One of the most important concerns developers should have when dealing with data storage and migration is server downtime. Server downtime prevents internal productivity and cuts off user access to your sites. Overall, downtime is bad for everyone.
In order to prevent major losses to server downtime, developers need to take a number of systematic precautions. Here’s what you’ll need to know when crafting your server system to prevent future productivity losses.
Think Scale
When your business is young, it may seem excessive to overinvest in server space, and this can be true. After all, servers require space and maintenance can be expensive, so you don’t want to spend your nest egg on data space you don’t need. This is why scale is important. You’ll want to invest in systems and space that can grow with you.
By thinking in terms of scale when creating a data center, you prevent future downtime by smoothing expansion and migration. You don’t want the space to be good for now, but not big enough for two years down the road – any time you have to fully relocate, you’re looking at too much downtime. And not only does the actual space need to be scalable, but so do all of the associated systems. This includes cooling and humidity monitoring systems that are vital to server maintenance. Create systems that can fully grow with you.
Understand The System – Or Trust Someone Who Does
One major problem that developers have when managing a server system is failing to understand the technical specifications behind the system. You may know enough to buy some servers and wire them up, but do you know how much power they draw? Do you know how much power your electrical grid allows for? This is vital information.
As a developer you’ll need to understand system resilience. A clearer understanding of wiring, power, and resilience can prevent blown fuses and generator failure and keep support systems working properly. When these systems fail, you can face a lot of downtime making repairs, and may lose valuable data.
The alternative to learning these types of tech specs is to trust someone who does understand them. This is less advantageous in some ways, but often safer. We’re all good at different things, and if you’re a great developer, then you need a great set of system engineers by your side.
Prepare For The Worst
While some system downtime is unavoidable due to physical movement and data migration, other kinds of downtime come as a surprise to everyone involved. This is often the case when emergency strikes. That’s why having a disaster preparedness plan for your data is so important.
One part of this plan consists of assessing what downtime costs and what the risks of data loss are. From there you need to assess your backup practices – if a natural disaster occurs and destroys your servers, what kind of backup access do you have? This can be a challenge since a disaster in one area is likely to harm both original and back-up data. The emergence of the cloud can be a boon in this regard and can help you maintain access continuity. No matter what you choose, backup is vital.
Ultimately, developers need to plan for the best – success and expansion – while preparing for the worst – damage and lost data. But the better your data management plan, the less likely you are to experience server downtime, which is frustrating and costly for everyone involved.
