Help with Small business Network

[Steveh_monkey]

Hi there.

I've been asked to set up a network for my dad's office, and although I'm fairly tech savvy I've always found networking and internet connections a bit confusing. I can set up a home network alright but I'd like a point in the right direction before I start making final decisions.

The Network needs to be able to do a few things.

1) Be behind a router for obvious security reasons.
2) Have a print server.
3) It needs a fairly large (300GB+) attached storage drive. All the offices files will be placed on here and accessed from here from the work stations attached (mostly just people with laptops). Preferably it should be set up in RAID 1 configuration to provide a secure backup, although having another storage device and manually backing up the onto that one is also an alternative
4) It needs to have an online file server. It doesn't need to be the fastest or largest one in the world, so we'll just be setting it up in the office. I'll probably use RAID 1 here for security again.

Could people please provide advice, recomendations and links to resources and guides to start me of in the right direction? I've been doing my own research but i'm a bit overwhelmed by all the different methods and guides at the moment.

I think i can just use a network attached storage for the third need, but what I need help with is the file server. What programs/hardware would people recomend for setting one up? Also is it possible to set up a file server on NAS or does it need to be done by a PC?

Thanks in advance, any comments are appreciated

 

[smids]

What kind of money are we talking here?

If it's a small business (you know what I mean), then perhaps something like a Draytek Vigor (a few models have USB print servers built in) or if larger, something along the lines of a Cisco (but this will really set you back!).

NAS would probably be the best bet for the file server and you could point to it from the router so it could be used without a PC using [DynDNS?].

I'm not super au fait with this stuff but I think I'm on the right track here. A decent NAS box - hmm, you might want something with RAID5, and if not, then I suppose a standard RAID1 would do. Once again though, it all depends on the money to be spent.

 

[Deleted member 58846]

Like smids said

What kind of money are we talking here?

Also how experienced is yourself in computing? I no that you said you were tech savvy but you will need someone who knows more than just an average jo-blow.


If you tell everyone around what budget you can offord, then the people on ocuk would gladly be happy to get you started on your feet, there are many experience users on this forum. Some with many qualifications or people up and coming. Good luck with your network.

 

[Steveh_monkey]

Like smids said
Also how experienced is yourself in computing? I no that you said you were tech savvy but you will need someone who knows more than just an average jo-blow.

I'm experienced enough to be confident that i can set up the network. I'm no tech god or anything, but from what I've read it doesn't look like anythings particulary beyond me. And it's a small small business. For the moment it's just two guys in a flat, and they'll be using their laptops as work stations, but it's got to have enough room to allow for a few more people, probably with 5 being the maximum. The storage and file server is basically providing a central hub so the work that's being done doesn't get spread all over the place with people coming and going.

I'm not too sure about the budget. I'll pay however much is neccessary and adequate, so i probably around £300+ ish. I don't think I'll be spending hundreds of pounds on one of those Cisco routers though.

I've got a spare PC in the house, so I think I can set a file server up on there. What software to people reccomend?

 

[Deleted member 58846]

I'm experienced enough to be confident that i can set up the network. I'm no tech god or anything, but from what I've read it doesn't look like anythings particulary beyond me. And it's a small small business. For the moment it's just two guys in a flat, and they'll be using their laptops as work stations, but it's got to have enough room to allow for a few more people, probably with 5 being the maximum. The storage and file server is basically providing a central hub so the work that's being done doesn't get spread all over the place with people coming and going.

I'm not too sure about the budget. I'll pay however much is neccessary and adequate, so i probably around £300+ ish. I don't think I'll be spending hundreds of pounds on one of those Cisco routers though.

I've got a spare PC in the house, so I think I can set a file server up on there. What software to people reccomend?

Thats excellent, are you wanting all cable network or wireless ?

£300+ is enough to have a decent network especially of that size, cable, gigabit switch 4to8 ports maybe, file server you said you had so maybe run red hat with samba share, not sure the way you really want to go but 300 should be enough for router, switch cable e.t.c for up to your user capacity.

 

[smids]

For that kind of budget, a good Draytek is on the cards.

 

[bitslice]

I'd go with the above too,

Software.
If file access security is not an issue, just run WinXP pro
if your old PC won't run HW raid, then you could setup software raid at a push.

Think about a removable hard drive to take home, ...no point in raid if someone nicks the PC

.

 

[Steveh_monkey]

Ok, Thanks for your advice guys, I think I'm just about getting there.

The network needs to be wireless, so the Vigor 2800G looks like it should do just about everything I need (it can be used with an ISP such as Blueyonder right?). However, it is a fair bit more expensive than any other router I've seen, especially the ones here at OCUK. I'm no expert on routers, so does the higher price justify itself in this case, especially since it's still a very small business? What would be the a cheaper suitable router that I could consider instead?

For storage i've came up with this plan.
Get a Buffalo 250 GB link station, which is NAS and should hold all the data that's needed. In addition, I can get a Buffalo 250GB External HDD which automatically backs up itself. It's fairly cheap at around £190 and it can provide instant Backup. Only problem it's not the fastest option, but It'll be fast enough to provide for peoples needs for now.
I may consider however building a new PC and using two HDDs in Raid 1 for a faster option, although it would be a fair bit more expensive. The buisness will probably eventually support 4 people using this storage device so considering that, is it worth paying extra to get the extra speed? Are there any other alternate methods?

Finally the file server. The old PC can do RAID, so RAID 1 seems the best method (don't think it supports RAID 5, but I don't know what that is ><).
I had a look at Red Hat, but it seems a bit expensive.

What other cheap/free alternatives are there that can be used with either Windows XP home or Linux? Anything will do really, as long as it's reliable I guess.

Again, thanks for your help. Sorry If I'm asking too many questions .

 

[Jamauk]

I have the Buffalo Linkstation 250GB, although its not the fastest NAS I have found it to be excellent for storing users files in a central location, the security options are excellent, each user has their own folder that only they can access, I have also setup a shared folder that is accessible by all users.

The Linkstation also has an FTP function which I use on a regular basis to access files when I am away from home. Users log in and they are only shown the folders that they have access to. I have used this on several occasions to allow for friends and family to receive large files.

I bought a Buffalo 250GB USB 2.0 to backup the Linkstation, however I had problems getting the Linkstation to recognise the USB drive, since I had a spare computer I decided I would set it up with the USB drive and it creates a backup using a batch file 3 times a week. This method also allowed me to setup a virus scan to be run once a week. Using this method I have been able to get it setup so that the batch file creates reports so any errors can be identified, this is all accessed through an intranet site setup using IIS in Windows 2000.