If you have a data center, it’s your responsibility to provide your business with the best possible service.
For this to happen, however, you must be proactive about upgrading your equipment when necessary or at least understand what is going on under the hood so that you can make strategic choices when faced with tough decisions about system replacement and updates.
I am sure that some of us working in IT departments manage a server room where we have that aging piece of technology which has been running great day after day since its installation! The situation doesn’t seem to evolve until one day it becomes more challenging to get the most out of your servers due to technological advancements.
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Why Should You Sell Your Servers Sooner Than You Think?
Is there a server that provides significantly better performance than what you have now?
Having an outdated server is more costly than having no server. It involves support costs for internal personnel to keep the machine running smoothly and costs associated with infrastructure like cooling and power required to run an obsolete system.
If your server has any form of hardware or software issues (e.g., crashes or hangs), then you’re providing poor service, which will affect your reputation for the quality of service.
When technical problems come up, they need to be resolved quickly before they become even more significant problems. If you don’t already do so, consider purchasing maintenance contracts on your equipment to cover these problems.
Is your server about to lose resale value or be outdated?
If the return on investment, also known as ROI, is too low for a specific venture, then it’s not worth your time and resources.
If you calculate the cost of purchasing new hardware vs. salvaging what you can from existing infrastructure, you will need to weigh the pros and cons (e.g., buying used equipment might seem like an intelligent choice, but this kind of equipment might get end-of-life faster than expected).
Is your server about to be irrelevant (about five years old)?
Depending on the configuration and what it’s used for, you could lose up to 80% of its value after 5-7 years, so selling your servers before they become obsolete will give you more money in your pocket when it comes time to upgrade.
This can apply if you have newer models than any you’re planning to sell because many buyers won’t want older technology even if it has lower performance than new models. Your business may not need the best server available, but selling all of your outdated servers at once can cost less than upgrading them separately.
Will you be able to get the most of selling your servers while they’re still relevant to make it easier for you to afford to upgrade?
As we discussed before, putting off upgrades or technical improvements can be very costly. You will need to invest in new software and hardware that makes the most sense for your business needs.
What long-term performance benchmarks will need to hit, and how important is proper security and support?
This is up to you! Since this project might involve planning at least one year ahead, you must look ahead so that any decision you make adds value to your company.
Where to Sell Your Servers?
When we know why we want to sell our hardware, it’s time to find out where we should do this because it depends on the available options. There are several choices for selling used servers, and each of them has its advantages and disadvantages. So let us talk about all of your options, starting from the most common one:
Craigslist: A popular source for buying used servers where you can sell them quickly and earn some cash, but be aware that it’s a local market, so there will not be too many potential customers to deal with.
Craigslist is not the best choice if you want to sell your hardware on eBay or Amazon because, in this case, you will need to ship your equipment, which might cost extra money.
Reddit: Another good solution for selling old servers is using the Reddit platform because it makes all of this process very easy and comfortable, especially when compared with other options. The main benefit here is that you will have many potential customers because Reddit has a huge user base.
Over 1.2 billion active users spend almost 9.5 hours on the platform every day, so it is definitely worth giving Reddit a shot! Plus, people worldwide gather here, which means you can sell servers from all parts of the planet – sounds great, right?
eBay: This option is probably the best choice if you need to sell your servers quickly or even within a day since it’s one of the biggest online marketplaces in the world where people sell and buy everything imaginable.
eBay is a perfect solution for selling used servers because it allows you to set the price you want without having to compete with other sellers – especially when you have an eBay store where all of your hardware will be listed forever, so the only thing left for you to do is wait for customers who will purchase them eventually.
IT Asset Disposition Services: Last but not least, there is a service called IT Asset Disposition (ITAD). These guys accept, process, and resell used hardware for their clients, making them a perfect choice if you want to sell servers.
How to Sell Your Server Safely?
You must know how to sell used servers properly so that your company does not become the victim of an expensive computer scam.
- Create a system where your employees can report suspicious activities regarding the sale of servers. That way, if something wrong happens, you’ll catch it early on, and hopefully, nothing bad will happen.
- Have clear rules about what transfers should be authorized and which require approval. The more people involved in approving a transaction, the harder it becomes for someone to pull off anything fishy.
- If you are not purchasing yourself, ensure that you are notified of every server purchase. That way, if anything goes wrong without your knowledge because someone is trying to pull a fast one on you, it will be dealt with immediately.
- Ensure that everyone who has access to servers knows that they cannot sell themselves and must get permission before selling any company equipment. There’s nothing worse than having a rogue employee stealing or selling off company hardware without anyone noticing! This can result in all kinds of problems for your company, including lawsuits and even hefty fines from government agencies such as the FTC and FCC.
- Don’t just randomly trust people online. Sometimes scammers will convince you to purchase by sending you pictures and addresses of server facilities and other such items. Don’t trust anything until your company’s tech support has verified it is legitimate, even if the person seems to be legit!
- Make sure that when someone buys a server from you, they can pay immediately or at least prove that they already paid for it. If they say they need more time than allowed by your payment terms, this is fishy, and you should not complete the transaction with them.
- Ensure that whoever buys any servers from your company cannot return them in any way. No matter how much money they offer, don’t change your mind on allowing returns or exchanges because doing so will only result in additional headaches down the road.
- If you’re not sure about the sale of servers, ask your company’s tech support for advice. They know more than you and will confirm if something is wrong or not with the transaction.
- Investigate any unusual server sales, such as those from out of state or even another country. There may be a good reason someone is buying a server from so far away, but it’s best to make sure before anything goes down.
- When selling servers, ensure they are wiped clean of all data following the FTC’s list of frequently asked questions about destroying consumer information. This might sound tedious, but it’s necessary to protect your company from liability.
- Finally, make sure that you ask for ID when selling servers and keep a record of the name and address along with the picture of the person who purchased them. This may seem like an invasion of privacy, but it’s standard procedure for companies big and small to limit their liability.
Conclusion
Nowadays, servers depreciate too fast. If they decrease in value by 20% during 12 months, don’t even think about keeping them longer than three years without investing in some maintenance contract before running out of warranty period while losing money because of poor performance.
If you have a server older than five years and doesn’t have any hardware or software issues, it makes sense to sell at least some of them as parts before they become obsolete.
Also Read: Protecting Your Server Against DDoS Attacks: Best Practices To Follow
