As a small business owner or a manager, you will eventually come across a situation where you have to determine whether or not a piece of technology needs to be replaced or removed altogether. The first and probably the most critical decision you need to make is how this technology affects your specific product, service, or company. If the piece of technology can still be utilized, it promotes efficiency and productivity, or is simply a benefit to the company, then the answer is clear. Unfortunately, sometimes the answer is not always that easy. Continue reading to learn about the various types of technology and the signs that they might fail.
Failing Server Hard Drives
The most common computing environments use hard disk drives, also known as HDDs. These hard drives typically last between three to five years and will have indications that a failure is approaching. Some possible signs include the following:
- The disk drive is making strange noises, such as clicking, whirring, or humming
- Repeated crashes and software errors
- Repeated disk errors
- Strange computer behavior
If it has already reached this point, it is likely too late and possibly affecting your business operations. Fortunately, there are various monitoring utilities that will give IT administrators early warnings of a possible hard drive failure. Action can be taken before the failure results in data loss or disrupts your business.
Other computing environments may have solid-state drives, also known as SSD. SSDs are known to last longer, between five to seven years. Solid-state drives do not always provide indications of failure like HDDs normally would. Therefore, monitoring of SSD should be done on a regular basis. The software can be downloaded and will allow the monitoring of SSD.
Besides routine monitoring, there are some signs of SSD failure. These include the constant “popping up” of error messages, files that cannot be read or written, and frequent crashes during the boot phase. Upgrading the hard drive before a major failure of your systems would keep downtime and all the related costs to a minimum.
Networking Equipment
Networking problems can result in the disruption of business operations. The loss of access to the Internet can result in employees being unable to perform their job duties, thus negatively affecting productivity, efficiency, and overall profit to the company. If your company is having difficulty staying connected or receiving the right amount of bandwidth needed, you may have an issue with the router, switch, or another part of the networking system.
What is worse than having failing hardware? Not having that hardware in the first place. If your business needs assistance with its wireless network, mobile computing management system, or any other system, the IT professionals at WheelHouse IT can help. If your IT systems seem like they are failing, we can conduct a full assessment of your company’s technology today. For more information or any questions, please contact us at 954.474.2204.
