IT Infrastructure Solutions

Broadband

In today’s electronically-connected world, no organisation can function without a steady and reliable internet connection. Greenlight Computers can provide consultation and help you select the correct broadband package for your business.

Greenlight Computers Broadband Selection Guide

Price is not the only differentiator between consumer and business broadband. The quality of your broadband line determines your access to global markets, and the quality is determined by the uptime, speed, and overall reliability of the line. The choice of lines is dependent on what is available in your region i.e. fibre broadband, ADSL, or radio wave wireless line of sight. At Greenlight Computers we have the knowledge and expertise to help you decide from the wide range of options and will recommend a solution that tailors specifically to your needs, from choosing a scalable solution that will keep up with your growing usage to advising on which router to deploy for your connection’s termination and management.

Things to consider when choosing broadband for your business:

• Your usage needs and required throughput. High upload speeds are just as important as download speeds.
• A backup line in case of failure. This adds resilience and mitigates against downtime and business disruption.
• Your organisation’s position in the cloud. If you are making the transition to the cloud or are already there, then you will need a highly reliable line that can accommodate constant mission-critical traffic across the Wide Area Network (WAN) to and from the cloud.
• Whether you need a dynamic or static IP address. The latter is crucial for remote services to work, so if your organisation needs a consistent VPN connection then a static IP address is obligatory.
• The integration of VoIP. High latency can severely hamper the quality of telephone audio so a specialised broadband service that is suitable for VoIP will be required.
• Synchronous (same speed up and down) or Asynchronous (typically upload is 10% of download)
• Contended (shared with others e.e.10:1) or uncontended (dedicated 1:1)

The key message is don’t skimp on your Broadband capacity with FTTC (fibre to the cabinet) now in most areas you can get a lot for your money.

Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi provides the flexibility to establish a network quickly and enable mobile working in a multi-device/BYOD business environment. Greenlight Computers can design for you a scalable and affordable Wi-Fi network focused on your expectations and requirements.

Greenlight Computers Wi-Fi

Network deployment is not just about now, but also about the future. Investing in a system with future growth in mind can save you time and unnecessary costs. Greenlight Computers can help you consider the essentials when planning your network:

• The purpose of the network
• Performance requirements
• Application and software facilitation and flow
• The number of users now and the potential number of future users
• Ease of management
• Security levels
• Business and budget constraints

We believe that scalability is key so it is imperative to implement a network that your organisation will not outgrow. Wi-Fi Network design is also a continuous balancing act and Greenlight Computers can provide ongoing support and reassessment of your Wi-Fi in alignment with any changing objectives and requirements.

Greenlight Computers Wi-Fi selection & deployment

The average user now has 3 computing devices in operation perpetually. Your Wi-Fi must cater for both business computers/tablets and personal smart phones. Data segregation and security management is a key selection criteria in choosing the best Wi-Fi for your business. You cannot ensure all devices accessing your Wi-Fi have adequate Anti-Virus protection so your Wi-Fi & Firewall needs to step in.

Greenlight can consult on, design, and implement tailored wireless deployments that suit your organisation’s unique environment. We understand that distinct industries require distinct solutions, and we can provide for a multitude of sectors, from hospitality to education:

• A modern office may require staff to become more mobile within their physical working space, so not only is a seamless and error-free transition from the wired to the wireless network needed, but also a high-capacity link that can facilitate mission-critical activities.
• A hotel is likely to have both business and leisure travellers with each set of guests placing a unique demand on the wireless infrastructure. Irregular Wi-Fi connections can cause frustration for guests, and as a survey by Hotels.com has shown, 49% of business travellers deem uninterrupted and free Wi-Fi to be a key differentiator in their choice of establishment.
• A student residence or campus may require a setup that can sustain hundreds –and sometimes thousands– of concurrent high-capacity connections. For these diverse electronic-client populations a secure yet wireless infrastructure is needed whereby traffic and bandwidth is shaped to organisational security policies so as to avoid bandwidth and policy abuse.

Greenlight can deliver and support technologies from a range of Wi-Fi vendors, such as Aruba, Ruckus, Cisco, and Cisco Meraki Cloud. Considering IT’s inevitable shift towards cloud computing, we focus specifically on Cisco Meraki technology with its simplified administration and user-friendly visibility.

Cisco Meraki architecture is 100% cloud managed and eliminates the need for expensive and complex onsite controllers. This enterprise-class solution is adaptive and versatile, and can be carefully designed to meet any organisation’s Wi-Fi requirements:

• Meraki APs are built with high-grade radio components which contain the latest 802.11 standards and protocols, giving superior performance and throughput.
• Meraki APs are managed through an easy-to-use dashboard which provides granular visibility into your entire wireless network. Every connected device can be monitored and traffic can be shaped to suit your organisation’s policies.
• We can provide a wide array of access methods, from standard password logon to SMS-based authentication.
• We can deploy a pay-for-access Wi-Fi service should your organisation wish to generate a revenue stream from wireless access. This is particularly popular with the hospitality sector as hotels may want to offer a multi-tier system in which higher-capacity access is sold for a price.
• We can help you integrate Meraki partnered applications into your infrastructure such as July (collecting real-time data on behaviour), Viva Spot (automated marketing solution), and Purple Wi-Fi (customer insight, social media engagement and marketing tools).

Please take some time to review our client case studies to learn how Greenlight have helped organisations deliver enterprise-class wireless networks.

Wired Networks

Implementing the right kind of Network Infrastructure (Wired & Wi-Fi) is the communication backbone in any organisation. Greenlight Computers can design for you a scalable and affordable network focused on your expectations and requirements.

Greenlight Computers Network Design

Network deployment is not just about now, but also about the future. Investing in a system with future growth in mind can save you time and unnecessary costs. Greenlight Computers can help you consider the essentials when planning your network:

• The purpose of the network
• Performance requirements
• Application and software facilitation and flow
• The number of users now and the potential number of future users
• Ease of management
• Security levels
• Business and budget constraints

We believe that scalability is key so it is imperative to implement a network that your organisation will not outgrow. Network design is also a continuous balancing act and Greenlight Computers can provide ongoing support and reassessment of your network in alignment with any changing objectives and requirements.

Network Terms

Network design is a simple flow model for routing data from the outside world to the computer, around your network and from the computer to the outside world. To build your network you require:

• Broadband – the data pipe to the outside world
• Firewall – to block unwelcome entry to your network
• Router – routes data around your network, assigning unique network addresses (IP addresses) to each computer. Most routers also allow NATing to hide your individual computers from the outside world.
• Ethernet/Fibre – cabling interconnects your network to wall ports where your computer is connected.
• Switches – essential to managing the connections and linking them back to the router, binding the network together
• Wi-Fi – for those devices that are mobile in nature Laptops/Tablets/Smart phones wireless technology operates of numerous protocols but provides the same routing function for your data. For more detail on Wi-Fi click here

The biggest challenge with designing a network is device compatibility with manufacturers such as Cisco, HP, Aruba, Ruckus, Palo Alto operating at the Enterprise end and Netgear, TP-Link, Zyxel, Draytek amongst many serving the SME community.

Simplifying the network is where Greenlight Computers plays a key role with many of our clients.

Structured Cabling

Cabling is one of the most overlooked components of successful IT infrastructure deployment, and yet is the underpinning of any network and the backbone through which we all connect to the world. Whether you need a single network port or an entire building cabling for voice and data, Greenlight Computers has the expertise to cater to your needs.

Greenlight Computers Structured Cabling & Fibre Cabling

When designing the cabling backbone, it is important to think about future expansion as it is more than likely that what you require now will not be enough in the future. An efficient cabling system is a scalable one that interconnects all your computers, printers, servers, fax machines, and wireless access points into a closed circuit that will allow your data to be transferred securely and quickly. We have dedicated cabling specialists that can provide you with structured cabling to meet the requirements of your building, giving you maximum performance whilst supporting interconnections between multiple-vendor products.

Cabling for Data, Voice & Video

Greenlight cabling activities involve the installation & maintenance of structured cabling into businesses. Cabling Manchester & across the North West.

A multitude of variations exist in the world of structured cabling, our highly skilled technicians can deliver cabling including Cat5e, Cat6 and Fibre Optic (multicore). Our team has many years of cabling experience & are happy extending existing networks or designing and implementing replacement or new cabling installations. Some examples include:

• Copper data cabling solutions Category 5e and Category 6 cabling suitable for supporting a wide range of different applications, including high-speed data, voice, video, IP Telephony and IP Security.
• Voice cabling using multipair copper cables for backbone applications within buildings.
• A wide range of active networking equipment, including switches, routers, Power over Ethernet (PoE) switches, network interface cards (NICs) and adapters.
• Fibre optic cabling using single-mode and multi-mode fibres in fibre backbones and fibre to the desk (FTTD) applications. Modern fibre optic cabling systems offer data transmission rates of up to 10 Gigabits per second.
• Intelligent Patching or Intelligent Infrastructure Management (IIM) solutions that let you take control of your communications cabling infrastructure, bringing reduced costs and improved asset management.
• Our Comms Room Refit service brings order back to the nest of spaghetti that characterises many Comms Room cabinets. We offer advice on replacing cabinets with open frame technology that provides better patch cord management and improved cooling and ventilation for powered devices.

All products are supplied and installed with workmanship guarantee & test certificate.

Cabling for Schools, Public Buildings & Listed Buildings

Money is tight in education and other public services so by providing a local service we can provide cheap structured cabling solutions to schools, libraries etc. By working closely with our suppliers it has enabled us to lower the cost of data cabling for our clients without compromising the quality. We can offer a school network cabling package on a budget that suits you.

Our Guarantees

Our network cable engineers are happy to adapt existing data cabling in your school or institution. If you require additional data cabling, wall sockets or installations of new classrooms we can supply and install to meet your needs. We will guarantee our work for your security & assurance:

• FREE site surveys
• 15-year guarantee on all school cabling installations
• Gigabit compliance testing and certification
• CRB/DBS checked technicians
• Best value solutions

Contact us to start a discussion.

Backup

Given most businesses primary asset today is their data, it is crucial that you understand the business impact of data loss and how you should protect your data appropriately. The right backup solution provides you with peace of mind that your data is secure. Your backup and recovery solution should protect the full range of data sources such as database, email and file.

Greenlight Computers Online Backup Solutions

For less than 50p per GB per Month, Greenlights online backup service can protect your company data with complete ease and automation. Whether you need to backup documents, Emails, SQL databases, or entire server configurations for disaster recovery; our online backup service is both comprehensive and cost-effective.

Using Acronis online backup we ensure total coverage and complete control over your data. We back up everything: disks, partitions, files and folders, virtual machines. We can offer flexible control through choosing full image, differential or incremental backups, or a combination. Redundant backups mean that our technology is more reliable than traditional RAID enclosures.

Backup Exchange & SQL Databases

Our online backup client has the functionality to backup all SQL databases and Exchange EMAIL servers. You may choose a backup for Exchange which enables restoration of single E-Mail(s) over having to restore the whole database. This is a feature unique to Greenlights service offering.

Secure, Encrypted Transfer To Our Datacentre

Security is crucial. Your data is first compressed to ensure bandwidth usage is minimized during data transfer. Your data is then encrypted using a 256-bit encryption key configured by you, giving you the peace of mind your data cannot be accessed or decrypted by others.

Switch From Tapes To Online Backup

Reduce your business overhead and risk of human error when maintaining a tape backup solution. Removing tapes from site every evening is both time consuming and outdated. Our online backup solution replaces this requirement and also ensures you don’t exceed the capacity of your backup solution. When your data expands we simply allocate more space.

Easily View/Restore Your Data

More important than the backup process itself, is the ability to quickly and easily view or restore your data when required. Using the online backup client you have the ability to retrieve individual files, revisions of files, entire folders or backup sets. With just a few clicks you can have your lost/damaged data or even failed server back to a consistent state with ease.

Online Backup Service Costs

Our pricing is simple and we guarantee no hidden charges. Our fees are in two parts: Fixed Fee covering Bandwidth/Power/Licencing/Service & Variable Fee covering data volumes @ less than 50pence/GB/month.

Contact Greenlight Computers to discuss your Online Backup Solution.

Storage

Data growth and management remain steadfast as one of the leading IT challenges on the CIOs radar. Clients of all sizes must plan for a storage infrastructure that will support expected growth without blowing the budget or introducing unnecessary complexity. A sound storage architecture is fundamental to the foundation of your business.

Greenlight Storage Solutions

IT Transformation through easy to manage infrastructure is a cornerstone of Greenlights solution set. A key element of this is storage architecture and data management. Whether you are looking to move to a shared storage environment or you need an infrastructure refresh, Greenlight has the expertise to steer you down the right path helping to transform and optimise your IT infrastructure. We build in scalability and include support services that ensure your investment is future proof. The right infrastructure can help drive a competitive edge and increase profitability, and Greenlight can help you present a strong business case to support this. Our implementation and migration services ensure a smooth transition to a new storage environment.

Greenlight partners with HPE, NetApp, QNap and Dell/EMC for storage infrastructure, and we work with customers to recommend and agree the best architecture fit or work with an existing vendor preference.

There are three main considerations when reviewing your storage requirements;

1. Function: How storage is used and accessed. Are you looking at a centralised storage solution to reduce operational costs? (lower cost compared with having large amounts of data stored locally over having large amounts of storage locally on individual servers or desktops). Are you keen to centralise the management of your data? Do you require increased performance or availability of data? ,
2. Capacity & Speed: We need to be able to determine capacity and performance requirements. Capacity is relatively simple to address, but performance is measured in IOPS which can be difficult to quantify, so our expert consultants can help you to determine what is achievable here.
3. Reliability: Built-in reliability is crucial to your centralised storage architecture. We understand the reliance almost all customers have on the availability of core data, so access to this when needed is critical. An unreliable storage system can be catastrophic to your business.

Laptops/PCs

Finding the right devices to meet your individual business needs can be tricky considering the many thousand variants of laptops and desktop PC’s available on the market place today. Quite often, the right level of consideration is not given to the finer detail of these consumable products and suddenly your devices do not quite meet your needs; whether that be a performance issue or a lack of overall functionality. We work closely with our customers to understand your needs so that you can be assured we will design the right desktop solutions for your users, whether that be laptops, Personal Computers or handheld devices.

10 Key factors when choosing Laptops and Desktop PC’s:

• Operating System – home or pro (for business)
• Processor speed– does it have enough power for the task ahead?
• RAM (memory) – is for speed typically 4GB, 8GB, 16GB or more?
• Storage – is it HDD (for capacity) or SSD (for speed)?
• Size – is the size and weight a good fit for my plans?
• Usability – can it do all the things I plan to use it for?
• Brand – do I trust the manufacturer?
• Budget – is it affordable?
• Warranty – is it 1 year, 3 years & can you extend it?
• Compatibility – what peripherals do you need and are they compatible?

With most hardware suppliers/outlets the answer will be yes when you ask questions, often the knowledge isn’t there, our recommendation is to ask for knowledgeable help if you are not sure.

Greenlight Computers Service

We supply best of breed technologies and through our trusted supply partnerships we secure competitive pricing for our clients. Consider us the safe pair of hands to supply laptops and desktop PC’s that meets your technical and commercial needs.

Servers/Virtualisation

Whilst the journey to the cloud is gaining momentum for many organisations, there is still a clear requirement for on premise infrastructure. However, with the inclusion of cloud strategies, wired and wireless networks, Internet of Things and many other new technology requirements, keeping IT simple is becoming more of a challenge. That’s why we believe in keeping IT infrastructure solutions as simple as possible, with unified management and easy integration.

Greenlight Server Solutions

IT Transformation through easy to manage infrastructure is a corner stone of Greenlights solution set. A central element of this is server provision and server virtualisation. Whether your requirement be a single server or a datacentre refresh, Greenlight helps you to transform and optimise your IT infrastructure. We build in scalability, and include support services that ensure your investment is future proof. The right infrastructure can help drive competitive edge and increase profitability, and Greenlight can help you present a strong business case to support this. Our implementation and integration services ensure a smooth transition to a new server environment.

Greenlight partners with HPE and Dell for server infrastructure, and we work with customers to recommend and agree best architecture fit or work with an existing vendor preference.

Server Virtualisation

Virtualisation can increase IT agility, flexibility, and scalability while creating significant cost savings. Workloads get deployed faster, performance and availability increases and operations become automated, resulting in IT that’s simpler to manage and less costly to own and operate. Additional benefits include:

• Reduce capital and operating costs.
• Minimize or eliminate downtime.
• Increase IT productivity, efficiency, agility and responsiveness.
• Provision applications and resources faster.
• Enable business continuity and disaster recovery.
• Simplify data centre management.
• Build a true Software-Defined Data Centre

Greenlight partners with VMWare and Microsoft (Hyper-V) for virtualisation solutions. We will either make the appropriate recommendations or work with customers technology preference.