Joseph Moran

How many company computers have the accounting software installed? What’s the IP address of the second floor Ethernet switch? Which printers are out of toner/ink, and what color do they need? These are the kinds of questions small business network administrators need answers to every day, and Spiceworks‘ free network management and monitoring software makes […]

Many start-ups and small businesses store and share their business data across a handful of PCs. Although you can get by on this kind of ad-hoc system for a while, it’s inefficient, unwieldy, and unsecure. It’s a situation that only increases as a business grows. The best way to maximize the availability and security of […]

When we looked at the original HP Proliant MicroServer back in 2010, we said it would make a great first server for a small business. We feel much the same way about HP’s new Proliant MicroServer Gen8; it significantly improves upon its predecessor with great engineering touches and useful technology brought down from HP’s enterprise-class […]

Virtually every small business would benefit from having a server, but countless small firms—say, those with one up to a couple dozen employees—do without one under the misguided impression that the benefits don’t justify the cost and effort it takes to buy, run, and maintain a server. If that describes your company, you may want […]

When it comes to small business security, protecting computers from malware attacks isn’t as simple as installing anti-virus (AV) software and calling it a day. Having AV software is a good first step, but it’s also crucial that you keep all of your installed software up-to-date. Otherwise, it could harbor known security vulnerabilities that hackers […]

The phrase “paperless office” was first coined way back when Gerald Ford was president. Since then, electronic information and communication has displaced much of what we used to do on paper, but dead tree documents still play a big role in most offices. That’s why a good small business multifunction printer that can print, scan, […]

There’s been a lot of technological innovation in printers over the last few years. Not so much in the realm of getting ink onto paper, but rather in connectivity—getting documents and photos into and out of the printer without need of a computer. Brother’s MFC-J870DW breaks new ground in this area as the first printer […]

It takes quite a bit of networking to get a new office up and running. To be clear, we’re not talking about making the rounds at a tradeshow, polishing your elevator pitch, or bulking up your LinkedIn connections (though these are certainly all worthwhile activities). Rather, we mean actual networking, the kind that lets your […]

As anyone who shoots a lot of video knows, video files consume a considerable amount of storage space. And as anyone with days, weeks, or months of stored video knows, organizing all that footage so that you can find what you’re looking for takes a considerable effort. Imagine then, the challenge faced by a small […]

Of the myriad technology matters a young small business must contend with when establishing a new office—computers, Internet access, hosted services such as email and a website, etc.—setting up an office phone system can be especially complicated and costly. Although the Linx devices would imply powerline networking, they’re actually wireless transmitters that use the same […]

If you’re in the market for a new mobile computer, there’s a good chance you’re considering a tablet in lieu of a traditional notebook. If so, you’ve got a lot of company—sales of both notebook and desktop PCs are sliding. IDC projects that tablets will outsell notebooks worldwide this year and, by 2015, they will […]

Managing employees’ Web use—and protecting their computers from the malware that seems to behind every other Web site—is challenging enough for a small businesses when workers sit in rows of offices and cubicles connected to the corporate network. But when they’re out in the world with laptops and other mobile devices linked to myriad networks—at […]