Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'small business'.
-
Hello all! I'm looking for suggestions as to what tablet would be best for small business use but hopefully wont break the bank. Im not only looking for something with decent battery life but also works well with addons like square pos. But Having a decent camera would be a bonus as well for taking inventory. I have no preference for operating systems but i am more familiar with android then ios. With all the choices out there its a crazy market to navigate and i could use all the help i can get.
- 10 replies
-
- small business
- small business wifi
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
networking Need advice on a networking setup for a small business.
Moon Man posted a topic in Networking
Hi everyone! I'm thinking of building a small networking setup for my small business/lab and need help because I don't have any prior experience doing it. Specifically, I need a networking setup including a router, switch, 2-3 access points, and a NAS (right now I'm thinking Synology... based on my research). Do have any router, switch, AP, and NAS recommendations, that work well together and can easily be assembled by a (somewhat) techy person. As for budget, I don't have one yet, as I'm still thinking of an appropriate budget for all of these. So please feel free post your recommendation. Also, please put price ranges for the entire solution if possible. I greatly appreciate your help. Thank you very much -
Hi everyone, I have an attorney client whose email address was used to contact a customer asking for a wire transfer for a large sum of money. The attorney didn't send it, but rather a malicious person did. My first thought was that some spyware picked up his email credentials and the malicious user combed through his contacts for a target. Also it's a possibility someone was shoulder surfing when he typed in his credentials and wrote down the info. If credentials and sensitive info were stored locally or on the server, maybe his network has been hacked. What would be your first thoughts, reactions, and steps taken in this scenario? Thank you.
-
Hi all, Is anyone familiar with Bizspark? Apparently they give free access to Windows Server, Microsoft Office, etc to small business startups. Does anyone know if they give out free CALS for users as well, or do you have to pay for that? Researching on my own, but I thought I'd ask here as well. Thank you.
-
Hi everyone, I'm part of a team implementing a network solution. I need to get more up to snuff with the implementation, and I had a few questions about the diagram put together that is attached. 1. How do the HQ Workstations access the Web Applications VM? Workstations are Wyse 5050 All in One Zero clients with PCoIP. The server is a PowerEdge T430. The VPN/router is a Sonicwall TZ300. The Terminal Server VM runs a piece of software that all clients will access. The Web Applications Server will be web based applications each client needs to access. Active Directory VM is of course for Active Directory. I really just had the one question at the moment about the Web Applications VM, but I'm sure more will come up. Thank you for your help.
-
Hi everyone, You may have seen my previous post about a a mobile veterinary clinic. He has one van he wants to VPN back to the home office server. The home office will have 1 server and 5 clients. Eventually, he will have about 5 vans that will also need to use VPN to communicate with the home server. Whats system specs do you recommend for the home server, the home office clients, and van workstations? We're in the process of purchasing those. The server will will have a CRM, Quickbooks, a couple pieces of proprietary veterinarian software, and maybe 1 or 2 other things. Thanks for any help you can give. I'm really focusing on system specs right now. RAM, processor, etc. We'll probably part pick and build through Dell.
- 10 replies
-
- small business
- server
-
(and 3 more)
Tagged with:
-
Hi everyone, I'm exploring an economical cloud server situation for a client - a small business with up to 10 clients. He expressed concern with Amazon and Microsoft services and their fees. It's what convinced him that having his own dedicated server at the home office would be the best bet. However, I don't think he realizes that continued support for a dedicated server, such as managing Active Directory and the VPN he wants to implement, may require more money in the long run in terms of support. I could be his support, but again, that may not be ideal cost wise. Does anyone suggest any good cloud products for this situation? It will be his 5 stationary office clients and 5 mobile clients (veterinary vans on the move with their own workstations). He needs to access about 5 pieces of software. CRM, proprietary vet software, Quickbooks, etc. Thanks for any input in advance.
-
OK so I'd like to start off by saying I'm just starting to look at my options here I would like to get a clear understanding of things before I start actually doing anything with our network... Main Server Specs: (08SRV) Dell PowerEdge T320 OS: Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard CPU: Intel Xeon E5 2420 @ 1.90GHz RAM: 16GB Triple-Channel DDR3 @ 666MHz RAID CONTROLLER: Dell PERC H310 (RAID 1) HDD: 2 x 1TB SCSI Backup Server Specs: (WS2012) HP ProLiant ML350 G6 OS: Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard CPU: Intel Xeon L5506 @ 2.13GHz RAM: 6GB Triple-Channel DDR3 @ 399MHz Raid Controller: P410i Controller HDD: 2 x 136GB SCSI - 2 x 1TB SCSI Computer Specs: Custom Computers OS: Windows 10 Pro x64 CPU: Intel Core i5 7600 @ 3.80Ghz RAM: 16GB Dual-Channel DDR4 @ 1196MHz HDD: Samsung 850 EVO SSD (500GB) So I'm looking at upgrading the main server to 2016 Standard from 2008 R2 Standard. I have a copy of 2016 that is not being used at the moment and would like to make use of it but I am not sure if it's going to be worth the upgrade for this hardware for one and not sure if 2016 is a good upgrade path. We are a small office that use the Server for Active Directory (Domain logins), DHCP, DNS, File Shares, Printer Sharing, and IIS Just looking to see what peoples thoughts are on the situation. Thanks, Ryan
- 19 replies
-
- server upgrade
- small business
-
(and 3 more)
Tagged with:
-
I am task on being a IT consultant for a small law office. I am looking for security software that is good for about 5-10 computers without any servers. I always liked Bitdefender but am having trouble finding business multi license that doesn't require any server.
-
I'm hoping someone can at least point me in the right direction here... FIRST of all, I am not interested in reading opinions on my business venture. Please respect that my business is, well... MY business. Opinions about its validity and value presented by anyone on any internet forum mean precisely dick to me. That said, here's the situation: I am running a small business building custom PCs. Having left behind "used parts" builds for PCs with 100% new parts, I need to establish my brand more visibly to my customers as one of my "growth initiatives." Among many other things, I want to be able to make my own Logo, Manufacturer Name, and Model Number appear in the System Properties window (when you right-click on "This PC" and click properties) and still be able to present the machine to customers with an "as-new" installation of Windows that they can go through the setup for. I want them to be able to turn it on for the first time and be able to "name" it, and set their user information, give Cortana the yes/no, etc. I would also like to make the first login screen and the original default wallpaper be images I choose. --*I DO know how to customize those things once the OS is running and after you get to the desktop, including using the registry editor for logo, etc. in System Properties*-- One of the things I have tried is to install the OS, make the changes I have described, then use the "Reset this PC" functionality built into Windows to make the machines ready for new customers. Not surprisingly, this did not work. Is this something I can even do? If so how? I appreciate any constructive responses, and thanks for reading!
- 1 reply
-
- windows 10
- system builder
-
(and 2 more)
Tagged with:
-
So I work for a small company 6 Office staff. I'm trying to get our system a little more secure. As of right now all the users have the same basic password for logging in to their computers (yeah I know) I would feel a lot better about the security of our systems if they all had complex passwords (in a perfect world) but trying to get everyone to remember a complex password isn't something that they're going to do. I can't even get them to remember their email passwords half the time. I know we're decently protected with virus and firewall protection for most things but I'm wondering how important it is to have a better password for logging in to the computers (not the same for everyone). Just looking for some input. Thanks! Ryan
-
I've been trying to find some recommendations for a wireless internet solution for our company. We are an RV Park and our current solution is not reliable. We have Hawking Technologies equipment which was around the price we were looking for. However, Have come to realize that was a big mistake. We need to replace a main router with VPN Options to isolate the access points and repeaters from our office computers and we also need to replace an outdoor access point. Can anyone help?
- 7 replies
-
- wireless
- small business
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
Hi all I have been working as an IT person for a small business organization as freelancer for 3 years, they already have a networking person, but we lost contact with him, so we want to do our own thing from now on. please find attached screenshots of the current design - and my suggested design. am not sure if this forum is also used for business grade stuff? but would be supr helpful to see if my design is missing anything? the main keywords here is: redundancy and low price tag. Thanks Monty
- 5 replies
-
- networking
- routers
-
(and 4 more)
Tagged with:
-
Hey guys, So for a current school assignment it's our task to aid a small business who has a 2TB HDD for there storage and is needing to upgrade there storage soon. The business is a processing publishing business so that'd be working with a lot of RAW images, videos etc and documenting these options. The business also only has an up front budget of 1000 AUD I was wondering if some people could drop some links or some advice to some NAS and Cloud options. And if any of you run a small business/business could you give your storage solutions and why you chose them? Currently i found the two cloud services open drive and high tail which seem ok but i'm struggling a little with the NAS options, Thanks to anyone who can help
-
Hi everyone, Do you recommend Wix website builder for a small business? I started my own computer repair business and am attracted to Wix's ease of use and "free" price tag. I was very happy with what it created for me with it's automated "artificial intelligence." It's my understanding that you have to pay to remove ads and that it can be slow. However, I am only targeting my county and don't expect heavy traffic. I want a blog, social media links, About me, Contact info, and probably won't being doing e-commerce, at least not at this time. Of course will be doing SEO. What are your thoughts? Is "free" too good to be true?
- 4 replies
-
- wix
- small business
-
(and 3 more)
Tagged with:
-
Hi all, I work for a small family owned accounting and tax preparation office and we have a server which is quickly reaching the end of its life so I'm looking for some help. We cannot use cloud solutions for security reason, otherwise that would be my first choice. We have 7 workstations, most of which are used simultaneously. We also store semi-sensitive information on this server, which needs to be accessible by all 7 workstations. As my username suggest I don't know too much about all of this so please ask questions for clarification.
- 5 replies
-
- servers
- small business server
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
I'm using a PC right now as a server with a file size of 4TB. There are 4 PCs connected to the that PC editing large format files at the same time using Photoshop which causes lags every time somebody saves a file or open the server. I'm planning to add 8 more PC's and I'm pretty sure that my setup now will not handle it. What type of server would you recommend and it specs? Thank you!
-
We are working with a small jewelry business that uses lost wax casting to produce custom precious metal pieces. There is not currently an online presence, but we are expanding into CAD design and will 3D print our molds. Part of this project will be to document different processes as well as produce educational and instructional video content for a website (under development). This will require setting up a proper small business network that supports shared video editing/rendering and is secure enough to develop and grow an eCommerce solution. I have a background in Project Management and my wife has a Sys-Admin background with her strengths firmly in reporting, software solutions, integration, process Analysis, and optimization. While she grasps technological concepts easily and has a general understanding of Networking and Hardware, there are a lot of inner-connected parts when setting up a system from scratch and we don't want to miss anything critical. For example, recently we got some SAS HDD drives that are not compatible with our Motherboard as it only supports SATA drives. So now we have 10 4Gb SAS drives that we can't use with our current system. The current Plan is to get a network connected enclosure with a RAID controller that will be used for storage of b-roll and video edits and setup the onboard NVME RAID array to run Programs on and act as a working environment. That way it will pull data from storage to process, then drop it back into storage when it is done. In theory it seems like a good concept, but after missing something so detrimental as the difference between SAS and SATA drives, we want to make sure we have covered our bases. We have narrowed down the options and are thinking about going with RAID 10 or 50. Are there reasons for or against using these configurations? Or is there a better option? Is it cost effective for a small business to use an online service such as Microsoft 365? How complex is it to setup correctly? Would a better solution be a Windows Server 2019 network or another network operating system? ...And that doesn't even get me started on virtualization options like Hyper-V, VMWare, etc. My wife posted this on Spicewood and received some sound advice. However, what she failed to mention is that I have already put my life savings into this. So I can't afford, at this time, to start from scratch and build a Xeon or Epyc base server as she was advised. Any advise on how we can use our current hardware to accomplish our above mentioned goals would be greatly appreciated. I have a budget of $5000 to get everything at least functionally operational. If or when a profit is seen we can upgrade our equipment. Current System / System : X399 MSI Meg Creation, CPU: threadripper 1920x, 12 cores, 24 threads, Graphics: MSI RX Vega 56 8Gb OC, RAM: 64gb Quad channel ballistix sport 2666mhz, Cooling: Ennermax Liqtich II 360 AIO Storage: 2 x 2tb adata spg sx8200 pro nvme onboard4 and 4 x 2tb adata spg sx8200 pro nvme on Msi m.2 expander aero slotted into a PCIe x 8, and a 250gb samsung 970 Evo nvme (dedicated boot), 10 x 4tb HGST Enterprise SAS HDD (not connected), and finnally a D-Link DGS-1024D gigabit unmanaged desktop 24 port switch. We've had this system for over a year. We just hoped to buy an obscene amount of storage and use bubble gum, duct tape it and wishes to turn it into what we need. I've since determined that calling geniuses and tech wizards is a far better idea.
- 9 replies
-
- video editing
- storage
-
(and 3 more)
Tagged with:
-
Long story short, I'm a high school intern who became the IT guy at a local engineering firm and I have some questions.... Prior to my being there, the company of about 15 employees with about 20 workstations was using an 8 year old, middle-of-the-road, Windows 7, pre-built computer, as the source of a file share over the local network to store and collaborate on primarily AutoCAD files, PDFs, and Excel spreadsheets. That was painfully slow and eventually crashed, losing a bunch of data. So, through my own research, I had them buy a Dell PowereEdge T330 tower server running Windows Server 2016 Standard Edition. I also upgraded the switch allowing for an ideal Gig LAN speed. This whole system is running much better than before, with me working out any kinks along the way. Now, I am looking to find a way to connect to the network from a remote location allowing for secure file access while travelling and Remote Desktop Connections through something like VPN or another alternative that I'm not aware of. Currently, we've got a Workgroup setup as most computers are running Windows 10 Home and a domain isn't an option at this point. What are your opinions on the direction I should go with this? Is a VPN the best option? What would it take to set up a VPN server through Windows Server 2016 to avoid paying for a 3rd party VPN? Any other input? Thanks in advance!
- 17 replies
-
- server
- windows server
-
(and 4 more)
Tagged with:
-
Hey everyone, New to the forum but not to building PCs. I'm looking at getting the parts necessary to build a central server for our small media business for members to work from and store projects. So far I have zero experience in building servers and therefore don't exactly know what is fully required for our current workload so pretty much guessing. Currently we actually use several home-style NAS drives which is not ideal at all! We have a small video department that will be increasingly using 4K footage and ideally we'd like everyone to be able to work from and store files on this server. At the most there will be about 10x voice-over editors (very light audio workload using Reaper along with streaming motion capture footage from the server when necessary), 4 video editors/vfx, 3 sound designers (relatively light audio load unless working with a video) and 2 composers (mainly using locally stored sample libraries on ssds but putting project files on server). It'd be cool to have at least a few people working at 10GbE speeds. I'm basically looking for advice to see if I've gone either way overboard or not overboard enough, or that this plan will even work at all?! Budget would be hopefully under £7000 Here's what I'm looking at: Case https://www.servercase.co.uk/shop/server-cases/rackmount/4u-chassis/4u-server-case-w-24x-35-hot-swappable-satasas-drive-bays-6gbs-minisas-550m-deep-sc-4324s/ Motherboard https://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-ws-c621e-sage-intel-c621-s-3647-x2-ddr4-sata3-quad-u2-m2-4-way-sli-crossfire-dual-gbe-usb-31-ap?v=c 2x Processors (do I need more powerful?) https://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel-xeon-silver-4108-s3647-skylake-sp-8-cores-16-threads-18ghz-21ghz-turbo-11mb-cache-85w-retail?v=c 2x CPU coolers https://www.scan.co.uk/products/dynatron-b13-intel-s3647-square-ilm-al-cu-4x-direct-contact-heatpipes-60mm-dual-ball-bearing-fan-205?v=c 128gb RAM (need more? less? I always see that servers need loads of ram but unsure why and under what workload) https://www.scan.co.uk/products/32gb-crucial-ddr4-server-memory-module-pc4-17000-(2133mhz)-288-pin-ecc-registered-cl15-12v Raid card (if need more HDDs down the line) https://www.scan.co.uk/products/16-port-highpoint-rocketraid-2840a-6gb-s-pcie-30-x8-sas-sata-raid-host-bus-adapter?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2OCizcCg2gIV6grTCh32SAtOEAkYASABEgLGsfD_BwE&v=c Gfx card (if we can't find any spare lying around) https://www.scan.co.uk/products/evga-geforce-gt-1030-sc-passive-low-profile-2gb-gddr5-graphics-card-384-core-1290mhz-gpu-1544mhz-boo?v=c 750w PSU (decided it's probably fine to not use a redundant PSU as surely we can just pick a new one up super easily) https://www.scan.co.uk/products/750w-seasonic-focus-plus-gold-full-modular-80plus-gold-sli-crossfire-single-rail-62a-120mm-fan-atx-p 10GbE switch (maybe x2) https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/products/26381-netgear-xs708t-100nes/ 10GbE nic cards (for our current or future pcs) https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-XG-C100C-PCI-Network-Interface/dp/B071JR2ZW8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522853942&sr=8-1&keywords=asus+xg-c100c&dpID=41OeDfI%2BpRL&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch 8TB HDDs (however many we need) (worth getting cache SSDs for unraid?) https://www.scan.co.uk/products/8tb-seagate-ironwolf-nas-hard-drive-35-sata-iii-6gb-s-7200rpm-256mb-cache Unraid for the OS and the idea is to have something like RAID 1 for parity. Any advice or help would be super appreciated as this would be my first step away from gaming stuff to servers and networking Cheers Harry
-
Hi everyone. Looking for some help or suggestions. I work in IT for a Farm Insurance company in Langley. We have recently replaced our phone system and have decommissioned our prior Digium-based phone system. Our prior phone system is complete with 2 PBX's and about 60 desk phones and is in perfect working order, however Digium will no longer be actively supporting these models (hence the replacement). We need to recoup some IT budget so I've listed this system for sale on CL and Kijiji. We haven't had any bites though. I've been keeping an eye on eBay to see what kind of activity is had for VOIP phones and/or PBXs and specifically anything by Digium, but those listings always have 0 bids and don't appear to sell. We've reached out to our partner vendors and contacts but there isn't any interest in reselling this and taking it off our hands. Does anyone know of any Phone system resellers we could get in touch with? Or perhaps a Small Business who could use a functioning phone system? Perhaps we could donate to a local non-profit but it is also difficult to determine the ones who could use a phone system or have the technical expertise to get it setup and running. Would appreciate any tips or leads that we could follow as straight-posting to the classifieds isn't really working. Thanks.
-
Hi guys! I'm new here on the forum and love watching LTT. So first of all 'Hi!'. My mother has here own small business, with around 6/7 employees, 5 workstations and 2 printers at the moment. The workstations are connected to an SMB share on the Synology NAS to access business files. In about 3 weeks she's going to move into a bigger office and we would like to move to a better system for the workstations. At this moment the workstations are just stand-alone and all have the same login credentials. (The employees don't have their own login, and every PC' desktop is different) Every little change in the network or software i manually have to change on every workstation what takes me a lot of time. We would like to move to something like a domain environment to make the workstations more flexible and give all the employees their own login and desktop. But how should i do this? I've looked into a HP Proliant server to install Windows Server 2012 R2 and make a domain controller on it. Online i'm reading about a hardware firewall to protect the whole business, but is this really necessary? Also what about a backup AD and a VPN server on the Server? Thanks!
- 30 replies
-
- server
- small business
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
Hello! I'm new to the forum but I was told that this may be a good idea to ask about the market for my computer business... idea. I have heard of a lot of people, and encountered, that want the power and customization behind a custom-built PC but they lack the time, knowledge, or dedication to learn how to do it themselves. What my business would offer is a range of computers from a student-grade desktop to a workstation and gaming tower computer. They would be prebuilt for the customer by me using custom and enthusiast-grade parts. On top of that people could send in parts they want assembled together for a fee. I would accept Amazon Wishlists and PCPartPicker lists and test compatibility for them. My end goal for the business would be to have a team of people doing the building, partnerships with companies so I can get wholesale prices on their parts to lower the cost for the consumer and myself as a business. Is there a market for this? Could you see yourself using this? Thank you so much, and any tips, feedback, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
- 20 replies
-
Hey guys I need a little help, My dad has a small business and I need to build a small server. Right now he has 2 desktops and 1 laptop and they are all networked and run the billing software off of 1 of the desktops with 2 hds in a raid and thats it, no other back up and the laptop and other desktop just access the "main pc" and write to the biller. What i'm looking for is a simple server that will have a little redundancy. I need a simple server that will host the biller and all the other pcs can then access and write to. Server will not do anything really other then the biller and host printers and fax ect... I need some help/recommendations on hardware. It doesn't need to be high power and in fact a low power system as it will run 24/7 would be cool, I want solid components tho as this is the backbone of his business. There is a budget to some degree so cant be data center quality stuff... I don't need tb's of space as again its only biller info so 1 tb is plenty however a raid or back up solution is almost a must. Any questions or suggestions I would really appreciate the help! Reliability is key bottom line. Thanks guys!
- 16 replies
-
- server
- small business
-
(and 2 more)
Tagged with:
-
Small Business Build under $500 Need Suggestions
jfunk7997 posted a topic in New Builds and Planning
Hello everyone, I'm new to this forum, but I'm a huge fan of LinusTechTips so I thought I'd look for help here. My mother owns a small business that she runs from a cheap Samsung laptop she found at Wal-Mart for under $300. Needless to say, it's terrible. I want to build her a system for under $500 that can actually handle more than one window at a time. My budget is $500 for just the desktop. I already have peripherals and an OS. I plan running off integrated graphics, as we do little to no graphically intense tasks. This will really only be running Word, Excel, and web browsers. It must be able to do those all simultaneously and very fast. This needs to be the fastest, no dedicated graphics system for around $500. Also, it will be in a dusty environment (baking flour) so I need the case to have fan filters on all the vents. I'd appreciate any help and suggestions. If you post links to parts, I would prefer all the same place for ease of shipping but it's not absolutely necessary. Thanks