Network and ServerManagement Services

Network management is the work of keeping your organisation's network running reliably, securely and at the right speed. The network includes routers, switches, firewalls, Wi-Fi access points and the internet and office connections that link everything together.

It involves monitoring the network for problems, configuring devices correctly, applying updates, fixing faults, managing security and planning for growth. Good network management catches issues such as a failing switch or an overloaded internet link before they bring work to a stop.

When the network works well, nobody notices it. When it fails, almost everything else stops, from email and phone calls to business applications.

Server management is the work of keeping your servers running, secure, up to date and performing well. Servers host your business applications, files, databases, email and websites, whether they sit in your office, in a data centre or in the cloud.

It includes monitoring server health and performance, applying operating system and software updates, managing user access, running backups, fixing problems and planning capacity so servers don't run out of storage or processing power.

Well-managed servers keep your business applications available and your data protected. Poorly managed servers are one of the most common causes of downtime and security breaches.

A network and server management service usually includes continuous monitoring of servers and network devices, troubleshooting and fixing faults, and regular updates and patching. It also covers configuring devices, managing security settings such as firewall rules and user access, and tuning performance.

Most services also include backup management and disaster recovery planning, capacity planning so your systems keep up with growth, and handling vendors when hardware needs repair or warranty service.

Good services also document your configurations, report regularly on performance and incidents, and give you advice on upgrades. Check whether the service fixes problems or only alerts you to them, and whether on-site visits and hardware replacement are included.

There is no single price that makes sense for every organisation.

Cost depends on how many servers and network devices you have, how complex they are, whether they sit on-premises, in the cloud or both, the monitoring and support hours you need and whether on-site support is included. Providers usually charge per device, with servers costing more than network devices, or a flat monthly fee for a defined scope.

A single office with a few servers and switches has very different needs from a business with several locations, data centre equipment and cloud servers. We would rather understand your environment first and quote for a clear scope than give you a headline price that changes later.

Our network management covers your whole network, not just the core.

We manage routers, switches, firewalls, Wi-Fi access points, internet connections and the links between your offices. We configure each device properly, keep its firmware and security patches up to date, and manage security measures such as firewall rules, encryption and intrusion detection.

We also monitor performance across the network, so we can find and fix bottlenecks and make sure critical applications get the bandwidth they need. If you run several locations, our SD-WAN service can connect and manage them from one central platform.

We manage both, including hybrid environments where some servers sit in your office or data centre and others run in the cloud.

For on-premises servers, we handle configuration, monitoring, patching, security, performance and hardware vendor support. For cloud servers, we manage virtual machines on AWS and Microsoft Azure with the same care, along with the cloud-specific settings around them, such as access permissions and network security rules.

Procain is an AWS Advanced Tier Services Partner and a Microsoft Solutions Partner for Infrastructure (Azure), so our engineers know both platforms well. If you want your wider cloud environment managed as well, our managed cloud services cover that.

Disaster recovery planning is part of our server management service.

We develop and maintain a disaster recovery plan for your servers, including clear procedures for restoring data and rebuilding servers if a major failure happens. We make sure your backups run as planned and test that we can restore from them, because a backup you've never tested is a risk, not a safeguard.

For businesses that need recovery in the cloud, our cloud disaster recovery service can replicate your critical systems to AWS or Azure, so you can keep running even if your office or data centre goes down.

Look for certifications that match the technology in your environment.

For networks, common certifications include Cisco's CCNA and CCNP and vendor certifications for firewall platforms such as Fortinet. For servers, look for Microsoft certifications for Windows Server and Azure, Red Hat certifications for Linux, VMware certifications for virtualisation and AWS certifications for cloud servers. ITIL certification shows an engineer understands structured IT service management.

At Procain, our engineers hold certifications across the platforms we manage. As a company, we hold ISO 20000 for IT service management, ISO 27001 for information security and ISO 9001 for quality, and we run our services on ITIL-based processes.

FCAPS is a standard model that divides network management into five areas: fault, configuration, accounting, performance and security.

Fault management finds, records and fixes network problems. Configuration management controls how devices are set up and tracks every change. Accounting management tracks who uses the network and how much, which is useful for billing, planning and spotting misuse. Performance management measures speed, capacity and reliability, and finds bottlenecks before they affect users. Security management controls access to the network and protects it from threats.

The model helps make sure no area is neglected. A network that is fast but poorly secured, or secure but constantly failing, is not well managed.

Network management keeps your network running reliably and performing well. It covers monitoring, configuration, updates, troubleshooting and capacity planning.

Network security protects your network from threats and unauthorised access. It covers firewalls, intrusion detection, access controls, encryption and monitoring for suspicious activity.

The two overlap heavily. Security is one of the five core areas of network management, and many security problems start with management failures, such as unpatched devices or firewall rules nobody reviewed. Most organisations need both managed together, with specialist security monitoring added for higher-risk environments.

Managed network services focus on your network: routers, switches, firewalls, Wi-Fi, internet links and connections between offices. The provider monitors, maintains, secures and fixes the network.

Managed IT services cover your whole IT environment. That includes the network, plus servers, user devices, helpdesk support, software, backups, security and IT planning.

Managed network services suit organisations that have internal IT for everything else but need specialist network support. Managed IT services suit organisations that want one provider to look after their IT as a whole.

We fix issues, not just report them. Monitoring on its own tells you something is wrong, but it doesn't get your systems working again.

When our monitoring spots a problem, our engineers troubleshoot it and resolve it, whether it's a failing service, a misconfigured device, a full disk or a network bottleneck. Our specialist engineers handle complex issues across Level 1 to Level 3, and we work with your hardware and software vendors to manage support cases and warranty repairs.

Our agreement sets out clearly what the monthly price covers. It also lists what falls outside it, such as replacement hardware or major projects, so there are no surprises.

A server or core network outage gets our highest priority, because it usually stops many people from working at once.

Our agreement sets out the response time for these critical incidents in writing, along with our commitments for availability and service performance. Because we monitor your systems around the clock, we often detect an outage and start work on it before your team notices the problem.

If the failure involves hardware, we contact the vendor and manage the warranty or support case for you, so your team doesn't have to. We report our performance against these commitments every month.

We apply routine patches and maintenance during scheduled windows that we agree with you, usually outside business hours, so updates don't interrupt your work.

Before we patch, we check that backups are in place and review the updates for known problems. We test critical changes where possible, and we have a plan to roll back if an update causes issues. We also document every change we make.

When a serious security vulnerability needs fixing urgently, we don't wait for the next window. We contact you, agree the timing and apply the fix as quickly as it's safe to do so.

We monitor your servers and network 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Our monitoring tracks server health, network performance, capacity and security events around the clock, and specialist engineers stand behind it. When something looks wrong, such as a failing disk, an overloaded link or an unusual spike in activity, we act before it becomes an outage, whatever the time.

You receive clear monthly reports showing your systems' performance, the incidents we handled and any recommendations for improvement.