IT network servers are the core technology of the office. If your server(s) are not healthy then your network performance will suffer. Improper maintenance is a key to increased downtime. Like the old TV commercial used to say, "You can pay me now or pay me later". The same is true of servers. Time and effort spent ensuring your servers are running well will be much less than the time spent on a recovery due to poor maintenance. For many SMB organizations with limited IT resources their server is left to hope. Here are some key measures which should be checked regularly.
6 Key Performance Measures
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Did your backup run successfully. Daily backup of key data is a critical part of network maintenance and knowing yours ran properly is a first measure of server health.
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Has your anti virus software been updated to the latest signature files? Your software should be set for automatic signature updates, but you want to be sure they have been successfully downloaded and installed. This is a frequent issue and one which cannot be missed.
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Is your disc volume adequate. Software like mail servers, data bases and image files can quickly grow and if your disc usage is not being watched carefully then you can inadvertently see performance decreased or outright failure occur due to lack of disc space.
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Is your Exchange mail system operating okay. This is especially critical with the massive amounts of e-mail that most organizations are experiencing each day. Mail storage can rapidly eat up disc space and mail operations can easily be negatively affected. Checking your Exchange operation frequently is important preventative maintenance.
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How is the health of your hard discs and memory. Unfortunately, hard disc failure is a too frequent issue. Usually there will be early warning signs of a disc or memory going bad. Heeding them and taking appropriate action can substantially reduce downtime.
- Are there any warnings or errors on critical event logs? Checking for issues which are starting to occur early and then correcting the underlying problems is critical to reducing downtime.
These six important parameters, if watched regularly, can help you keep your IT network servers running more efficiently and maximize your uptime. Assuming your servers have been setup in a configuration that permits you to address problems as they arise you should be able to maintain them in a manner that can avoid crashes and failures at inopportune times. A short down period, scheduled for maintenance to respond to an identified problem is much better than having an office full of employees with little to do when an emergency occurs.
Are your servers optimized? Do you know each day how they are running? Are you sure your backup ran successfully? Every day?
Lee K
