Home Network

[Brian McIntosh]

Ok I.T. folks, I'm investigating setting up a network when I move house and I need it to do a few things. Can someone tell me how easy this is and maybe point me in the direction of a good site so that I can see what's required. I currently have 2 laptops but don't mind investing in a dedicated computer to run this off of. What I want to do is:

Have a central point where I can store documents, photos, business correspondence and the general detrius of running a business from home. Maybe on a network drive and the ability to save documents created on a laptop onto the central point.

Wireless connectivity for both laptops.

Print to a central point across a wireless network.

Automate my backup regime.

Any suggestions?

 

[computer storm]

Hello Brian,

You would opt to get an external network drive like the Western digital my Book world edition II 1TB 7200RPM

This external HDD will allow you to plug it into your router and assign a static ip address to it.

I would also go for a network printer that you can install on the router as well and then assign a static IP address to printer, this will cut down on cost and will allow you to have access to everything with out the means of having a central machine doing all the work for you.

All of this is networked based and will only take a couple of mins to setup, but if you would like more info then by all means give me a call and I can help you out, as advice is free.

 

[Brian McIntosh]

Sounds straightforward enough. What about regular back ups? Would that have to be done manually?

 

[computer storm]

Sounds straightforward enough. What about regular back ups? Would that have to be done manually?

If you are looking at backing up your data from your PC to the remote storage then you can do a sync of the my documents to a share on the external Drive.

Also use the work offline that is built into windows, as this would then update the copy of your documents on the external HDD and just check to see what is the latest version of any documents that have changed.

 

[TomB]

Hi Brian,

For automatic backups I use carbonite, whic runs in the background and automatically backsup files depending on the settings.

You can set it to do this when your computer is idle, so if you go to make a coffee it does a backup or you can schedule it.

Its quite clever actually it keeps the last 3 version of each file it backs-up which you can restore. The restore part is as simple as clicking on the backup drive and then right clicking the file, picking the version and hit restore.

I find it much easier that manual back-ups as i am taken out of the equation and its done without me having to remember, or worry about making sure its done. Much easier and less hassle.

There is also a web based facility to restore files as well, which is quite handy if you leave a file at home you can access it that was as well.

Its about $49 a year and is worth every penny of it. There is no limit either on how much you back up.

I have a subscription so if i send you an invite you get an extra 30 days free. Let me know if you want me to send you an invite. There is a 15 day free trial. Sign up with a different email address than your normal one and try it out and if you like it. i'll send an invite to your normal email address and then you get your 30 days free and a try before you buy.

As for external hard drives. novatech and ebuyer had xmas offers on them, they were offering 1TB very very cheaply, like £55

They also have good deals on routers, make sure you get a good one!

Give me a shout if you need anything or want a carbonite invitation

Cheers

T

 

[Brian McIntosh]

Cheers Tom, this is all for my new house so It'll be February before i get things connected and ready to go but I'll give you a shout nearer then.