When you've finished designing the network for your practice, you're ready to choose the design of its logic. Logical design is network function and infrastructure. Here are some tips for creating a network that is flexible, efficient, and contributes to overall operations at the practice. Basic Network: Once you've begun to draft the network organization, it's time to choose the services that you will be adding to it. An environment needs Internet access, e-mail, and file storage to function smoothly. Network file storage creates network drives for specific users, letting them save data to the network instead of a local machine - allowing for better backup and protection of the data. By storing the data on a single server, you can perform nightly backups with controlled access to the information. Additionally, users can access the information they want using any computer on the network, even from home. The drive can be set to share information with the specific department only, allowing fluid collaboration. Every user account has a home directory that is accessible just by the individual user. This allows for a safe area for documents which should not be accessed by other people. Flexibility: When creating a design for the network, group by function and geographic region. This strategy helps to establish a functional and flexible network infrastructure. If your practice operates from a series of locations, it's often a good idea to form logic units; 'Front Desk,' for example. Then from Front Desk, you can create a logic unit for all the places and locations each user account is allocated. The primary benefit is that you can apply a network policy to the unit, as in setting all Front Desk accounts to automatically lock their computer screens after ten minutes of inactivity. By simply adding this feature to the Front Desk unit, the logic is applied to all Front Desk user accounts. Internet & E-Mail: Both are excellent service to include on the network. However, when setting up e-mail, make sure to run a good anti-virus tool on the mail server, to scan all messages. E-mail is the primary method of virus spread, and the most effective way to minimize risk is to set up the mail server properly at the outset. Microsoft Exchange or another server solution tool is an excellent way to introduce e-mail or an on-line calendar. Access to the Internet is a simple must to be able to communicate between a series of locations. Many software companies prefer that a practice keep a broadband connection in order to send support and updates through. Pricing for broadband varies by area, but the need for proper security remains constant. All files should be kept behind a sound firewall which keeps the outside world from your network. Some vendors have product versions aimed at both consumer and business clients - the business versions are usually designed to be deployed across a network, also containing added tools to help manage anti-virus products.
Please Rate this Article 5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5
Not yet Rated
