{"id":1181,"date":"2013-12-09T16:48:21","date_gmt":"2013-12-09T22:48:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/?p=1181"},"modified":"2015-10-21T12:58:23","modified_gmt":"2015-10-21T17:58:23","slug":"3-signs-that-your-server-needs-upgrading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/3-signs-that-your-server-needs-upgrading\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Signs that Your Server Needs Upgrading"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif;\">A company server failing can be disastrous, especially if it\u2019s a web server and one that generates sales for the company, but it\u2019s equally damaging if it\u2019s an intranet server, as the cost to the business could prove to be massive.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif;\">Server failure can lead to downtime for the entire business; if employees can\u2019t access the intranet and everything on it such as CRM and CMSs, then it\u2019s a waste of time and money for them to be in the office at all. Likewise, if the web server fails, not only does this send the wrong message to customers both existing and potential but, depending on the business you\u2019re in, it can lead to a loss of sales.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif;\">With that in mind, today we\u2019ll take a look at some things to watch out for that suggest that your server may be about to die on you.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #ff8c00;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif;\"><strong>#1: It\u2019s getting old<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><a title=\"\" href=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/old-servers.png\" target=\"\" rel=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-1187\" style=\"margin-right: 20px;\" title=\"\" src=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/old-servers-150x150.png\" alt=\"Old Servers\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/old-servers-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/old-servers-299x300.png 299w, https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/old-servers.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\"><\/a><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif;\">OK, so perhaps this is a given, but the older your equipment is, the more likely it is to fail. Couple this with older software, which perhaps isn\u2019t supported in the same manner as newer server software and it could fall over at any given moment.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif;\">Older software tends to get less support in the way of updates and this means that there\u2019s an increased risk when it comes to security and the hardware that it supports. Many SME owners tend to think that a server and its software are not interchangeable, but upgrading to the later versions of server software can be a good idea, depending on whether it\u2019s compatible with the hardware.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff8c00;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif;\"><strong>#2: It\u2019s slowed down to a crawl<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><a title=\"\" href=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/slow-servers.png\" target=\"\" rel=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-1188\" style=\"margin-left: 20px;\" title=\"\" src=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/slow-servers-150x150.png\" alt=\"Slow Servers\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/slow-servers-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/slow-servers-299x300.png 299w, https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/slow-servers.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\"><\/a><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif;\">Servers should be the highest performing piece of computer equipment in the office. If it has suddenly slowed down and the intranet isn\u2019t performing as a result, then this suggests a problem. Ask yourself:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif;\">Is the machine clogged up with old data that could be archived or deleted?<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif;\">Is the storage on the server over 80% full?<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif;\">Is it subject to freezing and needs rebooting often?<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif;\">A good clean up could do the job and it\u2019s a good idea to get a professional in to do this if you don\u2019t have dedicated IT staff. However, it could also suggest that a piece of hardware in the server is about to fail, especially if it\u2019s very glitchy and suddenly prone to overheating.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #ff8c00;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif;\"><strong>#3: Network \u2018bottlenecks\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><a title=\"\" href=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/data-bottlenecks.png\" target=\"\" rel=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-1189 alignleft\" style=\"margin-right: 20px;\" title=\"\" src=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/data-bottlenecks-150x150.png\" alt=\"Server Data Bottlenecks\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/data-bottlenecks-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/data-bottlenecks-299x300.png 299w, https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/data-bottlenecks.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\"><\/a><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif;\">If the server has slowed so much that your intranet begins to experience bottlenecks due to high bandwidth usage, then this could suggest a few things.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif;\">\u00a0 1.) Malware<br>\n2.) Packet collision causing multiple errors<br>\n3.) Problems with the network interface cards\/cabling<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif;\">Server issues can be difficult to diagnose, as sometimes intermittent problems occur and so it\u2019s difficult to determine the exact cause. If it\u2019s something as simple as overloaded storage, then this is simple to remedy. However, if it\u2019s caused by malware which has travelled around the network, then this could represent a serious problem.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif;\">Hardware that\u2019s beginning to fail, such as an overheating CPU for example, can be very difficult to diagnose without the necessary equipment and expertise. Have you ever had issues and brought in a consultant to solve the issues and they have suddenly seemed to go away? That\u2019s common and akin to going to the doctor and feeling that your symptoms have suddenly disappeared.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #008000;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif;\"><strong>Troubleshooting and SLAs<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif;\">Hardware components that need troubleshooting in order to discover what\u2019s causing the problem can be costly and result in a lot of down time. Ideally, especially for smaller businesses without IT staff, you should have an SLA (Service Level Agreement) in place so that you can call out your IT service provider and have him\/her come out within a certain period of time.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif;\">However, this in itself isn\u2019t a stand-alone solution, as it\u2019s addressing a problem <strong>after <\/strong>it occurs. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/business\/modern-biz\/safeguard-your-business\/5-reasons-to-upgrade\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">According to server hosting provider Ho Lee<img class=\"extlink-icon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/external-links-nofollow-open-in-new-tab-favicon\/images\/extlink.png\"><\/a>, in an interview with Microsoft\u2019s Christopher Elliot: \u201cMost businesses have a hard time tracking these issues until it\u2019s too late. I recommend monitoring tools that report on the health and status of their servers. They provide information for capacity planning and alerts of trouble signs.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #008000;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif;\"><strong>Monitoring Software<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif;\">Along with having an SLA in place, it\u2019s necessary then to ensure that the <a href=\"\/servermonitor\/\" target=\"_self\">server is monitored<\/a> on a constant basis so that you can be alerted <strong>before <\/strong>the problem arises. This results in less downtime, as you can then bring in your IT provider before disaster occurs. He will be able to look at the monitoring software and see quickly where the issue is occurring and address it before it comes to the server falling over.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif;\">This of course results in less downtime as many service providers, given the opportunity, can arrange to fix server issues with little downtime during the main hours that your business operates. Giving your provider access to the <a href=\"\/help\/sm_5_2\/config_remote_monitoring.aspx\" target=\"_self\">monitoring software remotely<\/a> is also a good idea as he will be able to keep an eye on the system and alert you to potential problems.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #008000;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif;\"><strong>Additional points to remember<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif;\">Servers can be costly in terms of hardware, but investing in low-end hardware is likely to cause problems in the future. A server going down can be much more costly to a business in numerous ways, so it\u2019s necessary to think about ROI when buying server equipment.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif;\">Likewise with server software. Legacy software is likely to be unsupported so the server won\u2019t have the ability to have the latest updates installed to protect from outside interference and further support the hardware. Although I\u2019m not suggesting that you should buy the best of everything every year, when choosing server hardware and software, it pays to think about future-proofing.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif;\">If you do have dedicated IT staff, then it\u2019s likely that they would recommend all of the above, including monitoring software. Where this sometimes breaks down is in capital outlay and the finance department not seeing the bigger picture. It\u2019s the job of IT to ensure that the finance and any other necessary department understand the cost to the business in the event that a server fails.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/home?status=RT:%20@poweradmn%203%20Signs%20that%20Your%20Server%20Needs%20Upgrading%20\/blog\/3-signs-that-your-server-needs-upgrading\/?ref=blog\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1028\" title=\"\" src=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/tweet-this-article-button-large-300x75.png\" alt=\"Tweet this\" width=\"300\" height=\"75\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/tweet-this-article-button-large-300x75.png 300w, https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/tweet-this-article-button-large.png 310w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\"><img class=\"extlink-icon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/external-links-nofollow-open-in-new-tab-favicon\/images\/extlink.png\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/plus.google.com\/share?url={\/blog\/3-signs-that-your-server-needs-upgrading\/?ref=blog}\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1053\" title=\"\" src=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/google-plus-this-article-button-large2-300x75.png\" alt=\"Share on Google+\" width=\"300\" height=\"75\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/google-plus-this-article-button-large2-300x75.png 300w, https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/google-plus-this-article-button-large2.png 310w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\"><img class=\"extlink-icon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/external-links-nofollow-open-in-new-tab-favicon\/images\/extlink.png\"><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A company server failing can be disastrous, especially if it\u2019s a web server and one that generates sales for the company, but it\u2019s equally damaging if it\u2019s an intranet server, as the cost to the business could prove to be massive. Server failure can lead to downtime for the entire business; if employees can\u2019t access [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1186,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5,13,9,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-it","category-how-to","category-pc-security","category-technical","category-windows"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1181"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4231,"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1181\/revisions\/4231"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}