Building A Low-Cost Network

A business needs to have a network, but that does not mean that you need to spend all of your money to make one. If you do things the right way, you should be able to start a simple network for a very low amount of money. This can be good because having a network can actually help you to make more money, which you can then use to expand the network and make it more powerful. In order to start the basis of the whole network, you will just need to get two servers, a console switch, and a computer.

Technically, you could get by with one server. However, using two will demonstrate more fully how some of the other pieces work. In addition, having two servers will give you a little bit of room to expand so that you do not have to go to the store right away to get another piece of the system. The servers are the core of your whole setup. They are where you store all of the information that you want to keep. This could include customer records, financial statements, inventory sheets, and much else. Anything that you want employees to be able to share can be stored on a server.

You will need a console switch to connect all of the computers to the servers. It is a simple box that can be mounted on a rack. There are a number of input plugs on the back and output plugs on the front. You simply need to run the lines from the servers, which will most often be Ethernet cables, into the back of the switch. You then have to run the other lines out of the front to connect to all of the employee workstations.

The computer that you purchase will need to be in the server room, and it too will be connected through the switch. This computer will not be used as a workstation for the employees, however, but as a way to directly access the servers. This gives your IT team a way to work on both of the servers directly from inside of the room. Since it is connected to both machines using the switch, they do not have to run the lines to a different box depending on which server they need to work on. Everything will be very streamlined and easy to use.

Though it is the least expensive part, the console switch may the most important since it hooks everything else together. You can get all of these pieces for a relatively low price. The real cost comes when you begin expanding, but by then you will have the money to do so.





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