» What is cloud computing?
Cloud computing is the future of business IT networks. A cloud network will provide you with a full range of IT services without the need to purchase or maintain an internal IT infrastructure. All Windows applications, third party software (e.g. Adobe) and exchange email services are delivered directly to your PC, MAC, Thin Client or Dumb Terminal over an internet connection. Cloud Computing means your business has a flexible, reliable and up to date IT network at a fraction of the cost.
» Cloud computing is:
- Virtualisation - where applications are separated from infrastructure
- Utility computing - where server capacity is accessed across a grid as a variably priced shared service
- Software as a service - Where applications are available on demand on a subscription basis
» What infrastructure is the Cloud based on?
The majority of cloud computing infrastructure is built on servers with different levels of virtualization technologies through data centres. The services are accessible anywhere in the world via an internet connection, the cloud appears as a single point of access for all computing needs.
» You may already use cloud computing and cloud based email:
Chances are you have been actively using the technology. Google’s business is based on owning a massive computer infrastructure (or cloud) that people tap into from their homes or offices. Email services like Hotmail, Gmail, and Yahoo Mail. Hotmail was one of the first online email services and was in widespread use well before the term "cloud computing" was introduced.
» How can the Wanstor cloud improve my business?
- Reduced Costs. ‘pay as you grow’ – Wanstor’s cloud computing is scalable and you can move up or down when you need to
- Increased Storage. businesses can store more data than on private computer systems
- Highly Automated. No longer do IT personnel need to worry about keeping software up to date.
- Flexibility. Cloud computing offers much more flexibility than past computing methods
- More Mobility. Employees can access information wherever they are, rather than having to remain at their desks
- Allows IT to Shift Focus. No longer having to worry about constant server updates and other computing issues, IT professionals will be free to concentrate on business development and innovation
» Hosted Desktop Frequently Asked Questions
Will my costs increase next year?
Wanstor typically offer long-term fixed price agreements, however any increase would be in line with inflation.
Will the solution be reliable?
Organisations put a lot of value on mission-critical applications and rely on them heavily to run their businesses. As a result, downtime can be very costly. A heavily used database or applications server can easily cost a business thousands of pounds in lost productivity or revenue every hour that it’s unavailable. For every benefit and advantage brought to an organization by an IT solution, technology and business decision-makers should also think about how to deal with the inevitable downtime of these solutions. Fortunately Wanstor takes this extremely seriously and designs the Hosted Desktop solution with redundancy at each level of the infrastructure ensuring that the highest available uptimes of 99.99% are achieved.
Am I tied into Wanstor once we move to the hosted desktop?
Wanstor’s solution provides each client with their own independent network and isolated virtual servers hosted at our London data centre. Unlike other solutions which have multiple clients on a single network, your data and servers are isolated can be made available to you at any time, and because of the virtual configuration these can be copied to any other virtual server and started in the same state they were stopped at. This makes it incredibly easy to move your whole network at a later date.
As this is dependent on internet access, what if my line fails?
Wanstor will outline a solution that will cater for failed lines or faulty equipment. Redundancy is incorporated into the Wanstor design at each level including multiple ADSL or SDSL lines, network equipment, servers and storage etc. This ensures that in the event of a failure we are already prepared and you and your team can continue to service your clients.
Do I need to upgrade my servers or software in X years time?
No, Wanstor provide all your servers, storage, backups and MS software licensing.. Capacity monitoring and advanced planning ensures the back-office infrastructure always has resources available to keep the service quick.
What if my bespoke software vendor needs access to the system for updates?
As long as you authorise this, Wanstor creates specific admin accounts that vary for each vendor, this ensures that access is granted but changes are tracked and security is not compromised.
Is the solution and my data secure?
Wanstor utilise multiple layers of security ranging from physical Cisco firewalls with intrusion prevention to 128bit traffic encryption along with Virtual Private Networks and L2TP traffic routing to actually avoid traffic travelling out through the internet.
What if I expand and open new remote offices or move our HQ?
The hosted desktop solution is ideal for businesses with geographically dispersed locations. Compared to a typical new office solution of installing new servers, backup regime, software, assigning IT support, PC installation, network configuration, firewalls, AV security, inter-site connectivity and much more, the hosted desktop solution just requires new users accounts, broadband and a Thin client/PC device and offers much more flexibility. Moving sites is just as easy, the same way you would turn off your PC at the end of the day and continue working from home, you would simply continue working from the new office.
Is my data kept Safe?
Data Backups are Wanstor’s number one priority. Wanstor believe that keeping your data secure and available is our top priority. Studies have shown that 30% of all businesses that have a major fire with data loss go out of business within a year. 70% fail within five years*. Your data is stored in multiple secure locations on several types of media. Wanstor also provides you with an option to copy your data back to your head office each night for peace of mind.
I need to know that the migration isn’t going to cause us downtime or loss of services, how do you plan for this?
Wanstor’s Risk free Migration Plan been developed and enhanced from each completed migration over the past 6 years. Wanstor includes an initial discovery day, pre-project planning meetings with project time line, ongoing project management, post project review and go-live assistance which mitigate risk at each step. The project plan & time line are always available to the you and your vendors ensuring everyone is kept informed throughout the entire process. The Hosted Desktop can be accessed by an icon on your existing systems, so if something did go wrong on the Go-Live day you could continue to work as you always have done and plan this for another day with no downtime.
*Above DR fact taken from Home Office Computing Magazine.Each hosted desktop solution will vary and the agreements terms and conditions should be referenced to confirm or explain the above answers in more detail.
