With computers taking over, setting up a new office is no longer about just desk and chairs. Information Technology forms the back bone of a modern day office and hence should top on your planning list

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I get a lot of mails from readers asking how to go about setting up an Internet café or small office. Here’s how you go about it. In this article, I will look at two possible scenarios; a small ten-computer café and a medium 25-person office.

Things Before IT

Survey your office area properly before you embark upon setting up the network. Mark out the sitting arrangement before you lay the network nodes.

Software such as SmartDraw (www.smartdraw.com) helps in planning the seating arrangements; the trial version is free for download. Microsoft’s Visio is another tool that comes handy in this situation. If you don’t have access to these tools, humble Excel can be put to good use too (use the border tool to mark out).

Once you have decided on the seating arrangement, make sure to carve out a portion for the back office. This will be where all your network points will terminate to a switch and / or router, your Internet connection will terminate, peripherals such as printers and fax machines will be kept, and so on.

These preliminary steps done, go ahead and get the networking done. Use good quality Category 6 cables for networking. There are many vendors who provide structured cabling solutions—Tyco, Systimax, D-Link, ADC Krone, Panduit and more. Opt for the solution that best fits your budget. The number of people shouldn’t determine the type of network—you should be looking at the type of data you’ll be using, and how much traffic the network will have to deal with. For a 25-person office, I suggest going Gigabit; it future-proofs your investment too!

Putting IT Up

When putting up your IT infrastructure, you have to think beyond just hardware and software. Let me take your though the planning process wherein we will look at each aspect of establishing a rock solid IT infrastructure.

Power

Having a good, reliable power source is of utmost importance. Getting stable electricity is a problem in many parts of our country, so before you setup up your office, do a preliminary check on the availability and quality of power supply. Always invest in a UPS or an alternative power source—even if your area never sees a power cut, better safe than sorry.

There are various types of UPSes available—Standby, Line Interactive, Standby online hybrid, Standby Ferro, Double conversion Online and Delta Conversion Online. See the table overleaf for a detailed comparison. Line interactive UPSes will work well for a small 10-25 member team, with power requirement not exceeding 5 kVA.

Vendors such as APC, Emerson and Numeric are few players who offer products and services in the UPS segment. Choose the appropriate product depending on your power requirements, generally given as VA or KVA.

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