If you’re running a small business, server uptime becomes critical. You rely on your server to file, store and print information.
Downtime not only halts your business’ productivity but affects your profits. So, what can you do to reduce server downtime?
Use a service that provides live patching
Everyone has experienced system updates, which can drag on for what seems to be centuries. This painfully time-consuming process is not ideal if you’re trying to maximize your server’s uptime, much less run a business effectively.
Fortunately, live patching software like this nips those tedious delays in the bud by updating Linux server kernels while allowing your server to keep running.
Before live security updates became possible, businesses had to decide whether they took the server down to install security updates or kept the server running and vulnerable.
Live patching eliminates that need to choose. You can keep your server running, and update and protect the system, effectively reducing server downtime.
But do you need to avoid system reboots? Businesses have different reasons for seeking to reduce server downtime, but the three most common reasons are:
- Ability to keep server active and well-protected
- Avoids penalties if server uptime falls lower than required statistical levels
- Frees up staff to focus on more complex and pressing system problems
Replace outdated servers
Another way to reduce server downtime is to find and remove outdated servers. While parting ways with malfunctioning servers may appear to be the obvious solution, eliminating old or ineffective servers results in a surprising uptick in server uptime.
That’s because the longevity of servers is fluid, and there are only so many updates a server can handle before it struggles to keep up. These glorified artifacts of servers’ past are also more likely to fail or crash, contributing to server downtime.
Not only that, but because outmoded servers have to work harder to do the same task as up-to-date models, they draw more power while delivering inferior performance. That power draw has a ripple effect across other servers, causing them to lag and increasing or even causing server downtime.
If you’re looking to quickly and efficiently reduce server downtime, there’s a lot to be said for clearing out those old server banks and letting the newer servers get to work.
Overestimate capacity limits
Finally, another way to reduce server downtime is by anticipating the level of traffic you expect your server to have to handle. But this isn’t a space for conservative estimates.
When banking on website traffic, it’s better to over- rather than under-estimate traffic. Otherwise, when you start drawing in high traffic figures, the server struggles to handle them. That makes it sluggish and, in the worst-case scenario, creates server downtime.
By overestimating traffic levels, you avoid potential outages and dramatically reduce server downtime.
Conclusion
Reducing server downtime is vital if you want to run your business effectively. There are various ways to do that, but the most important are:
- Find a service that provides live patching
- Remove/replace outdated servers
- Overestimate traffic levels
These steps will not only reduce your server downtime but create a business that runs more smoothly and with fewer outages. Besides giving your bottom line a boost, minimizing downtime will nurture long-lasting relationships with your target market.
