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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.

  1. 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.

  2. Web site hosting.

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

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

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

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

  1. 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:

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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/
Reply to
Joerg
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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.

Reply to
Martin Riddle

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

Reply to
Jamie M

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

Reply to
chris

....

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 
    PC Services 
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Reply to
Paul

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)
Reply to
Fred Abse

+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.

Reply to
Don Y

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 
    PC Services 
  Raspberry Pi Add-ons 
 Timing Diagram Font 
  GNU H8 - compiler & Renesas H8/H8S/H8 Tiny 
 For those web sites you hate
Reply to
Paul

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=.) 
--------------------------------------------------------------
Reply to
Nico Coesel

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/
Reply to
Joerg

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/
Reply to
Joerg

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

--
Regards, Joerg 

http://www.analogconsultants.com/
Reply to
Joerg

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

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

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/
Reply to
Joerg

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/
Reply to
Joerg

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.

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cheers, Jamie

Reply to
Jamie M

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

Reply to
chris

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
Reply to
Spehro Pefhany

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

Reply to
Jamie M

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*?!!" :>)

Reply to
Don Y

Maybe Funambol? They have a demo system at

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but offer tailored setups for customers as well, webpage is
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If read that correctly, one option is that they setup all you want on your hardware in your premises or alternative in theirs. No idea about the prices though but I'd look into this if I were in your shoes.

Reply to
Anssi Saari

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