Server Sprawl is the improper provisioning of servers to handle to workloads. Server sprawls occur due to the rapid increase in the number of an underutilized server across the whole IT infrastructure and hence remains not used as per the efficiency. This happens both in the physical as well as virtual server provisioning.
The most basic approach in dealing with the server sprawl is ensuring that the existing servers are used up to full capacity before adding any additional server in the infrastructure. Several Network monitoring tools can provide analytics related to the servers and will provide feedback on the server load. In some cases, companies can benefit either by shifting the workload to the cloud or other vendor systems. Another strategy that can be beneficial for many companies is to put a request process in place of every new server. This puts a check on the new server provisioning and implementation. This approach is beneficial in minimizing the effects of server sprawl.