Servers, like any other piece of hardware, grow old and eventually need to be replaced. Many businesses try to stretch the useful life of their server to the very edge, but that's usually not the best option. Let's look at a few of the most important reasons for replacing that aging box.

1. An old server is a slow server
Very few servers out there serve the exact same purpose or hold the same amount of data that they did when first deployed. With time, the requirements placed on your server increase, and the ability of the hardware to keep up with demand decreases. An old server with limited resources that crawls to keep up means your workforce is going to be less productive, and you may eventually spend more time and money repairing that old box than you would have paid to just replace it altogether.

2. Expired warranties increase total cost of ownership
Most servers from major manufacturers will come with a 3-year warranty that provides high-level support and a quick turnaround on parts & repairs. Once that warranty is gone, you'll have to start looking elsewhere for replacement parts ... and good luck getting them shipped overnight in an emergency. A repair that would have been free and quick under warranty, such as replacing a cooling fan, will often become an expensive and slow process. Not only will the part be expensive, thanks to unscrupulous dealers who recognize the opportunity to charge a high price, but the cost to your business waiting for the part to arrive and be installed could quickly become catastrophic.

3. Upgrades are more expensive in the long run
It might be tempting to spend a few hundred dollars to patch up a server instead of investing in all new hardware, but those sporadic "band-aid" fixes add up to big dollars in the long run. Replacing individual components in an attempt to modernize a server could have you approaching the cost of total replacement quickly, without the benefit of a new warranty or new software.

4. Old hardware holds your software back
The business applications you use everyday are constantly being upgraded and improved to help increase your productivity. However, these updates come at the cost of higher system requirements to support those great new features. We typically see an aging server accompanied by aging software that lacks the features necessary to help your business meet market demands.

5. The "worst case scenario" is becoming more likely
How long could you afford to be operating without the files, applications, and e-mail that your server provides? If your old server finally bit the dust, what information would it take with it? These are questions that most businesses don't ask themselves until the unthinkable happens: that server in the corner you've been neglecting has a catastrophic failure. Although you might be keeping backups, you'll still need to purchase a new server, wait for it to arrive and be configured, install your applications (you still have all those old discs, right?), and restore the data from a backup. This whole process could take a lot longer than you can afford, and all of your services will be down in the meantime. So do yourself a favor and replace the server on your time, not as an afterthought to a failure.

Think it might be time to look at replacing your server? Give us a call or email our team of specialists:

337-896-3681
info@infotech.us