This may be the age of cloud computing—when more business are shifting to Internet-based services for many operational tasks; but, make no mistake—on-premise servers are still an integral part of a small business' network. Servers can help to streamline a network, especially an expanding one. A peer-to-peer network may be fine for a home or small business with maybe three or four computers connected to one another, each sharing files and perhaps a few devices like a printer, a wireless router, or a NAS box. When a network starts to grow, either in number of users or in the amount of data that's kept on it, a server can help a business stay organized and efficient. But there are a wide variety of servers available, all of them highly configurable.

First, you need to understand what servers are good at. Servers can be used to house files and manage printers. Better yet, they can manage which users on a network can access which resources. They can serve as machines handling a company's website, email, databases, remote access and other tasks. Servers can range from simple, inexpensive tower PCs to sophisticated boxes designed to handle heavy workloads and provide disaster recovery with backup, data redundancy and fault tolerance. Sifting through the vast options in the server market need not be a headache, if you have a good understanding of what your business needs are, how scalable you need a server to be and how critical it is to have that server stay operational in the event of a disaster. Here is a breakdown of key considerations when shopping for a server for your small business:

• Price: Of course, your budget is going to have a lot to do with which server you select. Small business servers typically range from $500 to $5,000. Pricing depends on the configuration of a server. If a business has simple server needs, for example, requiring only a file and printer server with backup capability, remote access, and some limited disaster recovery capabilities, then a lower-end server would be fine. Keep in mind, however, that cheaper servers are often not as scalable as they usually have one drive (two at most)—limiting total storage capacity and fault tolerance capabilities. They are also not designed for heavy workloads. Just as with desktops, higher-priced server configurations, give higher-end options like multiple drives, more memory and a faster processor. If you have a lot of data processing going on in a business—users accessing billing systems or databases—you're going to want to look into the highest-end system you can afford and not sacrifice on performance, especially if the server will be running mission-critical appliations.
• Day-to-Day Operations: Understanding your company's day-to-day needs is crucial. Does your company need to run a database on the server? Will employees need remote access? Perhaps the server will handle e-mail—if so, take into account the number of user accounts that will access the server. Remember, a specific server can come in different configurations for different business purposes. For example, Lenovo's ThinkServer TS200v ranges in price from $299 to $1,000 depending on what feature you choose. Light server needs would do fine with a lower-priced ThinkServer while businesses that have anticipate highly-trafficked websites, many database transactions, or any other resource intensive workloads would be better served by by the higher-end configuration.