Cloud computing is levelling the field for accountants and small business and part of this is by running a virtual server in conjunction with a hosted desktop solution.
Our trained technicians divide very large and powerful servers into several smaller virtual but equally as powerful virtual servers. Historically the size and costs of the servers we are virtualising would've only been available to the largest accountancy firms and businesses. It means that you can rent a section of an enterprise class server. Your hosted desktop solution will run on these virtual servers.
When we virtualise your server it means we are creating a virtual sever that includes your operating system and storage space. We are specifically providing a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI).
Some of the advantages of a virtual server in conjunction with a hosted desktop include:
- Automatic computing - this means the environment is able to manage itself based on the activity levels. So rather than a small desktop machine doing the majority of processing for accounting programs, this is undertaken on a more robust and far quicker piece of hardware
- Centralising administration - from an IT managers perspective, it's far easier to manage multiple hosted desktops on one virtual server, then to physically manage each of the desktops individually.
- You only have to buy a small part of a very large and powerful server.
- Access your computer/server from any location and on any device
- Reduce your hardware and software costs by deploying thin client devices to access their hosted desktop in the organisation
- Standardised environment - the virtual server environment can be fully tested before rolling out any changes to the users
Managing a network can be a time consuming and expensive job for businesses. By providing a virtual network and virtual server we improve productivity and the efficiency of the administrator by performing many of these tasks automatically. This means that the true complex setup of the network, files, images, programs, and folders can be centrally managed by our trained technicians. This is one of the areas where we keep our costs down by gaining the economies of scale not available to traditional IT companies who need to go onsite for certain jobs. Storage media including hard drives and tape drives can be easily added or reassigned. On the virtual server your users can share storage space which are accessible through their hosted desktop.
The main benefits of running a virtual server are:
- Reduce the cost of your internal IT hardware requirements
- Reduce the cost of support and maintenance whether this is in-house or via a 3rd part IT support company
- Reduce the capital expenditure historically seen with hardware
- Have your virtual server available 24/7 - less downtime
- Reduce your TCO (total cost of owenership) - this is one of the big advantages of a virtual server and hosted desktop solution
If you would like further information on how we can offer your practice or business a virtualised server solution, please call us on 0800 440 2282.