Should I Rent or Invest in a Server?

Businesses or organizations depend on servers to enable communication between two or more computers, employees, customers, or partners.

For many businesses that want the services of a server to maximize productivity, one common question often arises: should you rent or buy (invest) in a server?

Well, the answer to this question depends on various factors. Read further to learn more.

Which Is the Best Option?

Buying and investing in a server are viable options in different situations. For instance, renting a server would be the most profitable solution for you if you are a small business that would only require a server to host the company’s website.

You need to find a reputable company, such as Crunchbits, that can provide a dedicated server to suit your needs.

However, for a large enterprise where most of the tasks require a stable and reliable server, investing in a server would be the best option for you because you’ll need it to:

• Manage access to data in different departments
• Enable communication between different departments within the organization
• Adding an extra layer of security to your network

How Do You Determine Whether Buying or Renting is the Best Option?

Apart from considering your computing needs, the business owner or the company’s managing team needs to analyze the pros and cons of both options. Some of the things they’ll explore include:

1. Cost

Depending on your computing needs, buying or renting a server can be unaffordable or cost-friendly. For instance, you only need a server to host your company’s website. In this case, hiring a server won’t be the best option. You don’t need to buy something that will cost you a fortune, only for you to use it sparingly.

On the other hand, installing a server would be the best option. A good example is in a hospital. If the management decides to rent a server to run the organization’s computing needs, it would be expensive long-term. Installing a server large enough to handle your company’s needs would be cost-effective.

2. Customization & Control

When you have a server at your premises, you can customize it to suit your ideal needs. Plus, you’ll have all the resources needed at your disposal. If an issue emerges, you can send the engineers to look at and fix the problem.

Renting comes with its fair share of challenges. For instance, if there’s a problem with the server – which sits in a different location from yours, it can be frustrating because you have to wait for the company’s engineers to fix the issue.

3. Scalability

When considering whether to buy or rent a server, the other thing to think about is scalability. Purchasing a server means buying all the necessary equipment to install the server unit. If you reach a point where the server is insufficient, you have to devise a budget to install a bigger server size.

Where you don’t know what kind of server size to install, the best option is first to rent a server. You can install one depending on your needs as soon as you recognize what you need.

4. Maintenance

Installing a server on your premises brings another added cost to your organization. You have to think about hiring people to maintain the server. In case of a breakdown, your company will –still – be in charge of maintaining the servers.

For the renting option, you need to pay a rental fee and leave the rest to the company that offers these services.

Conclusion

There you have it! Before you decide to rent or buy, consider the cost, maintenance, scalability, and customization or control you’ll have. Besides this, you’ll need to talk to an IT expert to help you make an informed decision.