Types Of Servers According To The Needs Of Your Company: Physical, Virtual And Cloud:

One of the first aspects that you should consider when buying a server is to analyze the types that exist since, depending on your company’s needs, you should choose one or the other.

Physical servers: tower, rack or blade

When we talk about this type of server, we refer to those that are physically integrated into the company’s computer network and, therefore, require a secure location for it and its additional devices (routers, generators, refrigerators, UPS).) that protects them from possible damage due to overheating or physical theft.

We can differentiate three types of physical servers according to their format or architecture:

Tower, rack or blade. Choosing the most appropriate one will depend on the size of your company.

If you have a small business lacking an IT department, a tower server is an economical option that allows you to manage and share files on the network.

However, once the company grows and needs more powerful equipment, rack-type servers are perfect (they are stored in cabinets or racks along with the rest of the network electronics, switches, firewalls, and routers). They take up much less space than the same number of tower servers, although it is true that they will need their area with cooling equipment and require a higher investment.

The best thing about rack servers is that they allow greater scalability if your company grows.

As for blades, they are modular servers that allow multiple servers to be hosted in a smaller area. They are physically thin and usually have only CPUs, memory, integrated network controllers, and sometimes integrated storage drives.

They are the next step to rack servers as they save space, energy and wiring infrastructure but require more cooling.

Servers in the cloud or cloud type:

Physical or local servers are the options that businesses have traditionally resorted to. Although they have advantages such as greater control over the hardware, a greater degree of customization and 24/7 access in case a reconfiguration is required.

The space and infrastructure required to secure physical servers are expensive.

In this sense, cloud servers have gained importance, through which the entire infrastructure remains hosted in the cloud and is accessed through an Internet connection.

So you understand, these servers would be like renting a hotel room: your company pays for a space on a third-party virtual server.

The cloud server offers numerous advantages such as instant configuration, accessibility, mobility, updating, security and scalability.

So you can scale the server up or down in terms of power or storage as your business needs change.

On the other side of the scale is the ongoing monthly cost that will increase as needs grow. For this reason, many small companies continue to see physical servers as a viable and economical option in the medium term.

Virtual servers:

Another option when purchasing a server is to opt for virtualization. This type of VPS server involves using a single server as a hypervisor, which creates multiple virtual machines and divides the server’s memory, processor power, and storage capacity between them.

For some businesses, this option is more efficient than purchasing, receiving, and installing a physical server. In addition, it is flexible, adapting to the real requirements of each project, and represents energy and space savings.

It has a drawback, although nowadays, there are usually no problems regarding the internet; if there is a failure, the server will not work, so there should be a physical server to back it up.

What server to buy? 8 factors to take into account:

Functionality: As you already know, there are different types of servers to cover various needs. You must evaluate your business’s own and choose the server accordingly.

Budget: When you are clear that the server meets the requirements, you must make sure you pay for what you are really going to use and dispense with unnecessary functionalities that will increase the cost without sense (but finding a balance, the solution must be scalable depending on of the possible needs of your company in the future).

Budget is an essential consideration before purchasing a server.

Rent or buy the server: Technological renting can relieve many worries, although it can limit the server’s functionality.

Hardware: Depending on the type of server you choose (physical, virtual or cloud ), you will need a greater investment in hardware. Determine the existing infrastructure in your company right now and whether it will be able to support growth if it happens. This is called scalability.

Integration: If your company already has a server, consider what you already have to expand it.

Security: 70% of cyber attacks occur on SMEs. Therefore, security is a primary factor when choosing a server. It will contain confidential information, and unprotecting it may involve risks.

Scalability: Choosing servers that support business growth and can scale as the business grows is essential.

Support and maintenance service: This is perhaps the most important factor to consider before purchasing a server. Your company may have a team of IT professionals, but if not, you must delegate the work to companies specialized in computer support that offer you quality, guarantee and experience.

Think that confidence in the support and maintenance service must be complete. In addition, there must be constant communication with them.

Also Read : The Real Impact Of Cloud Computing on IT And Business