Top 5 Server Management Trends to watch out for in 2018

Server management isn’t what it once used to be. Companies have their entire business run in digital sphere these days. Meaning, their needs and requirements are much higher. To that, the increasing instances of cyber attacks have also brought about major concerns on the security end. The infrastructure now needs to be more robust and cutting-edge to put off any downtime, backup mishaps and safety loopholes. Here are top 5 server management trends to watch out for in 2018

In short, for online businesses today, server management is the single most important aspect that must be at the top of their priority list. They must put their extra efforts and resources to keep things functioning in the acing condition. However, like anything, it’s easier said than done. Server setups, regular maintenance and optimization, security patching, log monitoring, backup management and more – doing all these require special skills and knowledge. Skills and knowledge that is in sync with the latest trends.

So if you’re looking for ways to effectively manage the server, you must first know of all the new trends in this domain. It would help you stay updated with the best practices. And this would eventually end up benefitting your company.

To help you have a right start of 2018, here are top 5 trends in server management that you should adapt to:

The long-existing debate if the companies should go for on or off-premise data center will finally come close to rest. For the small and medium-scale businesses in particular, off-premise data center would become a popular choice—and all for good reasons. Having a collocation facility is a much more cost-effective decision; managing the server could be just as easy.

Companies can setup their server facility in different cities and countries where installing and managing the infrastructure is much cheaper—a place where cost of electricity is low and the human capital is quite affordable. This can significantly help them save a lot of money and resources.

There are already many companies who are realizing these benefits. In 2018, more and more will join the bandwagon.

These days even top corporate houses outsource third-party server management companies instead of employing in-house teams of professionals. This trend will spiral among SMEs and startups in the coming weeks and months.

Much qualified and experienced, going with the dedicated service providers could be a very cost-effective option. Plus, homing a team of diverse professionals and experts, they bring higher efficiency and convenience on the table. Their end-to-end solution covers various ends; right from sever monitoring and performance optimization to security.

Additionally, their infrastructure and practices are always updated to sync in with the latest market standards, which assures to keep the companies at the top of their game. Given all these advantages and more, many companies are now outsourcing third-party sever management solution providers. More are planning to steer this way.

The need for higher storage is at its peak – and it’s continuously growing – even with persistent primary memory. And while solid-state drives are growing in capacity, the performance bottleneck is SATA interface. NVM or Non-Volatile Memory Express is an ideal solution that promises lower latency and more bandwidth and IOPS.

In simple words, it is an open logical device interface specification for accessing non-volatile storage media attacked via Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe). It lets you read and write flash-based storage devices from any CPU, much more smoothly and quickly.

Already more of NVMe storage arrays are available today. It’s going to emerge as a complete savior for large companies, in particular, in the coming days.

On the server end, one of the biggest challenges for companies is to optimally benefit from their investment. Because let’s admit it, they are paying more for higher space but they aren’t necessarily utilizing the whole of that capacity. And this is stranded capacity—paying for it but not really using it. By fixing this problem, they can easily save a great deal of their operational expenditure and add to the longevity of their data center.

Good thing is more of companies – the new and small ones in particular – are already looking beyond uptime and availability, and focusing more capacity, density and utilization. And in the coming days, plenty more will strive to optimally utilize their stranded server capacity.

Companies around the world – big or small – are struggling with the looming threats of cyber attacks. Even giant companies like Uber and Microsoft, who are likely trusted to be more secure, aren’t safe. In fact, a study suggests that cyber crime damage costs will hit $6 trillion annually 2021. So needless to say, everyone is more serious about server security than ever.

In 2018, new practices and better infrastructure will replace the old ones that will effectively (but not entirely) tackle the threats of unauthorized data breaches and leakages. Companies will spend more in this department, employing better hardware and hiring security experts. To mitigate the vulnerabilities, they will spend more of their resources in risk management. In short, data protection would be at the top of priority lists for many in 2018.

These are top 5 server management trends that will headline 2018.

Next year, a lot is expected to change in this industry. Better monitoring practices will emerge, infrastructure maintenance will become more affordable, and performance optimization would become essential. These changes will finally do away from the DIY approach. Even the small companies and startups will steer towards outsourcing professionals and third-party solution providers.

So, if you own a business that’s reliant on web, think through these emerging trends and make changes in your strategy accordingly.