Who answers when the server goes down
In most small and medium companies, IT responsibility is spread across several places: a hosting provider for the website, an acquaintance for the computers, the software vendor for its own problems. It works while everything is fine. The moment something stops, the chain of calls begins and everyone points to the next in line.
System administration solves exactly that: one team that knows the entire environment and is accountable for it, from servers and the network to backups and user access. If you’re looking for help only with specific problems rather than ongoing management, see technical support.
What system administration covers
Server maintenance
We provide continuous monitoring and maintenance of your server fleet: hardware and software configuration, data backups and response to outages within the agreed time. We look after both performance and security.
We work with Windows Server and Linux (Ubuntu, Debian), with both physical machines on-premises and virtual machines in the cloud.
Network maintenance
We configure, maintain and optimise your network infrastructure: switches, routers, access points and firewalls. We ensure fast, secure connectivity between devices, including remote access for employees working outside the office. When the network needs to be rebuilt or an office refitted, we also take on the network build-out.
Updates and patches
We track new versions and patches for your operating systems and applications. Updates are applied on a planned basis, outside working hours, and critical security gaps are closed immediately.
Before a more significant update we take a snapshot of the machine’s state. If something breaks afterwards, rolling back is a matter of minutes rather than restoring from scratch.
Backup and recovery
We make regular backups and build a disaster recovery plan. The backup is tested. A backup copy that no one has ever tried to restore is not protection, it’s an assumption.
Why companies choose outsourced system administration
One accountable party instead of several. When the infrastructure sits with one team, there’s no blame-shifting between providers. There’s someone to pick up the phone.
Problems are caught before users notice. Monitoring tracks disk space, load and availability around the clock. A full disk caught in time is a five-minute task; the same disk noticed by accounting on payday is an emergency.
Vulnerabilities are closed on time. Most successful attacks on small companies don’t use new exploits but old ones for which patches have long existed.
A cost you can plan. A monthly subscription instead of unpredictable bills for emergency intervention.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does system administration cost per month?
The price depends on the number of servers and workstations, whether out-of-hours support is needed, and the agreed response time. We offer monthly subscription plans matched to the actual size of your environment. Contact us for a free review and a concrete quote.
What servers do you support?
We work with Windows Server and Linux (Ubuntu, Debian), as well as virtualisation platforms: primarily Proxmox VE, but we also support existing VMware and Hyper-V environments. We support physical servers on-premises and virtual machines in the cloud.
What does the monthly subscription include?
24/7 monitoring, installation of updates and patches, management of user accounts and access, regular backups with restorability checks, and priority response to problems. The exact scope and the response time are set out in the contract.
What is your response time in an outage?
It’s set in the contract according to how critical the system is to your business. For an environment where downtime stops revenue, the time is different from that for an internal system that can tolerate a few hours. We discuss it at the quote stage, rather than promising one time for everyone.
Can you take over infrastructure built by someone else?
Yes. We start with a review of the current state: what exists, how it’s configured, where the backups and access are. The result is a documented environment and a prioritised list of what needs to be put in order. Only then do we take over ongoing maintenance.
Will we have access to our own infrastructure?
Yes. Access, licences and domains remain in your name. We work with open-source tools precisely because they don’t lock the client in. If you decide to change providers, the environment remains yours and can be handed over.
How it looks in practice
Accounting firm, 14 people
- The situation
- The server running the accounting software restarted on its own several times a month, usually in the afternoon. No one knew why. They simply waited it out and carried on working.
- What we did
- We set up monitoring on the machine, and within two weeks it was clear the restarts coincided with the disk filling up with temporary files from the software itself. We cleaned up, moved the archives to a second device and set up an alert at 80% usage.
- The result
- The restarts stopped. The disk is now monitored, and the warning arrives days before it becomes a problem, instead of the system going down in the middle of month-end closing.
Manufacturing company, 40 people
- The situation
- IT was looked after by three different companies: one for the server, one for the network, one for the software. When something went wrong, each pointed at the other, and a lost day was business as usual.
- What we did
- We reviewed the entire environment, documented what runs where and who has access, and took over support of the servers and network under one contract and one response time.
- The result
- One number to call when something goes wrong. The software vendor stayed, but now talks to us rather than to production.