Core IT Infrastructure is everything
What is it exactly? It is the combined components of your business’ computer network, which at its core includes servers, switches, and storage, whether on premise or hosted in a Cloud platform. Any IT infrastructure can be expanded or contracted to meet an individual business’ needs. As a result, most in-house IT staff do not have the nuanced skills to design or upgrade infrastructure.
On-Premise or Cloud
Core IT Infrastructure is anything but normal. So, our engagements start by listening to our customers and identifying if the infrastructure they need is on-premise or Cloud-based. If it’s on-premise we scope the virtualization technology, compute loads, network switching requirements, and storage requirements.
Tech Specifications
Matching operating systems to run optimally with your equipment and business needs requires a unique solution for your use case. We take the time to understand the ins and outs of your business and develop a customized solution that supports what you need.
Not your typical IT service
Storage has become an entirely different marketplace than decades past when it was little more than overall storage capacity. Today, it’s all about feature sets that allow your IT staff to properly manage performance and disaster recovery. With all these variables, we work to help you understand the intricacies of technology not only best suited for you but also a match for your business goals.
The benefit of our MITaaS offering is that it’s comprehensive, tested, reliable, and affordable. Tailored to your specific business and office needs, services and pricing are based on user type and quantity. That way, you get exactly what you need and not pay for anything more.
The Ozone difference
Get in touch today and tell us about your business goals and technology needs. From there, we’ll create a superlative design that meets technical objectives with your budget in mind.
Wherever you’re located across the United States, we partner with you to create and implement an optimal IT solution. We deliver professional service projects for core infrastructure and wireless networks throughout the country, and we do not charge for travel related expenses. We use a blend of local, on-premise IT support and remote talent to accomplish the best result. Our field services technicians can service your hardware needs same day. By working in partnership with our remote engineers, our field services identify the best solutions to meet any need quickly and efficiently.
FAQS
To build infastructure, start with understanding current operational details – how many servers are meeting the need today? What are the company’s objectives? Should we refresh technology to newer operating systems or resize based on changes in staffing, projected growth, or new technology uses? Alternatively, would migrating on-premise to the Cloud be a more cost-effective solution? With the advent of a global pandemic, perhaps it’s more important than ever to have compute performed on a Cloud platform that is extensible to both home or remote workers. And maybe taking security seriously enough will mean the business will be substantially protected from ransomware and other threats. Once the basic needs are understood, they can then be expanded to features that are needed to ensure proper operations. Is high availability (HA) justified? Does it fit in the budget? Is replication required? What are the needs of the organization and those of the IT management team? With requirements fully spelled out, the next steps are to work with a vendor, either a Value Added Reseller (VAR), or with the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). Then, you can design a solution that meets the needs. If the business needs design help, then most often a VAR is a better choice. If the needs are well-defined internally, then an OEM may be a better choice.
Contact a reseller with experience deploying infrastructure solutions similar to the needs of the business. If their presentation shows that they are good at listening and can demonstrate mastery of the topics relating to your project, then compare them to one or two others.
If your business needs only one server then it’s debatable as to whether you’ll receive value from virtualization. It will cost more to virtualize a single server than to run it on physical hardware. However, it will be easier to back the server up, move it from one piece of hardware to another, and to replicate it to a Cloud platform for redundancy purposes. If you need more than one server, virtualization adds all these benefits and it costs less than an all physical environment would. There aren’t a lot of easy choices in technology, but this is one. Other than corner cases where virtualization isn’t ideal, virtualization is an obvious “must do” for business computing. We offer virtualization with Microsoft Hyper-V, vmWare ESXi, and Citrix XenServer. We’d be happy to discuss which one you might choose for your environment.
We offer virtualization with Microsoft Hyper-V, vmWare ESXi, and Citrix XenServer. We’d be happy to discuss which one you might choose for your environment.
Aside from a small 5-user network, every business network should have a managed switch. It allows an IT professional to connect to the switch’s operating system and either see what is happening on the network or make configuration changes to how the professional would like the switch to run. There are a long list of settings that are configurable. This includes speed settings to slow down a connection for older equipment, the separation of two or more networks connecting to the same switch, allowing or disallowing specific devices to connect to the network at all, power settings to devices like cameras and wireless access points, and so much more. It is not possible to create network segments without a managed switch. That function is critical for networks that have either more than 50 connections or a variety of traffic types that should be separated such as voice vs data traffic.
SAN stands for Storage Area Network, playing off of the better known term of Local Area Network (LAN) or Wide Area Network (WAN). For corporate networks that have more than a handful of servers, a SAN is a way to share server or data files between multiple physical servers. It is secure, high-performing, and resilient, because if a server fails, it allows other servers to run the workloads of the failed server. SANs range in price from a few thousand dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The variables that determine price include capacity–currently measured in Terabytes–performance–measured in IOPS (Input/Output per Second)–and latency–in miliseconds. Software licensed to the SAN can also effect price, which supports things like snapshots–which, as it sounds like, is a “picture” of what was on the storage array at a particular point in time–replication between two or more storage arrays, and other software functions. For example, automatically moving files from expensive, high performing disks to slow, cheap storage automatically, if files aren’t historically used much.
That is an impossible question to answer because it depends on the use case. That’s like asking who makes the best car. Small office home office (SOHO) access points are designed for 5 connections, which many homes have outgrown. Business-class wireless access points (WAP) have a whole set of features not designed for home. Typically, these features include at least 50 simultaneous connections per WAP, together with the ability to roam automatically like cell phone from one to the other, depending on which has the best signal strength. Enterprise class WAPs are designed for stadiums and difficult environments like hospitals. It shouldn’t be surprising that WAPs are more expensive for more advanced specifications. Some WAPS have more antennas than others–which helps in more crowded radio traffic areas–greater numbers of connections, or penetration of walls and other obstructions. To find out which product is best suited to your specific needs, your business should get a wireless survey from a qualified firm. The survey results will reveal the challenges in your business place. With that information in hand an engineer can answer who’s product(s) are the best fit for you.
Some WAPS have more antennas than others which helps in more crowded radio traffic areas, greater numbers of connections, or penetration of walls and other obstructions. To be more specific about which product is best suited to your need your business should get a wireless survey from a qualified firm. The survey results will reveal the challenges in your business place. With that information in hand an engineer can answer who’s product(s) are the best fit for you.
IT infrastructure consists of the components that help your business manage and utilize data and information. It includes hardware, like workstations, computers, switches, and good cabling, as well as software and secure and robust network resources.