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Equip your practice, part 2: networking and back-up options

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25th Mar 2008
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You have to start somewhereSimon Hurst continues his guide to kitting out a new practice with a discussion of the networking infrastructure decisions you will need to make.

As mentioned in the introduction to this series, the ability to run all the required software on demand via the internet could be an ideal solution for a new practice. Remote access ceases to be an issue as long as you can connect to the internet from wherever you are. Data sharing ceases to be an issue as the data is held on the internet and therefore accessible to whoever needs it, subject to security.

The problem is whether the specialist software required to run most accountancy practices is yet available in this way. In most cases some or all of the applications used will therefore need to be installed on local computers.

To network or not?

Perhaps the most important decision concerning initial computer requirements will relate to whether or not to link the office computers via a network, and if so, which network hardware and software to buy. This decision will be influenced by how the practice works. Increasingly people don’t just work from a single office location.

Even for firms that have just one office they will often have to consider staff working from home, working at client premises or working on the move. So a network doesn’t just have to cope with linking the office computers and printers, allowing access to shared data and the internet. It also has to support secure, fast and reliable remote access.

It used to be the case that the extra hardware, and particularly software, that was required to set up a "proper" file-server based network made it worth considering a peer-to-peer system where the desktop and laptop computers are just joined to each other. However, hardware is now comparatively cheap and in Small Business Server Microsoft has a very comprehensive server package aimed specifically at smaller businesses.

Many software houses now base their applications on Microsoft's SQL Server relational database management system, and while this doesn't necessarily mean that you need to be able to run full-blown SQL Server, its inclusion in the premium edition of SBS does allow for future expansion. All of which might justify the extra initial cost of a proper network.

Whatever sort of network you do end up with, there are several features that you are likely to need. As mentioned in the introduction, remote access is almost certain to be useful if not essential. There are many ways to achieve this and the increase in internet connection speeds now means that you can use the net rather than an expensive dedicated connection and still achieve decent performance.

Any Answers recently featured a question on virtual private network (VPN) systems for remote access, which elicited a range of potential approaches including Remote Desktop, VNC, GoToMyPC and LogMeIn. The answers also raised some important issues such as local printing and security. The security issues of remote working were covered more specifically in the article, Remote working: Spreading the IT Security blanket. Kevin Salter gave a very practical view of the issues and possibilities in his accountant's guide to remote working. This is an area where the advice from a network expert, with appropriate security knowledge, is likely to be invaluable. The cost of some good advice, specific to your particular situation, will be justified in helping you avoid the risk of poor performance or, even worse, inadequate security.

Storing and keeping your data safely

Another benefit of a network based on a file-server is easier control over back-up. It's likely to be easier to ensure the completeness of your archiving procedures if everything you need to back-up is in one place rather than spread around a collection of desktop and laptop computers. Once again, back-up solutions are many and varied, ranging from integral devices in servers to external hard drives, DVD writers or online back-up options. Many of these were discussed in a couple of Any Answers articles. Online back-up is a relatively fast moving area at the moment and the comments to a 2005 question on backing up data were also covered in a November 2007 question.

An important consideration is the ability to actually use your back-ups if you need to. Having only one device that can access the back-up media is insufficient, especially if it is part of the device you are actually backing up. Storing all your back-ups in the same location as the original data is unlikely to protect you in the case of theft or fire - hence the attractiveness of online solutions. It's also vital to periodically test the back-ups you have made to make sure that you are backing up what you think you are backing up, and backing it up in a way that enables you to retrieve it.

I remember a particularly difficult conversation with a client of an organisation I used to work for. The client had dutifully run his back-up routines every evening for years and years, stored the back-ups regularly and off-site. Unfortunately, it was back in the days of MS-DOS and batch files, and the back-up routine didn't highlight the fact that the data hadn't actually fitted on the back-up media for the last 8 months. Similar examples continue to occur, for example with back-up routines that fail to include open files including vital databases. Expert advice you seek on this subject is likely to be worth every penny.

Back-up is just part of the wider issue of disaster recovery or to use the more positive expression, business continuity. Having a copy of your data is only one part of the solution - you may have to re-install your software applications and you may need replacement hardware. There is an excellent round up of the issues in the IT Zone Focus on disaster recovery and business continuity planning. For very small organisations, a spare computer with the required software installed, and with the data synchronised to the main computer or file server using Window's built in synchronisation capabilities could serve as a basic continuity plan. Larger organisations will require more sophisticated solutions.

For smaller disasters, you should also consider an uninterruptible power supply - particularly relevant given the recent weather conditions. This could involve anything from a small device to keep a server running long enough to turn it off safely, to longer-term power supply or generation capabilities. What you need will depends on how you work and what your clients expect of you in terms of response speed.

Starting a practice - what tools will you need?
Introduction - the issues you need to consider

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AccountingWEB.co.uk working from home seminars

  • 27 March 08 - London, Law Society (2pm)
  • 26 June 08 - Birmingham, Think Tank (2pm)
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