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What is networking?
In this context, it is the sharing of information between two machines. The machines could be desktop computers, laptops, even scanners, printers, and smart-phones. It's a way to either centralize or decentralize data, perform functions that your computer may not be able to do on its own, and enable users, groups, and entire organizations to work together. True, this is a pretty broad definition - but that's a good thing. If we started out with the small pieces, we might never appreciate what the whole picture can provide us - freedom to create and produce.
Why do I need to network?
Well, you likely already do. Most home computers are connected in some fashion to the internet. Most business computers are at least connected to each other. Even attaching a camera, printer, or scanner to your home computer creates a very limited form of networking. Without going into the history of networks or the way peripheral devices connect to your machine, it should be easy to imagine information passing between your computer and others. This one thing that separates a modern computer from a typewriter or word processor.
When most people think about networking, they are either thinking of business lunches, or a diagram of a bunch of computers mapped together on a chart of some kind. True, both are examples of types of networking, but neither explain the why. We reach out to others to benefit us by sharing experience and/or abilities. Computers do the same thing. Generally speaking, we tend to centralize data, and decentralize utilities. Of course, some specialization (the opposite) is sometimes desired - for example, there's little need for the accounting data to be available to the factory floor, and most office workers like having easy access to their own printer, mouse, and keyboard - but overall, we still seek to centralize data up to a reasonable point, and allow specialized utilities to be shared by as many as is convenient - or logical.
What are some examples of networked utilities?
Well, most of these are pretty common sense - but some you may not have considered.
File Server - This is where data is centralized - but at the same time, it in itself is a utility that other computers - for example, your workstation - access to perform tasks. File servers can take many forms - depending on how many users need to access them, how much data is stored on them, and where they actually exist in relation to other networked machines. Generally speaking, a file server is a machine that stores data, and when asked, either sends that data to your local workstation, or allows for modification of the data without it leaving the server. Since the data stored on file servers is generally more important to preserve, file servers are often backed up - either on to other file servers, or onto some form of recordable media - magnetic tapes, CDs, other removable disks.
Printers/Copiers - often offices will have one or several large printer/copiers, which many people in the office will share. The big behemoth machine will have its share of paper jams and low toner warnings, but its generally easier to maintain a couple large machines, instead of a lot of little ones. Depending on the abilities of the networked printer, you may be able to copy, scan, fax, even email documents through it. However, even a regular printer, connected to your computer with a USB cable, can be shared throughout an office, or with other members of your family.
Scanner / Imaging Device - Often combined with a printer and/or copier, a scanner can also be networked. Single sheet scanners are less likely to be able to be used by more than one computer at a time - but generally that's just a matter of deciding who gets control of the scanner, and who has to wait - and there are many good ways to delegate this.
Phones - even regular old telephones are on a network - but smart phones have allowed us to do a lot more, both because they are wireless, and because they can access the internet. Those who use smart phones on a regular basis often find themselves using their laptops and desktops less, and relying more and more on functions available to them through their phone. Those who use the wired phone on their desk are just as networked, through a phone switch of some kind, and generally over copper wires and optical cabling.
Network Control Devices - This is where your router, cable modem, DSL or T1 box, and many other little gizmos come into play - they are the intersections in your network, and they either tell network data traffic where to go, or allow it to flow there. Most are extremely simple - and very misunderstood. To make it worse, many control devices do more than one task, which just confuses the issue even more. Still, understanding how to configure these devices to manage your network traffic efficiently is perhaps the real heart of networking.
Cabling - for lack of a better analogy, if network control devices are the intersections, then cabling comprises the roads. In a world that is increasingly moving towards wireless networking, there may be less physical cable, but what is still there is more important than ever. A bad cable, left undiagnosed, can cause an inexperienced technical staff to spend thousands on replacement equipment, when the only real culprit was a bad $10 cable. Same as reminding someone to make sure the toaster is plugged in before complaining it doesn't work, we have to remember to check the cables before we assume the worst about a piece of networked equipment. Some of the most significant and expensive network equipment only has two wires coming out of it - a power cord and a network cable. Both must work properly for the expensive box to work its magic.
How can Avineo Inc. help my network?
We can diagnose and repair existing network problems - like bad cables, control devices that aren't performing well, and computers that don't seem to play well with others. We can make better use of existing equipment - again, either centralizing data or decentralizing utilities, or making more logical specializations - or we can upgrade and expand.
Expanding your current network could be as simple as adding a new file server, backup server, or fast wireless router. It is often as mundane as running cable through a wall, and making sure the connectors are all installed. Sometimes it means setting up a connection to the internet, or setting controls on your current connection to allow for different kinds of traffic.
Usually, it ends up being a little bit of all of these things. The savings to you is approaching them in that order - repair, then re-organize, and finally upgrade and expand only if there is no better option. Too often we see the opposite approach - buy new shiny things whenever something goes wrong, hope it works, and throw out the old stuff. This approach rarely addresses the way data is being used and transferred, and therefore rarely nets a gain in actual productivity. By taking a conservative, logical approach to networking in a general sense, your employees will be better provided for, and their freedom to create and produce will be nurtured - all improving your bottom line.
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