pctoolbox.co.uk

I am often asked what are the advantages of having a server for a small business. Which is a good question as it can be a heavy investment and often a wasted investment if it is not used to its full potential. So how could a small business use a server to its full potential without using features for the sake of it..?

It’s my opinion that using Small Business Server from Microsoft is the ideal operating system as it is packed with features the standard versions don’t come with, most importantly for small businesses it includes Exchange Server. More specifically the features that I think would be most useful to a small business are as follows…

• File Storage – store files centrally to ensure easy access for all users rather than emailing documents back and forth or using USB Pen Drives.
• Exchange Server – Have your server manage your company emails so sending internally is immediate, you can share each others calendars and access all this remotely from any machine with an internet connection so your team can always stay in touch.
• Remote Access – Allows employees to work from anywhere with an internet connection for ultimate productivity.
• With all data stored on the server you have only one backup to worry about – even with the best server in the world you still MUST backup!
• Share printers
• Enabling Faxing from and to the server with faxes being delivered to the email inbox of users

Servers can do much more, but in my opinion those are the things that are the biggest advantages to Small Businesses looking to improve their Computing capabilities.
Something to try on your own? Most definitely not. Get hold of your I.T. Company and ask them to do it for you.

I thought it would be good to start blogging here with a list of some very useful support sites and forums that we have used in the past (or in some cases still do use) to help solve problems we come across. So if you haven’t found the answer to your question by searching google then trying one of the following may help

Utter Access – A fantastic support forum for any Microsoft Access Database queries. A very active forum that we have used a number of times when developing Access Applications.

DevShed – This site initially started as a support site for developers working with amongst others: PHP, ASP, C, C++ and Java, but has grown significantly over the last 4-5 years. You can now find virtually any technical answer on the Devshed site or across their network which includes ASPFree, DevHardware, SEO Chat and more. They also all have forums which are very active with some very talented members willing to help.

SmallBizServer – A support site dedicated to helping users having problems with their Small Business Server. A free site although there is a subscription option to get access to some of the premium tutorials which are well worth having access to if you are running a Small Business Server yourself.

Experts Exchange – A support forum that covers virtually everything to do with computers, networks, operating systems, software applications etc! It is free to register but if you want to ask a question you need to have points to give the expert who helps. To get these points you either need to pay for a Premium Membership or be an Expert yourself and earn these points. You can have a 30 day trial so certainly worth checking out.

SurFTP.com – A Web Based FTP site. So if you can’t get access to your FTP program for some reason then this is an alternative. Upload and Download files freely! Also useful if you are demonstrating a website for a client on site and they don’t have a FTP package installed (well why would they!) and you need to make a change! Easy, SurFTP’it !

WAMPServer – Getting a little bit more technical. For those wanting to develop PHP & MySQL on their local machine you can use WAMPServer which will install the Apache WebServer, PHP and MySql easily so that you can test these dynamic database driven websites without having to constantly upload the changes! Very useful.

Mod_ReWrite Tool – Getting even more technical then! With dynamic URL’s not being liked by google for SEO it is becoming common practise to develop sites with SEO friendly URL’s. How to do that with a dynamic site? Use a Mod ReWrite rule in the .htaccess file. For newbies writing these the task can be daunting but this website writes them for you! Fantastic!

Nilpo.com – The name of this site doesn’t mean much! But it is the blog of a self proclaimed Windows Guru! But I have to agree he is pretty good A number of great posts covering Windows, Office and some Other Microsoft technologies.

Google Adwords Keyword Tool - Anyone managing a Google Adwords account will know that knowing what best keywords to use are can be difficult and really make you think. Google Adwords Keyword Tool is an excellent tool to help! Worth checking out

We might add to this as we come across other sites worth putting here. If we added every site we liked it would take a really long time to write! So we will just add the best of the lot!

Any suggestions just shout and we will consider adding it to the list.

Thanks, Graham.