A computer network is a group of computers connected together to share information. TAB has been designing and implementing business networks since 1983. Below are a few aspects we will touch on to support your business needs.
Your IT Budget vs. Required Specifications: This is the foundation of your network and its ability to provide your employees with an effective and reliable system for which they will perform their duties. TAB will research and confirm the technology requirements necessary to meet or exceed the standard set forth by your industry software. In addition to what you already have, these items will give you a complete picture of the budget needed to get your network configured to the proper standards.
Server Room: TAB will assess the physical location of your server(s) and networking hardware to ensure they are physically secure and adequately cooled. Dedicated electrical circuits prevent power issues from producing lags due to overloading the circuit. Large copiers, microwaves, and workstations can cause an overloaded circuit when they are all on simultaneously. Proper uninterruptible battery backup units (UPS) allow for clean power and safe automatic shutdown and power-up of systems if commercial power is lost.
Bandwidth: Your connection to the Internet can make or break your network performance. Cloud or Hosted services depend on the availability of large, expensive connections to the internet in order for you to get the same performance from a server located on premise. Automatic fail-over to a backup internet service provider (ISP) is also necessary when your applications are hosted on the cloud. If your primary internet provider has an outage, you will need this fail-over protection. On-premise systems have less need for these expenditures as the server is safely housed at your location. Being local means you have all the bandwidth you’ll need. A quality business or enterprise-grade firewall is the dead-bolt between your business and the dangers of the Internet. It is an important factor that will be part of the network design process.
Security: TAB will recommend many Security Solutions to help reduce the risk of malicious attacks on your network and data. These recommendations include proper password policy, remote access, firewall, penetration testing, web filtration, email security, and anti-virus tools. We will review all of these with you in order to properly protect your information systems.
Backup: Protecting your business data through a properly designed backup solution provides a safeguard for your data. It also provides for a speedy recovery after a disaster situation. This is a very important aspect of a quality Network Design. Gartner Group says that 43 percent of companies were immediately put out of business by a “major loss” of computer records, and another 51 percent permanently closed their doors within two years. No matter where your data is located, in the Cloud or On-Premise, you need to protect it with a comprehensive Backup and Disaster Recovery solution.
Server Virtualization
Server Virtualization Technology is a great way to reduce costs. Virtual Servers run at up to 80 percent utilization versus non-virtualized servers, which run between 5-15 percent. With this increased efficiency, you can consolidate the number of physical servers needed to host virtual servers. This produces a direct reduction in capital costs, power consumption, and cooling of the server room.
Virtual servers can reduce your business downtime as they offer a more efficient means of backup and recovery. Virtual servers can be standardized, making them easily replicated and allowing TAB to deploy them faster. This can reduce costs and provide a competitive edge to your company as you can react to market forces faster and more efficiently with technology solutions.
Beware of the MSP/IT provider looking to spin up unnecessary or redundant servers. They want to increase their monthly support fees to your business by monitoring, backing up, and supporting as many servers as possible. TAB is always looking for ways to reduce our client’s IT costs and improve their ROI. We find new clients that sometimes had 2-3 times more virtual servers than were necessary to operate their business functions. We can consolidate these servers and greatly reduce our client’s monthly costs versus their old MSP/IT Provider.
WIFI
TAB uses an industry-standard WiFi planning tool that considers access points on multiple floors and has building, floor, and wall cloning capabilities. The planner also generates PDF reports showing AP locations, AP inventory, RF settings, and heat maps. This allows you to see where WiFi coverage will be at your site.
Once the WiFi network is designed, we look at proper security measures to segment guests and employees away from the business network. We can also restrict personal cell phones and devices from accessing the business network. This eliminates the threat of malicious activity on your network.
WIRING
Your network is only as good as the wiring and patch panel it’s connected with. Having a wiring professional properly run and terminate your Cat5e, Cat6, or Fiber Data cable can mean the difference between a solid, reliable network and one with constant “gremlins.”
Our installers can provide the complete job from installation, termination, testing, documentation, and permitting at a fair per-drop cost. We can accommodate a single drop installation to large re-wiring projects.