An Office’s Responsibility to its Hardware

A network requires routine maintenance in the same manner that an automobile
does. In fact, automobiles and networks are analogous in several important ways.
For example, an automobile needs an oil change every 3,000 miles, and the tires
must be rotated and balanced every 10,000 miles. It might even get washed once or
twice a week. This type of tight maintenance schedule is also important to a
computer network. If an automobile owner never changed the oil, could he blame
his mechanic if his engine burned up? Certainly not. The driver is responsible for
the maintenance of his own automobile.

The same is true of computer networks. Having a hardware technician inspect a
network does cost money, but it is necessary and should be considered part of
normal maintenance. Many computer problems can be avoided by a good
maintenance regimen. Think of it not as an unnecessary or frivolous expense, but as
a preventive measure for your network.

There are several points that might be covered by such an inspection. General
system performance and reliability might be discussed and weighed against
installing updated drivers for system devices such as printers or network cards.
Often, hardware manufacturers rewrite drivers as part of their own problemresolution
process. In most cases, they post their updated drivers on the Internet.

You should also have the hardware tech delete any unnecessary files. Uninstalling
old or unused programs is part of this process. This helps to speed up the following
maintenance chore: DEFRAG. Fewer programs and files to scan or defragment will
speed the process of running those utilities. Heavy use over a long period of time
may sometimes lead to deterioration of both the storage surfaces themselves and the
mechanical portions of the drive as well.

Running DEFRAG will help your computer run more efficiently in some cases.
When files are deleted, or programs are installed or uninstalled, files become
fragmented. That means that instead of being arranged on the disk drive in a
contiguous, consecutive manner, files are scattered about piecemeal, or in fragments.
This slows down the hard drive because it must now make several passes in order to
get an entire file that it might need.

Avoid potential viruses and spyware. These programs are insidious and will affect
every aspect of your system. Virus protection software and Spyware blockers will
help you detect, detain and destroy potential hazards. This is one area where you
can never be too careful.

The importance of a backup.
One of the most important responsibilities in maintaining your hardware is
examining your backup process. A hardware professional can watch the procedure
and verify that a good, restorable backup tape is being produced every night.
Backups are important for two reasons. First, and most importantly, a backup can be
restored in the event of theft, natural disaster or data corruption. Secondly, in unique
support situations, a backup could be restored by The Source Computing as a test.

A computer network requires at least yearly inspections by a local hardware expert,
just as a vehicle merits an occasional tune up. Observing a strict maintenance
schedule will benefit a dental office many times over in network stability and
reliability, and furthermore could avert an untimely breakdown in the future.