Preventative Computer Maintenance List Photo
In order to ensure continued performance and worry free operation of workstations and servers, a maintenance schedule will be established, agreed upon, and documented. This schedule will provide network administrators feedback for analysis and alerts to any problems which could arise within the future. This routine maintenance will provide an increase in performance in areas such as file access and decrease the probability of hardware failures.
This procedure is documented and a continual maintenance log will be keep for future references.
Servers
Backups
A routine backup scheme of server files will be performed according to guidelines set down by administration. This will ensure the recovery of lost data in the event of hardware failures or corruption from outside sources. This should be at a bare minimum a daily backup of changed files and a complete backup once a week.
This backup scheme must ensure a speedy and proper recovery time with minimum server down time. It must also limit the loss of current data changes that must be recreated from scratch.
Test Backup Scheme
It is one thing to have a backup scheme in place and following the procedures, but this scheme must be tested regularly to prove that it will perform when needed.
Testing of your backup scheme will provide information to media reliability and test that data is being backed up often to provide the necessary recovery times.
Testing should be done at least monthly.
NOS Patches
Current patches to the Network Operation System should be applied to provide the increased performance received through patches and avoid the possible problems that they tend to fix. Patches should also be applied to any of the NOS services running on the server.
These patches should be applied as they are made available from vendors and applied during times that will not interfere with user connectivity.
Testing of Hardware Redundancy
Any hardware redundancy and failure protection should be tested and verified to ensure proper operation. These items would include but not limited to RAIDs, UPSs, and redundant power supplies. Once every month would be optimal.
Hard Disk Surface Scans
To avoid media failures and bad disk sectors, the server hard disk should be surface scanned once a month. This will be a time consuming procedure that needs to be performed over a weekend with limited user access.
Disk Defragmentation and File Compression
Also performed once a month, this procedure will increase file access times and increase disk write performance. It must also be performed on a weekend with limited user access.
Virus Scan
This is a necessity in a day and age of computer malice from outside sources. No matter how secure a system is, there is a possibility of infection from outside sources.
This should be ideally performed once a day, but at least once a week.
The virus patterns used to scan must be updated as soon as a new one is made available from vendors.
Dusted
The inside of each server should be air dusted out to avoid over heating and circuit failures from dust accumulation. This can be performed once a month.
Workstations
Backups
Each workstation should be backed up at least once a month to ensure that the workstation can be partially recovered in the even of hardware failure and loss of long-term data can be restored. This will decrease the workstations downtime.
A policy may need to be in place to allow flexibility per workstation if data is critical or to place more importance on the user backing up their data personally.
Virus Scan
With users having control of workstations and file storage on the workstation, scanning for viruses becomes even more important. A procedure needs to be in place to run in the background unknown to the user to perform a scan several times a day. This will ensure safety and prevent the viruses from moving to servers.
The virus data patterns will need to be updated as they are made available from the vendors to unsure the most current is in place and new viruses are being detected.
Hard Disk Surface Scans
Each workstation hard disk needs to be scanned once every two weeks to ensure media failures are avoided and data is not lost. This will avoid data being written to bad sectors on the hard disk.
Hard Disk Defragmentation
Each of the workstations will need the hard disk defragmented once every two weeks to increase file access and decrease write times to the disk.
Cleaning
Each workstation should be opened up and air blown out once a month to avoid overheating and dust accumulation. Also keyboards, mice, and monitors should be kept clean to avoid problems and decreased performance.
Software Upgrades
The workstation software should be upgraded as needed and bug fixes implemented to allow smooth operation in the most current environment.