How to Know When You Need a New Server

Dennis Snider

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It goes without saying that servers are at the heart of every modern business, but it is sometimes difficult to know when the time has come to have them replaced before they fail and do your business significant harm. Below we detail five indicators that could tell you that it’s time to invest in new hardware.

Customer feedback/worsening performance: if your server starts to slow up, you may not immediately recognize it, but your customers will. Ask your sales team to closely monitor customer feedback and let you know if they are starting to complain about slow service on your website. You may be able to speed up performance with new hard drives, extra memory, or CPU upgrades, but it’s often simpler and cheaper to replace the whole thing.

Replace old servers: general industry agreement is that small business servers should be replaced between three and six years from new. Servers can last a decade if well cared for, but they will be hopelessly outdated. Many latest recommendations state that installing new servers every three years will reduce operating costs increase significantly.

Energy costs increasing? Older servers tend to overheat as workloads increase, and so they will need more and more cooling. This can represent a significant expense in terms of your company’s energy bill. Newer servers don’t need repairing so often and use less energy, saving you money.

Warranty coming up? If the warranty on your server is about to expire, that’s a good time to consider replacing it. Once your server is out of warranty, the manufacturer has no obligation to supply you with parts or provide repairs, and you won’t get updates to help protect your security. Definitely time to consider a new server.

Security/compatibility: as above, if your warranty on your server has expired, you are no longer protected against security threats through manufacturer updates they may not be available in any form, or they could be difficult and expensive to obtain. Old servers also have problems with compatibility; sometimes they simply can’t handle software that could be vital to your business. Having a new server in place that can handle all updates and new developments could, in the long run, be the far more efficient and economical solution.