Page 31 - IT Essentials And Data Recovery For Online Businesses

per month, and can go as high as $1200. Unless yours is a very large corporate

business with sizable headquarters and 25 or more employees who are regularly
online, you really don’t need this one. T1 service is more affordable (and slower),
but for most businesses, the same performance can be achieved with DSL or cable.

A Word Of Caution

Before going online, it’s necessary to set up protection against malicious hackers,
viruses, spyware, cyber attacks and an entire host of enemies who are gunning for

your data. There are numerous options available here as well, which are discussed
in more detail at the end of this chapter.

Networking: The Intranet

If your small business is just you, and yours is the only computer being used, you
may skip this section. On the other hand, if you have more than one computer in

the office or home and would like to be able to share files, programs and
peripherals, read on.

Networking for a small and/or home-based business is not complicated, and

requires little in the way of elaborate equipment beyond what you probably already
have. A network is really nothing more than two or more computers connected in

some way that allows them to share information. Figure 10 on the previous page
depicts a simple network typical of that found in many home-based and small

businesses. In the old days, networking required special hardware. Today, all that
is required is a router and cables (unless you’re going the wireless route – in which

case you will need special hardware – refer to the previous section). In addition,
most modern operating software – such as Windows XP – has built-in networking

capability.

Essentially, all that is required (other than the modem for Internet access) is the
router, which is installed between the modem and the networked computers. From

the router, Ethernet cables connect the individual computers together and to the