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Understanding and Optimizing Small Business Server Hardware

Mar 30, 2024

Is your small business heading out of that “small” category? While that’s amazing news for your goals and bottom line, you’ll find some change necessary for continued plain sailing. One of these shifts involves your business’s hardware system, which needs to grow as your company reaches more customers and hires more employees.

What can server hardware do for your rising business? Find out below.

Why Upgrade Your Server Hardware for Small Businesses?

Server hardware is your network’s backbone. It might be a high-performing computer that allows other devices to send important information back and forth, such as data, programs, resources, faxes, files, and printing queues. 

If they’re running through your server (on the same network), you can connect as many computers as your business needs across different locations. Still, you should optimize this essential hardware and software as your business grows.

Your Business Will Handle More With Increased Processing Power and Storage

When your enterprise started, you probably wielded a smartphone and laptop for all transactions. A single processor can’t handle growing demand, though. A single-core intel processor only tackles one activity at a time, whereas the average computer server has eight.

Even with the highest CPU core capabilities, you’ll need a server with about 32 cores or more. You can store programs and systems like customer relationship management tools with more processing cores. That ensures your employees have access, no matter the endpoint they’re using.

Where do you start? Create a list of all the applications you use alongside daily tasks. That’s the easiest way to determine the appropriate form factors, like server size, for optimal processing power. 

Central Control Gives Your Operation Optimal Defense Against Errors and Infiltration

Are all of your devices sharing a network? Infecting the rest only takes one contaminated file on one client’s computer. You don’t want to jeopardize your customers’ personal information or your business’s data, so what’s the solution?

A client/server setup means your small-to-medium-sized business can use the server—a data center—to protect all computers with the right security control system. Your server can make sure all other users have the following:

  • The latest patches to keep viruses and malware at bay
  • ECC memory detection and virus scans to catch pre-existing issues 
  • Recent updates for optimal user efficiency 

Remote Protection Isn’t Negotiable If You Want Your Business To Thrive

Have you invested in entry-level small business server hardware? If you have employees working from remote locations, it’s essential. This hardware protects on-site and off-site computers by providing virtual private network routes (these give authorized users online access through encrypted tunnels that safeguard against security breaches on public connections). 

Your business needs the secure infrastructure’s security-enhanced access for remote users and a built-in firewall, at the very least. Otherwise, cyberattacks are always going to be a threat.

Can you risk your business’s longevity? What about the safety of its employees or clients upon which you’ve built your brand and legacy? If not, your small business server hardware needs a closer look, from traditional hardware to tower servers.

 

Used with permission from Article Aggregator

In this episode of the Your Business Tech Podcast, LoyalITy’s Conor Jones welcomes Will Robinson of ESOP Partners for a conversation about networking, sales, continuous learning and employee ownership.

Will’s approach to networking is built around a straightforward principle: focus on becoming a trusted resource rather than simply promoting what you sell.

Early in his career, a mentor told him that he sounded more like a vendor than a partner. To change that perception, Will began learning more about the people in his network, the problems they solved and the connections that could help them succeed. His goal became being one of the first people business leaders think of when they encounter a challenge—even when he is not the person who can solve it directly.

Creating Relationships That Last

Effective networking is not about collecting business cards or expecting an immediate return. It means asking who someone wants to meet, understanding their objectives and making thoughtful introductions whenever possible.

It also requires consistency. Strong professional relationships develop when people stay connected, provide value and actively look for ways to support one another over time.

That same collaborative mindset helped lead Will to ESOP Partners. Employee stock ownership plans can provide business owners with a succession-planning option that rewards employees, preserves company culture and maintains a company’s connection to its community.

Throughout the episode, Connor and Will reinforce an important lesson: long-term success comes from creating value for others. Whether you are sharing knowledge, making an introduction or helping an owner plan for the future, meaningful relationships begin by asking one question:.

How can I help?

Watch the full episode of the Your Business Tech Podcast to learn more about relationship-based networking, employee ownership and professional growth.