Today's business relies on technology more than ever. This is no longer a luxury, but a critical piece of the business and all technological tools need to be operating at peak performance for a business to be able to maximize its operation and sales. The problem is that technology doesn't always work like it should. When it's good, it's great. When something goes wrong, though, it can become a nightmare. Servers are a big deal in business. These are the items that hold all of your business's operational information and technology. The servers host your network and your computer system. Essentially, they're the foundation of your entire computer framework. Without them, you don't have a network.

What Are We Going To Do When a Server Goes Down?

When a server goes down, a lot of things can happen. First, you panic. Everyone does. It's a natural response because you've become so accustomed to your technology that not having it leaves you crippled and unsure of how to react. Once you collect yourself, you can start to troubleshoot the problem and see what's gone wrong. Companies that have a technical support team are definitely in a better position because they will take the reins and resolve the issues. Of course, even without a team you can still get to the bottom of the issue.

In the meantime, you need to find alternatives to whatever you're missing. For example, if your entire server is down, you might have to go back to pen and paper for critical processes and elements that won't wait until things are working again. If you just lose your network server, you should notify everyone and try to figure out quickly where things went wrong. Have people work on other tasks or duties that don't involve the server in question. That keeps them busy, keeps your business productive, and gives you time to resolve the issues.

Start with the Small Things

It's not hard to start doing diagnostics on your own. There are a lot of different things that could be causing your issues from one single loose wire to an internet outage at the service provider's end. Start your search by doing the simple things. Once you check all the basics, you can move on to the bigger potential issues. Here are some things to check:

• Check the applications and services, as well as the tasks, on the server. Make sure they are functioning correctly. If you can't access them, skip this step.
• Check login profiles and see what the server availability is like. Is it down for everyone? Maybe it's only affecting a few employees. Use networking monitoring tools when you can.
• Go one by one. Check cables from walls to connections. Reset modems, routers, and other network devices. Sometimes things just get mixed up and need a reboot.
• Figure out if you've made changes recently and if those could have affected the server malfunction. It's not difficult for new installations or processes to affect things negatively.
• After you've checked all the hardware, and it's still not functioning, check the software. Sometimes, like the network devices, your software just needs a fresh start.

Know When to Call Technical Support

While being able to troubleshoot these issues calmly to find resolution is important, it's even more important that you know when to throw in the towel and call the professionals. There are some things that you cannot fix, and you might actually even make them worse if you are not careful. Part of fixing server down errors is knowing where to look and how to make quick fixes. The other part is knowing when the problem is bigger than you and requires a professional. If you don't have an IT team on staff, or if the problem is related to a provider or their equipment, you will need to start making phone calls.

Get someone who can handle the job, no matter why the server is down or which server you're dealing with. Hire trained professionals to resolve the issue and find a team that can help you immediately so that you can get your business back on track. This is where it works to your advantage to have a tech support team on call ahead of time. If you've already established the relationship, you can trust that they'll be there when you need them.

Whether you resolve it yourself or have to call in the tech support team, there is a solution to your server going down and it doesn't have to be a nightmare.

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