On the Net

with Chris Goh

IT for not-so-small business

If you're a company with between 10 and 50 staff that will be using computers, the scenario changes a bit from a small business with under 10 staff as the cost of managing your computer systems becomes more significant. Also, if your CEO is not computer savvy, generally an IT manager will have a tough time getting resources to support this many staff. The first thing most IT managers do is try and maintain a Standard Operating Environment (SOE) where every desktop and laptop is the same. If you're going to stick with Microsoft products, one of their best offerings for small business is Small Business Server and Small Business Desktop. Small Business Server gives you Microsoft Outlook/Exchange, MS SQL (Database), SharePoint Portal, ISA (Security), Windows 2003 and more to install on one server. If you have an ADSL connection to the internet with a dedicated Internet Address (IP) you can also access your office mail from the web. This is the most inexpensive way to get a lot of Microsoft grunt with little money. There is also the Linux and Open Office environment and you can pretty much set up all your servers and desktops with Open Source software.

No doubt by this stage your office is interconnected and you need to protect your computers from spam and viruses. The two vendors I highly recommend to secure your environment are netiQ and Trend Micro. netiQ make Mail and Web Marshall and are probably the best spam managers out there, they also have an excellent firewall. However, to secure your desktops from viruses you will still need to get antivirus software for your desktop. Trend Micro's suite is very comprehensive - they pioneered virus walls and central management of virus applications. Setting up a Web Proxy can (but not always) significantly cut your bandwidth needs.

Moving away from your desktop environment is not your biggest issue anymore. Once you have your SOE down pat, you need to think about your network, business continuity, disaster recovery and more - so check out next week's column for more info. We will also look at business software for payroll and finance.

Hotnews

Telstra says that it will deliver ADSL2 services in 2006. ADSL2 adds another 1km distance, effectively allowing those that were just short of an exchange for ADSL to now have it. ADSL2 can be delivered today as it and ADSL2+ are on the same spectrum.

Google's CEO and co-founder Eric Schmidt and co-founder Larry Page will slash their salary to $1 a year. Though they are both billionaires on paper and have pocketed a tidy sum from their share sell off last year, it's good to see executives saving their organisation's money. They join the $1 club of Steve Jobs (Apple) and John Chambers (Cisco).

On May 12 and 13 Microsoft is launching its new generation of Xbox on MTV with an exclusive preview of how it was made as well as upcoming titles.

To keep up with Moore's Law, both Intel and AMD are launching their dual core processors, which essentially means you get two processors in the one big chip. AMD's launch will be focused on the server end of the market, whilst Intel introduces the chip into desktops.

Patents are being filed by the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, where they have found that when water is combined with organic metals it creates small nano spaces where hydrogen can effectively be stored at freezing point. Organic metals have been synthesised since the 1960s for the use of superconductivity, and now may lead to a viable and safe method in storing hydrogen.

Though it's been available since the 1970s in North America, EEG BioFeedback (Neurofeedback) has taken longer in Australia to be recognised. In the simplest terms possible, a person looks at their neural patterns, and by interacting with an electronic interface can learn to optimise those patterns (much like exercising for the brain). This form of brain exercising has been used widely for individuals with ADHD, dyslexia, epilepsy and OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and has seen some good results. Compared to drugs like Ritalin, which only masks the issues and has many side effects, this program has become relatively successful.

SNIF (Social Networking In Fur) is the brainchild of MIT researchers who believe your canine should get the same social opportunities as yourself. Armed with a special SNIF collar, owners let their dogs meet other dogs and check out their responses. The collar can also see how much time a dog has spent with another SNIF dog. The data gets uploaded to a server and you can look up more information about Fido's friend.

Hotsites

www.equiworld.net

Into horses? Well equiworld is for you, kindly recommended by a horse lover, and it has good detail on different breeds.

www.funology.com

It's school holiday time and this isn't a bad site, giving parents ideas for what they can do with the kids from recipes to magic tricks. Take a look.

www.maternitycoalition.org.au

The Maternity Coalition is a national non-profit organisation that has set up an excellent portal for parents who are expecting. An excellent resource with some wonderful links.