Small businesses have a need to be significantly more sensible with their finances than do large corporations. This sometimes means that employees actually cost the company less if they can do their work from home. For most IT professionals, it’s not imperative that they’re located in the same building that the machines they work on are located in. With a good VPN, they can access those machines securely over the Internet and there’s no need to provide an office.
Understanding Servers and Server Techs
Some of the best server techs you’ll find don’t actually log onto the machines that they service in the same way that you log onto your computer. In fact, what they do is log onto an interface that gives them a text prompt. If you know servers inside and out, this actually gives you a lot more control over the machine and that’s just what these technicians are looking for. This type of interfacing with the server consumes very little bandwidth.
There are some server techs that prefer the GUI interface and a VPN can allow them to access that securely. VPN technology, in fact, has allowed server administrators to manage remote locations for many years now. It’s not a new technology. The technology is time-tested and true, so a lot of businesses have been relying upon it for a long time.
Finding Providers
Setting up a VPN from scratch is likely going to be beyond the skill level of the average tech. There are third-party providers, however, that sell VPNs to businesses and that provide a very high level of service. For professional users, you’ll generally want the following:
– Unlimited bandwidth
– Secure connections
– Several different servers
The provider can help you set up the technical aspects of their product, which usually differ a bit from provider to provider. With the right VPN installed, you can let your employees access your servers from anywhere without worrying about a huge security hole being created in the process. This is a great way for a small business to save money on office space.
If you have remote employees, such as travelling sales people, this is also quite useful. The VPN allows them to access the network resources they may need safely no matter where they’re located at the time. This can improve communication and efficiency tremendously and ensure that people don’t end up cut off from the company when they’re out on the road.
