D-Link, the cost-effective, standards-based unified networking solutions provider for small business and medium enterprise IT environments, today announced new Cloud Managed products, providing unprecedented value and reliability to small and medium-sized businesses looking for a better way to manage their networks. The D-Link® DAP-3525 AirPremier® N Dual Band Exterior PoE Access Point powered by CloudCommand™, D-Link Insight™, and D-Link DIR-605 Fuzion™ Broadband Aggregation Router leverage Cloud-based automation for remote configuration and monitoring, resiliency, load balancing, and security management that can be outsourced or handled internally, allowing businesses with limited IT resources and budgets to improve the uptime and cost-effectiveness of their networks.

Source/Read More: Sys-Con Media

As a company grows, a more robust network infrastructure becomes essential. Here’s a simple guide to creating a safe and reliable network that keeps data protected and workers productive.

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Small Business Networking Basics

Microsoft is trying some new things — and sticking with some tried and true ones — with its next-generation small-business server offerings.

At the Worldwide Partner Conference this week, I had a chance to ask Guy Haycock, Senior Product Planner for Windows Server Solution Marketing, some of the many questions that both my readers and I have had about “Aurora” and Small Business Server (SBS) ever since word of Aurora’s existence leaked earlier this year. Here are five things worth knowing about what’s coming from the Softies on the Windows Server front for small-business (beyond the initial Aurora/SBS 7/Vail information I blogged yesterday).

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Microsoft small-business server futures: 5 things to know

A computer network is an essential element of modern business, and it’s increasingly indispensible in the home, too. A network lets your computer connect to the Web so that you can check e-mail, update a website, or teleconference. It also lets you communicate locally with other computers on the same local network. Creating a network is simple—all that’s needed is to connect a computer to a router with an Ethernet cable. That’s a very rudimentary setup, however. You’ll need other components if you want to add multiple computers to your network, share files, stream multimedia, share a printer, or control which computers can access data on the network. And complexity increases if you decide that some links in your network will be made wirelessly. Fortunately, we’re here to assist. We’ve gathered together a list of all gear you’ll need to quickly and easily set up a home or small home-office network, and some key hints for getting it all to work together.

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How To Set Up a Home or Small Business Network

The success of business endeavors do not solely depend upon the products and services the firms offer. Moreover, small business owners must understand the value of promotion and advertising. For instance, people are constantly looking for products and services that meet their ideals but if businesses don’t put much effort into getting the word out, most likely potential customers won’t know that such products and services are catered by the said business.

Hence, small business needs to work on marketing the business. They should understand that effective products and services do not necessarily translate into sales. Consequently, business owners are now starting to put a great deal of work into such aspects of business management.

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Top techniques to create buzz for your small business

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

These new routers use a number of technologies to save energy (up to 41%), most of them revolving around how power usage is regulated in the devices:

The Wi-Fi routers integrate D-Link(R) Green Ethernet(TM) technology, an innovative energy-saving technology that automatically detects link status and network cable length, then adjusts power accordingly. The D-Link routers also feature Wi-Fi scheduling that allows customers to easily program when the Wi-Fi radio signals are turned on and off to further save energy consumption. Now shipping and incorporating the Green technology are the D-Link Xtreme N Gigabit Router (DIR-655), D-Link Xtreme N Duo(TM) Media Router (DIR-855), and the D-Link Xtreme N Gaming Router (DGL-4500).

 

“D-Link is working to take the lead in integrating innovative, power-saving technology into our home and business networking solutions that doesn’t sacrifice performance or functionality,” said Steven Joe, president and CEO of D-Link Systems, Inc. “By offering green upgrades to some of our most popular Wi-Fi routers, we’re helping protect the environment while our customers save money in the process.”

 Source: Market Watch

For some reason, whenever I go to set up a network, it just… doesn’t… work. Oh, eventually it usually does, not that I have a clue what in a wide range of configurations I tried actually worked. At the moment, I’m actually running an old router off an aging XP box while my new shiny Vista and space-age-looking router with speed booster sit idle. Won’t work no matter what I do, but it eventually it should. It usually does.

Anyways, SmartBusinessComputing.com has a great article up that “demystifies” wireless networking for small business owners. They run through the basics behind what makes a wireless network run. It’s a great article, not that it will help me as I am…

Damn, I can never think of that word.

BusinessWeek offers up some small businesses technologies — ten, to be exact — that make the grade. Such as Google Applications:

 Tony started a biotech company this year and, wanting to keep the cost of technology down, uses Google’s (GOOG) free business word processor and spreadsheet applications. They do the job well. A client who’s in the recruitment business needed a quick way to search thousands of résumés on file. So he downloaded Google’s desktop search and solved the problem—for free. I have other clients who use Google’s calendar, e-mail, and analytics. This stuff works. And did I mention it’s free? Hang on. Maybe this Web 2.0 stuff isn’t so bad after all.

Other technologies listed include  remote desktop technology, desktop sharing software, free conference calling, wireless connectivity, e-mail marketing services, contact management software, hosted phone systems, messaging software and SQL server.