Web E2engine.com

1. Do I need Internet access for my business?
   
2. How do I connect my business to the Internet?
   
3. With so many vendors of high-speed Internet services, how do I pick the best provider?
   
4. If I connect my business to the Internet, will my internal network be at risk to infiltration?
   
5. How do I control Internet access within my company?
   
6. What is an Intranet?
   
7. Can I use DSL to interconnect my offices?
   
8. What kind of digital subscriber line (DSL) services are there?
   
9. Our organization is considering upgrading our network. Does this mean we will have to replace everything?
   
10. What is peer-to-peer networking?
    
11. What is client/server networking?
    
12. What hours do Eden Engineering's technicians work?

1. Do I need Internet access for my business?
The Internet has become an indispensable resource and research tool for every business. The Internet also provides a powerful means of communicating with your employees and business partners. Every business can benefit from the tools the Internet provides. From comparing office supply prices to exploring the latest medical breakthroughs; from seeing real-time stock quotes to downloading attributed blocks from your door supplier; from obtaining the latest legal precedents to locating graphics for your next presentation, there is no limit to the power the Internet can bring to any organization.

2. How do I connect my business to the Internet?
There are many ways to provide shared Internet access to an organization, from simple dial-up connections to high-speed connections such as digital subscriber line (DSL) and frame relay. DSL has made access to the Internet fast, easy and affordable for every business. In most metropolitan areas, DSL is now available to speed your access to the Internet using existing telephone lines. If DSL service is not available in your area now, it will be soon.

3. With so many vendors of high-speed Internet services, how do I pick the best provider?
Experience of the service provider is the key. Many new service providers are entering the market right now, promising great things. The question that remains to be answered is can they really provide the services they promise in the time frame they promise?

Service level agreements (SLAs) will provide you with a commitment that your provider will deliver what they promise, and give you recourse if they don't. Make sure your service provider offers a SLA, and read it. There is not one service provider that fits everyone's needs. Comparison shop. Price is not the only differentiator, ask about their POPs (points of presence), compare their SLA's, inquire with friends and associates what their experiences have been with their providers. If you would prefer to outsource this project, Eden Engineering can select a service provider for you that is reliable, competitively priced and capable of satisfying your specific needs for speed and concurrent access by multiple users.

4. If I connect my business to the Internet, will my internal network be at risk to infiltration?
Anywhere you place a door, someone is bound to knock! How you respond to that knock makes all the difference. Firewalls protect your valuable data from users who attempt to circumvent normal authentication procedures. These devices ask "Do I know you and do you have business here?" If the answers are yes, access is granted, if not, access is denied. Firewalls are becoming more and more of a necessity as businesses make their data resources available via the Internet to their trusted partners and employees. All of your access and security concerns can be controlled with proper planning and careful execution of a security policy for your organization.

5. How do I control Internet access from within my company?
With the pervasiveness of the Internet comes concern about lost productivity to unauthorized Internet browsing. Modern methods of shared Internet access for your organization can control who has access to the Internet. Firewalls and proxy servers can control the use of network resources from the inside and tighter controls can be added for site restrictions, so that access is limited to only useful and pertinent sites.

6. What is an Intranet?
An Intranet is much like a small, restricted access Internet. Intranets use Internet technologies (TCP/IP, HTTP and HTML) to implement client/server applications for a defined group of users (generally employees or students and faculty).

7. Can I use DSL to interconnect my offices?
Yes. DSL (digital subscriber line) can be used in lieu of traditional frame relay and other high-speed access methods to provide your organization secure, wide area network (WAN) connectivity. In this way, you can lower your costs and increase your bandwidth at the same time.

8. What kind of digital subscriber line (DSL) services are there?
DSL is sometimes expressed as xDSL, where the 'x' stands for the various types of DSL, including ADSL (asynchronous DSL), SDSL (synchronous DSL), RADSL (rate adaptive DSL) and HDSL (high bit rate DSL.) Each of these have different applications. For example, for Internet access and internetworking, ADSL and SDSL are most often used. The incoming and outgoing bandwidths of ADSL are different (incoming is faster), whereas with SDSL the incoming and outgoing bandwidths are the same. If your needs are primarily for incoming bandwidth (Internet browsing) then ADSL would be most appropriate. If your needs include internetworking (sending large files to colleagues and business partners) then SDSL is more appropriate. SDSL is considered a business class of service and usually offers a service level agreement guaranteeing performance and availability, whereas ADSL is most commonly used for home use and is usually not accompanied by a performance guarantee.

9.Our organization is considering upgrading our network. Does this mean we will have to replace everything?
Sometimes elements of your network can be maximized instead of replaced. By increasing the performance of your network and moving services and applications to servers, the life of some older computers can be extended.

The most stable network, however, is built on a solid foundation, your infrastructure, which is comprised of your wiring, network hubs, switches and routers. If your infrastructure is weak, then your network will suffer. If, for example, you are using an older method to connect your network, such as coaxial cabling, it should be upgraded because coaxial cable does not support modern networking speeds and is vulnerable to a single point of failure.

10. What is peer-to-peer networking?
The computers which comprise a network are called peers. In peer-to-peer networking, the resources of each peer are shared by all of the peers on the network. These resources might be hard drives, CD-rom drives, printers or Internet access. Also, in peer-to-peer networks, each peer has equivalent client and server capabilities and communication and data sharing occurs directly between computers, rather than through an intermediary computer. There are some drawbacks to a peer-to-peer configuration, including the following: many peers share many resources, which can be very difficult to manage; peer-to-peer networking allows data sharing but only limited (DOS-based) program sharing; there is very little security on a peer workstation and data can easily be compromised when housed there; and data backup procedures are cumbersome on these networks, since data is housed on many workstations.

11. What is client/server networking?
Conceptually, client/server networking is like peer-to-peer networking. In practice though, it is more robust. In a client/server configuration, resource sharing is restricted to fewer, more powerful peers called servers which provide centralized user authentication and security access to resources. Client/server configurations allow both data and program sharing and are not restricted to only DOS-based programs. The client/server architecture is also a much more secure environment for your data than peer-to-peer networking. There is very little security on a peer workstation and data can easily be compromised when housed there. Also, it is much easier and more efficient to backup data that is stored in a central location, such as a server, than in many different locations, as is necessary in a peer-to-peer environment.

12. What hours do Eden Engineering's technicians work?
At Eden Engineering, our work day ends only when the job is done. We realize that your business depends on your network being available to you whenever you need it. If there is a problem to be fixed, Eden Engineering will fix it, at any time of any day, to ensure that your business remains up and running.