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By Alberto Jessurun / April 20, 2022 / Blog

What Is a Microserver?

Microservers are more focused on specific tasks and can thus perform them more effectively than larger servers, which can do a lot of functions reasonably well.

Key Takeaways
  • A microserver is a small server used by small- and medium-sized businesses for smaller-scale applications
  • Microservers can be more affordable, and lots of them used together can create a lot of power more efficiently when they share an infrastructure
  • Large enterprises typically wouldn’t use microservers and require general-purpose servers for mixed workloads
Servers play very important roles in today’s businesses. They sustain everyday operations for organizations of all sizes, ensuring that data can be transferred and stored for whatever use is needed at a given moment. Servers are now critical to many business functions since companies depend on data to drive business decisions and assess performance.

One critique of the typical data center or server is that they are only reasonably good at doing a variety of different tasks. But there is a shift in what business leaders want from a server. Today many businesses want a server that will accomplish more specific tasks and perform them much better than when larger servers are spread too thin. 

This change is made possible by the microserver. These smaller servers have a greater ability to focus on specific duties and more clearly defined computing responsibilities. They provide benefits like affordability and easy implementation.

This guide will walk through what a microserver is and the key advantages these smaller servers offer. 

What is a microserver?

A microserver — also known as a “micro server” or a “server appliance” — is a small server designed for smaller applications. It doesn’t have as much processing power as a standard server, and it has less storage capacity.

Microservers usually have up to two processors and up to four memory slots. They typically have several disk drives and USB connectivity capability. 

The first uses of these smaller servers were for lighter computing tasks, but they have expanded to include more powerful functions like serving more complex web elements, hosted desktops, and digital signal processing for telecommunication companies. With big data analytics becoming more and more crucial to businesses, microservers will become more instrumental in carrying out tasks.

Some medium-sized applications and services also use microservers. They provide services like:
  • VPN connections
  • Firewalls
  • Printing
  • FTP
  • Email
  • Data sharing 
The microserver can be accessed via a web browser since it also operates as a web server. In fact, the increase in dependence on web services for businesses of all kinds has driven the need for microservers.

Microservers are more “application-defined servers, as opposed to general-purpose servers,” as an HP manager once put it when discussing the low-powered server technology Moonshot. Thus, microservers are hyper-focused on something specific rather than trying to do too much and thus not as well.

Pros of microservers

Microservers are often used for specific uses within a business. For example, they could come preinstalled with applications like a small firewall or email server. These servers are extremely good at performing hyper-specific tasks instead of having the ability to do everything at a simply acceptable level.

Because of these applications, microservers are useful for well-defined computing tasks and provide effective, consistent results.

Other benefits of microservers are:
  • They are easy to install and use
  • There is not much maintenance involved
  • They come with pre-installed hardware, software, and operating system
  • All applications are preinstalled
  • The server works with an existing network
  • There is little lag time between installation and use
  • There is little configuration or support required
  • They are more affordable overall
These server appliances are best for small to medium businesses that require a server but don’t need the full level of service provided by a tower server. These smaller servers are often used by companies with a small IT staff.

However, because microservers are small, companies can combine sometimes hundreds of them into one server rack, which means that the smaller servers share an infrastructure and become more efficient and easier to manage. Microservers require much less power than general-purpose servers, so businesses can also save on energy.

Another benefit of microservers is that if you have multiple microservers supporting data activities, and you lose one of these small servers, it isn’t as big of a loss as if you lost the one and only large server you were depending on.

Are there any downsides to microservers?

Larger businesses or enterprises wouldn’t use microservers since they wouldn’t be practical. These companies instead require standard servers to support many complex activities at once.

Many businesses will still need to have general-purpose servers to take care of tasks across mixed workloads. For example, a database will often need to be run on a standard server.

Computing processing power is more limited in microservers, so they won’t be able to complete big jobs unless tasks are split up into smaller pieces that can be completed in parallel within a microserver cluster.

Learn more about your storage needs from Unisol International

Microservers often provide a more affordable, hyper-focused option when compared to traditional servers. However, there are pros and cons to each, so you never want to make a change without fully considering the repercussions for your organization.

Always ensure you’re taking the right steps by working with Unisol International for your server and storage system needs. We specialize in product distribution and turnkey deployments of IP networking solutions, and we can help you with a variety of devices and applications. 

We assist a range of industries with their technology needs, including finance, healthcare, government, retail, industrial, commercial, hospitality, stadiums, data centers, and more. We incorporate the latest innovations into our solutions, including mobile surveillance, automation, facial recognition, and others.

Learn more about how we can help with your server and storage system needs. Contact the Unisol International team today.

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