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February 26, 2009
Small business networking
What with our Federal Treasure Treasurer exhorting us to boost confidence and prop up the national economy by draining our bank account, the small business that Bleeding Edge supports probably should have ventured into a proper client/server network, when it became obvious that our Windows XP peer-to-peer network was showing signs of strain.
Harris Technology, for instance, would have sold us a rugged HP ProLiant ML110G5 E2160 box, bundled with Microsoft Windows SBS Standard Edition R2, for a mere $1299.
Somehow, however, the fact that we’d bought the admittedly slower G4 predecessor last year for just $899, discouraged us. We’d used that particular box as an Asterisk server, handling all our incoming and outgoing VoIP calls, and slashing our telephone bill, rather than installing the server operating system.
What had troubled us then, and continued to discourage us, was the fact that Microsoft SBS would usher the business into the expense of outside support. Bleeding Edge doesn’t have that sort of specialist network experience - some SBS problems are quite byzantine - and we didn’t have the time to acquire it.
We weren’t even convinced that a network of five or six computers, typical of a small business, and a surprising number of modern households, needed a client/server solution.
We continue to be amazed at the way small to medium businesses roll out Microsoft Exchange Server — part of the SMS suite — to manage their email. Exchange Server requires considerable experience and expense to configure and maintain as a secure, spam-free and reliable email system. We could imagine spending long evenings tussling with issues like configuring Exchange SMTP relays, rather than, say, having dinner or sleeping.
By contrast, our business-class IMAP email service gives us better than 99.99 per cent uptime, and filters out spam and viruses for a fraction of the cost. We can manage all the user accounts and complex things like archiving, from a simple Web interface.
When we examined our network problem, we were convinced that it was the result of poor provisioning. Like most small business networks, ours had grown like Topsy, without proper planning. Now the allocated server/reception PC was taking too long to boot up and interfering with the other network nodes.
We were prepared to bet that a dedicated box to house all the user folders and the database for the primary network application would allow us to decrease the load on the reception PC, and simplify backing up operations.
Fortunately, like many small businesses, we had a relatively modest computer that wasn’t gainfully employed. We’d bought it through the Grays Online auction site for about $650, and used it as a Linux box. It would be a simple matter to re-load Windows XP Professional. It had a 150GB hard drive and 1GB of RAM, which was perfectly adequate for our purposes.
We could put it in the same (well-ventilated) cupboard as the Asterisk server, and hook it up to the same UPS.
Reinstalling Windows proved relatively simple, although it didn’t pick up the Ethernet card. We solved that in a few minutes, by downloading the driver from Lenovo’s comprehensive support site.
We didn’t need a screen and keyboard or mouse for this box, because we were going to control it over the network with Windows Remote Desktop.
It’s a surprisingly powerful feature, and particularly useful in a network scenario, because it can provide remote access to each computer from a central internal, and if necessary remote site.
Although you can theoretically secure Windows Remote Desktop, we’re not convinced that it’s completely fireproof, and we’re reluctant to give hackers a potential window into an administrator account.
Instead we have two LogMeIn Pro accounts — one of which we immediately transferred to the new office server. The other gets us into the main PC in the Bleeding Edge cave. Each costs $US59.95 per year. We’ve found LogMeIn, which has recently opened an office in Sydney, is a particularly secure way of accessing remote computers, and aside from giving you control of a PC, it also sets up a simple drag-and-drop file transfer window through a Firefox add-in.
Once we’ve logged on to the office server, we can control each computer on the network through remote desktop. That can save us an unnecessary trip to the office if someone fails to log off the central database, which stalls the backup routine.
Because we’ve set up a link on Firefox on the server to the Asterisk box, we can even monitor and control that box remotely.
Our new system has solved our network issues and allowed us to extract even more value from LogMeIn and Windows Remote Desktop. We regard them as an essential part of a small system administrator’s toolbox. Combined with a well-managed business-class email system, they can help cut IT costs to a minimum. The economy, we’re afraid, will have to look after itself.
Posted by cw at February 26, 2009 09:10 AM
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Comments
What with our Federal Treasure. Who is this Federal Treasure's name.
Posted by: maurie10 at February 27, 2009 12:54 PM
Just wondering if you had considered Windows Home Server. Same underlying code as SBS, however it doesn't require technical skills, offers secure remote connections to your network, and covers all your backup needs. I picked up a new WHS box with 2TB of space & 2GB of RAM for $1000.
Posted by: Robert Skelton at February 28, 2009 02:44 PM
You must be a mind-reader, Robert. I've got a copy of Windows Home Server and I'm about to install it. I think it's a viable small business solution.
Posted by: cw at March 1, 2009 09:22 AM
I didn't understand this article at all. You, Charles, seemed to dismiss SBS and choose something else - but you didn't appear to say what that was.
The reference was to networking beyond peer-to-peer followed by a more specific reference to email. A passing note to your IMAP service, then... nothing.
A slow re-reading, and without knowing what complement of machines occupy The Cave it seems that the words 'a dedicated box to house all the user folders and the database ..' are the ones on which today's thesis hangs. Have I got it?
Yes, WHS would have been a better final third than you ad for LogMeIn. And you don't say how you managed to circumvent the 'No Keyboard' error stop on your Lenovo box. Isn't LMI overkill for connection down a wire 2-3 metres long? Your use of the word server would have been better as 'server', wouldn't it've?
Remember, too, hyperlinks don't work well in green. :)
Posted by: Ardwych at March 4, 2009 01:10 PM
I expect you're having a bad day, Ardwych, and you're possibly genuinely seeking information, rather than trying to look clever at someone else's expense.
I shall therefore attempt to help you arrive at an understanding. You haven't got it at all, I'm afraid.
Another slow reading should lead you to the words "Windows XP Pro". Associating that with "peer-to-peer networking" should alert you to the fact that I was referring to a Windows XP Pro peer-to-peer network, and suggesting that in some situations it's more cost-effective than SBS. That's the main point, but I make several points in the column.
One thing that makes me a touch cross, is your suggestion that I've given LogMeIn Pro a free ad. It's a particularly cheap shot from someone who keeps his identity anonymous. I attach my name to my words, and I think anyone who has read my copy over almost 50 years in the business of journalism would laugh at the suggestion that my opinion has ever been for hire.
You clearly don't understand how I'm using LogMeIn Pro, although another slow reading should indicate that I distinguish between Windows Remote Desktop in a LAN setting, and using it remotely - the scenario that in my opinion raises some security issues.
Go back to the beginning of the story, and you'll see that the network I'm referring to is in a small business which I support. The Bleeding Edge cave is my home office.
I use LogMeIn Pro to reach into the small business office when I'm in my home office, and vice versa. The wire is therefore several kilometres long, rather than the 2-3 metres you incorrectly assume.
I daresay you've never set up a server yourself, because with a bit more experience you'll find that although the Lenovo box initially throws up a "No keyboard" error, it automatically overrides it.
In some cases, say with some Compaq machines, you have to change the BIOS and set the bootup routine not to halt on errors. There are relatively few servers that have keyboards attached.
I don't have a clue what you mean about my use of the word server being better as 'server', nor do I understand at all your reference to hyperlinks in green. On every browser I've used, the hyperlinks are blue.
I do hope this helps.
Posted by: cw at March 4, 2009 03:45 PM
People like you give other I.T. firms a bad name. You've got no idea what you're talking about half the time! An SBS network does not need to be difficult to set up or manage, nor does it need to be insecure. Why use a number of third party products when you have everything you need already? Why not, do the job right in the first place instead of cutting corners? Its clear to me (not just from this article) you've got no idea what you are talking about.
Posted by: Scott at March 7, 2009 08:35 PM
I'd be delighted to debate this with you Roger, whowever you are, when you learn to read. Until then, I doubt that anything much is clear to you.
I didn't say SBS is insecure.
You're entitled to your opinion as to whether it's expensive to maintain. In my view it is.
Posted by: cw at March 9, 2009 12:00 AM