Office Network and PC setup - help

[georgei]

Hello,

Getting ready to open up shop sometime soon, and I need some suggestions on office computer setup.
I'll be setting up a 2 desk (2 PC's) office in a warehouse where all my inventory management and shipping will take place.

I'd like to know what you guys suggest for my network setup.

What kind of Internet connection? (I will not be hosting any services from office)
Do I need a router/switch/hub? If so, what kind and what should it be setup to do?
Do I need a server? If so, what service should it be running?
Should I get a back up power supply?
What kind of a backup solution should I use?

Any other network/computer tips or ideas?

Thanks!

[JPnyc]

If it's just 2 pcs you shouldn't need any server OS or software. Internet connection depends on the needs. What will you be doing on the internet?

[georgei]

Managing my ecommerce store and taking phone/online orders.

[TipPro]

If both computers are running Window's XP you will have no trouble setting up a peer-to-peer network. On the control panel click on "Network Setup Wizard" and follow the few simple instructions to setup your network.

You need a way for your computers to communicate. If you are investing in a business Internet cable/DSL line the modem that comes with your service is usually a router too. Have both computers connected to the router and they will be also connected with each other.

This easy setup will allow computers to share files and printers.

A backup power supply is not that necessary. Good ones can be expensive and cheap ones aren't worth it. The cheap ones work fine for a few months but the battery eventually dies. Unless your city experiences frequent brown outs, or you have electricity problems in your warehouse, you really do not need to worry about a backup power supply with your type of network setup.

[georgei]

That's what I thought too, thank you.

[jazzcat]

A backup power supply is not that necessary. Good ones can be expensive and cheap ones aren't worth it. The cheap ones work fine for a few months but the battery eventually dies. Unless your city experiences frequent brown outs, or you have electricity problems in your warehouse, you really do not need to worry about a backup power supply with your type of network setup.

Greetings,

Having worked in an office in a warehouse/industrial area, and having a father who is an electrical engineer, I have to disagree here. Bad electricity is like radon gas: you don't know there is a problem until severe symptoms occur, and those symptoms can have a number of causes.

There are any number of problems that bad power can cause; bad power being blackouts, brownouts, low voltage, improper voltage-current phase, spikes, high voltage, and lightning strikes. These events - caused by motors and other heavy loads - are especially frequent around industrial areas. They can destroy your equipment bit-by-bit - the issue may not manifest itself right away but it will take valuable hours off of the life of your equipment.

Think about it this way: you can save $200-$500 upfront when you don't buy a UPS, but when your hard disk gets zapped and your backup disk isn't reliable, how much money will you loose in reconstructing the data? A good APC UPS is around $200 with shipping, so you should always invest in a UPS.

You should also buy a tape backup unit; while these are expensive (at around $700) they are worth their weight in gold if bad events do occur. Keep in mind that CD's and DVD's are not anywhere near reliable enough to act as your primary backup medium, unless you do your backups twice each night (one each on a fresh disk) and store your disks in a cool, dry place.

Good luck in your endeavor!

Cheers,
Josh

[georgei]

I don't know how much data I would have locally within my office to store, if there is any, I'll be sure to look into some sort of an external backup system.. but as for the backup power, I was looking at one of these (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16842107114), can you review and let me know if this is good enough for 2 PC's and maybe some other devices?

Thanks,
George

[jazzcat]

What TipPro said applies; it looks like the units you've examined are an off-brand, as I've never heard of OPTI-UPS before. Buy an APC unit; APC has a program where they sell refurbished UPS's (with new batteries and the same warranty as new, if I remember correctly) for a discount. They even offer some new units for decent prices. http://www.apc.com

[swamy]

Yup APC unit works good.

[swamy]

The important aspect here is not only backing up the data but also have plans to keep the backup data (Tapes or other media) at a safe location just in case if some catostrophic event occurs. And remember to check your backup data and try to restore it to make sure the data what you have is functional.

GOOD LUCK :-)

Swamy