TEN REASONS YOU NEED A SERVER

There are a number of these lists floating around the web, but they do make some good points. All of these lists say basically the same thing, and, since we do sell and maintain Dell servers as part of our business, this list is being cribbed from Dell.

1. You have more than two business computers.
   
2. You have more than one employee.
   
3. Your customers think you are owned by Go Daddy.
   
4. You, or your employees, conduct business outside the office.
   
5. You are tripping over cords.
   
6. You can never find that Master Document when you need it.
   
7. Your PCs are old and grumpy.
   
8. Your computer crashed and you lost critical data.
   
9. You want to protect information from unauthorized users.
   
10. You want to improve communication with employees and customers.
    

Now, some explanations: There comes a time when you will need a server for your business. You may actually have more than two computers before a server will need to be in your plans, or, you may want to start off with a server in place. This is something that LAN Doctor can help you decide. Sure, we want to sell and install servers, but, if it is not the best fit for your needs yet, then that would not be the right choice for you.

Some of the nice things about servers are that all your data can reside in one place AND be backed up regularly. You can control access to information pertinent to your business that not everyone should see or know about. Databases are important to many businesses. Many are designed to be run on a server and to allow multi-user access. With your own server, you can host your own e-mail and web site—some may see this as a plus, others as a negative. However, if you choose to do it yourself, it will mean fewer dollars going out each month for those services that are hosted elsewhere.

The line I really like is the locating of the Master Document. Heck, even with a server, I can't find it right off. I think that reason is a wash either way. The only advantage it might give is that you KNOW it is on the server, so you only need to search one machine, instead of having to search several.

Having all your data on one machine is a great idea for when you are on the road or on a customer site. If you need to look up some information, there are a number of options available for accessing that data, and you could look quite good at having access to data like that.