Open Dental Server and Office Network Support in Dublin, OH
Open Dental runs on a server: one machine holding the database and the shared image folder that every computer in the office reads from. ClearMax Labs looks after that server and what surrounds it, the office network, the workstations, the internet line and the backups, remotely, for dental practices in Dublin. The program belongs to its vendor; when a fault is inside it, the vendor ticket goes in with the evidence already gathered.
Last updated: November 2026
Server in the office, or server in the cloud?
That is the question Dublin practices ask first, and it is the right one, because every other decision follows from it. A server in the office keeps the schedule running when the internet drops and keeps the practice in control of its data, but someone has to patch it, back it up and replace it every few years. A hosted server, either the vendor's own cloud or a virtual server the practice's IT runs with a cloud provider, removes the box but makes the internet line the single point everything depends on.
The vendor publishes a fit test for its hosted cloud: a reliable connection of at least 20 Mbps down and 10 Mbps up, and latency under 30 ms to one of its data centers. Above 50 ms, or on an unstable line, it calls the practice a poor fit. The cloud hosting page walks through that test and what it means for an office.
What does Dublin's fiber change?
The city runs its own fiber network, Dublink, which it says gives businesses enterprise-grade connectivity at no cost, with 100 Gbps of capacity across a 125-mile network. For a practice deciding where its server should live, that is a real input, not a footnote.
It also comes with a plain caveat from the city: Dublink Transport is not an internet service provider; it connects a building to the provider the business chooses, and only buildings on a Dublink route can use it. So the first step is confirming the building is on the route; the second is choosing the internet provider; the third is measuring the line from the office before any decision about hosting is made.
Which jobs bring Dublin offices here?
Choosing and running a hosted server
Moving to the vendor's cloud, or to a self-managed virtual server, and keeping the office computers, printers and imaging working around it. See the cloud hosting page.
Installing a server in the office
A first server or a rebuild: the database engine, the firewall opening on the server only, the shared image folder, the data paths and the first workstation. See the server install page.
Backups that live somewhere else
What the vendor's own backups cover, what they do not, and how a practice keeps an encrypted, tested offsite copy of its own. See the cloud backup page.
Computers that are ready for the program
Workstation specifications, the Windows versions the vendor still supports, operatory imaging drivers and laptops. See the computer requirements page.
How big is a typical Dublin setup?
Most offices here fall inside what the vendor calls a small office: ten computers or fewer, with one machine acting as the server. The vendor would rather that machine did nothing else, and it says offices past that size usually move to Windows Server with a domain. It also recommends keeping the server dedicated to protect data.
Size changes the failure points more than the fixes. A five-computer office feels every problem at once because the server is also somebody's desk. A fifteen-computer office meets the file-share connection limit of Windows 11 before it meets any limit in the program, which is covered on the requirements page.
What does the internet line have to carry?
More than it used to. Even with a server in the office, the line carries the vendor's online services, remote access for anyone working from home, updates, and the offsite copy of every backup. With a hosted server, it carries everything: every chart opened, every image filed, every claim sent. The vendor's own requirements page says a high-speed internet connection should be considered a requirement.
That is why the internet line is planned like the server, not bought like a utility: a primary line sized for the upload as well as the download, and a second path, a separate provider or a cellular failover, so one outage does not stop the front desk.
Which state rules shape the work?
The state's Data Protection Act gives a business sued after a breach an affirmative defense if it keeps and follows a written cybersecurity program that reasonably conforms to a recognized framework. One of the frameworks the act lists by name is the Center for Internet Security's Critical Security Controls, a published set of practical steps that suits a small office: know every computer on the network, keep them patched, control who has administrator rights, keep tested backups.
So every change made here comes with a short written note: what changed on the server, the firewall, a workstation or the backup, when, and why. Over a year those notes become most of the practice's written program, built against a list the law already names.
Which problems belong to the vendor?
Anything inside the program: a feature that misbehaves, an error the program itself raises once the computers are proven healthy, updates and the vendor's online services. Everything underneath sits with the practice. The vendor's manual sends Windows updates to "your IT Professional" and puts MySQL security on the practice or its IT, and even on its hosted cloud it leaves the local computers to the practice. Its support line and hours are on the vendor's contact page.
The handoff works best one way round. The server, network and workstation are checked first; if the fault survives that, the vendor ticket is opened under the practice's own plan with the findings attached, and followed until it closes.
What happens when you call?
Call (614) 818-5003, or use the form if it can wait. On the call come four short questions: is it one computer or every one, is the server local or hosted, did anything change since yesterday, and is the vendor plan active. Then a remote session opens on the machine that is failing and on the server behind it, with someone in the office accepting the connection. The fix happens there, or the evidence goes to the vendor. Either way the practice gets a written note of what was found.
Nothing is quoted by phone before the setup has been seen. Scoped and quoted after a free assessment. The about page says who does the work.