Small Business Network Management
Small business network management: just another job or an exciting career? Managing a small business network can be tough work, but it is a fun and exciting career, than provides endless opportunities for learning new technologies and ideas. Although this is a good career choice, there are many times where this job can be frustrating and tough. The frustrating times come when mission critical equipment fails, or a configuration file gets corrupted. First I will talk about the equipment needed to make a small business network function, with minimal errors. Next I will explain the pros and cons to managing a small business network. Lastly I will talk about what I recommend for a small business network. To start the body off, I will be explaining what equipment is needed to start a small business network. First we have our routers and switches. Routers perform many functions, one of which is serving as a firewall. Computers have tens of thousands of ports, or "doors" as this essay will refer to them as. Without a firewall, all the doors on the computer are unlocked and available for anyone to use. Anyone could be your brother sending an email, or hacker from Indonesia using your computer to send SPAM. Firewall 's will recognize all the doors your computer isn 't using and lock them, so no one can use the doors, unless you know the password for the firewall. Routers also have various other functions, which may or may not be used by businesses; it all depends on your application. Switches take one internet connection and split it into many connections. Fore example, if you have a cable modem and you want six computers online, you will need to get six IP addresses from your ISP and use a switch to split the one incoming connection. An IP address is like a street address, one per computer or connection to the internet. Switches can also be used as device for connecting computers in a network. If you had seven computers, and only one had a printer which you wanted to
Cited: Enbysk, Monte. "Network marketers: pros or cons?." Microsoft Small Business Center. Microsoft. 11 Sep. 2005 . Violino, Bob. "Third Annual Network/IS Managers ' Salary and Job Satisfaction Survey." 1998 Network/IT Manager 's Salary Survey. Network Computing. 18 Sep. 2005 . "http://www.sba.gov/sbdc/." Office of Entrepreneurial Development. Small Business Development Center. 25 Sep. 2005 . This website can help my paper by providing tips and tricks to making small business networks and small businesses successful. Seymour, Jim. "The Small-Business Network." 8 Jan 2000. 25 Sep 2005 . This article tells about the different types of networks a small business can use. From wireless to wired, this covers the ins and outs of setting one up. This will help my essay because my essay is about small business networks. "Small Business Center." Small Business Technology. Microsoft. 25 Sep. 2005 . The Microsoft Small Business Technology center is a valuable resource for anyone looking for good technology to implement into their business. The MSBC helps my research paper because it provides ideas and new technologies. "Business Networking for Entrepreneurs." Business Networking Tips and Resources for Entrepreneurs. About.com. 25 Sep. 2005 http://entrepreneurs.about.com/od/businessnetworking/. This website provides