Remote Access to Remote Appliances
When shopping around for remote access software, you should consider which products have remote appliance support included. While appliance support is not as important as being able to remotely administer your servers, the ability to remotely tweak the settings of a wireless access point, storage rack, or router through could save your IT staff a few late-night trips to the office and your organization some money in the long run. However, support for remote appliance administration should not be a make-or-break criterion for your purchasing decision, as networked appliances often have some simple browser-based remote hardware access that will allow you to configure them remotely anyway.
Use Common Storage
The term ¡°network appliance¡± unfortunately doesn¡¯t refer to a fridge with video conferencing capabilities, but instead it often refers to a network-accessible storage device, such as a networked hard drive or rack, that is shared by multiple systems on a LAN, though it can refer to many kinds of computer hardware connected to a network. As your organization grows, you¡¯ll find that using common, shared data storage becomes increasingly important, and it thus becomes critical to keep that data online at all times. When you go shopping for network storage devices, be sure that they have remote appliance support and remote hardware access, as administering the devices remotely will save you a lot of time and money in the long run. The ability to do quick maintenance fixes in the middle of the night from home could save you a lot of stress and your system administrator a lot of time.
Remodeling Your Home for Ethernet
I saw a ¡°home of the future¡± on TV that had miles of Ethernet cable; should I put networking cable in my walls?
If you¡¯re performing a major renovation or building a new home, adding Ethernet cables throughout will not cost you much money and could prepare your home for the next decade. As microprocessor prices fall, common devices such as toys and cars are becoming much more intelligent, and it¡¯s only a matter of time before your fridge and microwave will be able to go online to receive remote appliance support, or that you¡¯ll be able to use remote hardware access to turn your heat on from the airport when you touch down.
On the other hand, it is pretty early to simply go installing Ethernet cables in perfectly good walls if they¡¯re not already under construction, so unless you¡¯ve already gotten your hands on a futuristic, networked toaster, you¡¯re safe waiting a few more years.