Server Maintenance — A Complete Guide for SMEs

The server is the heart of every company's IT infrastructure.

When it stops — the business stops too. For many small and medium-sized companies, server maintenance is either neglected or handed to a single employee with no clear procedures or backup plan. This guide explains what proper server maintenance should include and how to choose a provider.

Why Is Server Administration Critical to the Business?

Modern businesses rely on servers for storing data and documents, email communications, ERP and accounting systems, internet access, and internal applications. With improper maintenance, the risks include:

• Data loss — without regular, tested backups.
• Ransomware attack — through unpatched systems or weak passwords.
• Unplanned downtime — due to hardware or software failure.
• Security breach — via vulnerabilities in the operating system.

Based on our practical experience and European research, the average downtime from a server failure at SMBs is 4–8 hours. For a 20-employee company, that means 160 hours of lost productivity — from a single incident.

What Does Server Maintenance Cover?

The server maintenance covers proactive monitoring, patch management, backup, and incident response — without the need for an in-house systems administrator.

# Proactive Monitoring

24/7 monitoring of CPU, RAM, disk space, and network traffic; automatic alerts on anomalies (overheating, full disk, downtime); checking the Event Log for errors and warnings; monitoring services and applications.

# Patch Management

Regular installation of security patches for Windows Server / Linux; updating server applications and middleware; testing patches before production deployment on critical systems; scheduling update windows with minimal business impact.

# Backup and Recovery

Configuration and monitoring of backup procedures; regular backup testing — simulating real recovery; offsite or cloud backup for protection against physical damage; documented RTO/RPO — how quickly and to what point you can recover. For complete server protection. 

# Incident Response

Priority response to server problems per SLA; diagnosis and resolution of hardware and software issues; coordination with vendors during hardware replacement; post-incident analysis and preventive measures.

What Is a Security Health Check?

Security Health Check is a thorough audit of your company's IT security. It examines every weak point across the network, devices, accounts, and access policies. The result is a concrete report with prioritised findings and recommendations for remediation.

Think of it as a routine medical check-up — but for your IT infrastructure. It's better to know about a problem now than to pay for it after a ransomware attack.

What Does the Check Cover?

A standard Security Health Check at BGService covers the following areas:

#Network Infrastructure

Firewall configuration — rules, open ports, external access; network segmentation (are guest devices separated from work devices?); VPN configuration and remote access; wireless network — encryption, isolation, guest access.

#Devices and Endpoint Protection

Operating system and application currency; antivirus protection — presence, currency, coverage; device lock and encryption policies; BYOD (personal devices) — how they're managed.

#User Accounts and Access

Password policy — complexity, expiry, reuse; Multi-factor authentication (MFA) — is it deployed?; access rights — principle of least privilege; inactive accounts — former employees with active access.

#Backup and Recovery

Whether a backup procedure exists; backup testing — can recovery actually happen?; offsite or cloud backup — protection against physical damage; RTO and RPO — how quickly can you recover?

Which Servers Do We Support?

BGS supports a broad range of server environments: Windows Server 2016 / 2019 / 2022; Linux (Ubuntu Server, Debian, CentOS, Rocky Linux); virtualisation: VMware vSphere / ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V; cloud virtual machines: Microsoft Azure, AWS EC2; NAS devices: Synology, QNAP; hybrid environments (on-premise + cloud).

On Your Own or with an Outsourced Provider?

Managing servers requires specialist knowledge across networking, operating systems, security, and virtualisation. For most SMBs, hiring an in-house system administrator isn't economically justified — beyond the salary, you add social contributions, training, equipment, and the risk of "key person dependency": if they leave, the knowledge of your infrastructure leaves with them.

Outsourced server maintenance provides access to a team of specialists, coverage per a contracted SLA, and documented procedures — at a fixed monthly cost that's predictable and, in most cases, lower than an in-house hire.

What to Look for When Choosing a Server Maintenance Provider

• An SLA with concrete response times — not just "when possible".
• Experience with your type of servers and operating system.
• Documentation — do they keep records of the work performed?
• Backup procedure — do they test regularly, or just configure?
• References from companies of similar size and infrastructure.
• Termination procedure — will you receive full documentation?

How Does BGS Manage Servers?

BGS uses specialist RMM (Remote Monitoring and Management) tools for continuous monitoring of every managed server. When an anomaly occurs, our engineers receive an automatic alert and act on it — before the client notices the problem.

Each client receives a monthly report with: activities performed, issues found and resolved, backup status, and recommendations for improvements.