On-site server support for Auckland businesses
Backups, development servers and file storage run all day and hold a lot of data, and that's where cloud bills grow fastest. Our on-site server support moves that work onto hardware you own: we set up, manage and maintain the servers, storage and network in your office, and keep the systems that need the cloud in the cloud.
For one business, moving development environments and non-critical services from the cloud onto an on-site server saved more than NZ$100,000 in cloud costs over a year.
When an on-site server costs less than the cloud
Cloud providers charge for every hour a server runs, every gigabyte you store each month and, often, every gigabyte you download. That suits websites and apps that need to scale up and down. It gets expensive for work that runs around the clock at a steady load, or that keeps terabytes of data around.
An on-site server works the other way. You pay for the hardware once, then for power, maintenance and the occasional replacement disk, whether it's busy or idle.
| Workload | Where it usually belongs | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Backups and archives | On-site, with an off-site copy | Restores run at office network speed, and there's no monthly charge for every gigabyte stored |
| Development and test environments | On-site | They run all day, and a server you own has no hourly bill |
| File shares, NAS and large file systems | On-site | Big files open quickly on the office network and don't build up storage and download charges |
| AI models on private data | On-site | The data never leaves hardware you control |
| Public websites and customer-facing apps | Cloud | They need redundant hardware, power and internet connections |
| Secured internal services | Cloud | Systems the business can't run without need the same redundancy and security controls |
Who it isn't for
If a service faces the public, or it's a secured internal system the business depends on, we'll recommend keeping it in the cloud. An office usually has one building and one internet connection, while a cloud region spreads a service across several data centres. We run those systems on AWS through our DevOps service.
Backups you can restore from
An on-site backup server or NAS gives you fast restores, because the data comes back over your office network instead of the internet. We back up PCs, servers, Microsoft 365 and cloud databases to it.
A backup in the same building as the original isn't enough on its own. Depending on what you need, we usually add an off-site copy in the cloud, so a fire, flood or break-in doesn't take the backups with it. We also encourage keeping an on-site backup you can physically hold, such as a drive that's disconnected once the backup has run. Ransomware can't encrypt a drive it can't reach.
Development and test servers
Software teams need somewhere to run code that isn't production: development environments, test copies of databases and staging versions of an app. In the cloud, each of those is billed by the hour, and it's easy to leave them running when nobody is using them.
On an on-site server, they run on hardware you've already paid for. We set them up as virtual machines on Proxmox or as Docker containers. That's where the NZ$100,000 saving came from: development environments and non-critical services moved off the cloud and onto one server in the office.
NAS and large file systems
Teams that work with big files, such as video, design files, survey data or machine learning datasets, feel the cost and the wait of cloud storage first. A NAS or a large file system on the office network keeps those files close. They open at network speed, and you aren't paying each month for every terabyte. We set up the storage, the file shares and their permissions, and the backups behind them, on TrueNAS or Windows Server depending on what your team uses.
Running AI models on your own hardware
If your data can't leave your network, the AI model can come to the data instead. We set up servers with local GPUs and run open models on them with vLLM, so staff can use an AI assistant that only sees data on your own hardware. Our AI consulting page covers how we choose the model and the tools around it.
What our on-site server support covers
We look after the whole setup, from the hardware to the network it sits on:
- choosing and sourcing the servers, storage and network equipment
- installing Proxmox, Ubuntu Server, TrueNAS or Windows Server, with Docker where it suits
- setting up the office network, including the firewall and secure remote access
- configuring backups, with off-site and on-site copies
- remote monitoring, security patches and updates, and alerts when a disk starts to fail
- on-site visits when something needs hands on the hardware
What a support plan includes, and how quickly we respond, is set in your support contract. We're based in Auckland.
On-site server questions we get asked
Is an on-site server cheaper than the cloud?
For work that runs all day or stores a lot of data, usually yes. One business saved more than NZ$100,000 in a year by moving development and non-critical services onto an on-site server. For public-facing services, the cloud is usually the better buy, because on-site you'd have to pay for the redundancy yourself.
What happens if the server fails?
That's why critical and public-facing systems stay in the cloud and the on-site server runs development and non-critical work. Backups get an off-site copy and an on-site copy you can hold, so losing the server doesn't mean losing the data.
Do you set up the network as well?
Yes. We set up the network the server sits on, as well as the server itself, and we can look after both.
Can you back up Microsoft 365?
Yes. We back up Microsoft 365, PCs, servers and cloud databases to an on-site server or NAS.
Can we run AI models on our own server?
Yes. We set up servers with local GPUs and run open models with vLLM, so your data stays on your network.
Do you look after the server once it's running?
Yes. Support can include remote monitoring, security patches, disk health alerts and on-site visits. What's covered, and the response times, are set in your support contract.