Binary Business

Over the past couple of years you have proudly watched as your business has grown. In the beginning you were a sole practitioner braving the business world alone. Now your business consists of offices in four cities, sales people who work from the road, and several more who work from home. Saturday morning you settle into the couch with the book you have been meaning to read for months. After a few pages you are fully immersed. The stress of running the business melts away as you are consumed by the tale being unraveled. Suddenly the cellphone rings and you are snapped back to reality. Your most important client needs a file sent over right now. A release a sigh and your shoulders shrink as your tranquility is shattered. The promise of a Saturday morning in your robe has come to an end. The blissfully empty task list now filled with five new tasks to complete. Get dressed, drive across town, locate the file, send it to the client and make the return trip home. Your client's simple request for a single file has now consumed your entire Saturday.

The Problem

As our work lives spread beyond a single place and a set schedule we need access to our information anytime and anyplace. Luckily high-speed Internet is available almost everywhere. And yet we all know the Internet is not really a safe place. It would be great if there was a way to use the Internet to connect to the office without worry. You fear you could become prey to an Internet predator. It would also be great if you could permanently link the offices in different towns into one single network. If the network was all linked you would only need one file server, one backup system and one anti-virus server. It could cut your IT costs by 75% or more.

Facts & Figures

• A Cisco router with VPN capabilities costs between $250 and $2500

• An Open Source router with VPN capabilities costs $500 for an unlimited number of users.

• Cisco routers require specialized training to configure.

• Open Source routers such as IPCop and Smoothwall can be configured via a simple web interface.

The Solution

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) provides the ability for remote users to connect to the office network over the Internet via an encrypted and secure tunnel. A VPN can also be configured to link multiple geographically diverse sites into a single cohesive network. In the past network connections of this type were only available to large businesses with correspondingly large budgets. Leased lines costing five figures per month had to be purchased to provide this ability. The same ability can now be provided using off the shelf hardware and a broadband Internet connection. A significant amount of money can also be saved by linking satellite offices back to the main office. Typical small businesses will have a independent IT infrastructure at each location. For a company with four locations this could include four file servers, four print servers and so on. This does not include the incremental cost to maintain each site. A network linked by VPN removes the need for multiple servers greatly reducing the cost of the network.

Their are two options in terms of hardware. Cisco, the Goliath of networking equipment, manufactures products targeted at the small business market. The advantage of Cisco equipment is the company behind it and the available support. The downsides are the cost per user and the training required to configure and maintain the devices. The second option is using an off the shelf PC coupled with open source software. The advantage of this choice is the lower cost per user, ease of configuration via a web interface and the flexibility offered by open source software.

To cut your IT costs and increase productivity using VPN technologies contact Binary Business.