Whether you’re starting a new business or allowing your established business the freedom to expand, there are some essential core technologies that can help you achieve your goals. This is even more important in the age when building a secure network has gone from add-on to necessity.
Let’s take a look at 3 of the most essential components of your business’ successful network.
#1: Firewall
A firewall is a device designed to control the flow of data from inside your network to outside your network. It also allows data to flow from outside your network to inside your network. For these reasons, it’s important to not only have a firewall to secure your data but also to choose the firewall that works best for your data, while being cognizant of the relation of your other networking data hardware to that firewall.
What does this mean?
Simply, it means that in order for your data to be protected by your firewall it has to be saved behind the firewall.
Other benefits of installing a firewall include being able to protect your network from various types of attacks and the ability to allow communication between multiple sites safely.
It’s noteworthy that many hardware solutions now have multiple components built-in, which often includes a firewall. While this can be a great solution for those with a smaller number of users, the more end-users you add on, the chance of this becomes less realistic.
#2: Router
The purpose of a router is to ensure that everything is operating as it should. There are many factors that go into determining the best router to meet your business’ needs. These factors include:
- Number of users to support
- WAN architecture
- Communication needs (including to other sites and cloud services)
- Throughput support needs
- WAN optimization tool necessities
This is a simplified list of factors that go into deciding on a router. For best results, you should contact your IT staff or have a consultant evaluate your business’ needs.
If you still choose to select your own router, do your research to ensure that it can support multiple WAN connections. Getting stuck with a ‘single-threaded’ network is the last thing you need.
Furthermore, having equipment that will be able to alternate WAN connections can help your users be more productive.
#3: Switch
If you’ve ever seen the inside of a networking room and seen the (often) tangled mess of ethernet ports plugged into a device, you’ve seen a switch. Network switches (aka bridging hub, MAC bridge, switching hub) are networking devices that utilize packet switching in order to forward, process and receive data.
Switches are also responsible for prioritizing traffic. This is possible because the different ports on a switch can each be configured for a different type of traffic.
Types of switches
There are 3 basic kinds of switches to choose from: unmanaged, managed and smart switches.
- Unmanaged switches are the most common for small businesses. They work right out of the box because they come configured with basic features. Additionally, unmanaged switches don’t require much knowledge to operate or install.
- Managed switches allow for more user control for how the network utilizes the internet connection. Typically, IT manages the switch using a command-line interface (CLI) but there are graphical interfaces available. A benefit of managed switches is that they can be remotely adjusted, which makes them perfect for satellite offices and/or large-scale offices. Additionally, managed switches do require a bit of know-how to operate to their best potential.
- Smart switches work in-between a managed and unmanaged switch. They are smarter than an unmanaged switch because they allow you the option to control the Layer 2 of the OSI model, but if you need Layer 3 control, you’ll need a managed switch.
In addition to these 3 essential networking elements, computers have also become essential to running a business.