IT Provision - New Servers

Why do I need a server ?
Once an organization grows much beyond two or three people, the need to collaborate and share files inevitably runs into the severe limitations of disk swapping. Inevitably, you'll hear from friends, family, coworkers say that "you need a server." They're right, of course, but what exactly does that mean?

Simply put, a server is a computing device that provides shared applications or other resources like e-mail or a Web site to individual computers over a LAN or the Internet. But of course, nothing about computing is ever that simple.

The biggest source of confusion is that people tend to use the word "server" in three different ways: to describe the computer hardware on which the resource resides, to describe the software that provides the resource, or combination of the two.

Almost without exception, the first server in any small organization is a file server.

You might need a server if You ...

• Want to run business-critical applications on more than one PC
• Want to centralize all your documents in one location or need to share printers
• Have lots of data to store
• Want to host your own e-mail system
• Want to share broadband access
• Want to simplify the backup process
• Have too much data stored on individual PCs and performance is suffering
• Waste time installing applications or patches one-by-one on individual PCs
• Have mobile or remote workers who need access to information and email at the home office or on-site.

The number one misconception among small business owners is that a high-end PC or workstation can act as a server.

Just because a PC can run the applications doesn't make it the best choice. PCs are optimized to run desktop applications like Word and Excel, and they lack the storage and memory of a dedicated server.

Servers are engineered to manage, store, send and process data 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Many offer redundant power supplies to protect data in the event of power failures and hot-swappable hard drives that let you swap a failed drive without powering down your server. Dedicated servers are simply more reliable than a desktop.

Here at Speedy Business Systems Limited we can assist you in making the right choice and give you advice on what you need to look for when buying server hardware for your small/medium business. We can also arrange the purchase, provide installation and configuration with options to support the server for you.

Additional server(s)
As your business grows it may be necessary to add additional servers to you network. Speedy Business Systems Limited can assist in the development of your IT infrastructure and provide additional server solutions based on best practices. Installation, configuration and support services are also available.

For further information or to discuss your requirements, please call 01942 209525.