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Hi goonery goons! I have a history of working with computer systems since I was in middle school, which was back in the DOS days. Since then, I've built many different computers, and I just got back into the Linux scene with my new Raspberry Pi 2.0; a lot of information has to be re-learned. Anyway, I need your help. This counseling agency I'm working at has, to put it lightly, a lackluster computing system. Client data needs to be secure, and currently clinicians are keeping personal data on their own computers. There is no email server, and everyone has confidential information on their personal laptops. A lot needs to change, and they've recruited me. So here's what is currently going on from I've observed during my first week here: - Therapists are using their personal computers, and it is not known how secure each is and what type of OS and software is running - The Internet (AT&T U-Verse) is horribly slow  - Everyone in the office uses different email services (including AOL - they still exist?) - We have a .com through GoDaddy, so I'm wondering if we can get .com email addresses through our domain provider - The printer isn't even hooked up to the network, so everyone plugs in manually through USB... *shakes head* - I'll fix this And here's what I would like to accomplish at this point; your suggestions are welcomed and encouraged: - Build a server that will be able to securely store all of our local documents as well as provide email services - I want to have it built on a budget but still have reliable components. Motherboard, case, memory suggestions? - That server would be able to store emails and client files, and each therapist should be able to access their own content separately - What do I need to do in order to have our own email server? Would we have to use Outlook to access it? I'm aware there's a web-based version as well. - FTP clients for uploading and downloading files to the server: what is the best and most current nowadays? - I think a VPN for additional security might be needed. Thoughts? What's a good and reliable service? - Therapists need to be able to remotely access the server from home or anywhere with Internet access. I assume through a VPN client is the way to go. - Obviously the Internet speed needs to be increased, as the upload is atrocious; I'll be calling to see what type of speed increases we can acquire. - Everything needs to be HIPAA compliant. I've already been given the go ahead from the boss to purchase necessary parts for the server and whatever else is needed. Obviously I don't want to abuse this. Many thanks, and I look forward to this discussion and learning experience. regards, dunderhead
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Mar 18, 2015 22:07
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| # ? May 4, 2024 02:05 |
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Dunderhead posted:- We have a .com through GoDaddy, so I'm wondering if we can get .com email addresses through our domain provider Yes, if you use the sitebuilder https://login.websitetonight.com/ you should be able to create POP e-mail accounts. There might be a limit of five or ten addresses but that might be able to be increased for a little more money. Dunderhead posted:- Build a server that will be able to securely store all of our local documents as well as provide email services The two big questions are: How many employees are there? How much and what to they use e-mail for? Dell is a company that offers a lot of pre-built servers with decent warranties. I would not recommend building one yourself. You can use any modern e-mail client to access an Exchange server. But if it's just light e-mail use you don't have to bother with an Exchange server (more maintenance) and could just use POP mail through the GoDaddy site. Dunderhead posted:- I think a VPN for additional security might be needed. Thoughts? What's a good and reliable service? What kind of routers/networking equipment is at the business? You can get decent VPN routers for not too much money. Some businesses use it and some don't. They could use remote desktop with the right server OS. PS get Comcast business class internet if it's possible. U-verse is terribly slow as you see.
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Mar 18, 2015 22:53
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I would highly recommend Exchange over POP/IMAP, and hosted Exchange, at that. Office 365 meets the basic HIPAA reqs from a quick google search, but there are also providers specifically for medical businesses who offer more encryption options. And yeah, don't whitebox a server yourself. It sounds like you're a one-man department, so you want to be able to offload support as needed. RDP may be your best option for file access, since it sounds like this place is BYOD as heck and dealing with domain stuff on peoples' personal laptops would suck. Set up AD and all that jazz, and just have people remote in. Makes it easy to control access at all levels. Inspector_666 fucked around with this message at 23:05 on Mar 18, 2015 |
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Mar 18, 2015 22:57
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Dunderhead: You mentioned a .com so I assume this is for a for-profit organization right? I ask because there are resources available to non-profit orgs that can provide some consultation for very little money. Edit: removed something that looked like an advertisement. Sorry. stuxracer fucked around with this message at 04:14 on Mar 19, 2015 |
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Mar 18, 2015 23:08
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You might want to look in to Titanium Schedule, http://www.titaniumschedule.com/Main/, as an alternative to worry about file storage. I've used it for a fairly active counseling center (over 500 hours of use per week) for four years and it's amazing. It's designed for this exact situation. My center's been paperless (aside from a basic intake form which is typed later) for four years now. You can do intake forms, all client notes, evals, supervisor signatures, etc. all within the system. If you want the clients to be able to input their own intake information you need a web server for it to be publicly accessible (and, you can scope the access to just an internal network if you have wireless in a waiting area or something). That web component is a separate module and I have yet to use it yet, but it looks great and we'll probably pick it up within the next year. The program itself just needs a single file share with some basic permissions and it connects to an SQL database. You could easily put this on an affordable single processor server with good performance. You can scope this all down so it's nice and secure and only accessible behind a VPN. The permissions in the program are incredibly granular for every function. This solves nearly all of your issues. The cost model is based on total number of concurrent users and it's purchased in packs of 5. There's an initial fee and then yearly maintenance. Our highest concurrent usage of 20 users put the maintenance at $1200 or so for the year. I think it was around $3,500 when we first got it for the initial year. And yeah - don't build a server, please. Dell's warranty service is amazing for servers. A dude will get in his car and drive a hard drive to you in the middle of a snow storm at night on a Saturday within a few hours of calling if you have a disk failure (speaking from experience). If you don't want to host a server yourself - you're already using GoDaddy so opt in to their server services. They are one of the few Windows based hosts - so you can get an MS SQL instance from them, rock your file share, and IIS for the intake module if you wanted. I'd look in to Office 365 for email. It's affordable, flexible, and can get all of the employees Office licenses.
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Mar 19, 2015 03:47
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I guess what you are looking at is Enterprise Resource Planning. Check out Odoo (formerly open erp), there's a free version and a paid version - there's a website builder, mail server, calendar, chat app, schedule, HR, and whatever stuff you need for a small office. Or just get Office 365 for a hosted exchange to deal with Email and also have a sharepoint to share files
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Mar 19, 2015 09:15
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