So you’re wondering if you need a server for your small or medium-sized business?
Whether you don’t know the first thing about servers, or you’re utilising public cloud services such as Azure or AWS – I will help you understand the need for your business to have a strong IT backbone and how an onsite server (Private Cloud) deployment can help you thrive in the digital age.
This article is targeted at businesses. If you’re an individual, see if you could benefit from having a server at home.
What is a 'Private Cloud'?
Back in the olden days, we used to call it a ‘server’. But since the rapid rise of the internet, we’ve had to come up with a way of differentiating a server in your office from a server in the cloud.
So nowadays, an on-premises server is referred to as a Private Cloud environment.
Without going too in-depth, a Private Cloud is essentially a group of computers that are designed to cram as much performance and storage into as compact an enclosure as possible. All the compute power and storage capabilities are shared between one or more hosts. A group of hosts is called a cluster, and a cluster is colloquially referred to as the Server.
Aren't Servers for the likes of Google and Microsoft?
When somebody says the word ‘server’, you may think of a datacenter hall with thousands of cables and blue lights everywhere. These datacenters host thousands of servers, but you can have your own server without the need to pay for costly datacenter floorspace.
3 Ways Your Business Can Benefit from a Private Cloud Server
1. Virtual Machines (VMs)
One of the most powerful ways of utilising a server is to exploit a technology called ‘virtualisation’. A Virtualised computer, or Machine – called a VM – is basically just another computer.
You can read my article about virtualisation for a deep-dive.
A quick summary is that by having a single powerful machine (server), you can create smaller, less powerful ones. We can do this by splitting the hardware resources in an efficient and cost-effective way.
Imagine buying a 24″ pizza for three friends. When one person wants more, they can just take another slice from the middle of the table. When the waiter notices that there isn’t much pizza left, he can pre-emptively suggest ordering another, long before they run out of food.
However, if everyone had their own 10″ pizza and one person wanted more, they would have to wait for their order and be hungry in the meantime. The waiter wouldn’t think to suggest another, because the other two friends weren’t close to finishing.
And THAT is the best thing about VMs – so long as you have the hardware headroom (i.e. you’ve got a big enough pizza), you can increase the number of CPU threads, or the amount of storage, with just a click of a button.
2. Control Over Your Own Data
Data is power. Somebody said that once. Or was it “information is power”…
Imagine losing access to your data for an hour. Or perhaps the internet goes down and you can’t access your cloud-based storage?
What impact would this have on your business?
It would certainly cost you money, but it could also cost you something much more important – your reputation.
With a Private Cloud, you don’t need to solely rely on an internet connection. Sure, you can still access your data if you’re not in the same physical location as your server. But it means that if there is an outage, you can still connect locally – ensuring that your business isn’t held to ransom by dodgy internet connections.
3. Long-Term Affordability
Perhaps AWS or Azure are becoming unaffordable for your business, or perhaps you simply don’t want to be locked into a long-term contract. With your own on-premises private cloud, you have complete control over capacity, compute and networking with no monthly costs. And if you decide that you need a more powerful processor, or that your storage is filling up – just buy one off the shelf and slot it in.
Convinced yet?
Not sure whether or not a Private Cloud solution is right for you? Reach out to our friendly team who can discuss your requirements with you. No obligations.
It might just be the best decision you make!
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Hey, I’m Jack. Your blog is a game-changer! The content is insightful, well-researched, and always relevant. Great job!