As Tech Radar writes, running a reliable server for your business is crucial to being able to link all of your devices together, not to mention for hosting a website and protecting your proprietary data. Without a stable server, your employees won’t be able to communicate with your printers, your design team won’t be able to update and modify your business website, and you might as well hold up a red sign telling cyber criminals to come and take your data.
Of course, understanding the need to set up a reliable server and knowing how are two very different things. The biggest challenge? Choosing what type of server is right for your business. If you’re tired of struggling to update your in-house IT and ensure the success of your business, read on to find out about the pros and cons of the most popular types of servers.
Tower Servers
Tower servers, as the name implies, are servers that run out of a workstation tower. This tower resembles a normal PC workstation, but it houses more storage, memory, and processing power in order to facilitate the transfer of data between all of your company’s machines. The biggest benefit of using tower servers is that they are relatively inexpensive, perfect for the small business owner who doesn’t have much need of a powerful IT solution.
That being said, as Tech Republic writes, as your needs grow, so, too, will the size requirements of your tower servers. While you can certainly mount multiple servers into 19 inch server racks, they’re going to eat up a lot of physical space for a relatively low-powered solution.
Blade Servers
Blade servers take their name from their thin size and low space requirements. Unlike tower servers, server rack cases housing blade servers are known to be able to hold multiple setups without much issue. Further, blade options are known for having a lot more power than tower servers and even rack servers, making them a great option for both big businesses and SMBs with a need for a lot of oomph, according to ZDNet.
Despite the ratio of power to server rack sizes, blade servers are not without their issues. The biggest problem with blade servers is that they can be a nightmare to expand. Both tower and rack server case options allow businesses to easily add hard drives and PCI devices. Most blade setups, on the other hand, offer only two expansion drives.
Rack Servers
Servers in rack enclosures are considered to be one of the best server options for multiple reasons. Server rack enclosures of this type are known to be extremely cost effective, offering a lot of power for minimal price. As an added bonus, rack servers are extremely customizable, thanks in no small part to the modular server rack cases they use.
For most, the only downside of this type of server is that the server rack case is larger than blade server options. With near infinite customization options and a smaller price-tag, however, many consider this a worthwhile trade-off.
Are you an IT professional? What would you say is the most reliable type of server? Sound off in the comments below! Great references here: www.global1resources.com