Client-server systems are extremely popular for a number of reasons. If you are still using business software that requires installation onto each machine in your company, you have a lot of risk. This could even include a Microsoft Office. Cloud computing solutions and client-server applications go hand in hand. In this article, we take a look at some of the essential reasons why you should switch over to server-based systems, or use cloud computing solutions, even for your small business. Traditional software solutions are extremely out of date, and could be putting you at a lot of risk.
- Duplicate information. Duplicate data makes up the majority of data on the Internet. It is no coincidence that we see the same situation happening inside companies. How many copies of the same document are floating around each of your machines as users work on them? Sending files is extremely out of date. Files that reside on a cloud based system, or a client-server system, are accessed, modified and reside in the same location. This means there is only one copy of a single document unless specified, then it will be a copy that everyone also has access to.
- Human errors and mistakes. We can see from the issue of duplicates floating around on different machines, how likely it is that human error will cause issues with these files. The final copy of a presentation or invoice sent to a client might not be the final copy. This can result in more than extremely embarrassing situations. Humans make enough errors on their own without giving them more chances to do so.
- Data safety. Backing up is essential. Making sure everyone is backing up their machine each day, or implementing procedures to do that will be time consuming and cumbersome. With a single server or a cloud-supplied server, you have a single point for backup and supply to your offsite backup service. In cases of total data failure, your disaster recovery storage retrieval and rescue plans, will also be simplified. There will be only one place to reload that required data.
- Data security. Client-server systems require access. Access is defined by the administrator, which means each user will have different levels of access. Your data is centralised, and you can control who has access to it. In traditional peer-to-peer systems, this type of data control is either non-existent, or it is very difficult to manage.
- Software integration and updating. What happens when a new version of your software is released? Someone has to manually update all of the machines in your company. With a whole range of software applications running on all those machines, you will have conflict issues as some machines are updated before others. With client-server software solutions, the applications reside on the server. The user’s machine accesses the data, either through a very light client application, and more often than not, browser-based access is the norm. In other words, each of your staff only needs a browser on their individual machines to do all their tasks and access all the applications they need.
- Machine control. Are you tired of staff using applications they shouldn’t be? Do you have to maintain your machines more than you should because they have applications installed, they shouldn’t? We can set our company computers to act like terminals, and in essence, users can only interact with the applications they have available.
No comments:
Post a Comment