Server failure is a common issue that affects all organization types and sizes, and the cost of server downtime can include days without system access to loss of critical business data. This can lead to operation issues, service outages and repair costs.
When your server goes down, the first obstacle lies in discovering what went wrong. Having your server up and running again as soon as possible is mission-critical, so we’ve put together the top 7 reasons servers fail- and what you can do to minimize the risks for next time. If you’re in the middle of a crisis, give us a call at +968 963 12346 (httsp://wa.me/96896312346) and we’ll work with you to rescue your server data recovery in a secure & professional way.
Power outages
Power fluctuations due to severe weather conditions, poor electrical infrastructure inside or outside the server facility, or blackouts due to high power consumption are problematic. Servers with power issues can cause end-user problems such as decreased productivity and increase data center work as staff troubleshoot problems with devices coming under heavy workloads or are rebooting every time power drops below acceptable levels.
To prevent downtime, deploy uninterruptible power supplies throughout your facilities to handle the transition to back up power sources. Your team should purchase, test, and maintain individual on-site generators to run critical systems during these outages. Secure your fuel storage area, test the fuel regularly for contamination from natural disasters and secure it from theft or sabotage
Disk Failure
Not even server hard drives last forever, and when one disk fails, entire systems can stop working. It’s not always certain how long your drives are going to last, but their failure rates experience a sharp spike after about four years. The median lifespan of a drive is just over six years, but it’s good to be aware and keep an eye on your drives and their performance around the four-year mark.
The way a drive is being used can also affect the lifespan. The more use the drive sees, the more likely it is to degrade faster. A drive used on a server used primarily for storage purposes, for example, will likely have a longer lifespan than one used on a production server.
Minimize this risk by performing regular hard drive repair checks and have backups waiting in the wings for when one does fail.
Virus Attack
This is one of the most common failure issues with servers. A security breach could potentially lead to corruption or even loss of data in addition to system downtime. If you host websites on your server, they can be flagged by browsers and search engines as unsafe- preventing current and potential customers from even visiting your site.
Luckily, you can prevent viruses by following security best practices and having a reliable business-class antivirus solution and firewall on your server. You should also enforce security measures. Not every user needs to be an administrator and not every administrator needs full system access. Monitor who has what access level and update access levels whenever there are changes in the company, such as an employee leaving.
Finally, stay informed. One of the most common ways that computers are infected with ransomware is through social engineering. Educate yourself (and your employees if you’re a business owner) on how to detect malspam, suspicious websites, and other scams. And above all else, exercise common sense. If it seems suspect, it probably is.
Dust and temperature interference
Server hardware and related components require specific components to perform optimally, such as adequate cooling and moisture removal and protection from excessive temperatures. Server rooms that are too hot or cold could cause hardware to malfunction, leading to downtime. Excessive humidity can cause hardware component corrosion. It creates a dangerous workplace for your team, as the hardware could short circuit and electrocute nearby staff.
To prevent environmental factors from affecting your hardware, you can hire a managed service provider (MSP) to handle your server facilities. MSPs typically have well-maintained facilities and staff that can ensure your servers are well cared for and are unaffected from facility conditions. You can work with a cloud or hosting company for any cloud-related hardware and software. These providers have specialized staff, training, and resources to provide high-quality and highly available IT services to today's businesses.
Failed Upgrades/Updates
Upgrades & updates are double-edged swords. Bad ones can cause frustrating errors and even server failure. But if you don’t update, then you leave your server vulnerable.
How do you solve this issue? Always make sure you have good, up-to-date backups, but also consider waiting a little bit before updating/upgrading. Our system administrator recommends waiting about four days to a week to give time for bugs in updates to be discovered and fixed before you install them on your servers. That way you don’t have to deal with the growing pains.
For upgrades, wait a bit longer and make sure you run a full back up right before you upgrade to avoid losing any data. Upgrades are larger and incorporate more changes, meaning there’s more of a chance for something to go wrong.
To avoid waiting too long, you can automatically update small things and manually update the larger ones.
Physical Disaster
Your server room floods. There’s an office fire. A tornado comes through your building. It’s difficult to account for acts of nature and other physical disasters. These events can cause anything from slight damage to a server to complete destruction of it.
That’s why you should always have backups running. Backups are not a set-up-and-forget thing either. You should be checking regularly to make sure your backups are running. Many companies have backups stored away somewhere without anyone checking on them and are unpleasantly surprised when the need to use them arises and find they haven’t been backing up data for months. Not keeping good backups can cost companies months of data in the case of a server failure.
You can also protect the data on your server by running additional backups off-site. That way your backups won’t be affected in the same physical event that damaged your server.
If you’re experiencing an unexpected data loss situation, contact our Server – RAID experts anytime to recover your lost data. To learn more about our company and services visit our website now Space Data Recovery
