What is the best small business server on the market?
There isn’t a single hardware brand and model that fits into every work setting, so company owners will have to shop around some to get what they are looking for. However, there are some factors to keep in mind when comparing equipment.
- Prioritize RAM over processor – The top hardware models come with a premium processor and plenty of DIMM slots to accommodate an impressive amount of RAM. Getting both in the same package, though, can become prohibitively expensive, so when necessary, it’s better for a company to take a lesser processor if it means preserving the extra memory. In general, network infrastructure tends to bottleneck at the RAM level, so by maintaining a healthy reserve of memory, a company will minimize slowdowns.
- Advanced hardware features aren’t usually necessary – With every new iteration of the major hardware brands, manufacturers are adding in more and more advanced features for IT personnel. While those features are nice to have, they likely won’t be utilized to their fullest extent by modestly-sized companies. However, the best small business server will provide management software that allows for some degree of automation. This makes hardware setup and configuration easier to handle.
- Reliability is a must – Network failures are almost always costly, and can do permanent damage to a company that can’t afford a major backup solution. Fortunately, many models come with a backup plan in the form of fault detection software that can throw an alert and give the company time to compensate for the issue. Robust RAID protection also keeps data safe in the event of a catastrophic failure, and comes standard with most hardware models.
- Used equipment can provide some surprisingly effective options – Refurbished hardware consists of used components that have been thoroughly checked and tested by a refurbishment expert. In general, refurbished hardware is just as reliable as new equipment, but costs much less. Because used components are less expensive, a company can either direct the savings elsewhere, or opt for greater hardware performance. In either case, a refurbishment expert can customize the equipment to the company’s preferences.
The best small business server will always be one that a company can use intuitively and know that it will always perform. A reputable dealer can lead the way in this regard, and ensure a company gets what they need from their equipment.