There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of business owners in Greenville and Pitt County who either work from home or have a small office.
Sooner or later business gets busy, and you need to share the accounting software, some folders with pictures, word documents, spreadsheets, quotes, contracts, tax returns and all the paperwork clutter that keeps growing. Plus, the need for more on than one printer surfaces. Ditto for email and internet access.
What are your options?
A. A “work group” or Home Network
Let’s say Jack is the owner. Jack’s computer has the Quickbooks software on it, all the folders with business documents and a nice HP printer attached to it. Jill, Jack’s wife, want to help, so they go out and buy a new computer, only to realize she doesn’t have Quickbooks, a printer and no access to all the business documents. So, they’re stuck.
A quick solution is to create a Home Network that allows Jill to access shared folders on Jack’s computer. This means she can now connect and open up the documents on her computer. With a few more setup steps. Jack can share his printer and Jill can now print to the HP attached to that computer. Because they added a wireless router to their internet modem, they can now share the internet provided Jill’s computer has a wireless network card.
The downside is that Jill still can’t get into Quickbooks unless Jack installs it on her computer (might need to buy a multi-user edition), ditto for any Microsoft Office documents stored on Jack’s computer.
So even though they are connected, they still have some connectivity issues. In fact, if Jack’s computer is turned off, so is the home network. If Jack has an older computer that runs slowly, the whole office system gets bogged down waiting for his to respond.
And, Microsoft’s Home Networking solution is sort of buggy, meaning that it loses connections frequently and computers often have to be restarted.
Let’s look at Option B.
This is called a “client-server” solution. It costs more money to get started, but in the long run, pays off handsomely.
Computer Peripherals installs a larger server specifically set up as a big, fast computer that will act as a central repository of all your documents, and depending on the type of software you have, can even have software running from it. Printers can be connected to it as well as the internet. Folders holding all your important information are made and you are given access permission to them. Each person will have their own account with their own login and password. A central, daily backup can be set up so you don’t lose important information. A higher grade router can be installed that protects you from viruses and hackers. You can run your network over a secured wireless network, so are free to move about with your laptop if you like.
The network doesn’t get bogged down by a slower computer and professional technicians from Computer Peripherals help you install this and keep it running efficiently so you can concentrate on your business.
Whichever option you like, we can help. Give us a call.