Server security, and the measures you need to take to maintain your server performance and condition, are often overlooked. With servers historically being the cornerstone of any business network, the importance of ensuring your server is treated like a King, is unparalleled.
This post will help you to maintain your server which will prolong the life of your current on-premise server, keeping your long-term maintenance costs low and downtime to a minimum.
1. Breath of Fresh Air
The best way you can maintain your server is by ensuring it has the right home. Your server room may fit a server inside it – but does that mean it’s big enough or is the right location for it?
All servers require ventilation or “room to breathe”. This helps them to avoid overheating which can cause a plethora of problems, most notably; your server will shut down. This can result in data loss and downtime for your business – both of which can be avoided by simply maintaining the air flow around your server.
2. Maintain Your Server Room
Leading on from the first point, to maintain your server you need to make sure it is kept in a locked room – but why? I hear you ask.
The answer is simply to keep your data safe. There are a number of pieces of legislation that require businesses to securely and safely store and maintain their customers data, not to mention the importance of keeping your businesses data safe and secure.
With the introduction of GDPR in 2018, businesses are now required to behaviour responsibly when it comes to their customers data or face heavy fines. In addition to this, consider the consequences to you business if your companies data (records, systems, files etc.) where no longer available – protecting your data is integral to growth and success.
Maintaining your server and keeping it locked away is important so we recommend only giving a key to those who require one. Otherwise malicious individuals can access the server physically, allowing them to wreak havoc across your entire business network.
3. A Clean Server is a Happy Server
Whilst we are still taking about your server’s physical environment, to maintain your server, you need to keep your server, and its room, clean and tidy.
We all enjoy being clean, it makes us feel fresh, recharged and ready to roll. The same concept applies to a server.
A server that is dusty and dirty, or a server room that is untidy, (basically neglected) will result in a server that won’t last long. To ensure the optimal life of a server, the cleaner you keep it, the longer it ‘lives’.
You should seek a professional to clean your server to avoid damaging or breaking it.
4. Out With The Old, in With The New!
Maintain your server or get a new one?
The harsh truth is that as time goes on, hardware from 7 or 8 years ago (or even 3 years ago in some cases) does not hold up in your business, as growth and new software increase the demand for server resources.
You may also have had a lower number of employees connecting to your server in 2012, but this has more than likely increased over the years meaning you need a server than can cope with todays (and future) demands on it. It served its purpose then but you’ve simply outgrown it as a business.
Maintaining your IT hardware can sometimes mean replacing it to make sure it doesn’t become false economy.
5. Keep Your Server Updated And Protected!
We take security very seriously and protecting your data as your maintain your server is essential.
Due to your server holding so much of your critical business data, we urge you take the necessary steps to secure your business network – whether that’s a dedicated enterprise-grade firewall, a multi-vector endpoint security solution or an email security solution, you need to protect your server, cloud or not.
6. If All Else Fails…
Let’s set the scene. Your email security lets in a malicious email, your firewall proceeds to let in a ‘Network Nasty’ from the email, and your endpoint security doesn’t pick anything up (this is highly unlikely to happen if you have all the proper security protection in place, but user error prevails!).
You get hit with ransomware.
What do you do?!
Your server is completely locked out and all of your files, including critical business data, are encrypted with the threat of being deleted unless payment is made.
Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery to the rescue.
Having a BCDR solution that backups up all of your business data can save you a lot of hassle and a lot of lost sleep – not to mention a lot of money (the average SMB loses £7,000 per 1 hour of downtime!)*.
Furthermore, with Neuways’ BCDR you can access a backup of your business data in a virtualised environment in as little as 15 minutes, allowing you to connect to your critical business data faster – saving your business money.
Summary – maintain your server
Maintain your server to prolong its life and protect your business from loosing access to its data. Whilst they may seem like a challenging task, it is necessary in saving your business a lot of money. The above factors are only the beginning in helping your server live a long and happy life but are also some of the main factors in ensuring your business saves money and continues working productively and efficiently. Some of these tips are obvious, but some are overlooked – nevertheless, they are all relevant steps in maintaining your server.
*Datto – Cost of Downtime, 18th September 2018
