How to Troubleshoot an Office Server
When a server has a problem, what you avoid doing matters more than what you do. These checks are safe. Anything that touches the drives is not.
Nobody can reach the shared files
- Find out who is affected: one person, or everyone.
- If it is one person, restart that computer and check its network cable or Wi-Fi.
- If it is everyone, check the server is powered on and note any lights that are amber or red.
- Check the network switch and the cables between it and the server.
- Do not restart the server yet. First check when the last backup finished.
When to stop: Call if a drive light is amber or red, or the server is on but nobody can connect.
The server will not start
- Photograph whatever is on the screen and any lights on the front.
- Check the power cable and the battery backup (UPS) it is plugged into.
- Note any beeps.
- Try starting it once. If it stops at an error, leave it there.
When to stop: Call. Do not keep forcing restarts on a server that reports a disk or array error.
A drive light is red, or there is a RAID warning
- Do not pull any drive out.
- Do not start a rebuild, and do not accept any prompt to initialize or re-create the array.
- Write down which bay shows the fault.
- Check that last night’s backup completed.
- Keep people working if the server is still running, and ask them to save work often.
When to stop: Call now. An array with one failed drive is running without protection, and a second failure loses everything.
The server is slow
- Check free disk space on each volume.
- Check whether a backup or a virus scan is running.
- Check for updates waiting on a restart.
- If a restart is needed, confirm the backup is good and restart outside working hours.
When to stop: Call if it stays slow after a restart, or the event log shows disk errors.
After a power outage
- Wait for power to be stable before turning anything on.
- Turn things on in order: modem and router, network switch, storage, then the server, then the computers.
- Check the battery backup (UPS) shows a normal status.
- Check shared folders open and the backup is scheduled to run.
When to stop: Call if the server reports disk errors, or shares are missing after the outage.
Questions
Is it safe to restart the server?
Usually, but check the backup first, and never restart to “fix” a drive or RAID warning.
A drive failed and we have a spare. Should we swap it?
Not before a technician has confirmed which drive failed and that the backup is good. Pulling the wrong drive is the most common way arrays are lost.
Can you look at it remotely?
Yes, if the server is still reachable. Otherwise a technician comes on site. See server data recovery if data is already missing.
Still not working?
Call us or book online and tell us the make, the model and what is going wrong. For IT support a technician comes to your home or office. For a repair we pick the computer up from your door, fix it at our own workshop in Burbank and bring it back. We have no storefront, so there is nowhere to drop a machine off. Outside our area, you can mail it to us.