Serving Small Businesses in North Georgia for 14 Years
Blizzard Computers of Ellijay, Georgia provides computer services including, network design and troubleshooting, computer upgrades and repair, monitoring and updates, and malicious code removal such as spyware, adware and viruses. Starting February 15th, 2009 server and desktop computer support is only provided to business customers that have a service contract.
Our monthly service contract provides proactive measures to keep your systems up and running. We provide real time remote and phone support from 9:30am to 5:30pm Monday thru Friday. Maintenance services are normally scheduled after hours to reduce the interruption of your daily business. We provide daily, weekly and/or monthly server status reports via email. These reports include a notice for your daily backup success or failure. For a low monthly fee per server and workstations you can have peace of mind that your business will stay up and running and your employees will have the support they need to complete their job. Call 706-635-3703 option 4 to get pricing and a detailed list of what is covered by our monthly service contract. Or, contact us via email.
We sell and service Intel based servers featuring Microsoft Windows Server Products (Windows Server 2003-2008 and Small Business server 2003-2008). We also sell and service Intel based desktop computers featuring Microsoft Windows XP Professional and Windows Vista Business.
Why do you need preventative maintenance on computers and networks?
Small businesses rely on computers to perform daily routines. When your systems are down, so is your ability to perform your obligations and earn income. The most profitable companies maintain their systems and provide redundancy. Waiting until you are dead in the water will cost more in the long run. Keep your systems up to date, protected, and backed up. Increase employee productivity and earn more profit. We maintain your computers and network while you maintain your company and clients all for one low monthly fee.
Networking
What small business can survive without a network these days? Even simple two computer home offices can benefit from a peer-to-peer network. Sharing files and printers or sharing your Internet connection are reason enough to invest in a simple network configuration. Need remote access? Blizzard Computers can design, configure, install and maintain your VPN (Virtual Private Network).
Wireless networks
In an office with 4 or more computers, we don't recommend a completely wireless network for a few reasons but there are many advantages for adding wireless to an existing network or for a home office. Any office that uses laptops can increase productivity with a wireless network. The ability to roam from your 6x8 cubicle to the conference room and stay connected can pay for itself. In a home office, many people don't want the clutter or eye sore of a wired network. The main things to watch for is overloading a low-end wireless access point or trying to connect to a file server with a weak signal. The lower your signal strength, the lower your data transfer rate which could lead to problems with some shared applications.
Antivirus and security
We shouldn't have to say it, but, if you don't have a current antivirus and antispyware program with an automated update routine on every computer in your office, you are pushing your luck and risking critical business data. You may also be sharing your clients' confidential data which can lead to legal trouble. Companies need to protect sensitive data with secure, password-protected servers and reliable data backups. Your company needs a firewall between your networked computers and the Internet.
File servers
Peer to peer networking works for a while, but eventually companies grow to the point where sharing files on one of your workstations becomes a problem. We recommend a dedicated server running a server operating system to any company that has 3 or more power users or any company with 5 or more workstations sharing files. Most desktop operating systems have a limit of 5 or 10 client connections. This less-than-obvious limitation can cause many issues in a network environment. Another consideration is the demand that a user puts on a computer being used as a workstation. This demand will often leave very few resources for file, printer, or Internet services that are being provided by a makeshift workstation-server. Central storage and backup for all company data is another benefit provided by a dedicated server.