Retail colocation

Retail colocation is the sale of data center capacity in small increments — a single rack unit, quarter rack, full cabinet, or private cage — bundled with power, cooling, connectivity, and support services. Contracts are shorter (1-3 years) and priced per rack or per kW, commonly $100-300 per kW/month depending on market, density, and included services. Retail customers are typically enterprises, ISPs, and mid-size tech companies that need a few kW to a few hundred kW. Compared with wholesale, retail carries higher per-kW pricing but includes managed elements like remote hands, cross-connect provisioning, and richer carrier ecosystems. Retail-focused operators such as Equinix and regional carrier-neutral players emphasize interconnection density over raw capacity.