When a server goes down, it’s BAD news, for everyone.  Ask any IT company.  They won’t tell you any different.

You might have witnessed this yourself, either at your place of employment or on a website you use regularly.  You get an announcement stating that the server is offline or it will be down for scheduled maintenance.

What usually happens afterward?  Everything is brought to a halt, and you have to find something else to do until the server comes back online.

So yeah, it’s a pretty BIG deal when a server starts malfunctioning.

There are a number of reasons why this happens.  It could fall under one of the following categories.

OS (Operating System) Malfunction

This is a rare scenario for servers, but it can happen.  Servers aren’t really used like ordinary desktops or laptop computers.  The OS doesn’t suffer from as much wear and tear from everyday user interaction.

For instance, with a regular desktop, you may use it every day to run reports, work on spreadsheets, check email, and of course, browse the internet.  Let’s focus on the internet and email part. There’s a very good chance you could download something harmful on your computer.  Either directly from the internet or viewing an attachment from an email (even with anti-virus installed).

Those activities make the OS on a desktop computer susceptible to various malware and a fragmented drive.  Which can lead to the OS not operating up to par.

On a server, those aren’t typical activities (at least they’re not supposed to be).  A server’s job is only to perform the roles that are installed via its “Server Manager“. 

If the OS on a server starts to malfunction, it could be the result of an incorrect installation. Or a troubleshooting scenario that went bad.  Like someone clicks something they were not supposed to click…..it happens.

In such instances, a server can and will go offline.  But as I said, this is not a common occurrence for servers.

Power Outage

This happens more often than you would think.  I’ve seen servers go down a lot due to a power outage.  Even with a battery backup in place.

This would happen typically during a Thunderstorm of some sort or just a power outage in the area.

In this case, there’s not much that can be done, other than to wait it out.  Due to this inevitability, it’s always a great idea to have a backup plan in place.  Make sure your server is backed up regularly (preferably to the cloud).

There’s nothing worse than having a server’s hard drive getting damaged during a power outage (power spikes), and the data not backed up.  Think of the inconvenience that could cause your company.

Patch or update failure

This is a typical one.  At times, servers can go down because a major update or patch failed.  I’ve had this happen several times with my own clients.

The server attempted to reboot but crashed during the process.  The best resolution, in this case, is to hard boot the server manually.  When it does come back up, consider rebooting it again to ensure the update was in fact installed properly. Also, you want to make sure no files were damaged during the crash.

Server is Old

My recommended lifespan of a typical Windows-based server is 10 years.  Maybe a little longer, but 10 years is my benchmark.  Especially for the OS.

Ever so often, Microsoft stops supporting certain Windows editions.  This is what’s referred to as “end of life“.

When that happens, that means you’re on your own in terms of updates, troubleshooting, and support.  The last thing you want is to have your server’s OS reach an “end of life” status, and there’s no new server to replace it.  At the very least, get an updated version of the OS, if the hardware can accommodate it.

If you have nothing to replace it with, you’re now left in a very vulnerable state.  This is grounds for your company to be hacked at any time.  I know that updates and patches can be a pain at times.  But they keep your OS supported with updated coding.  This helps to keep you ahead of the “bad guys”.  Plus you get the new features the developers have designed for the OS.

Let me explain it another way, your OS is made up of codes, just like any other software.  Updates and patches essentially update the coding of the OS and “patch” any loopholes that may leave you vulnerable.  This makes it a bit difficult for a hacker to figure out the codes because the updates keep changing them.  When it’s outdated, then it becomes easier for them to figure out the coding of your OS and get access to whatever they want.  Keep that in mind going forward.

Network Issues

There are several factors that can contribute to the network issues:

• Malfunctioning Router – When a router starts malfunctioning, the best resolution is a reboot.  Most routers come equipped with a power switch.  However, if there are no power switches, then unplug and plug back in the power chord.
• Malfunctioning Modem – A similar resolution can be applied here, as with the router.  However, the modem is usually the device connected to your ISP (Internet Service Provider).  So if a reboot does not resolve the issue, contact your local ISP.  The issue is usually with them.
• ISP Issues – As I’ve noted above, if rebooting the device doesn’t help, contact your ISP and have them look at your connection from their end. They’ll be able to pinpoint exactly what the issue is.
• Bad Ethernet cable – This one is pretty self-explanatory.  If you’ve factored in that the network cable is the culprit, replace it with a new one.

Server problems are never fun when they happen.  Consider one of the following categories as a probable cause, if you find yourself with a malfunctioning server.