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Server Maintenance A Practical Guide - Hypertec SP

Server maintenance is a process of keeping server software updated and running smoothly to avoid downtime. It includes tasks like ensuring system monitoring utilities are installed and configured, backing up data, and identifying security risks. Regular maintenance will keep the server running as expected and help avoid failures. The document discusses server types like file, domain controller, and web servers and provides steps for successful server maintenance like verifying backups, checking disk usage, monitoring RAID, and updating software.

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216 views2 pages

Server Maintenance A Practical Guide - Hypertec SP

Server maintenance is a process of keeping server software updated and running smoothly to avoid downtime. It includes tasks like ensuring system monitoring utilities are installed and configured, backing up data, and identifying security risks. Regular maintenance will keep the server running as expected and help avoid failures. The document discusses server types like file, domain controller, and web servers and provides steps for successful server maintenance like verifying backups, checking disk usage, monitoring RAID, and updating software.

Uploaded by

Nnah Inyang
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Server Maintenance

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Server maintenance is a process of keeping a server software updated and running smoothly so that a computer network function properly and
avoids downtime or loss of data. Regular server maintenance will keep the server running as expected and will help avoid a total or partial network
failure. It includes tasks like reviewing the server’s performance, ensuring that automated system monitoring utilities are properly installed and
configured, identifying potential security risks and backing up data at regular intervals.

If you know how to perform regular server maintenance, with just a little time, you can get the most performance for your investment and significantly
extend its life. Servers can be maintained easily to reduce server outages.

How Servers Work:


A server is a standalone computer that provides data and other services to one or several other computers on a given network. The main benefit to a
server is that it allows centralized management and monitoring of network access and network data, and servers can have power, hard drive and
processor redundancies that are typically not available in a PC.

Types of Servers
If you’re an IT professional or someone who works in an IT-related field, you know that servers are an important component of any network. But do
you know how they actually work? Understanding the basics of server technology can help you better manage your network, troubleshoot problems,
and maintain peak performance. In this blog post, we’ll explore the basics of server technology and how they work to power your network.Servers are
a crucial component of any IT infrastructure. They provide the computing power needed for web applications, databases, and other services.
Understanding how servers work is essential for any IT professional. Here we explain four types of servers.

File Server: A central storage for files, which can be accessed by client computers

Domain Controller: A server that responds to security authentication requests (logging in, checking permissions, etc.) within the network. A domain
is a concept where a user may be granted access to a number of files, folders, network locations with the use of a single username and password
combination and can prevent certain users from accessing other private files.

Remote Desktop (Terminal) Server: A Remote Desktop Server (or Terminal Server) provides secure remote access to office and line of business
applications to employees or contractors from one centralized server, instead of having each client computer running software. This makes deploying
software and adding more employees very scalable and cost-effective.

Web Server: Stores and shares websites over the Internet; many individuals and small companies rent web server space from other companies, but
for large companies that experience a lot of traffic, a dedicated web server makes sense.

Server Maintenance Plan


A Server Maintenance Plan Generally Requires The Following:

checking server log files


assessing hard disk space
examining folder permissions
monitoring network temperature applications
ensuring adequate redundancy of systems
examining security features
installing security software patches
reading server logs for security alerts or evidence of computer hacking attempts
updating antivirus software on all computers on the network
updating critical service packs and software updates
performing regular comprehensive back-ups to ensure that vital data can be retrieved from storage in the event of a system failure
Server Maintenance Steps To Success:
1. Verify your backups are working.
Before making any changes to your server database and system, be sure that you have to take a backup before doing any update and your backups
are working fine. Make certain that you have selected the right backup and right location.

2. Check disk usage.


Keep your disk storage clean and don’t use your server system as an archival system. Delete old emails, logs and s/w versions that are not in use. A
smaller data footprint means faster recovery. Keep an eye on your disk usages if your partition reaches 100 percent, you server may stop working and
database tables and data may be corrupt and lost.

3. Monitor RAID Alarms.


Monitor your RAID status; all servers should use RAID. A single disk failure can cause a complete system failure.

4. Update Your OS.


Always update your system if you are using Linux because such OS release frequently update and staying on top of these updates can be difficult. To
overcome this problem, you can use automated patch management tools and have monitoring in place to alert when a system is out of date. Keep in
mind that if you are updating your server manually (or not at all), you may miss important security updates. When you cannot automate your updates,
then create a schedule to update your system. This will prevent your system from hacks.

5. Update your Control Panel.


If you are using a hosting cpanel be sure to update it as well. This will make your system up to date and fix any known issue related to hosting.

6. Check application updates.


Update your web applications, if you are using CMS or any open source program for you web application especially popular programs like
WordPress.

7. Check remote management tools.


Maintain your remote server via remote console, remote reboot and remote rescue mode these are essential tools for remote server management.

8. Check for hardware errors.


Hardware problems are common but create a big issue, so you may review the log for any hardware problems like disk read error, network failure.

9. Check server utilization.


Review your server’s disk, CPU, RAM and network utilization.

10. Review user accounts.


If you have had staff changes, client cancellations or other user changes, you will want to remove these users from your system. Most importantly,
storing old sites and users is both a security and legal risk.

11. Change passwords.


Change any passwords every 6 to 12 months, especially if you have given out passwords to others for maintenance.

12. Check system security.


Periodically review your server’s security using a remote auditing tool such as Nessus.

Here are another article about Server Troubleshooting to ensure your servers are running smoothly and another on Server Computers.

Hypertec Solutions Partner offers a variety of professional services for your server maintenance or purchases. For a full list, visit
our professional services page. Ask us today about our nationwide support,

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