How to keep server downtime to a minimum?

Have you ever thought about or maybe even experienced the significant impact that server downtime can have on your business? If yes, then you don’t need anyone to tell you how far reaching its impact is. Not only does it result in lost productivity from your staff coupled with the associated cost of labour but its impact on new business and existing customers has long term affects. Unfortunately, the failure of a server can sometimes be just due to sheer bad luck. While it may be impossible to ensure your server stays running 24×7, there are a few measures you can put in place to ensure that the chances of any downtime remain close to zero.

Implement reporting tools

The most obvious way to minimise downtime is by getting your servers back up and running as soon as possible. One way to implement this is by using server monitoring and reporting tools. You can set up the reporting tool to notify you of any server downtime as soon as it happens. Most monitoring tools allow you to get notified of server downtime via email, phone, and even text message. Once you’re notified of the downtime, it’s time to take steps to quickly remedy it.

Use a high-reliability UPS

A common mistake most people make when building their own server is not using a proper, quality uninterrupted power supply (UPS). To ensure your server is powered reliably, spend a little extra cash and get an enterprise-grade UPS. The main function of a UPS is to supply clean power by levelling power spikes and preventing unexpected surges. In fact, not only does this ensure an interrupted supply of power, it also keeps other hardware from getting damaged on account of power surges.

Schedule regular backups

Imagine your server experiences some sort of hardware crash and restoring the data from the damaged hardware becomes out of the question. This is definitely not a situation you want to find yourself in. To make sure this doesn’t happen to you, always keep a recent backup of the server’s operating system and data on another physical device. There are a number of ways for you to maintain a backup. You can schedule backups to a physical drive or use a cloud backup service.

Keep your server environment cool

For any server to run at an optimum level, it is important to ensure that the ambient temperature of the server room combined with the heat generated from the server hardware does not end up causing damage due to overheating. Fortunately, there are a number of methods you can employ to ensure server room  temperatures are kept under control. Maximise your server room space by removing clutter in order to allow for better airflow. Also, keep your server room properly air-conditioned, maintaining temperatures between 50 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Alternatively, you could invest in getting rack enclosures with built-in cooling systems.

Use cloud-managed services

One good way of reducing server crashes is by utilising cloud computing services. Factors like sudden traffic surges can lead to a server overload and in some cases, hardware failure. Cloud-managed services offer scalable resources, making them an excellent option for servers that host high traffic sites. Using a cloud-based backup service also helps recover data, in the event you experience some server downtime.