Practical networking guides for Canadian IT professionals. Covers TCP/IP, VLANs, DNS, DHCP, firewalls, and enterprise network design.
Synology makes some of the most popular NAS devices for small businesses, and their operating system, DSM (DiskStation Manager), is a large part of why. It’s a full-featured, browser-based platform that makes complex storage tasks approachable without sacrificing capability. This is the first in a series of posts covering DSM in practical depth. Before You […]
Synology DSM Walkthrough (Part 1): Getting Started Read More »
When you connect a NAS or storage server to your network, you need a protocol to make that storage accessible to other devices. The three you’ll encounter most often are SMB, NFS, and iSCSI. They solve different problems and suit different environments. Choosing the right one depends on what you’re connecting, and what you need
iSCSI vs SMB vs NFS: Choosing the Right Storage Protocol Read More »
Getting a printer working for one computer is straightforward. Getting it working reliably for an entire office, across Windows and Mac devices, with sensible defaults and minimal IT involvement, is a different task. Here’s how to approach it properly. Step 1: Connect the Printer to the Network For an office printer, a wired ethernet connection
Network Printer Setup: Getting Everyone Printing Without the Chaos Read More »
Most home owners and small businesses use whatever firewall came built into their router, a consumer-grade device with limited configurability and basic security features. pfSense and OPNsense are a different category of product entirely: fully featured, enterprise-grade firewall platforms that run on commodity hardware and cost nothing in software licensing. What They Are Both pfSense
pfSense and OPNsense: Open Source Firewalls for Serious Users Read More »
VPN gets used as a catch-all term for very different things. A consumer VPN service that hides your browsing from your ISP is a very different product from the business VPN that lets your staff securely connect to your office network from home. Understanding the distinction, and knowing which type your business actually needs, helps
VPNs: Site-to-Site vs Remote Access Read More »
Every time you type a website address into your browser, something happens behind the scenes that most people never think about. That something is DNS, and while it’s invisible when working correctly, it has a significant impact on your network’s speed, reliability, and security. What DNS Is DNS stands for Domain Name System. It’s a
DNS: What It Is and Why It Matters for Your Business Read More »
If everyone on your network (staff laptops, guest devices, smart TVs, security cameras, and the office thermostat) shares the same connection with no separation between them, you have a flat network. It works, but it creates unnecessary risk and performance problems that are easy to avoid. VLANs are the solution. What is a VLAN? A
VLANs Explained: Segmenting Your Business Network Read More »
The term “reverse proxy” sounds technical, but the concept is straightforward once you understand what problem it solves. If you run any web-based services (internally or externally) a reverse proxy is a tool worth understanding. What a Reverse Proxy Does A reverse proxy is a server that sits in front of one or more backend
What is a Reverse Proxy and Why Would You Need One? Read More »
Most small businesses find out about network problems the same way: a staff member reports that something isn’t working. By that point, the issue has already been affecting productivity for some time, and diagnosing it starts from zero. Network monitoring flips that around. Rather than reacting to problems, you have visibility into your infrastructure that
Network Monitoring Tools: PRTG, Zabbix and Beyond Read More »
“Move to the cloud” has become standard advice for small businesses, but it’s not always clear what that actually means. Cloud hosting covers everything from storing files in OneDrive to running virtual servers in a data centre, and the right choice depends entirely on what you’re trying to do. What Cloud Hosting Actually Means At
What is Cloud Hosting and Which Type Does Your Business Need? Read More »