Frequent and regular server maintenance is, more often than not, seen by many as a nuisance, and why not? The servers, after all, will have to be taken down for maintenance work. And, it’s only understandable for businesses to look at server downtime directly as financial loss. Then, there’s the added cost. But, really, server maintenance is not as bad as it looks like.
The truth is, there are plenty of benefits to taking the servers down, albeit momentarily, for maintenance, including the following:
- Improved security. No matter how great and well-coded software is, it can and will contain bugs and security leaks, some of which has not been discovered yet. The key reason why servers need to be regularly taken down is so that patches can be applied to eliminate as many risks as possible. Do it regularly enough, and the server becomes much less of a security risk than when it doesn’t go through maintenance as often. Think of the expected downtime as a momentary delay to prevent much worse problems in the future.
- Better performance. Again, software, no matter how efficient it was made to be, can and will always be improved. Sometimes, the improvements are small, but it is incremental. Over time, the said improvements can help eliminate bottlenecks that often occur during complex situations. In many cases, the small improvements can add up over time and prevent any prolonged server downtime in the future, while creating a more stable environment than the last.
- New and enhanced features. Speaking of improvements, software is best approached with a proactive manner. Many agree that introducing new features and improving previous ones can go a long way in eliminating as many risks and bugs as often as possible. This can then translate to higher level of service towards clients and business efficiency.
Less Downtime, Better Efficiency
Regular planned server maintenance can also be a good opportunity to check for backups, adjust server resource allocation, doing reboots to keep servers fresh, and doing necessary application level tests to make sure that the server is running as well as it should be. Don’t worry, though, as some tasks are highly automated, so downtime is kept minimal.
Remember, it doesn’t matter how small or how big your business is, server maintenance should always be done regularly. By ensuring there is less chances of downtime and better efficiency, it directly translates to higher chances of profit for your business. This effectively renders the “financial loss” as a result of maintenance-related downtime moot and irrelevant. Additionally, the various improvements that come with the patches applied during server maintenance only serves to help improve your business and its services.
Of course, since there are a lot that happens during server maintenance, many of which you may not have any idea about, it’s best that you choose to work together with a trust-worthy company that fields a team of experts that has built a reputation in ensuring that their client’s servers are running on all cylinders at all times.
Call Up & Running Computer Solutions today for information on our maintenance packages to keep your business up and running, 951-737-8558 or visit our website at www.urcs.net.