Small Business Network Opinions

D

DizzlyDood

New Member
I've setup multiple home networks with a type of server for storage. I've had someone ask me to setup one for a small business now and would like to get some opinions on what would be best and the correct way to do things security and business wise.

The network will be very small. 2 laptops and centralized storage. One of the issues is they want to be able to remote the centralized storage to be able to work from home or off site on some days. They want everything stored at a centralized point.

They have an older PC that would suffice for a server, but they are also willing to spend money on a server with a 2003 license if I recommend it. I'm thinking the most reasonable solution is to setup a simple workgroup with the older PC for storage. What I'm worried about is them being able to remote the storage server and being able to work reasonably. I was planning on using Remote Desktop, but I'm not 100% sure on the limitations if one person is logged in the other won't be able to have access. I was also concerned of security using RDP.

older PC is a pentium 4 with 4gb of RAM and 2 500gb HD. I may use disk mirroring to be safer as everything for there business will be going digital soon.

I'm just looking for some other opinions on a good way to do this. The remote capability is important to them
 
DizzlyDood said:
I've setup multiple home networks with a type of server for storage. I've had someone ask me to setup one for a small business now and would like to get some opinions on what would be best and the correct way to do things security and business wise.

The network will be very small. 2 laptops and centralized storage. One of the issues is they want to be able to remote the centralized storage to be able to work from home or off site on some days. They want everything stored at a centralized point.

They have an older PC that would suffice for a server, but they are also willing to spend money on a server with a 2003 license if I recommend it. I'm thinking the most reasonable solution is to setup a simple workgroup with the older PC for storage. What I'm worried about is them being able to remote the storage server and being able to work reasonably. I was planning on using Remote Desktop, but I'm not 100% sure on the limitations if one person is logged in the other won't be able to have access. I was also concerned of security using RDP.

older PC is a pentium 4 with 4gb of RAM and 2 500gb HD. I may use disk mirroring to be safer as everything for there business will be going digital soon.

I'm just looking for some other opinions on a good way to do this. The remote capability is important to them
Click to expand...

As far as remoting capability look up VPN.
Since its a small network, it shouldn't be to hard to do. It really comes down to how the network is going to be used. IP phones? Access points? You may need to get a switch with a few more bells n whistles Access point placement? Is it near power? If not you'll need POE. Its good that you have it in a RAID configuration, you seem to have an idea of how to set a network up.
 
teamhex said:
As far as remoting capability look up VPN.
Since its a small network, it shouldn't be to hard to do. It really comes down to how the network is going to be used. IP phones? Access points? You may need to get a switch with a few more bells n whistles Access point placement? Is it near power? If not you'll need POE. Its good that you have it in a RAID configuration, you seem to have an idea of how to set a network up.
Click to expand...

The shop they use is relatively small, 1 small office so if they're both on site there's no need for multiple access points. I was planning on using on a home router. I wasn't sure on the affordability of using a VPN, I recently read something about a SNAP VPN for small business and I have experience setting up one of Cisco's small VPN/switch/router deals (I believe that was the setup, been awhile). No IP phones either, they have cell phones as they travel a lot, thats why the remote access is important.

Anyone have any good idea's or critiques let me know.

Also if anyone has experience setting up a VPN for a small network/workgroup I'd let to hear some info.
 
Last edited:
DizzlyDood said:
The shop they use is relatively small, 1 small office so if they're both on site there's no need for multiple access points. I was planning on using on a home router. I wasn't sure on the affordability of using a VPN, I recently read something about a SNAP VPN for small business and I have experience setting up one of Cisco's small VPN/switch/router deals (I believe that was the setup, been awhile). No IP phones either, they have cell phones as they travel a lot, thats why the remote access is important.

Anyone have any good idea's or critiques let me know.

Also if anyone has experience setting up a VPN for a small network/workgroup I'd let to hear some info.
Click to expand...
Ahh ok so its really small. Is this going to be public wireless? If not make sure to use WPA for max security. Again, im not sure of the amount of hardwired ports your going to need, but these may help you out.
http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Product_C2&childpagename=US%2FLayout&cid=1147938211912&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper&lid=1191254480B08
http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Product_C2&childpagename=US%2FLayout&cid=1115416833102&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper&lid=3310254480B02
A combination of that will work, if you get the 16 porter you'll need an access point. If you get the other one you may need more ports for hardwired stuff.
Hell depending on your need for different things you may just want to get a linksys 4 port wireless router, it really all depends on your need.
Hope this helped
 
Last edited:
i think u can connect the server directly to the internat make sure ur isp gives u a static ip, then the server has an extra lan connection. so ur 2nd lan card connects to a switch or hub. make sure to share the internet in ur server so other pcs can have internet too. then setup ur pc with vpn. windows xp has its own vpn service. dont forget ur servers firewall
 
nickcage said:
i think u can connect the server directly to the internat make sure ur isp gives u a static ip, then the server has an extra lan connection. so ur 2nd lan card connects to a switch or hub. make sure to share the internet in ur server so other pcs can have internet too. then setup ur pc with vpn. windows xp has its own vpn service. dont forget ur servers firewall
Click to expand...

Isn't the VPN in Windows XP just a client? I would still need some sort of VPN software/hardware setup at the remote site.
 
i think windows server 2003 has host for vpn. im not sure though, its been a while since i been doing those stuffs
 
yeah, XP dos not have VPN server capability. It can only be a VPN client. You could buy a firewall that has VPN capability. Netgear FVS318 is a low cost firewall with VPN functionality.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top