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Special "Orangepaper" Synopisis
"How reliable are web-based solutions when compared with their client/server counterparts?" The short answer is that web-based dental soft-ware applications, properly hosted, will be about ten times more reliable. Let's now explore what drives this amazing reliability. Client/Server Vulnerabilities "Can you call back? Our server is down." This phrase is commonplace because client/server based systems have many points of failure and any one of them can bring the whole system down. Most client/server failures can trace their cause to two origins: First, there are many potential single points of failure in a client/server setup. Secondly, the typical office based client/server installation is put together using consumer grade equipment, processes and environments, and is not professionally maintained. Think for a second where the typical server is located. Fundamentally, the typical installation of a client-server based system is inherently at a disadvantage, simply by reason of where it is installed and how it is configured. Finally, when a client server based system goes down, you will need to call your "IT guy." Besides the financial consequences of the IT bill, the service call can take valuable time. Even with responsive service, you still are looking at hours; for typical service it can be days or longer. Web-based Systems Web based systems will typically have downtime that is measured in minutes per year. In fact, quality web-based products spend less down time than is typically required to reboot a windows PC once a month. Here's why: - Redundant and fault tolerant architectures.
- Professionally housed, managed and maintained systems.
- Professional Hardware Maintenance.
- Hot swappable (bad components can be replaced without shutting down the system).
- Controlled environment.
So, What if the Web Does Go Down? We've covered pretty well why web-based offerings can have substantially better uptime, but does that mean they are infallible? No. No more than you can guarantee that the power won't go out in your office. In these cases tethering to a cell phone will get you through. Utilities Are More Reliable than Private Services Electric power is a public utility. As such, when an outage happens, there are typically hundreds or thousands of others with the same problem. As a result trucks are rolling immediately to fix the problem. The same principle applies to the Internet; when it goes down trucks roll. If your server goes down, no one really cares but you. In Conclusion Though it's a reasonable question, "what do I do if the web goes down", the facts indicate that the web will be available much more consistently than your in-office server will be. See More "Orangepapers" from Curve Dental... | 
