The Virtualisation of Business Servers

August 29, 2016 The Virtualisation of Business Servers

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News by Daniel Shone
Virtual server - IT Solutions
Servers are the unsung heroes of our digital workflow, powering our websites, communications, data storage and more. Businesses rely on servers to connect multiple users, whether that’s for file and printer sharing, a dedicated intranet, or for cyber security purposes.

However, servers have come on a long way since their early beginnings as physical, computer-style devices. Let’s take a look at how the virtualisation of business servers is making high-performance hosting options more accessible for organisations of all sizes.

 

The rise of business servers

Servers were born out of the internet boom, as an explosion of emails and rapidly increasing demand for cyber measures created a market for machines that could support the smooth-running of PCs.

They took the form of bulky devices that could provide the memory and processing capabilities necessary to host a network. For decades, servers were a separate piece of hardware, which would amount to a significant investment for a business in need of extra support.

Of course, over the years, advancements in technology made servers smaller, cheaper and more efficient for business owners to manipulate. Nowadays, server hardware is often no larger than a laptop, meaning it doesn’t require vast amounts of space to be stored away.

However, physical servers have always posed a problem: in the event of technological hiccups, the business would need to call out an engineer if they didn’t have a dedicated IT department. And, like any device, their performance would deteriorate over time.

 

Virtual servers to save the day

As our command of the world wide web becomes increasingly sophisticated, it makes sense that the servers running our emails, backup systems and websites should be digitalised too. The virtualisation of business servers has trailed behind other online capabilities, but only to ensure that security is always a paramount concern.

At last, technology providers like Windows, Ubuntu, CentOS, Debian and RedHat have developed high-performance platforms for servers, which can be configured to the individual needs of your business for a mere fraction of the cost that traditional servers entail. The dawn of Azure promises to reimagine servers as we know them.

By investing in a dedicated service, hosted virtually with the support of a team of specialists (like us!), you can be sure that your server is reliable, up to date and monitored remotely around the clock. So in the unlikely event that there is a spanner in the works, you’ll get an immediate response to minimise downtime.

Business servers have come on leaps and bounds in recent years, as we move away from clunky, inefficient hardware towards dynamic servers that can instantly be updated to the evolving needs of the owner.

As a trusted provider of dedicated servers, APEX Computing  can help you determine the needs of your business, and find a platform that’s perfect for your hosting requirements. Whether you’re investing in a server for the first time, or looking to switch to a provider you can rely on, we’re here to help.

 

For more information, give us a call on 0161 233 0099 or email enquiries@apexcomputing.co.uk today.

Daniel Shone

Daniel is the company founder. He started Apex Computing in 2003 and manages the day-to-day running of the business.