Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) suffer up to two weeks a year in lost productivity, caused by server downtime. This was a key finding of a study carried out by the UK’s largest independent web hosting provider, Fasthosts.
Server downtime commonly caused by applying service packs and software patches, random bugs and errors in administration means that small firms can be left with no access to their business applications and data for nearly nine working days a year.
The study results revealed that a typical SME requires an average of 16 hardware resets every 12 months. This, coupled with an average of four hours response time offered by IT support companies, can leave them waiting for a system restore for 64 hours a year.
The Fasthosts study doesn’t include the fact that it is recommended that a Windows server be rebooted once a week as a best practices measure. While Fasthosts gives their customers direct access to reboot their dedicated server it also seems to be either a plug for Linux servers or a back-handed slap in the face for the Windows OS.
“Server downtime impacts all companies, large and small, but it is the smaller ones that feel the brunt,” said Andrew Michael, CEO, Fasthosts. “Unable to perform daily business operations, SMEs put their livelihood on the line every time the server goes down.”
Fasthosts discovered the need for faster and easier hardware reboots during a year-long customer research program leading to the development of a revolutionary dedicated server offering. As a result of customer feedback, Fasthosts introduced a unique feature allowing users to control their servers remotely and reboot them online as required by simply clicking a restart button on a control panel.
Their dedicated server offers the user permanent keyboard, video and mouse control by using a self-powered on board card, meaning that the customer is given complete control over their dedicated server. This includes changing BIOS configuration access, hardware reset and remote desktop (Windows) as well as SSH (Linux).
Customers also benefit from guaranteed bandwidth through the allocation of a virtual data pipe connected directly to their server. This means that for the first time SMEs do not have to share resources and bandwidth with other companies on the same “unmetered, unlimited” connection and they don’t have to pay for additional bandwidth.
Fasthosts also believes that small firms cannot afford to wait for server delivery and set up, which can take up to four weeks.
“Time is money, especially for a small business,” continued Andrew Michael. “Our new dedicated server can be set up instantly online. Its self-build architecture gives you instant access regardless of which operating system you choose. And deployment is fully automated. For £49 a month, this range of features is excellent value for money,” he added.
