When you run a small business, budgeting is typically tight, so creating an effective, available network may seem intimidating. However, you don't need the same (often expensive) equipment and advanced setup that larger businesses require. There are plenty of ways to design a useful, reliable, and efficient small business network infrastructure without breaking the bank. If you're setting up a network for your company, here's what you'll need to know.

Obviously, you don't want to break the bank with your network infrastructure, but you shouldn't take shortcuts either. For example, home network hardware isn't meant to handle the same amount of information as commercial-grade network hardware, but not all commercial hardware is meant for large corporations. You want to operate within your budget while getting hardware that will manage what you need for your company now and within projections for the next few years, so you want to make sure your network infrastructure is easily scalable. Find the quality of components that will last your company for several years without having expensive features that you will likely never use.