Capacity Planning: Balancing IT Resources for Efficiency 

capacity planning, Data Storage, IT Efficiency, IT optimization, Network, Ophtek, Servers, system upgrades, , , , , , ,
16
Jan 2024

The everchanging world of IT and business means that optimizing your resources has never been more important. But how do you do this effectively? 

Resource management is vital for maintaining IT operations, one small mistake and you could find your IT systems completely derailed. This means a drop in productivity, one which your competitors will be able to seize upon. But this doesn’t have to happen. Instead, you can prepare for all your potential needs and scenarios. This will ensure your organization can balance its resources and maintain a productive IT infrastructure. 

What is Capacity Planning? 

Naturally, you want your IT systems to be able to handle your existing workload, but it’s crucial they’re also optimized to deal with future demand. Accordingly, you need to be able to evaluate your current IT resources and confirm they’re suitable for your existing needs. After this, you need to forecast what your future needs are likely to be, and this can be achieved by identifying market trends or preparing for changes in demand e.g. winning new contracts. And this is exactly what capacity planning is. 

Which Resources Should You Be Looking At? 

The number of different IT resources in use at any one business are wide and varied. Nonetheless, when you’re working on a capacity planning strategy, it makes sense to concentrate on these areas first: 

  • Networks: with remote working becoming more popular, it’s important for your IT networks to be able to deal with multiple remote connections. After the lessons learned during the pandemic, where the technical demands of remote working were suddenly laid bare, organizations need to be ready. As a result, upgrading network infrastructures to deliver seamless connectivity to remote workers is paramount. 

Final Thoughts 

As the business landscape moves further into the 2020s, mastering capacity planning with IT resources should represent an essential target for all businesses. If you want your organization to achieve optimal performance and navigate the challenges of IT successfully, your capacity planning needs to start today. 

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals. 

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What are the Best Ways to Maintain a Server Room? 

Ophtek, Server cables, Server Room, Server Room Cleaning, Server room temperature, Servers, , , , ,
09
May 2023

Your server room should act as the heartbeat for all your day-to-day IT operations. But it will only support your productivity if it’s maintained correctly. 

The complexities of a server room are numerous. Not only is there the wide range of technical equipment which needs to be connected, but there are also several health and safety requirements which need to be met. This means that keeping a server room operating is hard work, but it’s a task which is crucial for any modern business. 

Why Do You Need to Maintain a Server Room? 

A well-maintained server room is essential for preserving the reliability of your computer networks and overall IT infrastructure. By providing a secure, controlled environment, you will ensure your server room is optimized for housing IT equipment such as servers, routers, data storage and back-up power supplies. Failing to maintain a server room will jeopardize the long-term health of all your IT operations. Therefore, maintaining your server room is vital for your business to remain operational and productive. 

How Do You Maintain a Server Room? 

Optimizing the performance of your server room is essential, but how do you go about maintaining it correctly? Well, the best way to get started is with the basics, so make sure you implement the following into your server room maintenance: 

  • Practice good cable practices: server rooms rely heavily on cables to connect equipment together, but cables can quickly become a tangled mess. This can cause two major problems: identifying specific cables becomes difficult and the risk of overheating increases significantly. Accordingly, you need to group cables together and label them to allow quick identification. The best way to group cables together is by using velcro straps and you can easily label cables by color coding them e.g. yellow for communication cables and blue for data. 

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals. 

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How Do You Secure a Server Room?

lock server room door, multi factor authentication, Ophtek, secure racks and cages, secure server room, server room video surveillance, Servers, , , , , ,
12
Oct 2021

The backbone of any IT infrastructure is always the server room. It’s here that your most crucial IT tasks will be processed. And it needs to be secure.

A server room is a dedicated area within an organization which is used to house networking devices and storage servers. These are used to provide your business with the fundamentals of a fully functioning IT structure in the 21st century. But, as with all elements of IT, security is paramount. The data storage, alone, represents a rich source of intrigue to outside parties. And the networking solutions contained within a server room offer a shortcut deep into an organization. The potential damage from a server room breach, therefore, is huge.

Securing Your Server Room

It’s important that you secure your server room to protect both yourself and your customers. Thankfully, it’s straightforward once you understand the basics of server room security. Make sure you carry out the following:

  • Secure Racks and Cages: The best way to organize your storage and networking servers is by using racks and cages. These structures will allow you to neatly store your devices and locate them quickly for maintenance. But these racks and cages need to be secure. Aside from the confidential data stored on these devices, the equipment typically housed in racks and cages is expensive. Accordingly, you will need to secure these housings to minimize the risk of your server equipment leaving the premises.
  • Multi-factor Authentication: One of the strongest security measures you can implement involves multi-factor authentication. The need for a key, for example, is a fantastic way to provide security. But what if you doubled this up with the need for a credential card or even a biometric input? This strategy minimizes the problems that can arise when a key is lost or stolen. Naturally, it may seem time consuming and expensive, but the enhanced security provided by multi-factor authentication is more than worth it.

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

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How to Keep Your Business Servers Safe from Hackers

Backup and Recovery, Hacking, Security, Servers, Windows Server, , ,
21
May 2018

The computer servers that support your business are the backbone that keeps your organization productive, but how do you keep your business servers safe?

Every week seems to bring a new security threat and you can rest assured that the number and ferocity of these attacks isn’t going to subside anytime soon. Your business servers, of course, contain untold amounts of sensitive data that could be used to harm not only your business, but also your customers. Therefore, keeping on top of your servers’ security is paramount in protecting your data from the all too real threat of hackers.

To help you stabilize and improve the security of your business servers, we’ve put together a plan of recommendations to help you meet your security objectives.

Run an Antivirus. Regularly.

Viruses can spread from file to file very quickly and, before you know it, your entire server can become compromised. However, a piece of antivirus software can prevent the majority of existing viruses taking hold of your servers. Quarantining infected or suspicious files allows you to analyze anything that is flagged as potentially dangerous, so installing antivirus software really is a prerequisite of good security practices. And, to really maximize its effectiveness, run it regularly as an infection could occur at any point during in the day.

Update Your Server Software

Many pieces of malware work by exploiting security vulnerabilities in software such as Petya and NotPetya, but these vulnerabilities could be easily avoided by patching. Installing patches, though, can feel like a tiresome task, particularly when your organization needs to stay productive. To put things into perspective you need to weigh up the minimal downtime of installing updates against the havoc caused by an infected server. The answer’s pretty obvious, right? Install those patches and install them immediately.

Educate Your Staff on Security Threats

Your staff are the first line of defense against any cyber-attacks on your organization, so it’s crucial that they’re trained in what to look for and what to do in the case of an attack. Naturally, they’re not going to be partitioning infected servers or installing critical updates, but they can do the very basics. And this can be as simple as good password practices or understanding how to identify a phishing email.

Backup Your Data

Ransomware has become a major issue for businesses in the last couple of years and, in many cases, paying the ransom doesn’t even guarantee the release of your files. And this is why it’s vital that your organization embraces backups to help safeguard your data in the event of a ransomware attack. Backups have been a cornerstone of IT security since the dawn of the digital age and their importance should never be underestimated.

Keep Web Browsing Separate

The internet is a portal to untold amounts of information, but it’s also a gateway to untold security threats. And this is the last thing you want your business server exposed to. Providing internet access through a separate server (to your main server), therefore, allows you to minimize the risk to your most important data.

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

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Choosing the Best Server for your Business

PC Server, Rack Mount, Servers, Tower, Windows Server, , ,
04
Apr 2018

If you want your business to be successful and allow your team to collaborate with ease then you need a great PC server, but how do you know which is right?

You’re almost certainly aware that a server is an essential business purchase in the digital age, but do you know what a server actually does? Usually the preserve of IT professionals, servers are dedicated computers that allow you to run hardware, share resources and connect people within your organization. So, as you can tell, they’re crucial for your business to operate and boost your staff’s productivity.

Choosing the best server for your business, however, is a little more complicated due to the vast range of servers available. Naturally, this choice ensures there’s a server for every organization’s needs, but the technical specs and jargon can seem a little bewildering. Thankfully, I’m going to break this jargon down into something more digestible to help you make the right choice.

What Types of Servers are Available?

There are two types of servers most commonly seen in businesses:

  • Rack Mounted Servers: Installed within a framework known as a rack, a rack server is a computer dedicated for use as a server. Due to the racking system in place, rack servers can save you valuable space by stacking one server above the other. Rack servers also bring much more simplicity when it comes to connecting cables between individual components.
  • Tower Servers: Housed within a single, upright cabinet, a tower server contains a computer which is intended to be used as a server. These types of servers allow easier cooling of individual components and offer a scalability which allows you to constantly add new servers to your network.

 Which Operating System is Best? 

When it comes to servers, the very best option you can choose to power them is Windows Server. It may feel as though Windows Server is ubiquitous in modern computing and among your rivals, but this is for one simple reason: it’s incredibly effective.

In use, in its earliest incarnation, since 2003, Windows Server is the industry standard, so there’s not only a vast range of options contained within its shell, but there’s also an amazing amount of support available to tackle virtually any issue. There are, of course, alternative options (mostly open source software), but the support for these systems is less prevalent.

How Do You Determine Storage and Memory?

One of the most important needs of a good server is adequate storage and memory. Therefore, calculating the needs of your organization’s computer activity is crucial. Every organization is different, so you will need to analyze your digital operations closely. For example, if you run a client database which requires 1TB storage and 4GB memory then your server needs to have at least that amount of storage and memory. Chances are that your storage and memory needs will increase over time, so it’s recommended that you overbuy in terms of storage and memory to accommodate any future demands.

These are the very basics of servers, but if you can get them right then you’re laying down a fantastic foundation to help power your organization’s networks.

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

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