Cloud Computing Services

By Brian Long

February 28, 2017

What is the Cloud?

The cloud is simply a way to describe delivering computing resources through networks, public or private. The savings in time, money and real estate space from not having to build the infrastructure is only the start. Lost or stolen laptops are more easily replaced without the risk of losing valuable data when the data never was on it to begin with. Even loss and location closure due to natural disasters can’t stop your business with a cloud infrastructure. You may have heard many different explanations of the cloud before. Usually being described as whatever someone is trying to sell. In reality, the cloud is built from many technologies that work together to deliver resources without having to know the details of the implementation. The core technologies that bind it all together are virtualization, smart network devices, and network storage. The benefits of cloud delivered computing resources include:

Ease of deployment
Anywhere access
Scalability to grow with your business
Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity

Synapses Technologies recommends a cloud based solution for all small and medium business unless there are compelling business reasons to have computing resources on-premise. Even then, we have hybrid cloud and private cloud solutions that will still provide great benefits.

Cloud Services Provided by Synapses Technologies

Websites & Web Hosting

Many small businesses don’t have the time, expertise, or desire to run their own web servers, design a site from scratch, or keep up with the constant patching and security updates a self-managed site demands. Synapses Technologies handles all of it, matching the right platform to your business needs.

Managed WordPress & WooCommerce

For most business websites — including online stores — we build on WordPress, the world’s most widely used content management platform, paired with WooCommerce for businesses that need a shopping cart and online store. Your site runs on our managed hosting platform, giving you an easily updated site backed by strong performance, security, and reliability, without the burden of managing server infrastructure yourself — along with domain registration, professional email, and virtual private servers for businesses that need them.

Custom & Static Websites on AWS

For businesses that need a fully custom web application or a fast, lightweight static site, our creative and application development teams build and host the solution on Amazon Web Services (AWS) — giving you the scalability and reliability AWS is known for.

Domain & Certificate Management

Whichever platform your site runs on, Synapses Technologies manages your domain’s DNS settings and SSL/TLS certificates, so your site stays secure and properly configured without you having to think about it.

Communications

Business runs on communication, and Synapses Technologies helps you choose and manage the right voice and messaging solution for how your team works.

Dedicated Business Phone

For businesses that want a full-featured, standalone phone system, we partner with Simplified Networks to deliver hosted VoIP — cloud-based PBX functionality with auto-attendants, call queues, desk phone support, and softphone apps that let remote and hybrid employees make and receive business calls from anywhere.

Integrated Voice for Microsoft 365 & Zoom

If your business already relies on Microsoft 365 or Zoom for video conferencing, Teams Phone and Zoom Phone extend that same platform to include business phone service — giving your team one app and one login for both meetings and calls.

We’ll help you determine which option best fits how your team already communicates.

Applications

Microsoft 365

As a Microsoft partner, Synapses Technologies provisions and manages Microsoft 365 for your business — combining familiar Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) with Microsoft Teams, Exchange Online email, SharePoint, and OneDrive cloud storage, along with built-in security and device management options to keep your business protected.

Adobe Document Cloud

Adobe Document Cloud brings professional PDF creation, editing, and legally binding electronic signatures (Adobe Sign) to your business — ideal for contracts, forms, and any workflow that requires signing, tracking, and managing documents.

Adobe Creative Cloud

For creative and marketing teams, Adobe Creative Cloud provides the industry-standard design suite — including Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Premiere Pro — in one managed subscription.

Storage

Cloud storage isn’t one-size-fits-all — the right solution depends on how your business creates, shares, and protects its data. Synapses Technologies builds storage and backup solutions using proven, enterprise-grade platforms matched to your environment, helping your business break its dependence on fragile on-premise file servers that put your data at risk.

On-Premises Storage, Backed Up Off-Site

For businesses that want primary storage on-site, we deploy TrueNAS network-attached storage appliances, backed up off-site to Backblaze B2 cloud object storage — an S3-compatible platform that gives your backups and archives an affordable, reliable, and secure home away from your office.

Data Protection & Recovery

We use industry-leading backup platforms to keep your business’s data recoverable — Veeam for comprehensive server, workstation, and virtual machine protection, and Hornetsecurity (by Proofpoint) for dedicated Microsoft 365 cloud backup — so your files, email, and Teams content can be restored quickly if they’re ever lost, corrupted, or held for ransom.

Private & Hybrid Cloud Storage

As part of our private and hybrid cloud infrastructure built on OpenStack, we use Ceph, a highly resilient, software-defined storage platform, to deliver scalable, self-healing storage for on-premises and co-located environments.

Storage on Microsoft 365, AWS & Azure

For businesses on Microsoft 365, OneDrive and SharePoint provide secure, cloud-based file storage and collaboration built directly into your existing subscription. For businesses running on AWS or Azure infrastructure, we design cloud storage using each platform’s native storage services — matched to your workload, whether that’s application data, backups, or long-term archives.

Infrastructure

Whether you’re building new infrastructure from the ground up or integrating with your existing data center, Synapses Technologies helps you take advantage of the flexibility, scalability, and cost advantages the cloud offers — from a single test environment to your entire production footprint.

AWS & Microsoft Azure — Commercial Cloud

For businesses that need highly scalable, enterprise-grade infrastructure, we design, deploy, and manage environments on both of the leading commercial cloud platforms.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) — Often the better fit for businesses running Linux-based or open-source workloads, needing maximum platform flexibility, or without an existing dependence on Microsoft technologies.
Microsoft Azure — Often the better fit for businesses already invested in the Microsoft ecosystem, such as those with strong in-house Microsoft development resources, or reliant on Active Directory and Microsoft 365 — since Azure extends that same environment into the cloud.

Not sure which platform is the right fit for your business? Visit our AWS and Azure pages to learn more, or reach out and we’ll help you decide based on your needs.

Private & Hybrid Cloud

For organizations with existing on-premises infrastructure or co-location data center space, Synapses Technologies also designs private and hybrid cloud solutions — combining the benefits of on-premises or co-located computing with cloud resources for elastic scaling, backup, and disaster recovery. Please contact us for a consultation.