Technical Expertise

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• Server Technologies
• Email Technologies
• Database Systems
• Telephony
• Web Technologies

Microsoft Windows

Over the years we have worked with all versions of Windows server and client products from NT, 95 & 98 through to Server 2003, XP and more recently Vista. Windows Server continues to evolve and improve with SBS 2003 offering great value for small businesses. Whatever the size of your network, our engineers possess the expertise to help your business implement and support solutions using both Windows servers and clients.

For details of our Windows server network offerings please see Corporate Networks .

GNU/Linux

GNU/Linux or just Linux as it is commonly known, is a type of open source operating system combining the Linux kernel, the GNU system, and many other free software components. There are many distributions of Linux, each comprising different combinations of components, many of which are free to download and use, and others being commercial products. Linux is known for being able to provide reliable cost effective business solutions, especially as a server.

Ubuntu and Fedora are currently our Linux distributions of choice. With the apt and yum package management systems they offer unrivalled flexibility and the latest software at no cost. Many of our solutions use a Linux server as the core component of the system. Whether it be an email server, web server, PBX phone system, or file and print server we have the experience and technical expertise to manage, monitor and administer systems running on all Linux platforms.

For details of our Linux based telephony solutions please see Telephony .

For details of our Linux based groupware solutions please see Messaging & Collaboration .

For details of our Linux based web software solutions please see Web Solutions .

For details of our Linux based network offerings please see Corporate Networks .

Samba

Samba is an open source suite that provides seamless interoperability of file and print services between Unix/Linux servers and Windows-based clients.

We use Samba as a substitute for a Microsoft Windows Server in many small business environments. Samba can provide many of the features and functions of a Windows Server including domain based security, allowing users to have syncronised desktop settings and passwords across the network.

For details of our cross-platform network offerings please see Corporate Networks .

ZABBIX

ZABBIX is an open source software package for monitoring applications, networks and servers. ZABBIX supports both polling and trapping techniques to collect data from monitored hosts. A flexible notification mechanism allows quick and easy configuration of different types of notifications for pre-defined events.

For details of our monitoring solutions please see Management & Support .

Microsoft Exchange Server

Exchange server is Microsoft's flagship messaging platform. When integrated with Microsoft Small Business Server (SBS), Exchange can offer a good value fully functional groupware solution. However for companies with greater than 75 nodes per domain the cost rises sharply and it becomes a significant investment. As with most Microsoft products, the forced upgrade paths will eventually bring additional costs in order to avoid the risk of becoming vunerable to unsupported security holes in the long term. Combine this with the ever increasing number of better value open source based alternatives and Exchange is facing tough competition.

For details please see Messaging & Collaboration .

Bynari Software

Bynari, Inc, based in Dallas Texas is a leading-edge software firm focused on providing a full-suite of collaboration products by utilising open standards and architecture. Bynari products include the Insight Server which is a linux based groupware solution, and the Insight Connector which offers complete Outlook integratation for both the Insight Server and third party IMAP servers such as our own groupware offering. The Insight Webclient offers a 'Web 2.0' style webmail interface. Bynari products offer a great value featureful alternative to Microsoft Exchange server and Outlook Web Access.

As a Bynari partner we are able to offer a high level of product expertise and priority technical support. For details please see Messaging & Collaboration .

Postfix

Postfix is a fast and easy to configure mail transfer agent. We use Postfix in conjunction with Cyrus IMAP, Apache, Squirrelmail, and OpenLDAP to provide a comprehensive email and directory service system with a single sign-on for each user. Postfix is used for sending mail from the system, and for receiving mail from outside of the system.

For details please see Messaging & Collaboration .

Cyrus IMAP

The Cyrus IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) server provides access to personal mail and system-wide bulletin boards through the IMAP protocol. The Cyrus IMAP server is a scalable enterprise mail system designed for use from small to large enterprise environments using standards-based technologies.

In conjunction with Postfix, we use Cyrus within our in-house messaging system. For details please see Messaging & Collaboration .

MySQL

MySQL is the most popular open source database. Combine award-winning speed, scalability and reliability, and being free, MySQL is the database of choice for over five million installations. As a member of the MySQL partner program, it is our prefered database system.

For details please see Database Development .

OpenLDAP

OpenLDAP is an open source implementation of the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol. LDAPv3 is the current standard in directory services, and is also the protocol on which Microsoft Active Directory is based. As well as providing traditional directory information such as user details and email addresses, we use OpenLDAP to glue together other components such as Cyrus IMAP and Postfix to give a centralised password store.

For details of our Linux based groupware solutions please see Messaging & Collaboration .

Asterisk PBX

Asterisk is the most popular and extensible open source telephone system in the world, offering flexibility, functionality and features not available in advanced, high-end (high-cost) proprietary business systems. Asterisk is a complete IP PBX (private branch exchange) for businesses.

Our engineers have a wealth of experience in the installation of fully customised phone systems using Asterisk. Asterisk runs on regular computer hardware and we are able to supply the complete package including additional hardware such as PRI cards (for ISDN30), BRI cards (for ISDN2), and cards to integrate Asterisk with analogue phone lines and existing analogue extensions.

For details please see Telephony .

Asterisk and the Asterisk logo are trademarks of Digium, Inc.

Snom VoIP Telephones

Snom manufacture premium quality business grade VoIP telephones based on open standards SIP. Snom products offer a decisive advantage thanks to their high interoperability. For this reason we recommend Snom telephones to our clients as, in addition to Asterisk, they can be combined with numerous devices of other established manufacturers thus guaranteeing the user the greatest possible independence.

We supply the full range of Snom products. For details please see Telephony .

Apache HTTP Server

Apache has been the most popular web server on the internet for nearly 12 years. Its huge popularity continues today as it is the software of choice for approaching 70% of all web servers on the internet. Its key properties of being secure, efficient and extensible, as well as free, have proved a winning formula and made Apache our web server of choice.

For details of our bespoke web software development please see Web Solutions .

Squid Web Proxy Cache

Squid is a full-featured open source web proxy cache server. It provides a method of accelerating, filtering, and logging web and other content provided to users. We use Squid as part of our web content filtering solution.

PHP

PHP is a server-side scripting language which is executed on the server sending the output to the clients' browser. The goal of the language is to allow web developers to write dynamically generated pages quickly. PHP stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor. We use PHP for nearly all of our web based programming because it allows us to develop web based applications at a pace that no other language can match, as well as being platform independant.

For details of our custom web software development please see Web Solutions .

Compliance with W3C Standards

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) develops interoperable technologies (specifications, guidelines, software, and tools) to lead the Web to its full potential. We ensure that all of our website and web application coding conforms to W3C standards not only to ensure that is accessible to as many users as possible, but also in order to maintain long term compatability with different web browsers including Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.