers the lowest latency to a venue’s matching engine. This is typically the data center where the matching engine is housed. In the cases where a venue has latency or fiber equalization between multiple colocation sites, then multiple locations may be considered the primary colocation site. For example, several US equities venues in Equinix NY4/5 implement fiber equalization. Databento typically hosts its servers in primary colocation sites to minimize hops to the matching engine and capture data directly from the source.