3 Reasons Local Servers Are Still Valuable Assets

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vcio services

Virtualization is here to stay. Companies are utilizing economies of scale to replace local, in-house software and hardware with solutions hosted in databases located around the world.

Given this trend, it's reasonable for even small businesses to wonder whether they still need that server humming away in the closet. To be sure, there are companies whose best interests can be served without a local, on premise server.

Still, in our experience supporting businesses of all sizes, we've found that there are still compelling reasons for some businesses to keep a server onsite. Here are three of them:

Why Local Servers Still Have Value

1. Hosting for Large Files

While we highly recommend business-class file sharing and syncing solutions like Box, they do limit the size of individual files that can be stored on their platforms, and even larger files within that limit can be cumbersome to deal with. On-premise servers are still a great option for efficient storage and access of large files.

2. Hosting for Key Applications

Hosting applications in the cloud is becoming easier and easier, but there are still times when it makes more sense to host them locally. Sometimes, hosting locally is still cheaper over the long-run given the recurring cost of hosting in the cloud. Other times, there are security reasons for keeping applications and their data stored locally. And, of course, hosting applications in the cloud (or using turnkey cloud solutions) means that access to the application depends on your connection to the internet, which brings us to our final point . . .

3. Less Reliance on Internet Access

While internet outages can be crippling to productivity, having a local server can remove some of that pain. With a local server, you can still access business-critical resources on your network without connectivity to the internet.

All of this is to show that, in many cases, even small businesses can still benefit from having an on-premise server. The good news is that because many server functions can be moved to the cloud, local server hardware even for larger companies doesn't need to be as robust--or as expensive--as it has in the past. 

Have questions about your environment and whether or not a server is worth the investment? Don't hesitate to reach out!