– Bohr Tsao, product manager at AMAX (www.amax.com), says:

Here are the top 5 Server Upgrade Tips to consider before embarking on the server upgrade project:

  1. Architecture – Understanding how intended applications best scale across hardware plays a critical role in new component selection. For example, processing, memory, and i/o intensive applications would all have different optimized hardware architecture.
  2. Compatibility – It is critical to select components and new systems that integrate seamlessly with existing deployments. Enterprises cannot afford any downtime in taking critical systems offline for upgrades.
  3. Power consumption – The available power and set up in the data center is important in the process of selecting components based on efficiency versus ultimate performance.
  4. Upgradeability and expandability – Designing a system to scale out properly for future expansion goes a long way in minimizing total cost of ownership.
  5. Product life cycle – For applications dependent on specific hardware, it is imperative to design a system around the supported hardware and planned along its life cycle.