Back in the early days of your business, you probably found that you could get away with doing things as simply as possible. If you needed to share files between team members, you emailed each other or broke out the USB stick. If you needed to back-up your data, you plugged in an external hard drive. If you collected data off-site, you would wait to get to the office before working with it. But, now that your business is growing, you’ll find these methods just don’t cut it anymore. You need a small business server.
But, where do you start? After all, servers aren’t a one-size-fits-all type of solution. You need to determine the exact type of server that is right for your business’s needs. In order to do that, you need to ask yourself a few questions to better understand those needs.
So, in order to help you pick the right server for your business, here is what you need to consider:
Questions to Help You Decide on the Best Small Business Server
1. What will my server’s main purpose be?
Will your server be used mainly for email purposes, or is data transfer more important for your business as things stand? Of course, you will want to choose as versatile a server as possible so that you don’t have to dedicate it to one purpose alone. However, knowing which operations are your business’s priority will better help your decide on the right server. Match the server’s strength to the services you need most.
2. How much space do I have for the server?
Having a server installed in your business’s office space means that you will have to allocate a certain amount of space. A well ventilated, cooled room dedicated to the server is ideal. But, at the very least, you need an out-of-the-way space where you don’t have to worry about people running into your server and disabling or, even worse, damaging the hardware.
If space is precious, a tower server will serve you well. With these resembling desktop PCs, you don’t need a whole room just for your server.
3. Do I need a remote connection?
Business is no longer confined to the office; modern business is mobile. Often your employees need access to your server while away from the office in order to do their jobs more efficiently.
If this is the case, you might find that cloud services suit your business’s needs. This allows for server connection from any location with an internet connection, and simple expansion if required in the future.
Choosing the Right Server Takes Careful Consideration
You have put a lot of thought and energy into making your business what it is, so you certainly don’t want to compromise it by making a hasty decision when it comes to choosing the right server.
Understanding this, we have a few more helpful tips for you to supplement the ones we’ve already mentioned. Join us for Part 2 of this look at small business servers for more important questions to ask before choosing a server.
