What are the most common reasons for a server to stop working in the office?

In previous posts on the AC☁DC blog, we discussed the most common hidden costs of placing server equipment in the office and how we can calculate them. Most of these are related to possible server downtime, which happens sooner or later. 

The truth is, even the best-maintained office server is vulnerable, because the office environment is not intended for hosting critical IT infrastructure.

In this article, we’ll show you the main sources of problems, why they occur, and how to avoid or minimize them.

Power outages

Almost every building is connected to the power grid. This means your office server depends entirely on the power supplied by the grid, as well as on backup power systems (UPS, generators, etc.).

Main causes of outages:

• Scheduled maintenance – According to regulations and energy company practices, every transformer is maintained at least once every 1-2 years. This leads to hours-long power outages.
• Sudden outages caused by network faults, weather conditions, or accidents.
• UPS system failure – Many offices use UPS devices, but these also require maintenance and battery replacement. Under load or fault, the UPS may fail and the server will suddenly shut down.

Even a brief power outage can cause:

• Vulnerability of sensitive data;
• Loss of unsaved information;
• Damage to hard drives or SSD devices;
• Need for manual system restart, which is often not possible immediately.

Network connectivity issues: Internet is not guaranteed

No matter how good your internet provider is, guaranteed service continuity is not included in ordinary consumer and business packages. What’s more: it’s too risky to rely on just one provider and not have a backup option. The problem can get worse if your region has a limited choice of ISPs. 

Keep in mind that true guaranteed connectivity (with SLA and instant response and technical support) is offered only in a specialized environment and is part of professional data center services. 

Common causes of Internet connectivity loss in the office:

• Provider’s scheduled maintenance – often done at night, but not always;
• Unexpected connection interruptions due to physical damage to the line or network equipment problems;
• Unstable speed and latency.

Most ISPs do not publicly share advance information or statistics about the monthly or yearly duration of outages, which further complicates risk management for businesses. 

Hardware failures, human factor, and the need for specialist intervention

Your office server equipment can be affected by both the environment and human error or lack of timely maintenance. 

Common problems:

• Disk, RAM, or power supply failure – entirely realistic even for new equipment.
• Overheating – due to dust, poor ventilation, or unstable temperature.
• No responsible person onsite – often issues arise exactly when the technical specialist is on leave or out of the office. In such cases, there’s no one to restart the server, diagnose the problem, or perform manual recovery.
• Unforeseen human errors – shutting down the server during cleaning, accidentally unplugging a cable, or changing the configuration.

All these risks are not only possible but statistically probable - especially when equipment is operated long-term outside a specialized environment.

How to avoid the mentioned problems?

The solution starts with good awareness and goes through eliminating the risks associated with having your servers in the office environment.

Identify causes and calculate risk

As described in the article “How to calculate losses from server downtime in the office”, every outage - be it one hour or one day - can cost your business thousands in lost sales, lost employee time, and additional recovery expenses.

When you know the most common causes of these interruptions, you’ll be in a much better position to prevent them, rather than fighting the consequences.

Use professional data center services

Moving your servers to a premium data center like AC☁DC eliminates almost all described risks. Here’s why:

• Continuous power supply – with UPS, generators, and constant monitoring;
• Guaranteed internet connectivity – with redundant channels and agreed uptime levels (SLA);
• Physical security and cooling – maintained temperature, clean rooms, video surveillance;
• IT professionals who can perform Remote Hands & Eyes activities on your servers onsite at the data center 
• Protection of your equipment in cases of disasters and incidents

In other words -instead of wondering when and how your business server’s next outage will occur, you can simply eliminate the possibility of it happening.

If you want to know how a data center operates and how it guarantees the security and continuity of its business clients’ servers, visit AC☁DC or request a custom quote for colocation of your equipment in our data center.

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