Server availability is an important topic. Yet it is one that does not always get the attention it deserves in business circles.
When considering server solutions, you might think that packages offering guaranteed uptime of less than 99.9% are great. After all, they must be almost as good as those that hit the higher watermark. If there are just a few fractions of a percent between them, it can’t make that much difference, right?
To explore this in more detail, let’s examine the impact of server availability falling below 99.9% and what that might mean for users.
If you do not monitor your always on availability groups and put contingencies in place to deal with unplanned downtime. Or, with outright outages, it will cost your company a lot.
There have been many studies into this matter. On average the costs of server downtime run at between $300,000 and $400,000. Bear in mind that this figure applies for every hour that the outage lasts. Thus, the expense of imperfect server availability can quickly spiral into the millions.
In the very worst cases, around a fifth, the hourly costs are over $5 million. Obviously, this only applies to the largest corporations. However, it should still be a significant concern for smaller firms as well. Big businesses can swallow significant costs, while up and coming counterparts can be laid low for good.
Your calculations also have to account for how seemingly small slices of downtime play out over long periods. A server with 98% availability will leave you with just over seven days a year of downtime. Meanwhile, one with 99% availability lowers this to under four days.
So-called high availability (HA) solutions can of course provide far less expected downtime per year. This can range from around nine hours for 99.9% of services. Or, just a few milliseconds for the most resilient packages.
Another side-effect of poor server availability is that this can have a negative impact on the way that your brand is perceived by your customers.
If people are unable to use a service, such as a website or an app, because your database is experiencing an outage, it will reflect badly on your business.
It is this reputational damage that creates one of the largest and most difficult to calculate knock-on effects of lower server availability levels.
Lastly, if you do not actively monitor server availability and look for inconsistencies, then you could allow cybercriminals to exploit your resources. And, you won't even know about it until it is too late.
It is better to be proactive and always pay attention to server availability. Even if you opt for an HA package because of the reasons mentioned above.
Vigilance will pay for itself many times over by steering you clear of unplanned outages. Thus, ensuring that your server resources are there for you when you need them most.
