Small Business needs advice for an office network requirements

jobber_2

I have been running a one man band operation Recruitment Company from home for the last 9 months but want to start expansion in the next 3 months by moving to an office and hiring 2 extra people to help me out.

As the business grows from being run from one computer to using 3 pc's (with room for growth) I realise I need to look into having a network set up.

My understanding of a network is that it allows people to share files and database facilities which is required. It will also allow access to the internet and me to monitor and restrict use of sensitive information.

What I dont know is how much this should cost to set up? What security systems I would require? What kind of server I would need?

Also what would I need to allow people to work remotely from home but with access to the network (not something I need now but might in the future)?

Any help shedding some light on what I should be looking for, how much I should budget etc would be great?

nickmack

jobber wrote:

My understanding of a network is that it allows people to share files and database facilities which is required. It will also allow access to the internet and me to monitor and restrict use of sensitive information.

What I dont know is how much this should cost to set up? What security systems I would require? What kind of server I would need?

Also what would I need to allow people to work remotely from home but with access to the network (not something I need now but might in the future)?[/

A network is simply computers and other devices that are connected together. What servers/routers/printers you have attached to that network determines what facilities are available to you.

For Internet access, you will need a router/ADSL modem. As you have also mentioned access from home, you should look at the DrayTek Vigor 2800. An excellent small business device with built in Virtual Private Network (VPN) support. This will enable you to securely access your office network from anywhere you can get Internet Access. You should be able to get the Draytek for under £150.

That router has four ethernet ports, so this should be enough for your office, but if you need more you can buy a switch and plug this in to get capacity for other PC's/Network Printers etc.

Depending on your budget, you may wish to purchase a small server. Something like the low end Dell Poweredge would do the job. You can then use this as a file server and run some other services such as a database if you wished. You can pick up the basic spec for about £300. You would want to add a backup solution such as tape or DVD to this as well.

chunter

The hardware side of it is probably the cheapest part. A (wireless) 4 port adsl modem router and a few cables and maybe a couple of network cards shouldn't cost you more than a 100 quid.

Network database software is usually server based. So you'll need probably need your server.

But I've found that this type of software can be fairly expensive.
Price the software you need first.

nickmack

chunter wrote:

Network database software is usually server based. So you'll need probably need your server.

But I've found that this type of software can be fairly expensive.
Price the software you need first.

MySQL is open source and can be used freely depending on your requirements.

albertross_2

A peer to peer network of 3 decent spec Dell PC's with Microsoft office, about £1800-2000. (Get XP pro (£50 extra/pc), not Home). If you want people to work from home, laptops may be a better option (but they are more likely to be stolen from cars etc..). If you want to save a few hundred quid, use openoffice instead of Microsoft Office.

If you need a server with Microsoft SB server 2003 and tape backup and tapes, it probably get's close to £1000, (the software is the most expensive bit nowadays). If you are just sharing files, you may not need a server, you could just setup a peer to peer network - it depends what applications you are going to use. A DVD writer may be sufficient for backup in the early days, you can always add a tape drive later, if your data won't fit onto dvd.

A netgear router (£60 from pcworld) will allow a basic end to end VPN to work from home assuming that you have a broadband connection. You will need to buy one for each home user. VPN is an encrypted link, to keep your communications secure.

A decent all in one printer/fax etc.. about £150 upwards . A laser may be a better option than inkjets..

Approx. 3-4k in total, maybe more if you want to use recruitment database software.. If you need someone to set it up, don't forget to budget for their time..

jobber_2

Thank for the advice.

I know it sounds very basic. But what are Server and what is it for?

fguk

Jobber

Let me interject here and continue the good work that has been done above.

A server will sit in the corner for you, serving your client computers with files, sharing your printers, providing you with the ability to secure your important files. It is essentially a powerful PC, that has a few extra options to make it good at serving other computers.

If you go for Small Business Server 2003, it can provide

Shared calendars and email (plus private accounts for you and your employees).
Remote working for anyone you want to have it, including email on the move.
You can set up an internal company website
+ many other things

The biggest benefit for you would be the centralised storage, management and availability of documents. A big challenge if you have three of you working on three separate PC`s, with no server.

Good luck. Find youself a good, local IT Consultant, they should be able to assess your needs exactly, provide an all in quote, and support it.

paul2897

jobber wrote:

Thank for the advice.

I know it sounds very basic. But what are Server and what is it for?

A server is just another machine that all users can connect to over the network to get to various resource, they could be web pages, Email, Database, File shares etc.

When you go to a website, all you do is go off to a server to request something, for web browsing it returns a web page.

In this case the server will be hosted locally (in your own network) and only users of the network will be able to get to the resources.

It's well worth getting a book on the basics of networking, it will give you a better idea of what you are after.

If you want to be sharing a company wide Database of client contacts etc, it may well be worth finding someone that can do it for you initially (do you know any students doing Comp Sci etc), as if you don't have a clue where to start (no offence) you will just end up going round in circles and paying someone to do it for you anyhow.

Once you have your basic setup of an ADSL link, router and switch to get internet connectivity for all, add in a server to handle all of the files you share (so you all have the latest version all of the time), maybe something like a centralised mail server, then add in the centralised database. Once this is all working you can add to the basic setup when the need arises. For a basic server MS Small Business Server 2003 as already mentioned has just about everything you need on it and should see you through till your business expands and you need more network features