an insight into server management for corporates

Contents

Executive Summary

Introduction Server Management: An Overview

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• Why Server Management: A Sneak Peek • Maintenance and Monitoring • Unlimited Remote Support • Server Backup Protection • Proactive Management • Enhanced System Performance

Why Businesses Need Server Management?

In-house Server Management vs. Offsite Server Management• Cost Reduction• Employee Revenue • Buying Expensive Hardware • Flexibility • Scalability • Have a look on the Drawbacks of In-house Server Management

How SMEs and Large Enterprises Can Capitalize on the Benefits of Server Management Solutions?

Conclusion

• Proactive Maintenance • Resource Utilization • Security • Cost • 24*7 Support

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Executive SummaryStorage, protection, and evaluation enormous volume of digital content can exert lot of pressure on already restricted information technology (IT) resources and put heavy demands on business managers’ attention.

To overcome these compelling challenges, businesses need scalable server technology that simplifies their mundane tasks and enhances overall system performance with marginal management.

Introduction


All size businesses have nowadays increasingly becoming dependent on digital content to drive effective operations, stay connected to clients, and respond instantly to shifting industry conditions. Server environment is bit challenging to monitor, businesses are looking for more enterprise-class solutions to simplify IT operations, minimize administrative burdens and costs, and maximize service availability for their clients, business associates and employees.

With the increasing number of servers and development of critical web applications, a growing dependence on virtualization strategies, and rising regulatory compliance demands, server management challenges can be both expensive and intricate to resolve.

This white paper explains how server management is done in cloud to streamline everyday tasks management, upsurge system uptime, and trim down operational costs for growing businesses.

Server Management: An OverviewIn this rapidly evolving IT landscape, enterprises of all sizes have become increasingly dependent on digital data to accomplish expected goals, drive successful operations, stay updated and apt to the users, and quickly address changing industry demands. In fact, with the emergence of cloud computing, enterprises are expecting substantial growth in their storage capacity, requiring more investments in IT infrastructure and astute business approach.


As a result, storing, managing and protecting enormous data and information compel them to have scalable server maintenance on monitoring technology that swiftly automates mundane tasks and offers robust monitoring capabilities to streamline ongoing operations/processes. In this line, availing server management services by a third party service provider is considered as an optimal way by decision makers.


Why Server Management: A Sneak Peek

Let’s take a quick glance at how server management services can help companies focus on strategic growth and stay away from complexities:

Server OptimizationOngoing security updates, routine maintenance, and

monitoring.

Prompt 24*7 IT SupportAnytime, anywhere technical

support for instant resolution of severs snags.

Comprehensive ProtectionComplete Protection against

Viruses/Spywares/Trojan/Root-kits/Spamming attacks

ServerManagement

Monitor ServerHealth

ProactivelyNotify

Degradations

Alert onFailures

RemoteVisibility

to Problems

PerformDiagnostic

Tests

RectifyProblemsRemotely


Maintenance and Monitoring:


Unpredictable system errors, component failure, and other technical glitches hamper business productivity, restricting to concentrate on more specific or critical tasks. Server management services allow enterprises to evaluate their server performance without spending time on software updates, setup, deployment, troubleshooting, software patching, installation, and configuration. Moreover, the drivers, custom-tools, firewall installation and other tasks are performed at service provider’s end, which allow organizations to devote less time maintaining their systems. • Comprehensive monitoring of server logs• Round the clock network/application and service availability check• Hard drive configuration and capacity check• Automated monitoring of server applications

Unlimited Remote Support: Server management enables companies to reap the benefit securing, supporting and managing servers, which are offered by certified technicians. It has been observed that service providers usually offer round-the-clock support in order for keeping enter-prises’ servers in pristine condition. In addition, they also deliver technical help online by taking control of impaired servers to provide fast, secure and seamless remote support services.

Server Backup Protection: This service guarantees to give SMEs and large enterprises the leverage to back up their data and applications without the fear of being lost or tampered. In fact, this service backs up a company’s server on a regular basis to ensure that the data is completely secured and carefully protected.

Proactive Management: Unpredictable system downtime can inevitably cause huge losses or have adverse effect on productivity. Server management service providers allocate dedicated pro-fessionals to manage and monitor server against vulnerabilities. IT professionals detect and fix the errors before they turn into big problems, thus free up company’s staff time and resources.


Enhanced System Performance: To be ahead of competition, enterprises need to protect their data, prevent power outages, and should have adequate technology and strategies to eliminate storage hiccups, which are irrefutably an intricate and a time consuming task. Here, server management solutions help ascertains flawless system performance, resulting into greater productivity.

• Diagnostic/Server Health Monitoring• Software security updated and patch management• Troubleshoot and resolution of emerging threats• Automated plus manual server maintenance


Why Businesses Need Server Management?Businesses require efficient servers to streamline crucial day-to-day operations.

SERVERManagement

DiscoveryProvisioning

Inventory

SoftwareDistribution

VulnerabilityAssessment &

patch management

Reporting

HealthDashboard

In-band/out-of-BandRemote Control/

Problem Resolution

SystemMonitoring


How can efficient servers reorganize management processes?


High-tech servers have been specifically designed to address a wide range of emerging realities that have cropped up in the digital world. Such server racks deliver a grass-root level access via automated tools into the server infrastructure. This helps system administrators to simplify day-to-day administrative activities. Built-in server intelligence helps to reduce energy bills and quicken workload performance.

For the records, server specific software tools can constantly monitor and analyze basic server uptime, detailed usage statistics and other system parameters. This helps to identify and troubleshoot potential issues with an immediate effect before such glitches amplify into grave technical problems.

Server monitoring software can be either unsophisticated or sophisticated. A poorly configured web server is forcefully declared as active and healthy because it uses in-genuous server apps. System-administrators fail to receive server downtime alert messages and ultimately end users have to face HTTP 200 error and error message "Database connection refused!”

Sophisticated network monitoring tools can correct such technical errors and deliver functionalities beyond server monitoring. Advanced bandwidth and network activity can be obtained with them with improved analyzer capability. This is useful when rout-ers and switches manufactured by enterprise-class brands are used; such devices render detailed and pre-aggregated traffic data that is read and displayed by the appli-cation.

Enterprises across the globe are attempting to incorporate ways to upgrade as well as expand their server infrastructures. This endeavor is targeted towards the migra-tion of data & workloads onto the cloud. Such a highly critical step is inevitable as long as associated management costs are concerned. Low-cost servers basically lack so-phisticated management and automation competences which are vital for minimizing interruption. This leads to the distraction of organizations from core business objec-tives.


Look how Offsite Server Management can be beneficial for your Business!

In-house Server Management vs. Offsite ServerManagement


Cost Reduction: Offsite or outsourcing server management does not require any hardware and require having any denigrated over time. Internal hosting demands different expensive equipment and hosting owner requires purchasing several things like CAPEX plus maintenance agreements, utility costs or collocation along with other “surprise” investments. Offsite server management comes with predictable monthly recurring expenditure.

Employee Revenue: Revenues from employee can be collected any time and due to many reasons. Organizations which run internal server environment on their own often face critical situations and then require the help from the professionals. It is important that businesses should seek help from the experts who can maintain critical pieces. Offsite server management reduces several risks. The most important part is that you can stay under contract with a business that will help your business to have the complete continuity and complete all documentation.

Buying Expensive Hardware: Organizations which prefer in-house server management need to purchase expensive hardware as well. With outsourcing server management or offsite server management organizations can save their money from buying costly hardware. They can use this huge amount for the productivity and for other resources. Some organizations still buy costly hardware and they sale to the outsourcing server management providers to cover the investment.

Flexibility: The best part about the services from an outsource server management provider is that they offer their customers the best high-level managed hosting along their vast expertise, resources, experience for the sake of your business. Most of the cases, the offsite server management organizations provide offsite host with right equipment and can swiftly accommodate them.


There are numerous drawbacks in an in-house server management. It requires a sizable initial capital investment for equipment deployment and software installation. The businesses need to pay to the part-time IT professionals as well. They are the key people for renewing software license and hardware up gradation.

Have a look on the Drawbacks of In-house Server Management


During the time of deployment, if something goes wrong their experience and dedication never fails to detect the issue and fix it within a jiffy.

Scalability: Leading offsite server management providers add numerous virtual machines to the environment and that too in less than an hour and. They deploy physical infrastructure within a day or two. Not only that, a respected web host provider offers advantages of their cloud to combine with the private cloud for more scalability and to avail resources for immediate requirements. One can avail the same thing by setting up in-house hosting as well but need to spend more money and it takes long time as well.

An Expensive Affair: In-house server management is an expensive affair and the main drawback is that most of the SMEs can’t afford. It takes long time to establish the internal hosting capabilities for an organization. In-house server management requires lots of resources and IT professionals for deploying the equipment, installing software, initial set up, upgrading software, monitoring and management. These solutions keep in the priority list and need to be done while deploying an in-house server management.

Data Security Issue: Organizations which are keen on in-house server management solutions must know that they have to hire IT professionals for server maintenance and 24/7 monitoring for security reasons. For ultimate data security businesses avail by ultra-security solutions and in in-house server management businesses may not get that facility or may need to care a lot. Outsourcing server management providers offers complete physical security, hosting facilities and 24/7 security guards for data safety. The hosting solution providers do not let enter the professionals without their ID badge and hire 24/7 escort for visitors. Apart from the server management provider also have constant video surveillance..


In the current economic conditions, new developments in the information technology are driving the expanding demand for solutions that can easily manage business complexities while minimizing the escalating costs. Additionally, external forces and technical trends are together putting pressure on the IT managers for rationalizing strategies to effectively manage their servers.


The most important part is that an outsourcing server management provider offers only the services which a business requires. The organizations only pay for the services which they avail. Thus, scalability is one of the reasons why organizations opt for an offsite server management and avoid in-house server management.

How SMEs and Large Enterprises Can Capitalize on theBenefits of Server Management Solutions?

Software support& updateds

Capacityplanning

Automatedvirtual resourceprovisioning

Highperformance

Remote Monitoring

Server Setup &Installation

LoadBalancing

Hardwarefailure

restoration

Efficientallocation

of resources

CostManagement


ManagementSERVER


The service providers provide customized server support plans, which in particular, tenders SMBs to get first-rate access to unlimited IT resources. In addition, they offer streamlined maintenance programs that ensures guaranteed network uptime, while keeping IT outlays fixed. Besides providing suite of IT and network outsourcing managed services, vendors also offer consultative and administrativesupport to clients. Their professional team collaboratively works with the client’s IT team for making more informed decisions, cut-down troubleshooting time by quickly identifying the root cause of failure, conductserver health reviews, and promptly analyze & resolve server downtime.

Proactive Maintenance:

Many large and small-mid size enterprises outsource the management of their server to a reliable service provider due to the concern that their servers are underutilized when kept in the company’s infrastructure. This means that the server I/O is constrained by the limited storage capacity and network traffic, which ultimately limits the maximum server consolidation level. The vendors make use of CPU as well as hypervisor technology that establishes additional abstraction of server input/output subsystem. This allows better utilization of resources while keeping the lossof critical workloads to minimum.

Resource Utilization:

With the increasing proliferation of servers as well as web applications, mountingdependency on virtualization strategies, server management challenges, and growing regulatory compliances can be complex and costly to resolve. In this light, both large and mid-sized companies are continuallylooking for ways to streamline their IT operations, while maximizing service availability and reducing administrative costs.

Server management solutions incorporateflexible architecture, proactivemanagement, and advanced automation to help all size businesses improve processes, continuously monitor servers, maintain inventory, fix bugs, and perform patch management. The key benefits of server management are:



The vendors employ Server management teams who are experts at managing the system’s security. They deliver the most comprehensive and resilient server protection tools for managing the physical, virtual, as well as cloud deployments. This facilitates organizations toidentify workloads to ascertain its protection along with the automatic provisioning of expanding workloads while meeting regulatory compliance. Significantly, this allows enterprises struggling with potential real-time security threats to find effectiveways of proactively safeguarding their virtualized environments. According to a survey conducted by a leading research firm in 2011, Forrester, approximately 85% of the enterprises in the North American region adoptedserver virtualization or were planning to implement the same to protect their critical systems against any potential vulnerabilities.

Security:

Expanding/upgradingimplementation

Implemented,not expanding

Planning to implementein the next 12 months

Planning to implementein a year or more

Interested butno plans

Not interested

Don't know

75%

10%

5%

1%1%

3%

5%

Source: Forrester


This is one of the major advantages of contracting server to a third party service provider. For many organizations, hardware and software costs comprise the major fraction of their technology expenditure. The vendor uses TCO analyses to view the overall capital expenditures, including the costs ofmaintaining and supporting the serversover time, as well as uncovers other areas of inefficiencies and improvements. Moreover, a good server management service providercharges a fair price to timely maintain, handle and resolve technical issues.


Cost:

The service provider offering server management solutions constantlymonitors system errors, issues, and eventsassociated with the installation and updates, which allows businesses to save their valuabletime and focus on core business-critical tasks. This further allows enterprises to gain deeperinsights into theirserver’s performance and spend less time on regular tasks, including troubleshooting, system provisioning, and software updates. The provisioning ensures self-check on server configuration for errors as well as fixes issue in no time.

24*7 Support:

Conclusion

Storing, analyzing, and protecting big data can highly strain a company’s limited IT resources. To overcome such challenges, an enterprise requires scalable and flexible server technology to automate routine tasks as well as improve system performance. In this context, high-tech servers are designed to expand industry presence through sophisticated management and automation tools. Only then business-critical operations can be carried out without interruptions even while high-traffic is encountered. Leveraging server management services from a reliable service provider can help companies in streamlining their routine management tasks while reducing the cost and efforts allied with complex server challenges. This in turn, enables large to small size businesses to streamline their daily management tasks, and increase system uptime performance. .
