Business Networking Solutions | Hispanic Business Showcase ~ San ...

Just about everyone in the world uses computer networking in one way or another. The biggest network, the Internet, is used by just about everyone, since it is the information super highway. Of course, to access the Internet you have to be able to connect in to it. There are many different Internet service providers (ISPs) available to choose from and each has a monthly fee associated with the speed of service you desire. The Internet however is only one of thousands of other networks available.

Many organizations establish their own networks developed for sharing information. Even households establish small networks designed to share any type of data such as media files, text documents and other files meant only for their family. Networking for small business owners is used as well for the same purpose, sharing company information. It may be worth your while to have one of your employees take some online courses in computer technology.

Fundamentals

Let?s say there is a small business that sells widgets?it would be necessary for many people in the organization to look at the numerical data. Networking is just that, exchange of data through interconnected computers to gain communication and achieve productivity.

To create a network, all you really need is two or more computers, cable to transmit the signal and a networking device such as a router. You see, all information is actually transferred through little chucks of transmissions called packets; segments and frames are also terms used, but most people generally refer to these chunks of data as packets.

Routers actually don?t even have to be used if you implement a token ring topology in which each machine is connected by ?daisy-chaining? cable. However, most of the home laptops and machines aren?t equipped with the proper network interface card (NIC) so they rely on a router, which is a better technology anyway.

Network Architecture

Depending on the kind of small business that you own, the network you decide to set up will vary depending on what type of resources are at your disposal. Do you have servers with large amounts of data onsite, or does each of your salesmen have a laptop and you outsource the hosting to the cloud? Very basic strategies involve a small business acquiring 3-5 servers for different purposes such as email, ecommerce, proxy and databases, and setting up a star network. A star network is the most widely used network topology in use and the easiest to implement.

In order to interconnect or network all of these computers together to share resources, you will need a switch or a router. In addition, Cat5e cable is required to interconnect machines. Cat5e cable is generally the standard these days as the bandwidth of the cable is extremely important and anything that is below 1Gbps is considered sub-par. With this infrastructure in place you could also create a Virtual Private Network (VPN). This type of network separates out a private wide area network (WAN) through the Internet.

Cloud Hosting

Outsourcing your network needs to a third party vendor is probably the easiest method to implement a network. There are many companies in business for this very purpose. While short-term costs are lower with a virtual networking infrastructure, long-term costs are actually lower if you buy all the necessary equipment up front and develop your own in-house networking architecture.

Many small businesses just use a personal computer to keep track of financial data of the business. However, after the business grows and orders begin to pile up and the product line expands, you will want a centralized storage location of your data and many users to access the data. Many people just end up going with the easiest solution and outsourcing their application hosting and storage needs.

Which networking infrastructure you decide on using is entirely up to you. It is important to note that once you have chosen either in-house networking solutions or outsourcing your hosting needs, it is never too late to switch to another method. Migration is relatively easy and fortunately nothing is permanent.

Scott Andersen is an IT Tech and also a content contributor for thebestcolleges.org. Check out this ranking of the Top 50 Colleges in America, and top college rankings in specific fields, like Internet technology.? Photo credit: Networking Packets Pattern by Patrick Hosely/flickr

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