How The Cloud Provides Virtualization For The SMB

Virtualization has been a hot topic within enterprise data centers for years. It’s a matter of getting more out of what you already have. Virtualization can turn a lightly loaded server into many smaller servers that you’d otherwise have to buy. It can ease the burden of a heavily loaded server across many hardware platforms, avoiding the expense of one monstrous hardware platform. That’s great for large corporations, but what about small and medium size businesses. Is there any way they can gain the efficiencies of virtualization?

There is now. Just look to the cloud. Virtualization is the magic behind the curtain that makes the cloud a practical reality. Clouds are nothing more than extremely large data centers set up to serve many tenants. The principle is that any customer will perceive having access to infinite resources and a sense of being the only user if the data center is engineered correctly. The practical way to do that is with virtualization.

Every aspect of the cloud is virtualized. It starts with the servers used as computing resources. The racks and racks full of physical servers are virtualized into hundreds or thousands of virtual servers. What happens on one virtual server stays on one virtual server. As long as there are enough physical resources to support the demand for as many virtual servers as customers activate, users have no idea how many other customers are sharing the same physical assets or what the maximum number of virtual servers can be.

The same is true for storage, also virtualized, and bandwidth, which has always worked well as a virtualized resource. Even software can be virtualized when running on the cloud. This has led to the Software as a Service or SaaS model. Customers perceive having their own installation of a software package, although in practice they are one out of many.

So, what does this have to do with the Small and Medium Business (SMB)? Once you are relieved from the burden of ownership, the barriers to entry for fairly sophisticated computing services shrink considerably. Few companies have the multi-million dollar capital resources to go out and build secure, environmentally controlled data centers with layers of redundant power, and then populate these spaces with rack after rack of the latest hardware. They also need to budget to hire the staff that makes all of these resources work together reliably and keep on top of patches, upgrades and troubleshooting.

The cloud moves all of that cost and effort from your hands to those of a dedicated service provider who is in business to manage the cloud and nothing else. They’re not trying to run a manufacturing, marketing or healthcare company. They’re in business to run a cloud and run it for excellent performance. By purchasing your IT services from a cloud provider instead of replicating a data center on-premises, the smaller a company you can be and still afford the service. It’s now possible for even “mom & pop” operations to use cloud services from the day the business opens and grow their IT right along with their business.

Here’s something else that SMB operations are finding is better off in the cloud than on-site. That’s PBX telephone systems. How many companies have the expertise to run their own phone systems? Many contract with VARs (Value Added Resellers) and consultants to buy, install and maintain an in-house telephone system. Send all that to the cloud and all you need onsite is the phones and perhaps a provider installed managed gateway. They even take care of the trunk lines that connect to the public telephone system.

What’s all this cost? Cloud services are sold on a pay-as-you-go basis. Many are prices by the month for each user or “seat,” as they are called. Computing is sold by the number of virtual servers and quantity of storage per month or even per hour. Unlike normally contracted services, cloud resources are easily increased or decreased. Often you can do this through a Web-based control panel for your account. Your bill is automatically adjusted as you add and subtract resources.

Are you finding it too hard to acquire the computing and communication resources you really need to be competitive? Consider getting those resources as services from the cloud and pay only for what you use now with option of rapidly scaling up when business conditions dictate. Compare prices and options from multiple cloud service providers now and compare with the expense of trying to do it all yourself.

Comprehensive Network Services From Telarus

Building and managing a network for your business can be problematic. For smaller businesses, it’s a distraction from the main focus of the company. For medium and larger operations, it can be a money pit and either a boost or a hinderance to productivity. What can really get painful is integrating your LAN and WAN networks to create one smooth running entity. Is there anything that can help?

You bet there is. There’s a service that can help regardless of whether you are a small office with no tech support to a major corporation with international operations. Imagine getting the hardware, software, installation, maintenance, operation, upgrades, plus connectivity from switched circuit analog telephone right on up to gigabit Ethernet, all from one source. Now, THAT’s comprehensive service!

The service I’m referring to is actually a family of services under one umbrella called Telarus. I first became associated with this company when they launched their groundbreaking “Shop for T1” service over 6 years ago. The revolutionary idea was that you could get T1 line pricing for your business location in under a minute on your Web browser. You still can. Just use the Shop for T1 real-time quote engine on our T1 Rex site.

Competitive T1 line pricing soon expanded to a wide variety of telecom bandwidth services that now encompass DS3, SONET fiber optic connections, Metro Ethernet, MPLS networks, wireless point to point and Dedicated Internet service, colocation servers, ISDN PRI, SIP trunking, and managed routers for everything.

When it comes to WAN services, Telarus offers one-stop shopping for nearly every business bandwidth service you can get. What’s more, being a telecom brokerage service means they can often offer you multiple competitive quotes for the service you need. The Telarus bandwidth consultants can help you weigh the tradeoffs among an often staggering amount of options so you can get the service that meets your business needs at the best price. The cost of all this to you? Zip. It’s free to any organization with serious professional requirements.

But you know that bandwidth is only one piece of the puzzle. How about all that internal infrastructure that keep the packets flowing?

This is where the complementary Telarus VAR Network service comes into play. What’s a VAR? That means Value Added Reseller. It’s an industry term for independent business telephone and computer network companies that specialize in sales and service. VARs will take your business requirements and offer you a package deal for PBX phone systems, routers, network switches, fiber optic cabling, copper wiring, connections and whatever else it takes to build your telephone, data or converged network.

VARs often offer turnkey solutions that include both the equipment and installation. Since the VAR Network is part of the Telarus family, participating VARs also have access to the complete range of bandwidth solutions that Telarus offers. This gives you the advantage of one-stop shopping and a single point of contact for any issues that arise. Accessing the VAR Network is as simple as entering a quick summary of your business needs using the VAR Network online request. That triggers the automated database to alert qualified VARs in your area to contact you for complete details.

Can you do any better than this? I doubt it. If you are not familiar with these Telarus services, go ahead and give them a try. The cost to you is zero, the time required is minimal, and the cost savings can be way more than you might think.

Finding Information on PBX Telephone Systems Pricing

Are you building a new office building or hotel? How about plans to upgrade your antiquated business telephone system? If so, you are no doubt interested in finding good information on PBX telephone systems pricing. Ideally, you want to get a range of options and competitive prices so you can make and informed buying decision. But, how much trouble is that going to be?

No trouble at all. Well, no trouble if you take advantage of an online clearinghouse that connects qualified vendors of PBX phone systems with qualified business buyers. That clearinghouse is called the VAR Network.

The VAR Network specializes in two important telecom technology areas. One is PBX telephone. The other is network equipment. For many businesses, these are complementary technologies. Most companies have both multi-user telephone systems and computer networks for internal communications and Internet access.

There is another synergy between telephone and computer systems. The latest in telephony developments is VoIP or Voice Over Internet Protocol. VoIP telephone systems "speak" the IP computer language that runs on all Ethernet based networks. Some companies still keep their computer and telephone networks separate. But others integrate the two onto a single company LAN that serves both voice and data. It take some engineering expertise to make this work so that both voice and data function as if they each had the network to themselves. But when it does work, there is a huge advantage of plugging everything into a common set of network jacks. Moving phones and adding new ones is as simple as unplugging from one network jack and plugging into another somewhere else in the building.

The VAR Network is made of up Value Added Resellers or VARs who are authorized representatives for one or more equipment lines. These VARs often offer everything from pre-sales consultations to sales, installation and ongoing support for the manufacturers they represent. They are located all over the country and chances are there are a number that serve your area. But how to you find them? The easy way is to browse through the customer website for the VAR network. You can select from the most popular equipment lines or search for exactly what you are looking for. When you find it, simply enter some basic contact information and your request will enter the system.

What happens then is that the search database of the VAR Network will match up your request with appropriate VARs who have been pre-screened for membership in the network. The matching algorithm is based on what type of equipment and/or service you are looking for and where you are located. When there is a match, a email request is sent to the matching VARs to have them contact you at your mutual convenience. You can then decide whether you want to do business with one or more of the VARs who call you.

The VAR Network supports a wide range of PBX telephone systems, including those offered by Allworx, Avaya, Cisco, Fonality, Nortel, Mitel, ShoreTel, NEC, Polycom, 3 Com, Inter-Tel, TalkSwitch, Toshiba, Lucent, Artisoft, Vodavi, Vertical, and Switchvox. Network hardware includes the lines of Adtran, Cisco, 3 Com, Extreme, Foundry, Juniper and Nortel, among others.

And what does all of this cost? Not a penny. The VAR Network functions as a match-maker between Value Added Resellers and companies that are looking for what they sell. There is no cost or obligation for you to use the system. The only request is that you have an actual business need, so as not to waste everyone's valuable time. If you do have a current or near term need and would like to give this system a try, simply visit the VAR Network website now and do just that. If you happen to be someone in the business telephone system or computer networking business, you are also invited to visit the VAR Network and see how it can help bring you new business.

The Painless Way to Find Network Technicians

Your business is big enough and high tech enough that you have an in-house data network and a PBX telephone system. Perhaps you have even converged your networks with an enterprise VoIP phone system. But what you don't have is the budget for a full time IT staff and certainly not a telecommunications department. You need to hire the services you need as you need them. But is there an easy way to find contractors to do this work?

There is now. It's called the VAR Network. VAR stands for Value Added Reseller. These are companies that specialize in the equipment offered by one or more manufacturers. VARs range in scope from authorized dealers that simply stock and ship equipment to full service companies that offer consulting, sales, system design, installation, training, upgrades and repairs.

The VAR Network specializes in two types of technologies. They are business telephone systems and computer networks. If what you need is help with either of these technologies, then the VAR Network is your place for one stop shopping. The VARs that are part of this network can help you with everything from replacement parts to turnkey systems.

Here's how it works. You simply browse to the VAR Network site and look for the link that best describes the services you need. That could be network equipment, high speed Internet service, phone system hardware, telephone service, or VoIP equipment & service. You can simply start your request by selecting telephone or data networking. Or just put in your zip code and let the site guide you through a structured inquiry.

What happens next? Your request is matched to participating VARs in the database. These are dealers and technicians who have registered to become members of the VAR Network. The are distributed geographically across the United States. You'll only be contacted by VARs that serve your area and have the capabilities that you request. When a VAR calls, you can get into a more detailed discussion or set up a meeting.

How much does all of this cost? Absolutely nothing to you the customer. VARs support the network based on the new business it brings them. They compete to get the best leads by providing superior service that may include both the system and the connectivity you require.

Do you have a need for technical support? Perhaps something you've been putting off because you weren't sure where to get the right help? Here's your chance to get the service you need without any more grief. Simply visit the VAR Network right now and get your inquiry started. The system is available 24/7 online so anytime is a good time to give it a try.