Is it Time to Upgrade Your Server?

Here is a short basic article on this common question that comes up with existing clients and new inquiries. We have dealt with this question for clients with a 9 years old server and they say “but it still boots after 4x” to clients who want “the latest version” ever so years. What are the factors in determining if you should upgrade to a new server and operating system? It can be simple…and not so simple. Here’s why…

The basic rules/signs that you need to upgrade are:

1. Warranty has expired and it’s been 3-5 years since your last upgrade:
Unfortunately manufactures put warranties on their products because at a certain age, they are not as confidant that the product will remain reliable and they don’t want to support that older product anymore. Operating system come out almost every other year.

2. It’s slowing down:
Now slow does not mean you cannot improve on that. But after adding RAM, cleaning it out, and maybe swapping drives: Your still as fast as your slowest component AND the amount of money and time you’ve spent on upgrading your older box, you could have a new server with a full warranty.

3. Elephant in the room:
If the old server it now requiring multiple reboots, or daily hand’s on maintenance or is slow and ownership does not want to spend any actual dollars on it, what the owners forget to realize is that the rebooting, daily maintenance and slowness is costing that owner MORE money in downtime that having a new server.

4. Space:
A lot of older servers cannot take larger hard drives. That means your stuck.

Some benefits of getting a new server are:

Going green and virtualizing your server – if the scenario is right, you have the ability to save on hardware costs down the road and power costs through virtualization of your servers and desktops. This can save a lot of money sooner than you think.
Cost of doing business – running a business unfortunately requires maintenance in every area of your business. Phones, Accounting, sales teams, and IT.

Hardware unfortunately eventually has to be upgraded to make way for the more efficient and faster software that’s being developed for every industry. It’s one of those IT projects that simply has to be done periodically.

Have any questions on this? If so, please don’t hesitate to call us and we can setup a phone interview to help you determine if you need an upgrade. Please don’t hesitate to forward this post to your business associates that might be needing some guidance in this area as well.

Related: Top 5 Benefits of Virtualization