With the robust technology available today, your servers and computers will rarely crash or fail suddenly, without first giving you some key signs that something is wrong. Recognizing the warning symptoms of a failing computer or server is key to catching issues and preventing devastating network crashes in your business. But what symptoms should you be looking for? And what should you do if you start seeing the telltale signs of an imminent server or computer failure? Here’s a checklist of symptoms you can look for that should help you quickly recognize when your servers or computers may be experiencing failures that require immediate attention or may be in need of important updates or upgrades.
- The computers on your network (or your actual servers) are sluggish. They may even freeze or require frequent restarts to maintain function.
- You’ve noticed that you’ve lost access to a program or capability suddenly, which you had no issues accessing before.
- You are seeing a lot of pop-up ads on your computer, or multiple windows open up when you start your computer or try to navigate around the system.
- You or your employees have created manual processes to work around issues in the system.
- You don’t know when you last ran a security update on your computers or servers.
- You’re not aware of your backup recovery status, or where and how your data is being safeguarded in the event of a system failure.
- You don’t know if you have firewall protection on your servers or computers (or you’re receiving a warning window that your firewall is turning “on” and “off”).
- Your anti-virus software isn’t being updated regularly, or you don’t know exactly which anti-virus and anti-spyware protections you have in place on your network.
- Equipment on your network, such as printers, is sluggish, inconsistent, or difficult to manage.
- You and your employees find that you frequently “miss” emails that are not coming through to you, or others often tell you that they have not received an email you sent to them.
