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Archive for the ‘Network Support’ Category

Business IT Network Design Basics

Saturday, October 11th, 2008

Long before the physical and technological aspects of a business IT network can be created, the network designer or network architect needs to consider the basic elements and requirements of that network. The logical design of the network needs to be fully considered before development can start to take place and this planning stage will usually require the input of a number of key members of an organisation as well as your IT team, or IT consultants that you are using to help develop your network.

The end users, or the network community, obviously need to be considered during the preparation stage. How many people will require access to the network and what hardware and software will they be using when they do access it? What are the services that network users will most likely require or demand from the network? Can compromises be made if necessary in order to make savings or improve the general flow of the network?

You should also consider what software and hardware access will be required and whether all or groups of users will require this access. Should certain users or groups of users be prevented from having access to some of that software and hardware? In most cases, some degree of access control will be required and one of the most important considerations of any new network is security. Any network should be made as secure and robust as possible with as little impact on the network community’s use of the network features.

Octavia virtualises The Saatchi Gallery

Thursday, October 9th, 2008

Saatchi Gallery adopts virtualised IT platform for increased storage capacity, disaster recovery and security control

09 October, 2008: London-based IT support and software development consultancy, Octavia Information Systems is on the brink of completing a high availability virtualised IT system for the new Saatchi Gallery. The solution, built around  VMware and Double-Take technologies, will be completed ahead of the gallery’s official opening on Thursday, 9th October – for its contemporary inaugural exhibition, The Revolution Continues: New Art from China.

The exhibition offers features a survey of recent paintings, sculpture and installation of 24 of China’s leading artists and will run until 18 January 2009. The art gallery, home to the collection of Charles Saatchi has relocated to the 70,000 sq. ft. Duke of York’s HQ building on King’s Road in Chelsea, South-West London.

Octavia was responsible for delivering the entire IT infrastructure of the new building, including all server provisioning, voice and data comms deployment, MS Exchange 2007 for email and MS SQL 2005 for data storage. High availability and provision for disaster recovery were achieved using a combination of technologies from VMWare and Double-Take.

The new IT infrastructure has enabled the Saatchi Gallery to have greater control over its file, database and e-mail security, whilst providing additional storage capacity for all core systems  such as enabling the gallery to maintain an extensive image repository of all artwork in a bespoke ‘image bank’.

The installation also gives visitors access to the Saatchi Gallery’s membership area, allowing visitors to self register for gallery membership using web terminals.

Nigel Hurst, Chief Executive at the Saatchi Gallery, comments, “Ahead of opening the gallery, IT has been about the last thing on my mind. We needed an out-of-sight system that could do what we needed and as such required a technology partner that could take an innovative approach to the specific needs of this unique organisation. Octavia have delivered just that with a stable, high availability system that we can rely upon.”

Octavia’s Chief Executive Officer, Giles Sirett, comments: “High availability systems have traditionally only been available to large organisations due to expensive deployment and maintenance costs. However, using these innovative technologies, we’re now able to offer SMEs cost-effective and highly reliable IT systems. This system for the Saatchi Gallery reduces the amount of hardware required, whilst providing increased resilience and future proofing options that will significantly reduce downtime.”

Octavia delivers technical services, solutions and support for organisations across a range of commercial and charitable vertical markets, as well as to the public sector – including the Ministry of Defence.

Admission to all shows at the Saatchi Gallery will be free, thanks to a sponsorship deal with art auctioneers Phillips de Pury & Company.

Small Business IT Infrastructure

Thursday, October 2nd, 2008

Small businesses have as much of a need for good IT infrastructure as large ones, perhaps even more so. The smaller business often has less resource in terms of the preparation and deployment of an effective IT and communications infrastructure. This means that establishing a network, preparing a disaster recovery plan, writing bespoke software, and ensuring that your network is protected from viruses and spyware can sometimes take a back seat to other internal projects. Outsourcing may be the best solution to this unique problem.

Networks, systems, and business software all play an integral role in profitable business. In order to employ a skilled and efficient IT team to perform all of these tasks it would cost a prohibitively large amount of money that very few small businesses can reasonably afford. Once a network has been established, software written, and a disaster recovery plan formulated, you may be left with a large IT team that has very little work on their hands.

IT outsourcing can combat many of the problems associated with establishing a new business or running a small business and meeting its IT needs. Every aspect of the IT Infrastructure from design and development to maintenance and optimisation can be outsourced to a skilled team. In contrast to employing your own extensive IT department this negates the need to pay annual salaries or even to buy the software and hardware that they would require to complete the tasks in the first place. IT outsourcing makes sense to the small business as well as medium to large enterprises.

Integrating A New Network Into An Existing Company

Sunday, September 28th, 2008

Developing a robust, secure, and effective network can be one of the most beneficial moves a new or existing business makes. Improving workflow and internal communication can subsequently lead to improved external communications, more effective working, and eventually offers a viable path to greater profits. When choosing a Network Development service there are several aspects that you need to consider.

Security is of paramount importance. A network with no or inadequate security is prone to attack and can lead to data theft or network instability. Any good network development team will not only ensure that a new network will perform all of the desired tasks quietly and quickly but that it offers a decent level of security for the data, the network stored, and all the end users of the network.

For existing companies, the creation and installation of a new network offers its own challenge in the shape of minimising disruption. A network developer should first work with you and the relevant parties within your organisation to determine your network needs and then, once the design is complete, ensure that there is as little disruption as possible to the daily running of the business.

A good network can include phone systems, email systems, shared software, and masses of data storage and servers. As such, network development especially for an existing company, requires careful design and planning. This ensures the greatest benefits while also ensuring minimal disruption to the business while the new network is installed and set up.

Network Design And Development

Sunday, September 21st, 2008

Most businesses now rely on some of networking in order to assist in improved workflow and better communications.. The type and complexity of network will depend largely on the business itself and the need for the network. Even smaller businesses have come to rely on the convenience and other benefits of a well structured, properly designed and professionally developed IT Network and infrastructure.

A network enables all employees and users to share software applications, data, and information quickly and easily. They can also be extended to include online applications and websites as well as internal components giving a complete network package to any size business. It isn’t just large organisations and enterprises that benefit from good networking either with SMEs equally well placed to take advantage.

While some businesses employ network and technical administrators, outsourcing the design and development of a network offers a number of its own distinct advantages. Primarily, it means the sourcing of a professional team that are highly skilled in the relevant competencies. A professional network development team will work closely with a business in order to determine their exact requirements, their budget, and any existing network that is already in place.

The sensitive data that is communicated around a network demands that robust security and systems are put in place. These should be firmly established during the development stage and, again, is an area that a professional network development team can assist in. Network development requires a very specific set of skills that can’t be learnt overnight.

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