Recommended Technology Platform

At JP Technical, we work hard to build what we call our “Recommended Technology Platform”. We know that using products across this platform will give you a great platform to operate your business from (we know this because we “Eat our own dog food” and use ALL of the services below to run our own company).

Our engineers are trained in and keep up to date with technology across this core set of products to make sure that we can quickly, efficiently and expertly assist you with working with those products.

We also maintain a strong network of contract engineers that we can call on for specific expertise in high level or advanced customization of these core services.

We have are an Amazon affiliation, the links below may earn us a small commission.

Networking

pfSense Routing & Firewall

We recommend the Netgate products. Netgate is the maintainer for pfSense, the single most popular open-source firewall operating system. pfSense is used in large enterprises as well as small offices. We have been specializing in pfSense, and it’s predecessor, since 2005. There are no licenses costs, hardware is easy to find and long-lasting.

Unifi Routing and Networking

We have standardized on Unifi for networking gear. However, in recent years there has been an availability challenge. The following are the parts in our RTP, or ‘Recommended Technology Platform’.

Control Plane

For control over Unifi devices, we have two options, either Hosted by JP Technical, or Self-hosted with a cloud key or Unifi Dream Machine Router on-premise.

For on-premise hosting:

Routers

All the following Unifi equipment work either with the on-premise or hosted control planes.

Switches

The Flex Mini takes special configuration steps, this is not a customer-install item.

Access Points

We have found this specific Access Point to be the best overall performer. There are others for special circumstances.

TP-Link Omada Routing and Networking

We have begun testing recently on the TP-Link Omada hardware. We are still early in our testing, but the product looks promising as a ‘pro-sumer’ line. The following are the parts in our RTP, or ‘Recommended Technology Platform’.

Control Plane

For control over Omada devices, we have two options, either a local hardware device, or Self-hosted on a server or computer. We recommend the dedicated controller.

For on-premise hosting:

Routers

Currently, we have limited real-world testing with the Omada Routing products. However, in the limited testing we have done the products perform admirably. All of their routing products have VPN capabilities and are capable of being managed from a central controller, and in the case of the top-end model a controller built-in. An Omada Controller is recommended.

All the following TP-Link equipment work either with the on-premise or hosted control planes.

Switches

We are still in the evaluation period with these products, but our early testing has been positive. The items below should cover the typical scenarios for a small business.

Access Points

We are still in the evaluation period with these products, but our early testing has been positive. The items below should cover the typical scenarios for a small business.

Additional Networking & Power Management

  • APC Uninterruptible Power Systems
  • CyberPower Uninterruptible Power Systems

Home Wi-Fi

Our recommendations above are for business environments, we often are asked what we recommend for home use. We have found that the Google Nest products are among the simplest to set up, and maintain a good set of features at a reasonable price.

Servers, Desktops & Laptops

  • Apple macOS Desktops and Laptops
  • Carbon Systems Servers
  • Carbon Systems Desktops & Laptops
  • Dell Servers
  • Dell Desktops & Laptops
  • Lenovo Servers
  • Lenovo Desktops & Laptops
  • Budget Desktop by BeeLink

Printers

The following are the printers we recommend and support. While we may support other printers, these have been proven to be compatible with our tools and services, as well as meet our security requirements.

We have had great success with Brother brand printers in the last 10 years. They have proven to be affordable, durable and easy to support.

We have had limited successes with the following brands.

  • Xerox
  • HP
  • Canon Printers

Peripherals

Security Hardware

We have had great success with the Ring line of products. They are simple to use, intuitive, and their tech-support is top-notch. You will need to do some research to determine which features you need most, but any of the models below would be compatible with the systems we use. If wifi signal doesn’t reach where you want your camera, email us at support@jptechnical.com and we can figure out what you need to improve signal there.

Here are the devices we recommend.

Software

Security

  • Huntress Threat Hunting
  • CoFense Phishing Protection
  • PII Protect End-User Training
  • DNSFilter Protection
  • Webroot NextGen AV

Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery

  • MSP360 Cloud Backups
  • Axcient BDR/Cloud
  • CloudAlly SaaS Backup

Remote Access & Support

  • Splashtop
  • Screenconnect
  • Todyl SGN (zerotrust)

SaaS Platforms

  • Google Workspace
  • Microsoft Office365
  • Microsoft Azure
  • Microsoft Server Platforms (latest release including Exchange and SQL)
  • AWS (Amazon Web Services)

Virtualization Platforms

  • ProxMox Virtual Environment
  • Microsoft HyperV
  • VMWare ESXi
  • XCP-NG & Citrix XenServer

Third Party Vendors

While we are pretty proficient with our troubleshooting skills, and are able to solve a variety of different technical problems, 3rd party products outside our Recommended Platform may take us a little extra time to become familiar with managing and supporting these unfamiliar products.

If the issues can and should be supported by the 3rd party vendor, then we may help you communicate with the vendor directly to get the problem solved, this is often the quickest and best solution for you.

Approved Software list

Productivity

  • Google Drive
  • Microsoft Office Suite (Office 365 | 2016 | 2019)
  • Microsoft Teams, Zoom
  • Foxit Reader
  • Adobe Reader
  • CutePDF
  • 7 Zip
  • VLC

Web Browsers

  • Google Chrome
  • Firefox

Finance

  • Xero
  • QuickBooks

Updated on 14 Dec 2023