Creating a computer network connects together all your computers, plus other equipment like printers. An effective computer network will allow people in your business to easily access data, share resources, get online and communicate effectively.
If you've already paid for your computers, the additional cost of a computer network can be negligible. Up to 20 computers can be combined into a simple network for a few hundred pounds - or even less, if you're happy with a wireless network.
Because your computer network costs can be kept low, at the very least it usually makes sense to create a simple network.
It’s much easier to get started with computer networking than it used to be, especially if you’re dealing with a simple computer network.
Because it’s easy to get going, simply being able to share your business internet connection between staff is often enough justification for a computer network.
However, if you’re getting started with a computer network, there are lots of other functions you might require too:
There are some drawbacks to running a computer network. Principally:
It’s worth getting advice from an IT expert like an IT supplier or consultant to really understand what you need to build a computer network and what benefits you can expect to see from one.
When planning your computer network, it’s important to think about whether you need a server. These high-powered computers give you flexibility to run centralised applications, but can be complicated to manage and can drastically increase your computer network cost.
If you don’t fancy the extra effort and cost of managing a server, you may find that cloud computing services let you achieve the same things but with less hassle.
Cloud computing allows you to access IT resources on the internet, rather than managing them in your business. For example, instead of running an in-house customer database on a server, you can sign in to a service that's provided for you online.
Think about network security too - after all, you don’t want a hacker breaking into your systems and stealing your data.
Make sure you take key security precautions: install a firewall when you set up computer networking, keep valuable hardware physically secure and make sure everyone uses strong passwords.
Ensure every computer in your business is running security software from a reputable company like McAfee, Kaspersky or Bitdefender.
The costs of your computer network will depend on your situation: how many computers you have, the physical area in which you want to create the network, and the complexity of the network itself.
As a guide, expect to pay your IT supplier about £1,000 to build a simple network of ten computers with no central server. A more complex network – to connect 50 computers, with a server - could cost £5,000 - £10,000 in total.
All computer networks require some network maintenance. For small networks, someone in your company should be able to take on the job as part of their role. Managing big networks can be a full-time job.
Again, if you don’t have computer network management expertise in your business, it can be best to contract this out to your IT supplier.
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