System maintenance is an umbrella term used to describe various forms of computer or server maintenance necessary for a computer system to function properly. It can describe network maintenance, which can mean that servers are being repaired, replaced, or physically moved. Network maintenance can also mean that a server’s software is being updated, changed, or repaired. This type of maintenance is usually done on a regular or semi-regular schedule, often during off-peak hours, and keeps servers running smoothly.
System maintenance helps ensure that computer systems are working properly.
Information technology (IT) professionals often use system maintenance to describe any type of repair performed on a computer or multiple computers on a network. IT maintenance can often take hours to complete and professionals often describe the work in general terms to avoid timely explanations needed in more specific language. When websites are inaccessible due to hacker attacks, server issues, or to update and repair, website administrators often show an apologetic image for website maintenance and downtime. This allows users to understand that the site is unusable and administrators are aware of the problem.
Server racks.
Preventive maintenance is typically performed by IT professionals, usually because a potential problem or security threat has been recognized on a computer or server and system administrators are working to address the problem before it becomes a real problem. This type of maintenance is often seen as unnecessary or inconvenient by users who find work interrupted by the sudden need to fix a problem that has not yet affected the user. Preventive maintenance prevents users from encountering much more serious problems and is therefore essential to the continued reliability of the system.
Due to the perceived inconvenience of preventative maintenance, many IT professionals prefer to rely on scheduled maintenance to perform necessary system maintenance in a time frame that is as inconvenient as possible to other users. Scheduled maintenance is great for things like flushing temporary files, running defrag programs on hard drives, and clearing server caches. IT professionals can’t always wait until scheduled maintenance to resolve particularly serious problems with a computer or server. However, when possible, administrators often allow minor problems to persist and simply fix them until scheduled maintenance can be completed, rather than shutting down dependent users of the system.
Preventive system maintenance can be performed to deal with a security threat from a hacker.
