File Sharing On A Network

Storing documents or programs centrally on a server rather than on individual PC’s, greatly simplifies administration and document retrieval times. Changes made to individual files are instantly available to all users throughout the organization and as a result the process of data backup from a single location is greatly simplified.

A good example of file sharing that hugely reduces administration and therefore cost, is the centralised e-mail system Microsoft Exchange. The central server effectively creates a company post office, collects the email for all users in one go, then distributes the mail to the individual users PC’s from the one server. If there were 20 users in an organization, rather than having 20 users each collecting their own email and storing it locally on their own machines, the users email program (Microsoft Outlook) simply requests and receives the mail from the Server’s post box.

The benefits of this system include:

• Centralised backups of all user’s email (1 back up rather than 20 - reducing the opportunities for an individual PC to corrupt or a hard drive to break from 20 down to 1)
• Calender and diary sharing – With a centralized system all users can make appointments and diary entries for all other users provided that the appropriate permissions have been set
• Internal email – Email sent between users within the organizations is forwarded internally rather than out onto the Internet then back in again, increasing the organizations network efficiency
• Individual’s email access from anywhere in the world, not just from their own PC

The centralized server doesn’t have to be a physical PC located within the organization’s building. It could be a server managed by a third party such as Microsoft and located anywhere in the world, or “in the cloud” to use the latest buzz phrase.

This simply means that the server is located off-site and managed by someone else, so the organization does not have the headache of sourcing the hardware, buying the software, maintaining the security and carrying out the backups for all their users. The responsibility for this lies with the company managing and maintaining the server – in this example Microsoft.

Cloud computing isn’t just restricted to email servers though. A company’s entire documentation and filing system including all the programs that are needed to run them, can be stored on servers located anywhere in the world and managed, maintained and backed up by an organization such as Microsoft.

For more information on how to increase the efficiency of your company and reduce costs by file sharing on centralized server whether located in your own building or “in the cloud” please contact us today and a member of our team would be delighted to discuss the benefits with you.