What to do if your on-prem server is failing you?
Tim Whiteley, Co-Founder at Inevidesk
An organisation’s technology stack is the foundation of business operations in increasingly digital and data-driven organisations. And the more demanding the applications, tools, storage and server requirements, the harder that technology stack must work. We’ve seen first-hand how organisations that require vast compute power to run complex programmes and models, such as engineers, VFX studios and graphic designers, can suffer from poor performance issues if it’s not up to scratch.
Why? Well, traditionally, this IT infrastructure was (and still is in many cases) hosted in big racks of servers on-premises – sometimes in an environmentally managed server room, sometimes not. However, this model is becoming increasingly outdated.
The drawbacks of on-premises infrastructure
While some firms still retain on-premises infrastructure, this approach often has several shortcomings. Server rooms are often neglected areas despite holding business-critical information and infrastructure. Sometimes they are doubling up as a broom cupboard or general storage room (we’ve seen bottles of Prosecco sat directly on top of servers and worse), meaning that inappropriate people may have access, cables can be pulled out, and equipment can be damaged.
Other times, they lack appropriate climate control and are therefore unable to cope with the amount of heat they produce which can lead to equipment failure and a reduced lifespan. Moreover, poor infrastructure environments often lead to equipment degradation and downtime, with a lack of redundancy in power and connectivity.
Furthermore, on-premises infrastructure is often inflexible and costly. Prime office space gets consumed by server rooms, limiting flexibility for future use and organisations would rather use the expensive space for something else. Also, it makes office relocations more difficult as once the infrastructure is housed on-site, it reduces the flexibility of office use and makes the potential for office moves foreboding.
Signs it’s time for a move…
From our experience, most organisations tend to replace their servers every five years or thereabouts. This is sometimes supported by extended warranties, although hardware generally comes with a three-year warranty as standard. However, hardware refresh cycles should be based on more than just the age of the equipment.
Organisations need to evaluate whether hardware is still performing at an appropriate level and whether it has the capacity to handle projected data growth and adoption/evolution of systems.
Whether or not your hardware has redundancy (and therefore the capacity to fail without impact), whether it can be reutilised for less critical tasks and what the environmental impacts of continuing to use current equipment are compared to replacing it are also key factors.
Considerations for moving to hosted services
When it comes to refreshing infrastructure hardware, it is time to consider the option of moving to hosted services. IaaS (infrastructure as a service) is, theoretically, going to address issues of environmental management, space and resiliency. However, it is important to also consider factors such as performance and cost, which historically may have prohibited such a move.
This needs to include data centre colocation costs (of your equipment) or usage costs, if looking to IaaS, the latter often working out particularly pricey depending on the route chosen. For those that outsource their IT, they’ll find that many managed service providers (MSPs) also recommend migrating to public cloud solutions, like Azure. However, public cloud solutions can be particularly expensive, especially with complex configurations and billing that initially mask the true cost of the service.
It is therefore crucial to consider performance and cost implications before a full transition and ensure that any such move does not negatively impact these critical areas.
The benefits of virtual desktop infrastructure
Organisations also need to consider how accessible their data is. The way design files are accessed significantly impacts both performance and pricing. For example, creative industries requiring high-speed access, benefit from solutions that integrate workstation resources with high-performance infrastructure, like virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI).
However, traditional VDI solutions offered by big tech vendors can be prohibitively expensive. Fortunately, there are now more progressive, cost-effective, and higher-performing options available. A combination of hosted VDI and IaaS offers the ideal solution. It offers high-performance, flexible and resilient work environments suited to the needs of graphically demanding organisations. This eliminates the concerns associated with on-premises servers and hosted services ensure proper environmental controls, eliminating overheating issues.
Combining IaaS and VDI for optimal results
Ultimately, the limitations of on-premises servers are becoming increasingly apparent for firms – not only just those who need to work on high-performance applications and software. A strategic combination of IaaS and VDI can provide firms with a robust and future-proof IT infrastructure. By embracing hosted infrastructure solutions such as VDI, firms can achieve significant improvements in performance, flexibility, scalability, resilience and cost efficiency. These advancements empower professionals to focus on their work and prove to be a long-term solution.
