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OT: Cloud IT structure for a start-up?

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  OT: Cloud IT structure for a start-up? Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2013-09-12 16:43 -0700
    Re: OT: Cloud IT structure for a start-up? Martin Riddle <martin_rid@verizon.net> - 2013-09-12 20:05 -0400
    Re: OT: Cloud IT structure for a start-up? Jamie M <jmorken@shaw.ca> - 2013-09-12 19:36 -0700
      Re: OT: Cloud IT structure for a start-up? Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2013-09-13 17:53 -0700
    Re: OT: Cloud IT structure for a start-up? chris <meru@devnull.com> - 2013-09-13 18:41 +0000
      Re: OT: Cloud IT structure for a start-up? Paul <paul@pcserviceselectronics.co.uk> - 2013-09-13 22:22 +0100
      Re: OT: Cloud IT structure for a start-up? Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2013-09-13 17:54 -0700
    Re: OT: Cloud IT structure for a start-up? Fred Abse <excretatauris@invalid.invalid> - 2013-09-13 14:50 -0700
      Re: OT: Cloud IT structure for a start-up? Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2013-09-13 15:43 -0700
        Re: OT: Cloud IT structure for a start-up? Paul <paul@pcserviceselectronics.co.uk> - 2013-09-14 00:29 +0100
          Re: OT: Cloud IT structure for a start-up? Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2013-09-14 11:08 -0700
        Re: OT: Cloud IT structure for a start-up? Spehro Pefhany <speffSNIP@interlogDOTyou.knowwhat> - 2013-09-15 15:23 -0400
          Re: OT: Cloud IT structure for a start-up? Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2013-09-15 20:17 -0700
            Re: OT: Cloud IT structure for a start-up? Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2013-09-16 07:47 -0700
      Re: OT: Cloud IT structure for a start-up? Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2013-09-13 17:54 -0700
    Re: OT: Cloud IT structure for a start-up? nico@puntnl.niks (Nico Coesel) - 2013-09-14 00:16 +0000
      Re: OT: Cloud IT structure for a start-up? Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2013-09-13 17:57 -0700
        Re: OT: Cloud IT structure for a start-up? Jamie M <jmorken@shaw.ca> - 2013-09-14 18:06 -0700
          Re: OT: Cloud IT structure for a start-up? chris <meru@devnull.com> - 2013-09-15 15:13 +0000
            Re: OT: Cloud IT structure for a start-up? Jamie M <jmorken@shaw.ca> - 2013-09-15 15:28 -0700
          Re: OT: Cloud IT structure for a start-up? Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2013-09-16 07:32 -0700
    Re: OT: Cloud IT structure for a start-up? Anssi Saari <as@sci.fi> - 2013-09-16 09:54 +0300
      Re: OT: Cloud IT structure for a start-up? Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2013-09-16 07:40 -0700
      Re: OT: Cloud IT structure for a start-up? T <kd1s.nospam@cox.nospam.net> - 2013-09-18 11:43 -0400

Page 1 of 2  [1] 2  Next page →

#13523 — OT: Cloud IT structure for a start-up?

Folks,

Right now we are using an email provider and Dropbox for our start-up
company. However, we'd like to get a more integrated solution that has
all under one roof and preferably does not engage in vendor-lock. For
example, a solution that requires MS-Outlook is not a good solution.

What we need:

1. Email for a few guys. Accessible also from the road via laptop or
smart phones.

2. Calendar and task sync'ing. I am not such a fan of that since I
perfer paper for this but the others would like it.

3. Web site hosting.

4. File storage and collaboration in an organized fashion, automatic
backups and all that. Access possible via smart phones.

5. Secure (encrypted) data transfer between server and our computers.

6. Automatic backups, including a routing option for that to one of our
computers.

7. The whole thing needs to be controllable for setup and changes by
people with limited or almost no IT know-how.

8. No onerous requirements on the PCs such as Java, Active-X or wide
permissions for auto-updates.


I've looked at a few packages such as these:

http://www.google.com/enterprise/apps/business/benefits.html

https://www.1and1.com/cloud-server-config;jsessionid=B91C582C4665245EF8D1D9C325A871B9.TCpfix242b

Microsoft seems expensive and you get sort of a leased access to their
office suite. That probably justifies the high price but we don't need
it and we do not want to pay monthly leases for people who never use it.
Also, they seem to require MS-Outlook and that's a non-starter.

As for 1&1 I use one of their smaller web hosting deals sind about a
decade, happy with it. But I don't know how easily sich a big system is
maintainable by non-IT guys such as me.

Any comments? Other ideas?

-- 
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

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#13524

On Thu, 12 Sep 2013 16:43:14 -0700, Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid>
wrote:

>Folks,
>
>Right now we are using an email provider and Dropbox for our start-up
>company. However, we'd like to get a more integrated solution that has
>all under one roof and preferably does not engage in vendor-lock. For
>example, a solution that requires MS-Outlook is not a good solution.
>
>What we need:
>
>1. Email for a few guys. Accessible also from the road via laptop or
>smart phones.
>
>2. Calendar and task sync'ing. I am not such a fan of that since I
>perfer paper for this but the others would like it.
>
>3. Web site hosting.
>
>4. File storage and collaboration in an organized fashion, automatic
>backups and all that. Access possible via smart phones.
>
>5. Secure (encrypted) data transfer between server and our computers.
>
>6. Automatic backups, including a routing option for that to one of our
>computers.
>
>7. The whole thing needs to be controllable for setup and changes by
>people with limited or almost no IT know-how.
>
>8. No onerous requirements on the PCs such as Java, Active-X or wide
>permissions for auto-updates.
>
>
>I've looked at a few packages such as these:
>
>http://www.google.com/enterprise/apps/business/benefits.html
>
>https://www.1and1.com/cloud-server-config;jsessionid=B91C582C4665245EF8D1D9C325A871B9.TCpfix242b
>
>Microsoft seems expensive and you get sort of a leased access to their
>office suite. That probably justifies the high price but we don't need
>it and we do not want to pay monthly leases for people who never use it.
>Also, they seem to require MS-Outlook and that's a non-starter.
>
>As for 1&1 I use one of their smaller web hosting deals sind about a
>decade, happy with it. But I don't know how easily sich a big system is
>maintainable by non-IT guys such as me.
>
>Any comments? Other ideas?

cloud storage with security?

Cheers

BTW  Office online has a Webmail interface that is pretty good. You
can use outlook but it is not required. They do have a trial.

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#13525

On 9/12/2013 4:43 PM, Joerg wrote:
> Folks,
>
> Right now we are using an email provider and Dropbox for our start-up
> company. However, we'd like to get a more integrated solution that has
> all under one roof and preferably does not engage in vendor-lock. For
> example, a solution that requires MS-Outlook is not a good solution.
>
> What we need:
>
> 1. Email for a few guys. Accessible also from the road via laptop or
> smart phones.
>
> 2. Calendar and task sync'ing. I am not such a fan of that since I
> perfer paper for this but the others would like it.
>
> 3. Web site hosting.
>
> 4. File storage and collaboration in an organized fashion, automatic
> backups and all that. Access possible via smart phones.
>
> 5. Secure (encrypted) data transfer between server and our computers.
>
> 6. Automatic backups, including a routing option for that to one of our
> computers.
>
> 7. The whole thing needs to be controllable for setup and changes by
> people with limited or almost no IT know-how.
>
> 8. No onerous requirements on the PCs such as Java, Active-X or wide
> permissions for auto-updates.
>
>
> I've looked at a few packages such as these:
>
> http://www.google.com/enterprise/apps/business/benefits.html
>
> https://www.1and1.com/cloud-server-config;jsessionid=B91C582C4665245EF8D1D9C325A871B9.TCpfix242b
>
> Microsoft seems expensive and you get sort of a leased access to their
> office suite. That probably justifies the high price but we don't need
> it and we do not want to pay monthly leases for people who never use it.
> Also, they seem to require MS-Outlook and that's a non-starter.
>
> As for 1&1 I use one of their smaller web hosting deals sind about a
> decade, happy with it. But I don't know how easily sich a big system is
> maintainable by non-IT guys such as me.
>
> Any comments? Other ideas?
>

Hi,

I have a copy of Windows Server 2012 thats been running on Amazon AWS 
free tier for about 5 months straight or so (on the free tier it doesnt
cost a dime as the name implies :).  It is a very limited instance for
the free tier, barely enough to run windows server 2012 but the
instances are scalable to whatever you need for CPU/storage/networking
etc.  The security issue of the cloud is a problem, but its very
convenient to have all the data etc accessible on one virtual PC.
You can pay some places to host your own physical server too, one here
in my city will host a business account for $100 per month, which 
includes physically putting the server (PC case or rack) at their
location, and 10Gbit up/down unlimited transfer.  If you install
openstack or opencloud (similar to amazon AWS, with even a compatible
API option) on that type of setup that could work too maybe..

cheers,
Jamie

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#13564

Jamie M wrote:
> On 9/12/2013 4:43 PM, Joerg wrote:
>> Folks,
>>
>> Right now we are using an email provider and Dropbox for our start-up
>> company. However, we'd like to get a more integrated solution that has
>> all under one roof and preferably does not engage in vendor-lock. For
>> example, a solution that requires MS-Outlook is not a good solution.
>>
>> What we need:
>>
>> 1. Email for a few guys. Accessible also from the road via laptop or
>> smart phones.
>>
>> 2. Calendar and task sync'ing. I am not such a fan of that since I
>> perfer paper for this but the others would like it.
>>
>> 3. Web site hosting.
>>
>> 4. File storage and collaboration in an organized fashion, automatic
>> backups and all that. Access possible via smart phones.
>>
>> 5. Secure (encrypted) data transfer between server and our computers.
>>
>> 6. Automatic backups, including a routing option for that to one of our
>> computers.
>>
>> 7. The whole thing needs to be controllable for setup and changes by
>> people with limited or almost no IT know-how.
>>
>> 8. No onerous requirements on the PCs such as Java, Active-X or wide
>> permissions for auto-updates.
>>
>>
>> I've looked at a few packages such as these:
>>
>> http://www.google.com/enterprise/apps/business/benefits.html
>>
>> https://www.1and1.com/cloud-server-config;jsessionid=B91C582C4665245EF8D1D9C325A871B9.TCpfix242b
>>
>>
>> Microsoft seems expensive and you get sort of a leased access to their
>> office suite. That probably justifies the high price but we don't need
>> it and we do not want to pay monthly leases for people who never use it.
>> Also, they seem to require MS-Outlook and that's a non-starter.
>>
>> As for 1&1 I use one of their smaller web hosting deals sind about a
>> decade, happy with it. But I don't know how easily sich a big system is
>> maintainable by non-IT guys such as me.
>>
>> Any comments? Other ideas?
>>
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I have a copy of Windows Server 2012 thats been running on Amazon AWS
> free tier for about 5 months straight or so (on the free tier it doesnt
> cost a dime as the name implies :).  It is a very limited instance for
> the free tier, barely enough to run windows server 2012 but the
> instances are scalable to whatever you need for CPU/storage/networking
> etc.  The security issue of the cloud is a problem, but its very
> convenient to have all the data etc accessible on one virtual PC.
> You can pay some places to host your own physical server too, one here
> in my city will host a business account for $100 per month, which
> includes physically putting the server (PC case or rack) at their
> location, and 10Gbit up/down unlimited transfer.  If you install
> openstack or opencloud (similar to amazon AWS, with even a compatible
> API option) on that type of setup that could work too maybe..
> 

Thanks, but I am looking for a turn-key solution. Where we can more or
less just oplop into the seats. It doesn't have to be free.

-- 
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

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#13549

On 09/12/13 23:43, Joerg wrote:
> Folks,
>
> Right now we are using an email provider and Dropbox for our start-up
> company. However, we'd like to get a more integrated solution that has
> all under one roof and preferably does not engage in vendor-lock. For
> example, a solution that requires MS-Outlook is not a good solution.
>
> What we need:
>
> 1. Email for a few guys. Accessible also from the road via laptop or
> smart phones.
>
> 2. Calendar and task sync'ing. I am not such a fan of that since I
> perfer paper for this but the others would like it.
>
> 3. Web site hosting.
>
> 4. File storage and collaboration in an organized fashion, automatic
> backups and all that. Access possible via smart phones.
>
> 5. Secure (encrypted) data transfer between server and our computers.
>
> 6. Automatic backups, including a routing option for that to one of our
> computers.
>
> 7. The whole thing needs to be controllable for setup and changes by
> people with limited or almost no IT know-how.
>
> 8. No onerous requirements on the PCs such as Java, Active-X or wide
> permissions for auto-updates.
>

I had a similar, if more limited requirement, but issues about data 
security,
control and costs led me to get a business internet feed and host everything
in house. We are hosting on a Solaris server with zones, which provides all
the network services for free (well, other than setting up and admin) and a
second server on an isolated subnet providing mysql services. Yes, it is 
more
work, but does provide flexibility in terms of changing config or adding
services at any time. You can also get in and fix stuff when it goes wrong.
Could just as easily have done the job with Freebsd and jails, or Linux, but
it was easier to work with what we were familiar with.

I guess 7) above might overrule such an approach, but might be worth 
looking at,
if you have net / Linux savvy people in the organisation. Start with a 
simple
system and build on it. I would forget windows anything for critical
infrastructure / webservers.

There's no way that I would trust any of my business or data to cloud 
services,
even more so with the recent revelations about privacy/nsa/government 
snooping
Stuff like client data confidentiality, access, problem resolution time, 
etc etc,
need careful consideration if you are planning to buy any services...

Chris

Chris

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#13555

In article <n7mdnVbVeOFTwa7PnZ2dnUVZ8rqdnZ2d@bt.com>, meru@devnull.com 
says...
> 
> On 09/12/13 23:43, Joerg wrote:
> > Folks,
> >
> > Right now we are using an email provider and Dropbox for our start-up
> > company. However, we'd like to get a more integrated solution that has
> > all under one roof and preferably does not engage in vendor-lock. For
> > example, a solution that requires MS-Outlook is not a good solution.
> >
> > What we need:
> >
> > 1. Email for a few guys. Accessible also from the road via laptop or
> > smart phones.
> >
> > 2. Calendar and task sync'ing. I am not such a fan of that since I
> > perfer paper for this but the others would like it.
> >
....
> 
> There's no way that I would trust any of my business or data to cloud 
> services,
> even more so with the recent revelations about privacy/nsa/government 
> snooping
> Stuff like client data confidentiality, access, problem resolution time, 
> etc etc,
> need careful consideration if you are planning to buy any services...

Many many reasons I would not do such a thing (cloud services), must get
a page setup soon with my standard long discourse on it.

In short unless you have a legal team and a large business risk analysis 
team, dont bother.


-- 
Paul Carpenter          | paul@pcserviceselectronics.co.uk
<http://www.pcserviceselectronics.co.uk/>    PC Services
<http://www.pcserviceselectronics.co.uk/pi/>  Raspberry Pi Add-ons
<http://www.pcserviceselectronics.co.uk/fonts/> Timing Diagram Font
<http://www.gnuh8.org.uk/>  GNU H8 - compiler & Renesas H8/H8S/H8 Tiny
<http://www.badweb.org.uk/> For those web sites you hate

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#13565

chris wrote:
> On 09/12/13 23:43, Joerg wrote:
>> Folks,
>>
>> Right now we are using an email provider and Dropbox for our start-up
>> company. However, we'd like to get a more integrated solution that has
>> all under one roof and preferably does not engage in vendor-lock. For
>> example, a solution that requires MS-Outlook is not a good solution.
>>
>> What we need:
>>
>> 1. Email for a few guys. Accessible also from the road via laptop or
>> smart phones.
>>
>> 2. Calendar and task sync'ing. I am not such a fan of that since I
>> perfer paper for this but the others would like it.
>>
>> 3. Web site hosting.
>>
>> 4. File storage and collaboration in an organized fashion, automatic
>> backups and all that. Access possible via smart phones.
>>
>> 5. Secure (encrypted) data transfer between server and our computers.
>>
>> 6. Automatic backups, including a routing option for that to one of our
>> computers.
>>
>> 7. The whole thing needs to be controllable for setup and changes by
>> people with limited or almost no IT know-how.
>>
>> 8. No onerous requirements on the PCs such as Java, Active-X or wide
>> permissions for auto-updates.
>>
> 
> I had a similar, if more limited requirement, but issues about data
> security,
> control and costs led me to get a business internet feed and host
> everything
> in house. We are hosting on a Solaris server with zones, which provides all
> the network services for free (well, other than setting up and admin) and a
> second server on an isolated subnet providing mysql services. Yes, it is
> more
> work, but does provide flexibility in terms of changing config or adding
> services at any time. You can also get in and fix stuff when it goes wrong.
> Could just as easily have done the job with Freebsd and jails, or Linux,
> but
> it was easier to work with what we were familiar with.
> 
> I guess 7) above might overrule such an approach, but might be worth
> looking at,
> if you have net / Linux savvy people in the organisation. Start with a
> simple
> system and build on it. I would forget windows anything for critical
> infrastructure / webservers.
> 
> There's no way that I would trust any of my business or data to cloud
> services,
> even more so with the recent revelations about privacy/nsa/government
> snooping
> Stuff like client data confidentiality, access, problem resolution time,
> etc etc,
> need careful consideration if you are planning to buy any services...
> 

Well, very hot stuff won't go on there or only encrypted. It's mostly
tech stuff, things that are already IP protected. If someone rips if off
it doesn't have much commercial value to them.

-- 
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

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#13557

On Thu, 12 Sep 2013 16:43:14 -0700, Joerg wrote:

> Any comments? Other ideas?

Putting your intellectual property in the hands of nameless strangers,
God knows where, sounds like business suicide to me.

-- 
"Design is the reverse of analysis"
                   (R.D. Middlebrook)

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#13558

Hi Fred,

On 9/13/2013 2:50 PM, Fred Abse wrote:
> On Thu, 12 Sep 2013 16:43:14 -0700, Joerg wrote:
>
>> Any comments? Other ideas?
>
> Putting your intellectual property in the hands of nameless strangers,
> God knows where, sounds like business suicide to me.

+1

Then, having to *pay* to have access to *your* data!  :-/

OTOH, it is appealing to folks who are trying to figure out how to do
away with (often bloated, inefficient and INEFFECTIVE) IT departments.

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#13561

In article <l104f8$46c$1@speranza.aioe.org>, this@isnotme.com says...
> 
> Hi Fred,
> 
> On 9/13/2013 2:50 PM, Fred Abse wrote:
> > On Thu, 12 Sep 2013 16:43:14 -0700, Joerg wrote:
> >
> >> Any comments? Other ideas?
> >
> > Putting your intellectual property in the hands of nameless strangers,
> > God knows where, sounds like business suicide to me.
> 
> +1
> 
> Then, having to *pay* to have access to *your* data!  :-/
> 
> OTOH, it is appealing to folks who are trying to figure out how to do
> away with (often bloated, inefficient and INEFFECTIVE) IT departments.

Until said place has an incident like Buncefield and the backups are 
only on same site of flattened building.

If your building is flattened you have lots of issues as well, but 
should have some off-site backups as well.

Let alone issues about then being held to 'ransom' by the contract 
clauses ever changing.


-- 
Paul Carpenter          | paul@pcserviceselectronics.co.uk
<http://www.pcserviceselectronics.co.uk/>    PC Services
<http://www.pcserviceselectronics.co.uk/pi/>  Raspberry Pi Add-ons
<http://www.pcserviceselectronics.co.uk/fonts/> Timing Diagram Font
<http://www.gnuh8.org.uk/>  GNU H8 - compiler & Renesas H8/H8S/H8 Tiny
<http://www.badweb.org.uk/> For those web sites you hate

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#13578

Paul wrote:
> In article <l104f8$46c$1@speranza.aioe.org>, this@isnotme.com says...
>> Hi Fred,
>>
>> On 9/13/2013 2:50 PM, Fred Abse wrote:
>>> On Thu, 12 Sep 2013 16:43:14 -0700, Joerg wrote:
>>>
>>>> Any comments? Other ideas?
>>> Putting your intellectual property in the hands of nameless strangers,
>>> God knows where, sounds like business suicide to me.
>> +1
>>
>> Then, having to *pay* to have access to *your* data!  :-/
>>
>> OTOH, it is appealing to folks who are trying to figure out how to do
>> away with (often bloated, inefficient and INEFFECTIVE) IT departments.
> 
> Until said place has an incident like Buncefield and the backups are 
> only on same site of flattened building.
> 
> If your building is flattened you have lots of issues as well, but 
> should have some off-site backups as well.
> 
> Let alone issues about then being held to 'ransom' by the contract 
> clauses ever changing.
> 

Ours will be kept at localtions about 3000 miles apart and under our
control. If that all gets flattened I think we have other things to be
concerned about.

-- 
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

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#13620

On Fri, 13 Sep 2013 15:43:54 -0700, the renowned Don Y
<this@isnotme.com> wrote:

>Hi Fred,
>
>On 9/13/2013 2:50 PM, Fred Abse wrote:
>> On Thu, 12 Sep 2013 16:43:14 -0700, Joerg wrote:
>>
>>> Any comments? Other ideas?
>>
>> Putting your intellectual property in the hands of nameless strangers,
>> God knows where, sounds like business suicide to me.
>
>+1
>
>Then, having to *pay* to have access to *your* data!  :-/
>
>OTOH, it is appealing to folks who are trying to figure out how to do
>away with (often bloated, inefficient and INEFFECTIVE) IT departments.

On the contrary, IME IT departments are typically _very_ effective at
doing some things. Mostly the heavy-handed imposition of top-down
corporate policies that cause the productivity of technically inclined
users to sharply decrease. 



Best regards, 
Spehro Pefhany
-- 
"it's the network..."                          "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog  Info for designers:  http://www.speff.com

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#13621

Hi Spehro,

On 9/15/2013 12:23 PM, Spehro Pefhany wrote:
> On Fri, 13 Sep 2013 15:43:54 -0700, the renowned Don Y
> <this@isnotme.com> wrote:
>
>> OTOH, it is appealing to folks who are trying to figure out how to do
>> away with (often bloated, inefficient and INEFFECTIVE) IT departments.
>
> On the contrary, IME IT departments are typically _very_ effective at
> doing some things. Mostly the heavy-handed imposition of top-down
> corporate policies that cause the productivity of technically inclined
> users to sharply decrease.

Thankfully, I've never been subjected to the whims of *any*
IT/IS department!  At those times I was working at places *with*
such departments, I was able to work as an isolated "little island"
on my own workstation, etc.  This seemed to annoy the hell out
of those folks who would make a point of not allowing me to use
other "computing resources" (printers, etc. -- "Printer?  Now why
would I need *that*?!!"  :>)

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#13634

Don Y wrote:
> Hi Spehro,
> 
> On 9/15/2013 12:23 PM, Spehro Pefhany wrote:
>> On Fri, 13 Sep 2013 15:43:54 -0700, the renowned Don Y
>> <this@isnotme.com> wrote:
>>
>>> OTOH, it is appealing to folks who are trying to figure out how to do
>>> away with (often bloated, inefficient and INEFFECTIVE) IT departments.
>>
>> On the contrary, IME IT departments are typically _very_ effective at
>> doing some things. Mostly the heavy-handed imposition of top-down
>> corporate policies that cause the productivity of technically inclined
>> users to sharply decrease.
> 
> Thankfully, I've never been subjected to the whims of *any*
> IT/IS department!  At those times I was working at places *with*
> such departments, I was able to work as an isolated "little island"
> on my own workstation, etc.  This seemed to annoy the hell out
> of those folks who would make a point of not allowing me to use
> other "computing resources" (printers, etc. -- "Printer?  Now why
> would I need *that*?!!"  :>)


The only time I had to deal with an IT department was at my last
employer. When I saw the head of IT cruise up on a fairly loud
Harley-Davidson I knew things would be alright. And they were, we had
the best and most efficient IT I could wish for.

-- 
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

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#13566

Fred Abse wrote:
> On Thu, 12 Sep 2013 16:43:14 -0700, Joerg wrote:
> 
>> Any comments? Other ideas?
> 
> Putting your intellectual property in the hands of nameless strangers,
> God knows where, sounds like business suicide to me.
> 

Trust me, we won't do that :-)

-- 
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

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#13563

Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid> wrote:

>Folks,
>
>Right now we are using an email provider and Dropbox for our start-up
>company. However, we'd like to get a more integrated solution that has
>all under one roof and preferably does not engage in vendor-lock. For
>example, a solution that requires MS-Outlook is not a good solution.
>
>What we need:
>
>1. Email for a few guys. Accessible also from the road via laptop or
>smart phones.
>
>2. Calendar and task sync'ing. I am not such a fan of that since I
>perfer paper for this but the others would like it.
>
>3. Web site hosting.
>
>4. File storage and collaboration in an organized fashion, automatic
>backups and all that. Access possible via smart phones.
>
>5. Secure (encrypted) data transfer between server and our computers.
>
>6. Automatic backups, including a routing option for that to one of our
>computers.
>
>7. The whole thing needs to be controllable for setup and changes by
>people with limited or almost no IT know-how.
>
>8. No onerous requirements on the PCs such as Java, Active-X or wide
>permissions for auto-updates.

I'd talk with a local IT company to set this up. I wouldn't put my
data on a cloud service. Other people can tap into that. Another
problem with using the cloud is that when things go bad and the bills
are not getting paid you lose access to your data.

I'd setup a local server with multiple security levels so people can
only access what they really need. Usually public, project and
management is sufficient. I'd look into Microsoft Small Business
server with Exchange. I think this can do everything you want without
breaking the bank. You may hate MS but when run on decent server
hardware (Dell server or HP Proliant) it will work reliable.

The biggest mistake to make here is to also host the website on the
local server. Don't do that; just rent web space from one of the many
webhosting companies. If you want to tighten security for the remote
webmail you can put a filtering proxy (Linux + squid) between the
Exchange server and the outside world so only URLs that are allowed
get through.

-- 
Failure does not prove something is impossible, failure simply
indicates you are not using the right tools...
nico@nctdevpuntnl (punt=.)
--------------------------------------------------------------

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#13567

Nico Coesel wrote:
> Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> 
>> Folks,
>>
>> Right now we are using an email provider and Dropbox for our start-up
>> company. However, we'd like to get a more integrated solution that has
>> all under one roof and preferably does not engage in vendor-lock. For
>> example, a solution that requires MS-Outlook is not a good solution.
>>
>> What we need:
>>
>> 1. Email for a few guys. Accessible also from the road via laptop or
>> smart phones.
>>
>> 2. Calendar and task sync'ing. I am not such a fan of that since I
>> perfer paper for this but the others would like it.
>>
>> 3. Web site hosting.
>>
>> 4. File storage and collaboration in an organized fashion, automatic
>> backups and all that. Access possible via smart phones.
>>
>> 5. Secure (encrypted) data transfer between server and our computers.
>>
>> 6. Automatic backups, including a routing option for that to one of our
>> computers.
>>
>> 7. The whole thing needs to be controllable for setup and changes by
>> people with limited or almost no IT know-how.
>>
>> 8. No onerous requirements on the PCs such as Java, Active-X or wide
>> permissions for auto-updates.
> 
> I'd talk with a local IT company to set this up. ...


We don't want to or can't make a thousands of Dollars deal out of this.
Has to be reasonable.


>                                            ... I wouldn't put my
> data on a cloud service. Other people can tap into that. Another
> problem with using the cloud is that when things go bad and the bills
> are not getting paid you lose access to your data.
> 

All backed up, so no problem. Sensitive stuff either won't go on there
or will be encrypted.


> I'd setup a local server with multiple security levels so people can
> only access what they really need. Usually public, project and
> management is sufficient. I'd look into Microsoft Small Business
> server with Exchange. I think this can do everything you want without
> breaking the bank. You may hate MS but when run on decent server
> hardware (Dell server or HP Proliant) it will work reliable.
> 
> The biggest mistake to make here is to also host the website on the
> local server. Don't do that; just rent web space from one of the many
> webhosting companies. If you want to tighten security for the remote
> webmail you can put a filtering proxy (Linux + squid) between the
> Exchange server and the outside world so only URLs that are allowed
> get through.
> 

We'd rather like all this as a package, ready to roll, from a provider.
We can't be the only ones :-)

-- 
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

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#13588

On 13/09/2013 5:57 PM, Joerg wrote:
> Nico Coesel wrote:
>> Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>>
>>> Folks,
>>>
>>> Right now we are using an email provider and Dropbox for our start-up
>>> company. However, we'd like to get a more integrated solution that has
>>> all under one roof and preferably does not engage in vendor-lock. For
>>> example, a solution that requires MS-Outlook is not a good solution.
>>>
>>> What we need:
>>>
>>> 1. Email for a few guys. Accessible also from the road via laptop or
>>> smart phones.
>>>
>>> 2. Calendar and task sync'ing. I am not such a fan of that since I
>>> perfer paper for this but the others would like it.
>>>
>>> 3. Web site hosting.
>>>
>>> 4. File storage and collaboration in an organized fashion, automatic
>>> backups and all that. Access possible via smart phones.
>>>
>>> 5. Secure (encrypted) data transfer between server and our computers.
>>>
>>> 6. Automatic backups, including a routing option for that to one of our
>>> computers.
>>>
>>> 7. The whole thing needs to be controllable for setup and changes by
>>> people with limited or almost no IT know-how.
>>>
>>> 8. No onerous requirements on the PCs such as Java, Active-X or wide
>>> permissions for auto-updates.
>>
>> I'd talk with a local IT company to set this up. ...
>
>
> We don't want to or can't make a thousands of Dollars deal out of this.
> Has to be reasonable.
>
>
>>                                             ... I wouldn't put my
>> data on a cloud service. Other people can tap into that. Another
>> problem with using the cloud is that when things go bad and the bills
>> are not getting paid you lose access to your data.
>>
>
> All backed up, so no problem. Sensitive stuff either won't go on there
> or will be encrypted.
>
>
>> I'd setup a local server with multiple security levels so people can
>> only access what they really need. Usually public, project and
>> management is sufficient. I'd look into Microsoft Small Business
>> server with Exchange. I think this can do everything you want without
>> breaking the bank. You may hate MS but when run on decent server
>> hardware (Dell server or HP Proliant) it will work reliable.
>>
>> The biggest mistake to make here is to also host the website on the
>> local server. Don't do that; just rent web space from one of the many
>> webhosting companies. If you want to tighten security for the remote
>> webmail you can put a filtering proxy (Linux + squid) between the
>> Exchange server and the outside world so only URLs that are allowed
>> get through.
>>
>
> We'd rather like all this as a package, ready to roll, from a provider.
> We can't be the only ones :-)
>

Hi,

Crowd sourced cloud computing, I think businesses are not going to be
interested in this due to security for sure, but still interesting,
I think the beta for it just started in August2013.

https://secure.slicify.com/

cheers,
Jamie

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#13594

On 09/15/13 01:06, Jamie M wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Crowd sourced cloud computing, I think businesses are not going to be
> interested in this due to security for sure, but still interesting,
> I think the beta for it just started in August2013.
>
> https://secure.slicify.com/
>
> cheers,
> Jamie

That looks interesting, but looks windows only. It would look more
interesting if it were Linux or some other completely open source
based system.

I know the whole world and it's dog uses windows, but I wouldn't
use it out of choice for anything critical...

Chris

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#13618

On 15/09/2013 8:13 AM, chris wrote:
> On 09/15/13 01:06, Jamie M wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> Crowd sourced cloud computing, I think businesses are not going to be
>> interested in this due to security for sure, but still interesting,
>> I think the beta for it just started in August2013.
>>
>> https://secure.slicify.com/
>>
>> cheers,
>> Jamie
>
> That looks interesting, but looks windows only. It would look more
> interesting if it were Linux or some other completely open source
> based system.
>
> I know the whole world and it's dog uses windows, but I wouldn't
> use it out of choice for anything critical...
>
> Chris
>

Hi,

Ya its linux virtual machines running on windows kind of strange mix!
Also the virtual machines can't currently accept incoming connections,
and can only start outgoing connections if I read it correctly.

cheers,
Jamie

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