Is it time to retire that old server? Short answer…”YES”! I say that without even knowing anything about it. For many years, we have made our living supporting servers, and I can honestly tell you that the time has come to retire that old server.
Why Should You Retire That Old Server?
For many reasons. The first that comes to mind is the cost. The cost of the hardware, the backups, the disaster recovery plan, etc. If you have a server in your office, you will need to plan for a disaster if and when it happens. Gone are the days you could afford to be down 3-4 days. If you have a Microsoft Exchange server, how long can you be without email? If you have an EMR, how long can you be without patient records?
The second reason that comes to mind is what the hosting facility has, that you would never have in your office. Redundant power supplies, redundant servers and switches, a backup generator, walls that can withstand an earthquake, etc. etc. The only thing you would have to worry about is your internet connection, and that is an easy fix. An inexpensive failover ISP.
What is the Cost?
Surprisingly, the cost to host your server is much less expensive than you think. Most hosting companies base the cost on the amount of storage you need, and how “beefy” you want the server to be. It’s not a one size fits all, so if you have some legacy EMR’s that you want to host, you don’t need 128mgs of RAM. You can most likely get away with 2 cores, 500GB of storage, and 32mgs of RAM. Pay only for what you need.
If your server is 3-5 years old, it is time to look into hosting. You don’t want to buy a new server, get a new backup solution, get a new business continuity/disaster recovery solution, only to do it again in another 3-5 years. There is no sense in buying hardware for your mission critical data when the bandwidth is extremely high, and the cost is extremely low. Consider it. You won’t be sorry. It really is time to retire that old server.
