10 checks before you trust a server with your business

Plenty of small businesses run something important on a single server that one person set up years ago. It works, so nobody touches it. This checklist is for finding out how fragile that situation really is.

You do not need to be an engineer to ask these questions. If you cannot answer one, that is useful information.

Access

1. Who can log in, and how? List every person and tool with access. Prefer SSH keys over passwords, and turn off direct root login if you can.

2. Is there a second way in that nobody remembers? Old control panels, FTP accounts and database users left over from past projects are a common way in.

3. What happens when someone leaves? Access should be removable in minutes, not discovered months later.

Updates

4. When was the server last patched? Operating system updates and security patches should be routine. A server that has not been updated in a year is a known risk.

5. Is the software on it still supported? Old PHP, old WordPress and old database versions stop receiving security fixes.

Backups

6. Is there a backup that is not on the same server? A backup stored next to the data it protects fails together with it.

7. Have you ever restored from it? A backup you have never tested is a hope, not a plan. Restore it somewhere safe and check the result.

Visibility

8. Would you know if it went down? Basic uptime monitoring with an alert to a real person is cheap and catches problems before customers do.

9. Would you know if something changed? Logs, alerts for new admin users and unexpected outbound traffic help you spot a compromise early.

Recovery

10. Could someone else rebuild it from your notes? If the person who set it up disappeared tomorrow, a written runbook is the difference between an afternoon and a crisis.

How to score yourself

8 to 10 clear answers: you are in good shape. Keep the runbook current.
5 to 7: you have gaps worth closing this quarter, starting with backups and access.
Under 5: treat this as urgent. The usual order is backups first, then access, then patching.

If you would like help, our rescue service is fixed-price and typically takes one to seven days. We harden access, patch, set up backups with a restore test and leave you a runbook.