Servers
The heart of your network are the servers that drive it. We only provide the highest quality IBM servers pre-configured by us with Linux to perform the specific tasks that are allocated to each.
Without going into too much technical detail we provide servers configured to do the following:
Print servers
Print servers receive requests from desktop users to print to a nominated network connected printer. Several different users can request to print to the same printer at the same time, and the server can manage any number of printers. The print server keeps a queue of requested documents for each printer. As one print job completes the next in line is sent by the server to the printer. It is possible to define who can and cannot request a printout on a printer-by-printer basis (e.g. Reception cannot request a printout on the Technical Department's expensive A0 plotter).
File servers
File servers store documents, spreadsheets and just about anything you need in a central place. The data can be stored and read by any number of users in your company. The data held on file servers is backed up to tape every night . File servers hold data in directory trees that appear just the same as if they were hard disks inside your desktop. Any number of file server directories can be created and access to a directory can be restricted to a single user or groups of users (e.g. Accounts and Directors but no other departments). The rights to modify the contents of a directory can also be defined (e.g. Accounts can create documents in a certain directory and Directors can read them but cannot modify them).
Both file serving and print serving are provided by a product called Samba.
Email servers
Email servers automatically forward and receive users' emails. Email services are often located on the file server so that all users' emails can be backed up to tape each night.
Inner firewall and intrusion detection system
We supply a fully configured firewall and intrusion detection system. For details of what these do please refer later to the Intrusion Detection page under Technology -> Security.
Domain control servers
Several other more technical services need to run on a domain controller to provide you with a network. These services can often all be run on one combined server. Notable amongst these are, in brief:
Dynamic Host Control Protocol (DHCP) - provides unique identities necessary for each desktop PC to join your network.
Domain Name Serving (DNS) - provides computer address lookups for web browsing and other services.
Proxy server - accelerates internet browsing by caching frequently accessed pages and sending them to desktop users instead of fetching them from the internet. Also used to define and enforce internet access restrictions.
