If you think you need a new server, you’re probably right.
The main symptom of a declining server is a drop in speed. Files are slow to save and slow to load. This can be marked by your employees’ lamenting cries of, “LAG!” echoing through your office like a curse. It can also be marked by the feeling that you’re computing through thick mud. Uphill. Both ways.
But before you go flipping through server catalogs, it’s important to understand why you’re experiencing speed issues.
Speed issues can be a result of your users and programs simply overtaxing your servers’ capacity. Low server memory will result in processing speeds that feel like you’re computing through molasses. If this is the case, it may be possible to increase RAM as a stopgap to help with speed issues.
Unfortunately, if your server is already maxed out or reaching the end of its lifecycle, buying a new server is unavoidable if productivity is to remain high.
The first thing you should do when experiencing server slowness is have your system needs assessed. With a business-level assessment, you’ll get an accurate picture of the daily traffic and load that users place on your servers. This assessment should also include projections of future growth and processing needs.
Servers are no small investment, but getting a model with room to grow will pay off big in the future. Smaller servers will cost less, but leave little room to grow. Factor in an average server lifespan of about five years. To right-size your purchase the smart way, imagine where your computing needs will be five years from now and buy to that expectation.
Remember: a big server purchase today can seem expensive, but compared to five years of incremental productivity loss at the hands of a old or outdated server, the long-term return will almost always outweigh the short-term investment.
How do you estimate your future processing needs?
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There’s a lot of choice in server size, processing speed, components and cost.
In general, you can bank on a small to medium-size server in the $2,000 range. Less than that and you’ll want to ask questions about what’s wrong with the thing. Larger models can be around $10,000, and even larger “enterprise-level” models can run over $40,000.
In terms of physical specs, look for a server with at least 1 terabyte of memory and a solid state drive. This is a minimum for a good, business-quality server. Depending on the recommendations you receive from your assessment and future planning, you’ll want to tailor your server needs to those specifications.
As with any electronics upon which your core operations depend: don’t touch it, don’t look at it, don’t let anyone sketchy or clumsy near it. Store your server in a cool, dark place away from pipes and with good airflow. Be sure to back up your server regularly (preferably automatically and daily at a minimum) to be sure that if you do suffer a server crash, you can get back online quickly.
Looking for some assistance assessing, estimating and server-planning for your business? Give Dynamic Quest a call!
It takes an average of 287 days for security teams to identify and contain a data breach, according to the “Cost of a Data Breach 2021” report released by IBM and Ponemon Institute.
The cost of cybercrime is predicted to hit $10.5 trillion by 2025, according to the latest version of the Cisco/Cybersecurity Ventures “2022 Cybersecurity Almanac.”.
The internal team was energized. With the Level 1 work off its plate, the team turned its attention to the work that fueled company growth and gave them job satisfaction.
Forty-three percent of attacks are aimed at SMBs, but only 14% are prepared to defend themselves (Accenture).
The three sectors with the biggest spending on cybersecurity are banking, manufacturing, and the central/federal government, accounting for 30% of overall spending (IDC).
More than 33 billion records will be stolen by cybercriminals by 2023, an increase of 175% from 2018.
The average cost of a data breach in the United States is $8.64 million, which is the highest in the world, while the most expensive sector for data breach costs is the healthcare industry, with an average of $7.13 million (IBM).
40% of businesses will incorporate the anywhere operations model to accommodate the physical and digital experiences of both customers and employees (Techvera).
We did a proof of concept that met every requirement that our customer might have. In fact, we saw a substantial improvement.
We did everything that we needed to do, financially speaking. We got our invoices out to customers, we deposited checks, all the things we needed to do to keep our business running, and our customers had no idea about the tragedy. It didn’t impact them at all.
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