Tip of the Week: 3 Signs Your Server is On Its Last Legs

Your servers are some of the most important resources your business has, and they should last for many years. After a few years, however, they may begin to struggle to handle the workloads they once did; and, they often fail leaving a whole business in a lurch. To avoid this scenario, knowing the signs of a failing server can come in extraordinarily handy. Today we will go through three ways to ascertain if your server needs to replaced.

#1: Random Failure & Noise
Your server is surprisingly resilient. It can go for years without a sign of any problems. Although, a server can give out under extraneous loads, so when it goes down, typically there isn’t much to be worried about. That said, if you are concerned over your servers’ viability for the long term, you need to understand some important facts.

The average lifespan for any server is about five years. Some last three, some last seven, but if your server is making clicking noises or is randomly shutting down when its loads get high, you may want to think about beginning the process of migrating your programs and data to another server.

• To ascertain if there is a problem with your server, you’ll want to
• Look over event logs to see if you can spot an explanation.
• Physically check the motherboard to ensure components aren’t damaged.
• Check the server’s disk for errors.
• Make sure there isn’t any type of malware infection.
• Check server loads to ensure they aren’t too stressed.

#2 Running Hot
Servers are heavily utilized, so they put off their fair share of heat. If they get too hot, however, they’ll begin to lose effectiveness fairly quickly. If a human gets a severe fever, it is typically caused by another issue. The server functions the same way. If you see a spike in your server’s temperature, you should immediately check the components to ensure they are all running as intended.

Faulty fans, clogged front intake, airflow blockage, or as simple of a thing as slightly repositioning a server could lead to increased temperatures, so if your server is functioning well beyond the normal temperature your vendor recommends, you’ll probably be replacing that server before long.

#3 Running Slow
As computer technicians, we constantly get tickets with users complaining about the speed of their machines. The problem is that if one computer is moving slow, one person’s productivity is stymied. On the other hand, if an entire server is running slow, many people are affected.

Most servers don’t slow enough for the end user to know it, unless that server is being pressed too hard by that set of users. Slow servers mean slow data transfer, which can cause a massive bottleneck, hindering your company’s productivity.

At Directive, our technicians can monitor your servers and perform proactive maintenance to ensure they are working optimally. With our monitoring and maintenance platform in place you would know well in advance if any of your hardware is going to fail, saving your business the headache of refreshing hardware on the fly, and from what could be a catastrophic situation. To start battling downtime by keeping your servers in tip-top shape, call us today at 607.433.2200.