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Setting up a Small Office Network?
A not-so-anonymous Anonymous Coward asks: "I am embarking on a startup with some business contacts. I'm the only tech-guy in the group so I'll be the one to set up the network for our small office of 5-7 people. I've spent the last 15 years immersed in the development end of things (numerical analysis software and parallel computing codes). The downside of this is that I'm quite naive when it comes to networking: there's always been someone else taking care of revision control, backups, security, servers, etc., even purchasing stuff and running cable. What advice would you give someone who isn't afraid to roll up his sleeves, but is starting from ground zero on setting up a small office network? Can you recommend any books that are up-to-date and practical (e.g. "howto")?"
Be humble! Seek help when you need it. It sounds like you have a "can do" attitude which can take you a long way, but I can tell you from personal experience that an inexperienced person can spend a lot of time and resources on problems which a call to someone with a bit more experience could quickly resolve. Be honest with your partners! It's real easy for us to position ourselves as gurus, but more difficult to be honest about our strengths and weaknesses. I've seen many shops where systems were poorly designed because the "tech guy" was unwilling to admit that they were in over their head.
Having been the tech guy before, doing all the setup, do yourself a favour and document everything you do. Setup a linux box somewhere and install wiki, and whenever you do something/install a system/change the network, just record it. don't worry about formatting etc, just keep it somewhere. Then, when things quiet down, go back and clean it up. Then you'll know in a couple years why it was important that cable X ran to Y after Y has been moved and you go 'wtf was I thinking'.
... going back to fix these things is a pain in the ass later, but is easy to do from the start.
Or, if you happen to leave, you're leaving a good legacy for the next guy.
I know documentation is the bane of everyones existance, but when you're designing a new network from the ground up (including servers, workstations, etc) a little pain == lots of gain.
Additionally, create (and document) some quick policies and procedures now - things like passwords/external access/storage locations/naming conventions
Good luck.
We emerge from our mother's womb an unformatted diskette; our culture formats us. - Douglas Coupland
Move your revision control, backups, security, servers, etc stuff to India.
Don't listen to him. Look, I can get you a much better deal by nearshoring your IT operations with a Canadian firm who will then offshore to a firm in China. The Chinese firm will outsource to a contract company in Vietnam. Your cost will be next to nothing.
Uncomfortable with the plan? Think of it this way, you will easily be able to access^Wbuy back your business processes, security, and data at any time through a multitude of interesting and multilingual extortionists. Your company's operations will be mirrored across teh internets in a distributed network of black and not-so-black markets. You'll always have access to your company's IT operations regardless of how bad you mess things up in the USA.
Speak truth to power.
Or, one could assume that the people involved are interested in having and controlling a successfull small business. Sure, you may not get stupidly rich, but there can be a lot of satisfaction in simply controlling your own destiny and turning a profit every year.
And even if you *do* plan to grow the number of people in the company, the likelyhood is that you're not going to do it in the first six months, and that when you do, you're going to *move*. In the meantime, building up infrastructure is a waste of time. Building a small, reliable net that you don't have to dick around with on a daily basis should be your goal. When it's time to grow, buy new stuff. It will be cheaper and more capable then than it is now.