Your business network is crucial, just think where you would be without your company intranet or the ability to share data with your colleagues. If your company has multiple branches and your work depends on sharing data between sites then considering your networking options is especially important.  Here we will examine two of the best networking solutions; VPN and MPLS, comparing them and listing their pros and cons to allow you to make informed decisions about the future of your business networking.

MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching)

A system linking all your business sites into one private data network managed by a central provider. By linking in this way you create a WAN (Wide Area Network) but MPLS differs from a traditional WAN in several ways. Implementing an MPLS involves setting up a path for the transfer of data packets, each of which is identified by a label. This makes data transfer faster than with a traditional WAN as the label is used to identify the destination, rather than relying on a router to look up the receiving address.

VPN (Virtual Private Network)

A network which uses the internet to connect nodes and provide access to your business network. Security protocols encrypt data before it is sent and decrypt it at the other end ensuring that, although data is sent using public networks, it is completely secure.  Through a VPN a company can share data and access network resources, printers, databases, websites and anything normally accessed through a server. A VPN can be used to support remote access to a company intranet, or to connect multiple intranets between the same organisation. VPNs can also join networks between two organisations, providing an extranet. We use Draytek routers to create VPNs, find out more about which routers we recommend here.

For more information and advice on choosing the best networking solution for your business contact us at sales AT flint-it DOT com or call 0845 3309680.

Managed IT support for small and medium companies in Aylesbury, Stevenage, Biggleswade and Hemel Hempstead.

At Flint IT we not only offer IT support for our customer’s existing IT but we also seek to provide them with hardware and software should they want to upgrade their systems. We believe that it is not enough for a small business to have their IT supported, but that they should also have the opportunity to take advantage of the expertise of our team where upgrades are concerned.

No matter how well your IT is supported, monitored and repaired there is always going to come a point where the base technology is too old to meet growing business requirements. For this reason we always aim to provide our customers with advice on when to upgrade their technology, as well as recommendations of what we believe would be best to meet their specific requirements. We then aim to provide them with the required products at very competitive IT support prices.

Flint IT Premium Care:

Our customer care does not stop there, as every product we sell our customers also comes automatically covered with our Flint IT Premium Care package. It is our policy that every product we sell is covered with the protection of this unique care package; the following true customer story illustrates the importance of this computer protection.

The Blue Screen of Death:

A few weeks ago we received a call from Kevin*, a customer who’s PC was blue screening. Known in the IT industry as the ‘blue screen of death’ this usually signals complex software fault or a hardware problem. As expected Kevin was very worried about his PC and concerned that the problem could result in a significant amount of downtime.

Because his PC was supplied by Flint IT it was automatically covered by the Flint IT Premium Care package, and so we collected the PC from his office straight away to begin working on the problem. Our computer technicians quickly diagnosed the fault which was a problem with the computer’s memory module and, working directly with the manufacturer, we secured a replacement part under warranty.

Diagnosing the problem early on meant that we could negotiate with the manufacturer to ensure rapid delivery of the replacement memory module. We received the part, fitted it and returned the PC to Kevin’s office early next morning before he had arrived at work. Our IT technicians had time to set the PC up in the office and run some extra diagnostics to double check that the computer was fine and ready for Kevin to use when he arrived.

Best of all, because Kevin’s PC was covered with Flint IT Premium Care, the repair didn’t cost him anything. He arrived at work to find his computer back in the office, repaired and ready to use, all at no cost to him and with minimal interruption to his working day.

If you are interested in a new level of IT support and computer protection, why not contact Flint IT at sales AT flint-it DOT com or call 0845 3309680 to find out how we could meet the specific needs of your business.

* A false name has been used to protect the customer’s identity.