advice needed

redmenace1

Hi folks

I need a good bit of advice if possible. Basically I don't know a lot about tech and am setting up a new small business from home. I will also be working away a lot & have a laptop already. I got professional advice but felt that it was overkill and way too expensive.




So I need a good bit of advice as follows, so please feel free to answer if you can:

1. Web hosting. I am looking for some advice as I got a price already but it seemed steep and person mightn't be available until new year. Is it difficult to do myself?
2. Email. I already have eircom.net/gmail etc and along with any that I get from web hosting, how secure are these for business. I prefer using MS Outlook. Whats the best solution?
3. I will want to set-up my email on phone with laptop. Is this messy?
4. Is it worth encrypting my laptop as I am worried about loss/theft. Again could yours truly do it?
5. Is it worth looking at cloud, or as I feel for the small amount of (very senstive) data that I have, what other (cheaper) online options are there? Would traditional back-up's to external drive suffice. Again the loss or theft would be a concern.
6. Where is the best place to buy a PC for business use. I got quotes but wasn't happy with them. Am I mad to consider PC W.

Thats all for now! Hope its not too much to ask in one go! Any advice gratefully received

roberthurley14

redmenace1 wrote: »

Hi folks

I need a good bit of advice if possible. Basically I don't know a lot about tech and am setting up a new small business from home. I will also be working away a lot & have a laptop already. I got professional advice but felt that it was overkill and way too expensive.





So I need a good bit of advice as follows, so please feel free to answer if you can:

1. Web hosting. I am looking for some advice as I got a price already but it seemed steep and person mightn't be available until new year. Is it difficult to do myself?
2. Email. I already have eircom.net/gmail etc and along with any that I get from web hosting, how secure are these for business. I prefer using MS Outlook. Whats the best solution?
3. I will want to set-up my email on phone with laptop. Is this messy?
4. Is it worth encrypting my laptop as I am worried about loss/theft. Again could yours truly do it?
5. Is it worth looking at cloud, or as I feel for the small amount of (very senstive) data that I have, what other (cheaper) online options are there? Would traditional back-up's to external drive suffice. Again the loss or theft would be a concern.
6. Where is the best place to buy a PC for business use. I got quotes but wasn't happy with them. Am I mad to consider PC W.

Thats all for now! Hope its not too much to ask in one go! Any advice gratefully received

1.If youre not a techy you may find it very difficult, the question is do you need a full website or will a free webhosting site such as www.tk do the trick
2.If you have MS Office you can set it up to run with your Gmail account, look at the Gmail help section and troll internet for advice on this
3.haven't done this before so cant advise
4.If you feel its needed then you should have it looked into, i would suggest SafeBoot (now owned by McAfee and named total protection or some BS)
5.Cloud has security issues too so dont presume your data is 100% safe, eg if the cloud is based in the US its subject to the patriot act and can be viewed by american security and such. Externals are probably the best bet, if you encrypt .ZIP files and then put them on the hard-drive the data should be safe (use powerarchjiver,winzip,winrar etc)
6.DONT BUY FROM PCWORLD! a packard bell pc will do you no favours! get pricing from GHo Distribution (check yellow pages) or try pixmania.ie/komplett.ie, instore PCs cost much more

Hope this helps mate. best 'o luck

redmenace1

thats really good stuff thanks Robert.

Sparks

3. is rather dependant on what kind of phone you have...

redmenace1

Sparks wrote: »

3. is rather dependant on what kind of phone you have...

Nokia 63 - any views on it Sparks:)

yeshi

redmenace1 wrote: »

Web hosting. I am looking for some advice as I got a price already but it seemed steep and person mightn't be available until new year. Is it difficult to do myself?

It will all depend on what you are looking to host. If its a plain website with no special bells or whistles then the yearly price should be cheap enough (approx €80).

redmenace1 wrote: »

Email. I already have eircom.net/gmail etc and along with any that I get from web hosting, how secure are these for business. I prefer using MS Outlook. Whats the best solution?

They are just as secure/insecure as the next email provider.

Personally I would use the web hosting option of setting up email accounts. Its handy and can be more professional looking when communicating with clients and providers.

If you are worried about security just make sure to use very strong passwords and careful what links you click on when reading emails.

redmenace1 wrote: »

I will want to set-up my email on phone with laptop. Is this messy?

If the phone has web access then it shouldn't be. Your web hosting will provide you with a control panel that allows you to log onto your emails online. You can also access your emails via POP3 & SMTP if the phone has that feature.

redmenace1 wrote: »

Is it worth encrypting my laptop as I am worried about loss/theft. Again could yours truly do it?

Yes that would be advisable but it just doesn't stop with encryption. If someone steals your laptop all they need to do is figure out the password (very easy) and they have access to all your files including those that are encrypted.

You would want a service that not only encrypts data but can also nuke it if the laptop is ever stolen. Send me a private message and I can get you a private demo of such a serve, cheap but powerful.

redmenace1 wrote: »

Is it worth looking at cloud, or as I feel for the small amount of (very senstive) data that I have, what other (cheaper) online options are there? Would traditional back-up's to external drive suffice. Again the loss or theft would be a concern.

Cloud is a buzzword and unless you know about the concept then I wouldn't worry about using it. By law you are required to perform backups of your business data and I would suggest using one that keeps your data in Ireland. I can point you in the right direction if you want to try a local firm.

FYI - copying data onto an external hard drive is not a backup. However, there are external hard drives that are specifically designed to be used for backup purposes.

Personally I prefer off-site for the simple reason that a fire could wipe out my entire business unless my data is stored offsite at a secure location.

redmenace1 wrote: »

Where is the best place to buy a PC for business use. I got quotes but wasn't happy with them. Am I mad to consider PC W.

I've used elara.ie a few times and really liked their prices and service. I have purchased a few HP workstations from them and have no complaints.

I hope that helps and good luck with the new business

redmenace1

thanks yeshi. I am going thru your recommendations & might get back to you:)

Cluster

redmenace1 wrote: »

Hi folks

I need a good bit of advice if possible. Basically I don't know a lot about tech and am setting up a new small business from home. I will also be working away a lot & have a laptop already. I got professional advice but felt that it was overkill and way too expensive.




So I need a good bit of advice as follows, so please feel free to answer if you can:

1. Web hosting. I am looking for some advice as I got a price already but it seemed steep and person mightn't be available until new year. Is it difficult to do myself?
   
   erm, You wont be able to host your self unless you plan to get a dedicated web server, which I doubt. Plenty of extremely great deals out there. try Godaddy, very popular.
   
2. Email. I already have eircom.net/gmail etc and along with any that I get from web hosting, how secure are these for business. I prefer using MS Outlook. Whats the best solution?
   
   There fine for business, You'll be using a shared email server of course with thousands of mails on it. Unless you have money to spend and the know how, you can think about your own mail server but again thats for larger companies.
   
3. I will want to set-up my email on phone with laptop. Is this messy?
   
   Get an iPhone for mail, extremely easy to use or a Blackberry. Shop around for the best tariff. You can use MS outlook. Your mail settings will be given to you once you get your hosting plan.
   
4. Is it worth encrypting my laptop as I am worried about loss/theft. Again could yours truly do it?
   
   Strong passwords is all you need my friend. Secure everything. Read up on security and yes you can do your self.
   
5. Is it worth looking at cloud, or as I feel for the small amount of (very senstive) data that I have, what other (cheaper) online options are there?
   
   Little confused here, Cloud for what? Again the hosting company should offer a secure backup feature (Ahsay??) Cloud computing is not for backing up.
   
   Would traditional back-up's to external drive suffice. Again the loss or theft would be a concern.
   
   You might not get the option of that type of backup on a shared server, certainly a dedicated you would. Just run backups everynight to another server in the hosting company, no sweat.
   
6. Where is the best place to buy a PC for business use. I got quotes but wasn't happy with them. Am I mad to consider PC W.
   
   Amazing deals at Dell believe it or not. Go to them, have really cleaned up their act. Great after sales service aswell now, used to be terrible, not anymore. Good peace of mind.
   
   All the best!
   

Thats all for now! Hope its not too much to ask in one go! Any advice gratefully received

posted in the quote.