Irrespective of the size and scale, most businesses are now banking on cloud service providers to migrate business applications and data to the cloud servers. While this is mainly done to reduce the overall operational costs, they benefit from high performance, better security, and remote access powered by cloud technology.
If you also want to switch to the cloud like your peers, you might have done the required research related to things to consider while selecting a cloud provider. But have you come across a ‘server uptime guarantee’ as a decisive factor?
The uptime-downtime ratio of cloud-hosted software and data is crucial as it significantly affects your experience and productivity while working on the cloud. Here, we will cover the concept of server uptime guarantee in detail to help you select the right cloud service provider.
What is Server Uptime Guarantee?
Server uptime refers to the period a cloud server can stay up and running without fail. This is defined as a percentage and is a measure of the service quality of a cloud provider. For example, 99.995% uptime implies that the servers in the data center will undergo a downtime of around 26 minutes in a year. This is based on the underlying data center tier where your cloud servers are hosted and maintained.
Recommended Read: All About Data Center Tier Ratings
Here, the server uptime guarantee refers to the assurance of maintaining a certain uptime as stated in the Service Level Agreement (SLA). If a cloud solution provider ensures a high uptime guarantee, the servers stay up and running for maximum duration. Therefore, any business application you host on them will be accessible during uptime hours. Since you cannot continue working on cloud-hosted software during server downtime, having a high uptime is quite beneficial.
Why is It Important to Consider Server Uptime Guarantee?
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No loss of productivity
Business software now plays an essential role in empowering users to be more productive. High server uptime means continued software access when you host them on the cloud. This is much different from accessing different applications via local servers, where any downtime can interrupt the entire chain of related operations. Since recurring downtime has the potential to disrupt operations, you can prevent productivity loss by switching to cloud solutions.
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Financial benefits
Regular downtime can hurt your business significantly, leading to the loss of clients and business reputation in the industry. In addition, the resulting financial loss can become a bottleneck toward business growth.
The best part is that you can prevent possible financial losses and delay in operational efficiency by considering a cloud hosting provider with a high server uptime guarantee.
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Enhanced client experience
Selecting cloud hosting backed by a high server uptime guarantee is also beneficial for the other side of your business, i.e., your clients. With business data hosted on the cloud, you can deliver round-the-clock client support service to address any urgent task from anywhere and anytime. This way, you need not rely on returning to work during business hours only. As a result, you can build better client relationships and avoid losing valuable clients.
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Strong market positioning of your brand
For your business to grow further, you will need to ensure a steady rise in the number of clients you cater to. While continuing to retain the existing clients and attracting new ones, it is essential to create your brand value in the eyes of your target audience. With cloud-backed services and a high server uptime guarantee, you can give your business the much-needed USP to build credibility.
How Many ‘Nines’ Ensure a High Server Uptime Guarantee?
In the cloud providers’ SLAs, you can find the server uptime guarantee being represented in terms of ‘nines’ in percentage. The number of nines also corresponds to a certain downtime over a specific period, as given in the table below:
| Number of nines as a measure of server availability | Downtime per year |
| 90% | 36.5 days |
| 99% | 3.65 days |
| 99.9% | 8.77 hours |
| 99.99% | 52.60 minutes |
| 99.995% | 26.30 minutes |
Conclusion
Most businesses now trust cloud solution providers for various day-to-day tasks at work. This makes data accessibility and server availability important factors that need your attention. If you want to benefit from the best-in-class cloud hosting services backed by a 99.995% server uptime guarantee, look no further than Verito Technologies. Speak to our cloud expert at – 1-855-583-7486.
