Network administrators have two primary roles and they are to see that their servers and network are running efficiently and that the network is latest and most technologically advanced. As the administrator reaches the stage of being a manager for entire data center or network they need to balance the improvements on the network with their added responsibilities. Unless it is a huge company the budget for a network is usually quite limited, and you cannot cut corners in many areas and technological inferiority is not even an option. The good news is that certain equipments which are vital like the
IP power switch, RAID, UPS and so on are now available at much lesser cost then what they were available previously.
Additionally you can get better savings if you use the existing technology to its fullest. For instance take systems of remote management. When these systems are properly implemented you can expect to save a lot of money which otherwise would have gone in having an engineer on call or a retainer.
Solutions for remote management and console servers can work out expensive, but the implementation of a DIY system for remote management is also possible. You will initially need to get two servers, and as these machines are not going to have much load, you could look for machines which is ex-production and which nobody is using. An
IP power switch will be needed for disaster recovery, especially when the system is not so great for the task and you need to reboot the server.
Simply install Linux on one server and then connect to a switch an Ethernet adapter. You could also use Windows Server in place of Linux but the licensing costs will add to the project unnecessarily, without any major benefits. All additional servers which need administration will have to be connected to that same switch. The server used for remote administration will need a network adapter separately, for connecting to the internet through a firewall, and must be assigned a totally unique IP address. This will allow SSH management of the server, but will be from a different IP from the one that supplies file/web/mail services, so that the network security is maintained.
Another option which is also advisable is connecting an IP power switch to the server of remote management. Many power switch brands enable entry to a web page for rebooting devices which are connected, so that there is no need for the actual machines to respond. This is a time saving technique especially when there is no response from servers. Of course setting this up will take time and huge businesses may find it simpler to just buy a solution which is ready made. But for small companies having tighter budgets, will find the mentioned solution much less expensive.
