Properly deploying new servers for clients requires managed services providers (MSPs) carefully plan and execute such initiatives. Keeping those servers running properly is an even bigger challenge. MSPs need to adopt methodic maintenance practices to help spot issues early and prevent problems from resulting in unplanned downtime and lost data.

Servers present so many fronts for failure it’s difficult to know where to start. Using a checklist, like the server maintenance checklist from TechRepublic Premium, can help busy technicians systematically review numerous aspects in an order that doesn’t introduce additional problems. For example, don’t begin downloading and installing security updates and performance patches until first confirming proper backups, and hopefully a confirmed-good system image, are in place.

Insisting technicians use a checklist can also minimize the chance an important step is overlooked. Considering there are typically a half-dozen or more log files that might warrant reviewing each time server maintenance is performed, enumerating each individual log file, not to mention step, helps formalize the process and systematically walk technicians through each step of a comprehensive process that’s regularly repeated.