Your body, your car, even your house needs a little TLC to keep looking and running at its best. Servers are no different. With that in mind here are some handy tips to help you keep your servers in fighting shape for as long as possible.
Mount your server in a rack
Most small to medium businesses start their new servers and networking gear on a desk or shelf, which is an inexpensive way but leaves your equipment to gather dust, expand into an unmanageable mess and get cables removed by accident. Placing all your server gear in a nice server rack will help prolong your server shelf life whilst also making it more secure and manageable.
Install and setup a UPS
Having a UPS helps shutdown your equipment safely without loss of data or cause problems with the server operating system, and it also helps with surge protection which can save you having to spend money on new equipment or power supplies. Always have your UPS connected to all your server equipment and management software installed and configured to shutdown servers when the battery is about to run out of charge.
Monthly Maintenance
Just like your car, servers should always have maintenance done to help prevent any loss of data or major errors. Have your onsite IT support or outsourced IT do maintenance on a regular basis and also get your backups regularly tested.
Backups Backups Backups!!
Think of backups like your data’s insurance. You want to make sure that should the worst happen, you are covered from having to recreate thousands of documents or having to explain to clients that you have lost important data. Have your backups saved using reliable backup software (e.g Shadow protect, Symantec backup exec) to a location within your network and not on the server you are backing up, in case of ransomware. Make sure as well, that an offsite backup service or Portable HDD to take home is organised should the building collapse or catch fire.
