The only server health monitoring checklist you need in 2025

Published on: Oct 23, 2025

7 mins read

A server maintenance checklist is a structured list that outlays the set of tasks to be implemented for ensuring the health, reliability and performance of servers. The checklist serves as a guide IT teams to follow best practices and take a proactive approach to monitoring rather than being reactive.

Top 5 vital server health checks

1. Monitor resource usage

Monitor critical metrics like disk space, CPU, memory, and network bandwidth to stabilize the performance of servers. Improper resource allocation can impact applications and user experience.

Always aim to maintain 20–30% free disk space, clear unnecessary data, and track resource usage with centralized monitoring tools. Use AI/ML based forecasting methods to anticipate demand, and upgrade resources in advance, avoiding performance bottlenecks.

2. Address hardware errors

Even in well maintained servers, the associated hardware inevitably wears down. It is essential to keep an eye on components like drives, controllers, and cooling units.

Power supply issues can also impact performance. For example, insufficient power may reduce fan speed, leading to overheating, or limit CPU efficiency. Run hardware health checks frequently, and monitor the power sources as well. Replacing faulty components and fixing power irregularities proactively prevents costly outages and avoids premature server failure.

3. Verify backups periodically

It is important to take backups frequently and also ensure that backups are stored in its complete form safely in remote sites. Sometimes the backed up file can get corrupted due to incomplete backup, or disk errors, so frequently test the files to ensure data integrity

4. Maintain a Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP)

Servers host critical data to run business specific workloads, so server outages caused by cyberattacks and natural disasters can bring serious consequences to your business. A DRP enables your business to recover quickly from these unexpected disruptions.

To build an effective DRP, start by defining your Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs) to determine acceptable downtime and data loss. Clearly assign responsibilities to your IT staff and document detailed recovery procedures for different scenarios. Finally, test your disaster recovery plan periodically to ensure its effectiveness and update it based on the results.

5. Strengthen server security

Regularly patch OS and applications, enforce strong passwords and institute multi-factor authentication (MFA) to avoid access from unauthorized sources. Enable HTTPS to ensure a secure communication channel between the server and a client (the monitoring tool). Simultaneously, monitor system, application, and security logs to detect anomalies such as failed login attempts, suspicious activity, or performance issues.

Automated log analysis and proactive vulnerability management help you anticipate threats, close security gaps, and prevent breaches or downtime before they escalate.

Windows & Linux Server Health Checklist

Windows and Linux are among the most widely used server platforms in enterprises today. Linux, being open-source and highly customizable, is often preferred for hosting containerization platforms such as Docker and Kubernetes, needed for modern development and deployment environments.

Windows, on the other hand, is known for its user-friendly interface and generally preferred to run Microsoft based services such as Active Directory, Exchange Server, SQL Server, and Remote Desktop Services in corporate networks.

In this section, we’ll discuss some of the essential checks you need to perform to ensure the health and performance of both Windows and Linux environments.

Windows Servers

User configuration for security

Use domain or dedicated admin accounts with least privilege instead of the guest accounts.
Enforce strong password policies (focus on these factors for password: complexity, set expiry time, previous history, lockout policy after multiple login failures).

Network configuration

Assign static IP for production servers in a protected segment behind firewall for secure access.
Configure redundant DNS servers to ensure uninterrupted domain name resolution. Having both primary and secondary DNS servers prevent service disruptions if the primary server goes down due to maintenance, network issues, or unexpected failures.
Disable unused network services (e.g., IPv6 if not required).

Updates & Patching

Implement a structured Windows patch management workflow that scans for missing patches, downloads, tests, and approves updates, and deploys them systematically across all relevant systems. This process also includes generating detailed deployment reports to support audits and ensure compliance.
Use a centralized patch management solution like Patch Manager Plus to automate patch detection, testing, deployment, and reporting. This eliminates the need for manual intervention, reduces human error, and ensures consistent patch coverage across your environment.
Schedule patch deployments over multiple days or weeks to minimize disruptions. This approach ensures critical services remain operational while updates are applied safely and efficiently.

NTP configuration

Maintaining consistent time settings across your infrastructure is critical for authentication, logging, and application performance. In a domain environment, servers should always synchronize their clocks with the domain controller to prevent time mismatches that can cause login failures, authentication errors, or issues with time-sensitive applications.
For standalone servers, configure NTP (Network Time Protocol) to automatically sync time with a reliable external time source. This ensures that all systems maintain accurate timestamps, supporting smooth operations, proper log correlation, and overall network reliability.

Firewall & Network security

Use a dedicated hardware firewall as the primary line of defense to protect your network perimeter from external threats. Hardware firewalls offer advanced filtering, intrusion prevention, and centralized control, making them ideal for enterprise environments.
Additionally, ensure that the built-in Windows Firewall is properly configured and enabled as a secondary layer of protection. This provides host-level security, helping contain potential breaches and safeguard individual servers if perimeter defenses are bypassed.

Remote access

Replace outdated protocols with modern, encrypted ones to ensure secure communication. Use SSH (Secure Shell) for remote administration instead of Telnet, and SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) instead of FTP for file transfers.

Linux Servers

1. Patch and package updates

Regularly apply operating system and security updates using package managers like yum (for RHEL) or apt (for Ubuntu/Debian). Keeping your system and installed packages up to date ensures that known vulnerabilities are patched and your server remains protected against the latest threats.

2. Resource monitoring

Monitor key system resources such as CPU, memory, and disk usage using tools like top, htop, or vmstat. Regular monitoring helps you identify performance bottlenecks, detect resource-hogging processes, and ensure your server is running efficiently.

3. Disk integrity checks

Use commands like df -h to monitor available disk space and fsck to check for and repair file system errors. Running these checks periodically helps prevent disk-related issues that could lead to data loss or service downtime.

4. Review logs

Regularly review log files located in /var/log/ to spot unusual activities, errors, or security alerts. Logs provide valuable insights into system behavior and can help detect early signs of attacks or configuration issues.

5. Process management

Monitor running processes and address any runaway (high resource usage) or zombie (defunct) processes. Tools like ps, top, or kill can help you identify and terminate problematic processes, keeping your system stable and responsive.

6. Firewall and SELinux/AppArmor configuration

Ensure that the server’s firewall (such as firewalld or ufw) is properly configured to allow only necessary traffic. Also, verify that SELinux (Security-Enhanced Linux) or AppArmor is enabled and enforcing the correct security policies. These tools provide an additional layer of defense against unauthorized access.

7. SSH security

Harden remote access by disabling direct root login, enforcing key-based authentication instead of passwords, and monitoring for repeated failed login attempts. These practices significantly reduce the risk of brute-force attacks and unauthorized access.

Weekly & Monthly Server Health Checklist

Frequency	Task	Details / Action Items
Weekly	Verify Backups	Check backup completion logs, test restores, ensure replication is correct.
	Monitor Resource Usage	Review CPU, RAM, disk, and network usage; identify anomalies or bottlenecks.
	Review Event & System Logs	Inspect Windows Event Logs or Linux `/var/log/` for errors; resolve minor issues.
	Security Checks	Update antivirus/malware, perform scans on critical directories.
	Disk Space & Health	Clean temporary files, old logs, unused software; verify filesystem integrity.
	Network & Connectivity	Ping key servers, routers, and switches; monitor response times and latency.
Monthly	Patch & Update Servers	Apply OS, app, driver, and firmware updates after staging verification.
	Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) Review	Audit DRP for changes; test backups and failover procedures.
	Storage & Capacity Planning	Review storage trends, maintain free space above 20–30%, plan expansion.
	Security Audit	Review firewall, privileges, authentication policies; enforce MFA, check failed logins.
	Hardware Health Check	Inspect disks, controllers; replace components showing early signs of failure.
	Documentation & Reporting	Update IT documentation, incident logs, dashboards; share insights with stakeholders.

Automate your server checklist: Tick every box using OpManager

Managing server health becomes easier with OpManager, a unified monitoring solution that offers multi-vendor support enabling you monitor all physical servers, virtual machines, and cloud based services all from a single console.

It generates instant alerts on threshold breaches to notify you before issues impact business operations, while AI-powered insights from Zia help analyze performance, predict potential problems, and recommend preventive actions. Moreover, with automated workflows, IT teams can reduce MTTR and eliminate repetitive manual tasks

Take control of your server health and prevent downtime proactively.

Frequently asked questions

How often should I perform a server health check?

Ideally, server health checks should be performed daily for critical systems and at least weekly for non-critical servers. In addition, automated monitoring tools should continuously track performance and availability in real time, ensuring that issues are detected the moment they arise.