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The following is a list of various
technologies that are available to your company which can have a huge impact on the functionality of your network.
| Network Server |
A central file server with redundant hard drives and redundant power supplies is a crucial part of your network. It provides all of your employee's with a single high-reliability device for storage that can be backed up on a daily basis. Along with Microsoft Exchange for groupware a server can provide e-mail, contact management,
calendaring, remote access and user level security/permissions.
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| Battery Backup |
An uninterruptible power supply is vital to ensure continuous operation of your server which will prevent data and operating system corruption that can
occur during a sudden power failure. Advanced systems provide power fluctuation logging so you can be aware of potential power related problems before they become serious.
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| Terminal Server |
Terminal Services is a software feature of Windows 2000 and Windows 2003 Server that allow you to connect to your server securely from off-site and run all of your applications as if you were still in the office. You can even print from any of the applications at your office to your remote location, such as your home.
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| Wireless Network |
A secure, high speed wireless network will allow you to do your work on a laptop or mobile desktop station anywhere in your office
without the need of a near-by network jack. After we set up the data encryption to match your needs you can be sure that the wireless network has been set up properly and nobody else can eavesdrop or tap-in.
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| Web Mail |
If you are visiting a very restrictive world wide web terminal, you can use Outlook Web Access to view your mail and
calendar from almost any computer running a recent version of Internet Explorer.
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| Virtual Networks |
With VPN (Virtual Private Networking) you can connect your remote offices or home office to your corporate office network transparently. This means that the two or more locations can act as one giant network - allowing printing, file sharing and any other network feature you use.
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| Network Faxing |
Network faxing will allow your employee's to send faxes as easily as printing from any program. When you choose to print to a "network fax printer" the faxing software will ask you for a destination name and phone number and send the fax straight from your desktop. No printing to paper required!
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| Network Use Policy |
One of the most important parts of your corporate network is the Network Use Policy. Without this your employee's are free to use company resources inappropriately and you will have no legal recourse to do anything about it. Worse yet, you will even be held responsible for any offensive materials your employees may view.
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| Firewall |
A firewall is what separates your corporate network from the Internet. Without a commercial firewall your company may be exposed to hackers and automated Internet Worms that can take control of your computers. A good firewall will also perform logging on the use, content filtering and warnings or alerts when
suspicious activities are occurring.
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| Corporate Antivirus |
The most important software on your servers and client computers, Antivirus software needs to be monitored and updated on a regular basis. Both files and e-mail systems need to be filtered for viruses which will either be removed or cleaned before the end-user is even involved.
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| Spam Filtering |
Cleaning spam can become a tremendous time consumer for employees. Software solutions exist to help the tedious task of removing spam before it even shows up in the inbox.
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| Disaster Recovery |
A disaster recovery plan will include tape backups which are rotated and tested on a regular basis. Simply looking at the logs of your tape backups is not sufficient, they must be tested. Databases can be difficult to back up and just because a backup is marked as a "success" does not mean the data on the tape has any integrity.
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| Network Documentation |
This should be a "book" that contains all configuration settings for your computers, servers, firewalls and software so that in an emergency any part of the network can be recreated in a timely manner by any skilled technician. It is very important that it be kept up to date and in a safe place. Passwords, Software Key-Codes and
license information is all in this document.
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