At the outset, let me start by admitting that Agdon is not a typical small business in some respects. For one, it is run by an out and out techie (me); for another, its focus is technology and its application as a business improver. That said however, Agdon is like many other small businesses: its energies are, or at least try to be, focussed externally rather than on its internal systems; it's extremely cost conscious and only buys solutions to problems that need to be solved; and it wants to be as effective as possible.
Another possible differentiator is that it understands that with the use of technology comes an increasing need to protect the digital assets that are created: documents, databases, websites, email etc. etc.
What systems do we use to deliver the business?
At the core of Agdon Associates' IT are two physical servers: a Lotus Foundations server and a Windows Home Server. These two are supported by two external services: Netflare's Business Web Factory to host the website and Opality Mail to handle the email.
Why this mix?
Like many small businesses (in this region anyway), Agdon operates out of small premises (an office at the bottom of my garden) and is connected to the Internet via an ADSL line. This brings into play two considerations: limited space and insecure communications. By insecure I mean that I can't guarantee that the ADSL line will always be up or that its actual bandwidth and latency will compare well with the suppliers claims (!)
The limited space means that I don't want too much space taken up by noisy computers. At the same time however, from the Business Continuity perspective, I don't want all my eggs in one basket. Add to that the vagaries of UK ADSL provision and I came up with the following mix.
The critical business tools for me are: email and the website. To achieve an objective of zero reliance on internal IT systems to deliver these functions and thus remove any demands on staff to keep these services running, I outsourced both these functions to people I trust.
Outsourced Mail and Web Services
Business Web Factory is a service run by fellow member of Huntingdonshire Business Network Jon Beal of Netflare. Jon runs a Jumpsite programme for businesses who want to get the most out of their website. I've been attending his weekly workshops for some time now and (I hope) the website is beginning to bear the fruits of our joint labours. I highly recommend Jumpsite to any company who wants to build a website that has a specific purpose and acts as an integral part of the company's marketing strategy.
In my case of course, I am hoping that the website will become quite busy. Given the limited upstream bandwidth on ADSL (Note: although there may be a theoretical 8MBPS bandwidth from the network to you, there is only 256kBPS from you to the network), I didn't want to run out of steam or saturate the link. The cost-effective solution, which also achieves my Business Continuity objectives, was to outsource the hosting of the website.
Opality Mail (
disclosure: I resell this service) is a hosted Exchange service run by IT Energy in London. I've known the guys at IT Energy for years and I know that they have one of the most robust Exchange hosting platforms out there. Their customer support is excellent and their attention to detail is amazing. Opality is the latest generation of their Exchange platform and in its two years of operation has never experienced any unscheduled service interruptions. Very few mail providers can match that. Add to that their support for Blackberry Enterprise Server, Windows Mobile clients and iPhone and I was sold.
Internal Servers: Lotus Foundations and Windows Home Server
Internally, I needed the following services:
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Comprehensive firewall with anti-virus and intrusion detection
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Domain Name System server with dynamic update
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Access to my collaboration platform of choice (Lotus Notes and Domino)
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Personal and group file storage
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Secure Remote Access
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Automatic backup of servers, desktops and laptops on a regular basis (at least daily)
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A platform on which to run VMware Virtual Machines with various ancillary services.
Based on these requirements I installed two physical servers: one in the garage and one in the office itself (to improve resilience and protection from disaster)
Lotus Foundations
In the garage I have a purpose built (actually a re-targeted power desktop) server with a dual core AMD processor, 4GB RAM, three 1TB SATA disks and two network cards. Two of the disks are configured in (software) RAID1; the third is the Intelligent Backup Device (IDB) drive. This box runs Lotus Foundations Server (
for which I am also a reseller) with the Start and Run addons. There is also a small UPS.
This server connects to the ADSL line on one side and the internal network on the other and acts as the security firewall, personal and group file store and Domino server. It also runs a clutch of VMware Virtual Machines. All the filestore is backed up on an hourly basis to the IDB; the Domino server and VMs are backed up daily. Once a week, I swap the IDB for another so that I have a complete backup of the server, which I hold in the Garden Office.
Windows Home Server
In the Office, I have a Tranquil Windows Home Server (
for which I am also a reseller) with two 1TB drives fitted and another UPS. This fanless server is nearly silent (certainly quieter than my laptop) and is there primarily to backup the desktop computers (of which there are two) and laptops (of which there are three) in the house and office. Incidentally, it also backs up two Macs as well.
I also use the Windows Home Server as a media server in the house.
Assessment
I am quite pleased with this setup. It ticks all the boxes as regards security, DR capability, functionality and performance. It also requires the absolute minimum of attention on my part (apart from swapping the IDB drive, I rarely need to touch either box from month to month). Sure, there are occasions when things go wrong. In my case of course I support these boxes myself as this is part of my business offering.
