5 tips for building a server

Building a server capable of handling modern IT workloads can be a challenge without the proper strategy and hardware. Here are five general guidelines that can help businesses build a more efficient and reliable dedicated on-premises server.

Determine optimal roles for servers:

Servers are responsible for providing services to client computers in a network. These services range from tasks such as enabling employees to access and share files over the network, to tasks involving big data analytics.

Commonly used types of servers include:

Application server: hosts web applications

Computing server: shares computing resources and tools

Database server: stores data and enables data retrieval

File server: shares and stores both files and folders

Mail server: enables email transfer between clients

Web server: hosts web pages and fulfills HTTP requests

Server usage varies greatly from business to business. When building a dedicated server, businesses should consider the types of data requests that are most commonly involved in daily business operations. Other factors that need to be taken into account include the size of both the business and office space, types of clientele, etc. This will help business owners determine the optimal role and hardware requirements for the server.

Choose a suitable OS and form factor:

In comparison with consumer-grade operating systems, server-grade operating systems are able to provide services to a higher number of clients simultaneously. Some of the factors to consider when choosing a suitable OS is the level of stability, pricing and available technical support.

Dedicated servers are often housed on-premises, which means businesses have to figure out how the server hardware will physically fit in the office space. There are three types of form factors used to house hardware:

Towers: Towers are similar to a desktop PC case (chassis). Configuring a tower can be more straight-forward and they work well for a small collection of servers.

Rack: Rack servers are designed in a drawer-like configuration where multiple servers are stacked with each other. This minimizes the space taken up by the servers while allowing additional servers to be added. Racks work well for a larger collection of servers in more confined areas.

Blade: Blade servers also use a drawer-like configuration but unlike rack servers, they require a blade enclosure that delivers power, cooling as well as networking. The blade enclosure must be compatible with the entire collection of servers for it to work properly. Blade servers are also more compact, offering greater space-efficiency than rack mounts.

If your business plans on expanding its server farm or even building a data center in the long run, it is important to choose configurations that accommodate increased scalability. Rack and blade servers are more space-efficient so they may be ideal choices for server expansion. With increased server expansion, it is important to maximize cooling efficiency to match the higher power consumption.

Prioritize server-grade hardware components:

Servers are computers that are responsible for serving multiple clients. Because servers need to be running at all times, they require a combination of performance and reliability, which is the strong suit of server-grade hardware. Server-grade hardware is built with extra overhead and specialized features to prevent hardware failure, minimizing downtime. While any PC can function as a server, consumer-grade hardware is not designed to handle server workloads on a consistent basis. Consumer-grade components may also lack the intercompatibility of server-grade hardware.

Server-grade hardware is highly recommended due to the following features:

Motherboard: Server-grade motherboards are often equipped with multiple CPU sockets to support multiple processors for heavier workloads. They also typically support ECC (error-correcting code)-RAM.

Processor: Server-grade processors typically have higher core counts, enabling them to multitask more efficiently. Optimized clock speeds on server-grade processors are also more conducive for performance and power efficiency, which are essential to server performance.

Memory: Server-grade RAM utilizes ECC protection to mitigate data corruption. ECC memory uses an error correction code to help detect and correct data errors. This feature is particularly important because data integrity is an area of emphasis for server performance. This is especially the case for