Windows, Server & Technical Support

Business Server Support Services and Solutions

2009-06-29T22:21:00.000-07:00

Business Server Support has become a major part of our lives. Any business or office is almost completely dependent on server support today for their operation. Once an office is computerized it may tend to have problems with the server hardware or may end up with some software related issue some time or the other. To take care that the functioning of the business is not affected due to these problems most companies hire the services of an On-Site or Online server support firm which would provide it with the necessary small business server support that it needs from time to time. In case of any problem this firm would give the server support solutions that are required to overcome the problem.

IT experts do a wide variety of jobs which include designing and installation of computer networks, managing the system and various other tasks. Some server support lending firms have such advanced technology that they identify a problem at a very early stage and that tends to work as an alert system. This works as an alarm and major problems can be avoided and huge expenses can be prevented. The server support services firm monitors the functioning of the servers and being a continuous process, problems are identified and addressed at the earliest saving both time and money.

Hiring a competent server support services firm is of utmost importance as it would have all the server solutions which would make the functioning of the business an absolutely smooth process. Over a period the servers tend to slow down and a server support firm which has the right expertise would help you deal with this issue by monitoring the servers and providing effective maintenance at regular intervals. The most well equipped firms offer online server support and this would help in saving a lot of time. They are even capable of identifying a failing hardware which would ensure that no data is lost as recovery measures can be setup at the earliest.

Security issues are a big concern as far as servers are concerned. A capable and proficient server support partner would help in getting the very best out of your servers. Most of the time companies have a requirement of programs which are to be made with certain specifications meeting the demands of the company. Such server solutions can be brought about only with a well experienced team of an efficient server support firm.

If the server is managed by an experienced hand then you can concentrate completely on the functioning of the business. There are such firms which look into the needs of Companies requiring small business computer support to enterprise level support. Such competent firms also have well experienced staff to attend to every problem at the earliest and offer the very best solution.

One should conduct a thorough survey before hiring the server support of any such firm. There are plenty of such support providers but an efficient one is of utmost importance as the functioning of your enterprise is largely dependent on their service and effectiveness.

Network Server Monitoring Support

2009-06-22T22:20:00.000-07:00

Have you ever got the feeling that you are being drawn in closer and closer into situation without really taking an active decision to get involved? Ever since I set up my business, I feel that my investments in technology as well as my dependence on it are growing by leaps and bounds on what seems like an everyday basis! First it was PC's, then laptops, then servers and then tech support. Ever since my servers were installed, my latest project is networking support.

I think the jury is unanimous in saying that network is a must and an important investment as network performance issues can result in expensive business delays. There are really three methods of network monitoring support available to a business. The first being having a full time IT person on board who serves as your network resource. I am not really in favor of this method of network for a business such as mine as it is cost intensive and not a 100% reliable. There could be knowledge and availability issues with regard to support that could prove troublesome. The network it must be remembered continues to work for the business even when the office is closed. Therefore, the network that I need has to be 24/7 and one employee would just not cover it.

The second option is of course support software for network. This software available from most major manufacturers is often considered a reliable means of networking support. This network software will track your network and diagnose system issues and look out for virus and the like. Most software will also be able to tell you when you need to expand capacity. It acts like your local vigilante and this software will monitor not only website activity but also employee computer usage.

I have read serious articles on the net that even say that network support software can be worth its wait in gold! Of course caution and due diligence must be exercised while buying network software. There are even free versions of the network support available on the internet.

The third option is remote network via a remote tech services company. The advantage with such a network server support option is that it really marries options one and two and offers you a really workable, affordable and efficient support option. Of course as I mentioned earlier due caution and diligence must be exercised while selecting a vendor. Security is major concern with regard to network support. Another concern with regard to vendor selection is certification and experience. For example if you are looking at a Linux server, your vendor must have Red Hat certification. The norm really is certification on a Microsoft platform and The Microsoft Certified Systems Administration (MCSA) certification assures knowledge of networking

Source

How to Repair Event ID 454 in Exchange Server?

2009-06-15T23:28:00.000-07:00

Each Event ID has a different meaning, like Event ID 454 suggests that the Information Store database has got corrupted due to any cause. In the description part, you would see different error numbers, through which the source of corruption and hence cure can be judged out:

"Information Store (976) Database recovery/restore f th unexpected error Error Number

With Event ID 454, the application wants to tell that there is a problem with the restore or recovery operation with the database. If Exchange Server has detected a missing file, any different version file or the corrupted files in the database, this Event ID can be seen. Now, with different Error numbers, you can find the culprit:

Error 1216: During recovery process, when ESE attempts to bring all the databases in a storage group into a consistent process and finds a database missing, the error may be seen. So locate and restore the missing databases to the appropriate folder. Another cause could be the missing or replaced transactions logs with different versions and hence restore them and have soft EDB recovery. While the restore option, the non-access to the Active Directory can also contribute and so replay the log files.

Error 552: D e generation of patch files which use the same name as of database having .pat file extension, the error may be seen. During restoration from the online backup, these files are written in a single folder and hence only one patch file is available due to overwriting and restoration fails. So try to uniquely name the databases in the single storage group.

Error 2204: If the streaming files have been moved, the error may be seen. So locate or restore them from backup.

Error 501: This occurs due to the corruption of log files. So if the database files are consistent, move all the log files from the folder and if they are not, have Exchange Server support / Recovery from backup or using Eseutil/p.

The situations may arise where you don´t have backup and also don´t want to sacrifice the data with the destructing act of Eseutil. This is the stage when you need some third party help of EDB recovery software. The software prove as a safe play with the corrupted database, giving the extract mecha the affected database.

Stellar Phoenix Mailbox exchange Recovery is the application to have the valuable results of Exchange Server repair. This uses the most powerful EDB repair targeted scanning algorithms to extract the mailboxes. This Exchange Server support software is compatible with Exchange Server 5.5, 2000 and 2003. You can get all the e-mails, notes, cale pointments and other EDB objects, with Exchange Server recovery done.

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Verizon Business Launched Cloud-based Computing-as-a-service

2009-06-09T00:08:00.000-07:00

Verizon Business has launched a cloud-based computing-as-a-service product for enterprises and government agencies.

Launched on Wednesday, Verizon Computing as a Service (CaaS) is designed to give medium-sized and large organizations access to computing resources as and when they need them. The resources — server services, network and storage — are accessible through the Verizon Enterprise Center web-based portal.

According to Verizon, a key advantage of cloud-based services such as CaaS is scalability — businesses do not need to buy equipment to deal with seasonal or peak demand, as they can effectively rent capacity in the cloud.

Verizon said CaaS can be used for web-based or corporate applications running over Verizon's public IP network or Private IP, Verizon's multiprotocol label switching-based private network.

The provider added that its CaaS service involves secure connections to resources, a multi-tiered network with a virtual firewall and an audit trail for any changes made to those resources. Its datacentres are also audited for physical security.

Verizon worked with HP, VMware and Red Hat on the development of its CaaS architecture, which lets customers provision either physical and virtual server environments, depending on the type of application that needs to be deployed.

Source: news.zdnet.co.uk

How to Manage Small Business Computer Support Services?

2009-06-02T22:25:00.000-07:00

Your small business encounters numerous security threats, some more obvious than others. These events can lead to data loss, cause harm to your competitive advantage, or spoil your daily operations. With increasing technology thefts and security violations, computer security has become a critical part of your overall IT infrastructure.

Small businesses necessitate that additional steps must be taken to secure data on their desktops and workstations. To get the work done, you can look forward to any good technical support company like iYogi Technical Services.

From preventing virus from your computer, averting hackers to access PC, blocking unauthorized access to key company data and helping enforce your computer security, their computer support technicians offer you a comprehensive array of PC security services to protect your small business data.

Here, you can avail services like spyware removal solutions to PC security problems, Install critical system updates, personalized solution to meet your computing needs, and remove unnecessary clutter slowing down your PC. Such tech support resources offer you the best value of your money and can advise the best computer as well as technical work-outs for your small business.

Even if you are just a beginner, you don’t need to worry. Tech support technicians ensure to provide you with the best solutions for your technical queries at their own level.
Whether your small business has computer related needs pertaining to computer hardware or software, you can consider small business tech support resources as a one stop shop for all your computer support requirements.

Tech support resources hire professional staff that can help customers with everything without letting them down on their expectations. They usually take your computer problem through remote session and manage your systems over the Internet. This help[s you to eliminate the expense and headaches of hiring, training, and managing your own internal IT staff.

You earn advantages by having more highly trained support available to you to keep your systems operating at peak efficiency and effectiveness at all times as tech support resources run their services 24x7. This saves you time and money because you are not experiencing downtime waiting for any tech support personnel to get them back into operation.

VM Monitor provides free ESX server monitoring

2009-05-27T04:27:00.000-07:00

VM Monitor tool, the picture that is provided is worth a whole lot more. Although this teaser product is limited to monitoring a single ESX server, the output is incredibly useful and provides true at-a-glance status information about the health of your ESX server.

The product installation couldn’t be easier. Simply install SolarWinds VM Monitor, provide the IP address or name of your ESX server as well as that server’s read-only SNMP string, and output like you see below is generated.

n this capture from one of our live ESX servers, you can see that this machine has nine of 10 installed virtual machines powered on with one VM in a critical state due to CPU running at full-throttle. You’ll notice that it’s only the virtual machine’s CPU that’s running at 100% though. The ESX server CPU is still running at only 16% capacity.

To install and use SolarWinds VM Monitor, follow these steps:

1. Using a tool such as PuTTY, SSH to your ESX server and log in as the root user.
2. Allow SNMP traffic to traverse the firewall: esxcfg-firewall -e snmpd.
3. Enable ESX’s SNMP service: service snmpd start.
4. Download the SolarWinds VM Monitor.
5. Extract the contents of the downloaded ZIP file.
6. Double-click SolarWinds-VM-Monitor-v1.0.exe.
7. Run through the installation.
8. When prompted, provide the name or IP address of your ESX server along with the public SNMP string from your ESX server monitoring. The default string is public. If your public string is different, you can find it on your ESX server in the /etc/snmp/snmpd.conf file on the line that starts with rocommunity.

Source: blogs.techrepublic.com.com/datacenter/?p=1027

Nokia Launches Its Most Affordable 3G Phone

2009-05-20T04:42:00.000-07:00

Finland's Nokia might be hurting under the economic downturn just like everyone else, but it's still the world's largest maker of mobile handsets, based largely on the enormous numbers of phones it has been able to sell into developing markets around the globe. And Nokia looks to be keeping the pressure on its competitors, today announcing three new handsets aimed specifically at emerging and developing markets…and they're all Internet-ready and capable of tapping into Nokia's growing stable of online and mobile services.

"The power of the internet is undeniable," says Nokia VP Alex Lambeek, in a statement. "We've seen mobile technologies catalyze the growth of the informal sector across the world, empowering local entrepreneurs, and having an immediate and lasting impact on people's lives. Services like Nokia Life Tools and Ovi Mail, combined with the mobile phones we're launching today, bring powerful solutions that can be the gateway to knowledge, entertainment and people, without the need for a PC."

The 2730 and 2730 Fold should be available in the third quarter of 2009; the 7020 will land in selected markets in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Tips for Choosing Right IT Support Services Provider

2009-05-13T02:31:00.000-07:00

You need to make sure your computer networks more secure and work efficient to avoid any future loss. Whenever you find problem with your computer systems, you have to take IT support services from a professional support company. IT support services help a company to face troubles with existing information technology infrastructure.

Tips for choosing right IT support Services provider

· Whether large or small, every business requires a range of IT support services from a safe and reliable IT support provider.
· Every IT support provider should have the experience as well as expertise to provide all necessary network installation, network management, email management, network planning, server upgrades and migrations, and disaster recovery solutions.
· IT support providers can advice on improved systems and procedures for better business outputs, using the latest technologies.
· You need to have IT support services provider that can ensure their service matches your support requirements and also stay within your budget.

You can find various reliable and trustworthy IT support companies in UK and they look after your critical data, applications and hardware. As other IT support services, IT Solutions Midlands guides you through daily computer security and network issues and solve them, which as a result helps in improving the efficiency of your computer network system. To focus on your business it is essential to have IT support services when computer problems strike at the most unpredictable times and you need quick reaction times.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Role-and-Tips-For-Choosing-IT-Support-Services&id=2233512

Google Apps Connector for BlackBerry Server

2009-05-07T07:08:00.000-07:00

Google Apps Connector plugging into BlackBerry Enterprise Server, RIM’s back-end that handles companies’ BlackBerry data. Although e-mail is the main thing, Google Calendar and Contacts will also be synced to your work BlackBerry with this new Google Apps Connector.

Google Maps as a BES install pack for those who want to roll it out internally. That’s a sweet option, since Google Maps for Mobile easily beats the built-in BlackBerry Maps application. Premier and Education Apps users should have Apps Connector available this July, so keep your eyes peeled for the upgrade.

Source: intomobile.com

HP Unveiled a New Server: G6 Server

2009-05-04T02:28:00.000-07:00

The HP Proliant G6 line is energy efficient and the company claims that it also maximises productivity for its users.

“The line delivers double the performance of our previous bunch of servers,” said Vincent Lee, country business manager for the industry standard servers and technology solutions group at HP Malaysia.

The range comprises tower, rack and blade servers, and is targetted at all levels of business — from small- and medium-sized companies to conglomerates, he said.

Lee also highlighted the line’s energy-saving features, which is claimed to save up to 80% in energy costs for users, which should be attractive especially now with companies being more environmentally friendly and today’s expensive sources of energy.

HP has fitted its servers with 32 smart sensors that automatically track thermal activity within each device. These sensors adjust system components, such as fans and input/output processors, to optimise cooling activities and increase energy efficiency.

Another power management feature is the servers’ common power-slot design. HP said this helps minimise power waste by allowing users to choose from four power supplies to match their specific workload.

Also, Intel’s Nehalem Xeon 5500 processor enables the Proliant G6 servers to have twice the memory and storage capability of HP’s older line of servers.

For More Details: www.hp.com/go/proliant

Verizon Launches Managed Remote Backup for PCs

2009-05-01T00:07:00.000-07:00

Verizon Business today announced that its suite of managed services, Verizon Remote Backup and Restore, will now include PCs as well as servers and will be available globally -- initially in the European/Middle East/African market and coming soon to Asia/Pacific.

The Verizon Remote Backup and Restore service enables enterprises to replace the tape systems many use today to back up their data and applications to protect against computer network failures. By providing an automatic, network-based backup system, Verizon simplifies the process of keeping data backups up-to-date while alleviating the burden on corporate networks, said Anthony Kessel, senior product manager, IT Solutions.

Additionally, Verizon also uses a technology known as "de-deuplication" in order to sift through the data and make sure that it doesn't copy any data that it has been already stored in its data center. Verizon says eliminating redundant data has the added benefit of reducing bandwidth requirements for companies sending their data over the Verizon data centers every day.

Chris Alvord, the CEO of business continuity software vendor COOP Systems, says his company has used the Remote Backup and Restore service for company servers for the past few years and has found it to be a real time saver.

"We'd much rather spend our time on more complicated tasks in our business such as dependency graph mapping instead of figuring out how we have to adjust our hardware infrastructure for backup," he says. "It would take a lot of time, effort and money and we don't want to do that."

Verizon's backup services for PCs will become available this week in the United States and Europe. The company says the services will be available to enterprises in the Asia-Pacific region by the end of the year.

Source: pcworld.com

Role of IT Support Services

2009-04-22T02:34:00.000-07:00

IT support Services companies ensure to keep business data safe while maintaining network security, server upgrades and migrations, email management services and disaster recovery solutions. Such qualified and experienced technicians help you to run your business smoothly. Therefore, there is high need to have a contract with an IT support service company as well as recommended.

It is the responsibility of the IT support provider to ensure the effortless running of all computer systems and entire network.

Install and configure operating systems as per the agreed standards.
Give assistance in maintenance and compilation of all significant software and hardware.
In server failure condition, IT support services provides the facility for disaster recovery solutions for your data as well as server upgrade and if needed migrate to other improved systems.
Provide secure backup services with complete email management, even remotely.
Provide repair services and troubleshooting for small and large businesses and always help you get access to the newest technology.
Find solutions to all those problems that can hinder the smooth working of an organization or business.
Provide proactive network installation for your network support requirements and a complete range of support packages and systems.
Most IT support firms offer phone and online support and no need to wait for an engineer to come out to your office.
Network support services include data security that helps you to detect promptly any computer virus and hacker threats.
Ensure that all the software and the help desk systems are being kept up-to-date.

Source: Ezinearticles

Dell Offers SMBs Managed IT Services

2009-04-16T05:34:00.000-07:00

Computer maker Dell announced the availability of ProManage-Managed Services, which the company said was “built from the ground up” for small and medium-size businesses (SMBs). The Web-based service actively monitors and manages IT networks and helps prevents system issues before they occur. Service packages start at $9 per month with no long-term contract required.

ProManage-Managed Services offers three levels of service; alerts, which provides round-the-clock remote monitoring that checks the health of networks, servers, PCs and applications, including non-Dell systems; resolution, monitoring with remote issue resolution for all monitored hardware, applications, anti-virus software, and Windows Services, and Management, which couples alerts and resolution with end-user support, increased security functions, asset tracking and assessment services.

All three levels of service are monitored 24/7. When an event takes place, Dell’s Network Operating Center alerts customers or their solution provider, while the Service Desk can fix the issues remotely. Additionally, each business is assigned a local field force that can be onsite quickly to resolve problems, perform assessments and help plan future growth prospects.

The expansion of the program to more than 5,500 U.S. towns and cities follows two successful pilot tests in Dallas and New York City, where Dell said it helped one customer, Euless, Texas-based TheAttorneyStore, (now GetLegal.com) increase staff productivity by as much as 60 percent.

Source: eweek.com/c/a/Midmarket/Dell-Offers-SMBs-Managed-IT-Services--347762/

Patches to Repair Excel Hole

2009-04-13T02:32:00.000-07:00

Microsoft on Thursday said next week's Patch Tuesday would include eight patches, five of them critical, including one addressing a vulnerability in Excel.

the fact that both that Excel vulnerability and the Excel patch slated for Tuesday affect Microsoft Office 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2007, as well as Microsoft Office 2004 and 2008 for the Mac, it could be the same weakness.

Security firm Symantec said in February that it had discovered malicious files in the wild in Japan that attempt to exploit the Excel Unspecified Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. The attack requires a computer user to open an attachment sent via e-mail that has a maliciously crafted Excel document.

Also on Tuesday, Microsoft will provide updates addressing critical remote code execution vulnerability in Internet Explorer, Windows, and Office, and less severe vulnerabilities in Windows and Microsoft's Forefront Edge Security.

Affected software includes IE 7, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Server 2003, and Server 2008, according to Microsoft's advance-notification bulletin, released on the Thursday before every Patch Tuesday, which is the second Tuesday of the month.

Source: news.cnet.com

Server 2008 R2 set to launch With Windows 7

2009-04-07T04:26:00.000-07:00

Microsoft hinted that Windows Server 2008 R2 will be ready to launch alongside Windows 7 later end of this year.

It is already decided that windows server 2008 R2 will released alongside Windows 7 but date is not decided yet. The synchronization of the Server 2008 launch now looks almost certain to be one of those.

Launching the two products simultaneously makes sense, not least because several of the business features in Windows 7 are dependent on a Server 2008 R2 infrastructure.

New additions such as Direct Access (a no-fuss alternative to VPN access to company networks) and Branch Cache (a feature that stores copies of files on local PCs and servers, reducing the amount of time it takes satellite offices to download files) are both only available to companies running Server 2008 R2.

Source: pcpro.co.uk

How to Save Your Computer Against Conficker Virus

2009-04-01T00:27:00.000-07:00

Conficker, also known as Downadup or Kido, is the latest super virus to spread around the Internet and has security experts in a panic. When last we checked, about a week ago, Conficker had already spread to 9 million PCs, with little sign of slowing. Now it has infected at least 10 million PCs and experts believe there may be up to 350 million vulnerable computers out there.

The worm isn't just exploiting a networking hole, however; it features a sophisticated method of cracking administrator passwords, making it difficult to remove, and also copies itself to USB drives so that it can spread even when the online flaw is plugged.

But there are easy ways to figure out whether a computer has the Conficker worm. There are also free tools to get rid of it.

Among other things, the worm blocks PCs from accessing the antivirus vendors' and Microsoft's Web sites. That keeps its PC victims from getting updates about the worm and downloading removal tools.

If you can surf the Internet freely except for sites owned by Microsoft or antivirus vendors, that's a good sign your computer is infected.

Here are some suggestions for getting rid of the Conflicker worm:

Computer users should apply the Microsoft patch and update their antivirus and other security software.

Panda also has released a free "vaccine tool" for blocking viruses that spread through USB drives.

Use Microsoft Conficker removal tool.

How to Check Performance Counter from Windows PowerShell?

2009-03-26T00:23:00.000-07:00

You can easily use the Get-Counter cmdlet to check the value of a performance counter. If you use the -Continuous switch, the up-to-date value will be displayed. Simply pass the name of the counter you want to view and the server the counter should be monitored on. For example, to monitor the IO Writes counter on CSV Volume 1 on the server SAVDALVS01, run the following command. PS C:\> Get-Counter '\\savdalvs01\Cluster Shared Volumes(\ClusterStorage\Volume1)\IO Writes' -Continuous Timestamp CounterSamples --------- -------------- 3/18/2009 1:23:35 PM \\savdalvs01\cluster shared volumes(\clusterstorage\volume1)\io writes : 1545503 3/18/2009 1:23:36 PM \\savdalvs01\cluster shared volumes(\clusterstorage\volume1)\io writes : 1545504 3/18/2009 1:23:37 PM \\savdalvs01\cluster shared volumes(\clusterstorage\volume1)\io writes : 1545512

Note that you can easily monitor a value on any server, not just the local server. Related Reading: PowerShell 101, Lesson 1 PowerShell Got Smart About Smart Quotes Q. How can I use Windows PowerShell to return a list of machine services in a designated state? VMware and PowerShell: Managing ESX Server from the Command Lin.

Source: http://windowsitpro.com/mobile/pda/Article.cfm?ArticleID=101749&FAQ=1

A Security Threat - Filesystem Fragmentation

2009-03-17T06:04:00.000-07:00

Filesystem fragmentation is a problem with which many computer users are familiar. Many, however, are not.

Filesystem fragmentation reduces performance so that we have to wait for long time to get applications to respond.

One who know these basic problems of filesystem fragmentation also know about defragmentation programs & even even use them. A lot of people don't use them nearly enough. That can be especially important considering the security implications.

The list of immediate security concerns is short, but considering the relative ease with which defragmentation can (usually) be accomplished, they're important enough to go to the trouble when you need it.

Security problems include three key issues:

disaster recovery: If your system suffers some kind of filesystem corruption, and you need to recover the data, many recovery tools can do so using a file allocation table. If that is corrupt, though, a longer and more difficult process needs to be used--and if your filesystem was significantly fragmented, that can increase the difficulty of a successful recovery quite a lot, as recovery tools will tend to have a harder time reconstructing complete files. Obviously, you should have good, up-to-date backups, but if the filesystem is corrupted between when critical data arrived and when the next backup was scheduled, this may be a very real problem for your data security.
I/O activity: The more fragmented the data on your drive, the more physical operations a drive has to make to read the data your system needs and write data you wish to save. This can consume more power, generate greater heat, and degrade your system more quickly because of wear on the moving parts. Standard SSDs (solid-state drives) are limited to a particular number of write operations due to integral design characteristics required to make them maintain state when power is cut, which means that greater fragmentation can reduce operational lifespan as well, though the defragmentation process itself will also reduce the life of an SSD. Such circumstances can threaten data security in the long run due to the growing likelihood of an eventual crash.
performance: You may think that reduced performance is just an annoyance, but it isn't. It also affects the speed, efficiency, and effectiveness of security software such as application layer firewalls and virus scanners. Virus scanners in particular are affected, because they are not only directly affected when the scanner applications and their virus definitions are fragmented, but also because they have to be able to scan the entire filesystem regularly to provide complete protection. Making backups can also suffer.

Source From: http://www.zdnetasia.com/techguide/security/0,39044901,62052220,00.htm

H.P. Home Server Embraces Both Mac and PC

2009-03-13T02:57:00.000-07:00

Like cats and dogs, confirmed Mac and PC believers have a few things in common. The USB port, for instance, is one. And both systems use electricity.

Now Hewlett-Packard, while not exactly playing matchmaker, has arranged a way to bring together both sides digitally, if not philosophically.

Home servers — devices that work mainly in the background — are part of a category that doesn’t resonate much with consumers, especially since the options for storing data have become so inexpensive and even fashionable . But H.P. is skewing its new home server, the MediaSmart, as one with a dual personality: it provides a centralized media storeroom — for photos, music, video, and more — for both Windows and Apple computers. And it’s priced not to break the bank, starting at about $600 for the 750-gigabyte version, and expandable to up to nine terabytes.

So what can a home server do?

* Centralize files from all your PCs at home, and provide access to those files over the Web from just about anywhere you can get to broadband via a wired connection;
* Provide a method for backing up data. In the case of the H.P. model, it automatically saves content on machines running Windows or Mac OS X Leopard’s integrated Time Machine system;
* Become a super-jukebox, distributing iTunes content all around the house;
* Push images, from H.P.’s Photo Publisher location, to sharing sites like Facebook or to your family and friends;

The MediaSmart is about 10 inches high, 5.5 inches wide and just over 9 inches deep. It will sit neatly in place of that old beige box on a desktop.

Source: gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com

10 reasons why Linux isn't triumphing over Windows

2009-03-04T02:05:00.000-08:00

1: Cost comparisons are often misleading

Let’s get what may be the most controversial point out of the way early. First, in the server space especially, we should try to compare apples to apples. This means comparing Windows Server to paid Linux. By far the most dominant flavor is Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), with about a two-thirds share of the paid enterprise Linux market, so this seems the most logical comparison. While there are plenty of free options out there, such as CentOS, for a business running mission-critical workloads, an unsupported operating system is a hard pill to swallow.

There are a couple of ways we can look at cost, neither of which is nearly as flattering to Linux as one might expect. First, we can look at the costs directly related to the acquisition of the platform. RHEL is a subscription-based license, meaning that rather than pay for the software itself, you pay for server support. This doesn’t mean just phone tech support or troubleshooting (although that is included too, whether you want it or not) but also includes standard patches and bug fixes. Standard support for RHEL 5 Advanced Platform is $1,499 per year per server, or $4,047 for three years. Compare this with $3,999 for Windows Server 2008 Enterprise edition with free patching and bug fixes, and you can basically call it a wash unless you use a ton of phone support. And there are also features that aren’t included and must be purchased separately, such as Red Hat Directory Server — thousands more per year.

The other way of looking at cost is total cost of ownership (TCO) of the platform, and this leads into our next issue.

2: Expert talent is more readily available

When looking at TCO, we’re not just looking at the software costs but also at staffing and administration costs, costs due to downtime, hardware costs, etc. Of these, staffing is the largest, accounting for more than half of the TCO. Here, Windows wins out because IT pros experienced with Windows are much more plentiful and generally cheaper to hire than Linux experts and because they can often be more productive.

With Linux, efficient management over many machines usually means going to the command line and pounding out a script to automate a process — which is cool. However, with Windows Server 2008, PowerShell is now built in, which means the Windows guys can do that too, arguably better. Add that to the System Center family of tools, where virtually all management tasks are available at the click of a button (and which really have no peer on the Linux side), and Windows is simply easier to manage.

3: Linux isn’t actually trying to compete head-to-head

The last reason Linux isn’t triumphing over Windows in the server space is that it’s not really the primary focus. Right now, both Linux and Windows are gaining in server market share. How is that possible? Old granddaddy UNIX is being thrown under the bus to make it happen. Today, companies are dumping their old mainframe or proprietary UNIX servers for cheaper x86-based commodity hardware. It’s easy for a Linux sales guy to come in and make the value proposition: “It’s essentially the UNIX you know and love, but it runs on hardware a fraction of the cost.”

Unfortunately, the market for UNIX conversions and mainframe modernization is drying up. When those deals are gone, Linux will have to compete head-to-head with Windows to continue its growth, and this is a much harder proposition to make. Why should an organization already using Windows change platforms and have to build whole new skill sets around Linux?

4: Windows offers familiarity and ease of use

Let’s face it: Whatever else you might say about Windows, it is easier to use. We love our Start menu and our Task Manager and our system tray. Some of us are even starting to love our Vista Sidebar and gadgets. Young adults today never had to use MS-DOS, even if they started using computers at an early age, so they aren’t going to be comfortable at a Linux command line.

Don’t get me wrong — Linux has come a long way. But remember how far back it has had to come from — where just managing to install the operating system for a non-expert was considered a major triumph. There are still too many things in the Linux world that are expected to be done manually, like program installation. A majority of users will say, “I might have to compile something myself? No thanks.”

5: More software is available

Here’s another one that’s a pretty clear edge for Windows. It isn’t about being able to play the newest games, even if that is one of the most often raised issues against using Linux. Simply because Windows is the dominant operating system, there is much more software available for it than for Linux. Much of it comes from evil Microsoft itself.

A good example goes straight to one of open source’s greatest recent successes: OpenOffice. OpenOffice is great software… considering it’s free. I use it when I’m in a pinch on somebody else’s computer. It’s almost certainly adequate for a light user or a student typing up a couple of essays. As a writer, however, I can’t imagine being stuck without Microsoft Office for long. When it comes to features like SmartArt, quick table generation, editing and review functions, and inserting basically any kind of object into a document, there is no comparison. When you go beyond the word processor to the presentation software or spreadsheets, the gap grows even wider.

Now of course much of our favorite Windows software can be run using an emulator such as Wine, or on a virtual machine running Windows — but if we find ourselves doing that all the time, why use Linux in the first place?

For next five reasons you can visit here: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/10things/?p=556

Things you can do with Linux and not with windows

2009-02-25T03:40:00.000-08:00

Some people install windows on their netbook (or buy one with windows). I think this is not very smart because the only things you could ever really need windows for (games and photoshop) are not likely to run very well on these things.

Following a list of some of the things you can do with Linux and not on windows (or very difficult)

1. Install a bleeding edge 3d desktop environment on affordable hardware.

I've seen compiz running on extremely low end hardware. With incredible results. I'm not saying this is something I would advice you to do, because it does eat resources. But it is possible there's a choice and if you like visual effects on the desktop, there's no match for it.

If you would like something like this on windows you 're going to need bleeding edge hardware.

2. Remote control your system (secure) completely over a minimal network connection.

Using ssh you can control your Linux computer completely over a reasonably slow network connection. This gives you a command shell over internet and if you use key based authentication it's very secure.

Because in Linux everything can be configured from the command line your in complete control.
In windows you have some of this functionality with telnet and rdp which are insecure and for full control of a windows system you 're going to need a big connection.

3. Completely change your desktop environment, replacing everything you see.

In Linux you have a choice of destop environments available many of them differing from each other as light and day. This is so great if your used to windows where you have to edit the registry to change your garbage bin icon! In Linux you can choose the looks of everything, you can replace your desktop environment and on top of that you can configure your desktop to look exactly like you like it.

4. Install several completely different Desktops

In Linux you can install as many desktop environments as you like, and choose which one to start when logging in. So if your girlfriend likes to see a desktop that's more like windows in pink or something like that, and you like a ultra lightweight xfce desktop. It can all be there.

5. Run the system without a GUI desktop

It's possible to run your Linux system without the GUI to save on electricity and system resources. This has many applications. For instance you can run a system booted in text mode as a webserver or as your bittorrent download client while you are away. You can log in to this system from your job, to see how your downloads are going. I can go on and on about the possibilities. Something like this feature is available in windows server 2008,you can start that without gui, but it gives you a very crippled system.

6. Turn your system into a complete media center.

Arguably windows media center could be called a "complete media center" but it doesn't compare in any way to the features you can have with a Linux media center. If you look at the things possible with mythTV or linuxMCE you'll be surprised. The Dreambox is build on Linux for a reason!

7. Easily secure transfer files between computers

It's possible to transfer files between windows computers, it's done all the time. But it's clear why there are so many services for file transfer available on the internet. It's not easy doing this in windows. In Linux you can just copy files over the network and over the internet with one simple command. Almost as easy as local copy's.

8. Recover from hard disk problems

Recovering from disk problems which make your system unbootable is possible in Windows, but it's done most of the time by starting with the insertion of a Linux boot cd. I resurrected many laptops from the dead which were running Linux, just insert live cd, mount the home partition and copy your personal data to another disk. replace disk and copy the data back. Ok it's not always this easy, but my experience with windows is: forget it, if the system is unbootable you'd better have a backup.

9. Install software by choosing it from a list

In Linux there are package managers which give you the possibility to select a program from a very big list, and install it. No surfing the web, no searching for cracks or serial keys because the software is to expensive to pay for. No viruses or malware because the photo editing tool you needed came from a torrent.

Almost every program is free and just two or tree mouse clicks away.

10. Have all software on your system updated to the latest version automatically

In windows all software comes from different sources, licenses expire, things have to be paid.
Linux has tools which make it possible to automatically update your complete system to the latest version.

Every program at it's latest version, security and bug fixes all updated. One of the great benefits of free software and package management.

Source: http://www.e-linux.it/news_detail.php?id=7945

Windows 7 Includes Both Windows Installer 5.0 and Windows Installer 4.5

2009-02-12T06:34:00.000-08:00

Concomitantly with the advent of the next iteration of Windows, the Windows Installer evolved to version 5.0. Available for both the Windows 7 client and for Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Installer 5.0 can already be test driven courtesy of the Beta builds of the Windows client and server operating systems released to the general public in early January 2009. But at the same time, Windows 7 is not limited to MSI 5.0 alone, as the platform also includes functionality specific of the previous version of MSI, namely 4.5.

“Windows Installer version 5.0 is included in Windows 7 Beta. The MSDN documentation section "What's new in Windows Installer 5.0" has been updated accordingly and available for online viewing. In addition, all functionality provided with the MSI 4.5 redistributable release is included on Windows 7,” revealed Zainab Hakim, test engineer for the Windows Installer (MSI) team.

The Windows Installer 4.5 redistributable is currently available for Windows Vista RTM and Service Pack 1, Windows XP SP3 and earlier, Windows Server 2008 RTM/SP1, and Windows Server 2003 SP1 and SP2. However, Windows 7 users and developers will also be able to take advantage of features such as Multi-package Transactions, Embedded UI Handlers, Shared Components Robustness, Patch Supersedence Robustness and Uninstall Custom Actions. Still, for a more compete experience, Windows Installer 5.0 is the answer, as it brings to the table a number of features that are not present in MSI 4.5.

“The Windows Installer functions, tables, and properties listed on this page are not supported by Windows Installer 4.5 and earlier versions. The absence of a feature from this list does not guarantee that the feature is supported,” Microsoft informed. “Windows Installer 4.5 does not support some features that enable a single installation package to be installed in either the per-machine or per-user installation context; some services configuration options that can enable a package to customize the services on a computer; some features that enable the Windows Installer to secure new accounts, Windows Services, files, folders, and registry keys; [and] some features that enable the installation to enumerate all components installed on the computer and obtain the key path for the component.”

At the same time Windows Installer 4.5 does not play nice with a range of items present in Windows Installer 5.0 including a few standard actions, installer functions, column data types, properties, database tables, ControlEvents, Controls, Internal Consistency Evaluators – ICEs; and Automation Interface properties.

Microsoft Windows Installer 4.5 is available for download here.

Windows 7 Beta is available for download here.

How to Resolve Installation Event Errors in SBS 2008?

2009-02-04T02:55:00.000-08:00

SBS 2008 has been released to manufacturing (RTM), and if you haven't installed yet, you most likely will soon. As with previous versions of SBS, the complex interactions with partner products and configurations in use can lead to some noise in the event logs. We know of a few issues that you will see and we want to share information on how to resolve them or take action to prevent them. We are focusing on errors that will appear in a frequent enough ratio that they will be noticed right away, we are not going to be discussing one time events that can happen on shutdown, startup or right after the setup has been completed that will not affect any functionality and should not repeat themselves during normal operations.

DCOM Event 10016

Problem: You install Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. When you view the System log after Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 is successfully installed, you see the event ID 10016 error message logged one or more times.

Type: Error
Source: DCOM
Category: None
Event ID: 10016
Description:
The application-specific permissions settings do not grant Local Activation permission for the COM Server application with CLSID {CLSID} to the user DomainName\UserName SID {SID}. This security permission can be modified using the Component Services administration tool

Resolution: The solution in this article will work for Windows Small Business Server 2008: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920783

MSExchange Search Event 4625

Problem: Failed Security audits in the Security log- there is a problem in Microsoft.Exchange.Search.ExSearch.exe where an event id 4625 will be reported every few minutes.
Resolution: This should be fixed in the Exchange RU4 release which is currently targeted to be released in September of 2008. It can be ignored otherwise.

DCOM Event 10009

Problem: The DCOM event id 10009 will occur when a client workstation has a miss-configured firewall or other issues affecting its network communications within the domain, for example if the workstation is not managed by an SBS GPO. In this scenario, the DCOM event 10009 will happen repeatedly, potentially hundreds per day.

Resolution: To attempt to resolve configuration issues with the firewall try the following:

· Make sure to allow remote management exception. Depending on your firewall solution this might be implemented or might require opening several ports. Unfortunately, this means opening common ports like TCP/135, TCP/139 but also a range of dynamic ports that cannot easily be defined and start at 1025, check with your firewall manufacturer for proper ways of allowing dynamic RPC traffic.

· If using OneCare on the SBS client machines, make sure you are using the Small Business version of Windows Live OneCare. The Small Business version has a default set of firewall port exceptions as required by SBS to monitor the client workstations.

· If the workstation is on a different subnet than the SBS server and it is running Windows XP SP2 or higher, the firewall exceptions provided by the SBS group policies will not properly allow the required connectivity. You should edit the Client XP GPO and change the scope of the rules to allow subnet + the internal IP of the server. Follow the extra steps below to properly monitor XP SP2 (or higher) machines running in the SBS domain on different subnets than the SBS server, and prevent the DCOM 10009 errors if that is the case.

1. Open GPMC.MSC from Start-Run
2. Accept the UAC prompt
3. Expand Forest: Domain.local, Domains, Domain.local and select Group Policy Objects. (Replace Domain.local with your domain)
4. Select the Windows SBS Client – Windows XP Policy and then use right click on your mouse and select edit
5. Expand Computer Configuration, Policies, Administrative Templates, Network, Network Connections, Windows Firewall, Domain Profile
6. Find the IP Address of the server: Open a command prompt window (cmd.exe) from the Start menu. In the command prompt window type IPConfig and press return. Make note of the IPv4 address listed.
7. Double click on: Windows Firewall: “Allow inbound file and printer sharing exception”
a. in the text box labeled “Allow unsolicited incoming messages from these IP addresses”, add the IP (IPv4) of the server, so if the IP of the server is 192.168.1.2, it would end up reading: localsubnet,192.168.1.2
b. Click Ok
8. Repeat Steps 6.a and 6.b for the following rules:
Windows Firewall: Allow inbound remote administration exception
Windows Firewall: Allow inbound remote desktop exceptions

Source & inspiration: http://blogs.technet.com/sbs/archive/2008/08/26/known-post-installation-event-errors-in-sbs-2008-and-how-to-resolve-them.aspx

Safeguard Windows 2008 Server

2009-01-30T03:52:00.000-08:00

Businesses cannot afford to have downtime, and with so much depending on the function of the Microsoft Relevant Products/Services Windows platform, they also have a need for tools that will help to maximize and preserve their investment in the Windows environment, even as they transition to the Windows Server 2008.

Fortunately, a number of proven tools and services are available to help organizations preserve and protect their Windows 2008 server Relevant Products/Services. By providing new availability to virtualization Relevant Products/Services, security and management capabilities, Windows Server 2008 helps IT staff maximize control over their infrastructure. Windows PowerShell, for example, a new command-line shell with more than 130 tools and an integrated scripting language, makes control and automation of repetitive system administration tasks easier. The new Server Manager is an additional help by offering the convenience of a single control panel from which administrators can install, configure and manage the server roles and features of Windows Server 2008.

One component of keeping critical IT environments up and running is having the capability to not only back up mission-critical data Relevant Products/Services but also to have fast and reliable recovery of that data. Without proper protection, an infrastructure failure, natural disaster or even simple human error could send a profitable, productive company into a tailspin from which it might never recover.

To ensure a complete data-system protection strategy, organizations are now replacing their silo-based backup-and-recovery strategies with a single, more comprehensive approach that maximizes Windows Server 2008 and legacy Window systems by supporting VSS writer integration, system state, Active Directory, BitLocker technology and cluster failover. In addition, these comprehensive data-protection solutions are powered by disk-based technology that minimizes IT downtime and helps businesses meet strict recovery-time objectives.

Intelligent archiving tools are also being integrated into data- and system-protection solutions to extend protection and availability to critical archives. In order to keep in compliance with data retention and recovery standards, more organizations are requiring an integrated archive solution that will help to manage and reduce storage Relevant Products/Services volumes and improve overall data discovery.

Advanced disk-to-disk-to-tape backup-and-recovery solutions can leverage other technologies to streamline protection. For example, these types of solutions provide IT administrators with the ability to recover granular data like e-mails, folders, mailboxes, and individual documents and attributes from critical Microsoft applications -- including Microsoft Exchange, Active Directory, SharePoint Server and SharePoint Services. Having the ability to restore granular items versus restoring an entire database Relevant Products/Services eliminates the additional management and storage resource required when running Exchange mailbox backups.

Traditionally, Windows system recovery has been a manual, intensive and lengthy process that can take days or weeks. In contrast, bare metal restore technology can whittle that down to just minutes. With these solutions, IT administrators can quickly restore systems, even to dissimilar hardware Relevant Products/Services, virtual environments, or from remote, unattended locations. The entire Windows system can be captured and protected, including the operating system, applications, databases, files, device drivers, profiles, settings and registry.

Source: http://www.newsfactor.com/news/Safeguard-Windows-2008-Server/story.xhtml?story_id=131008JS64A7

Apple Releases Server Admin Tools 10.5.6

2009-01-23T02:42:00.000-08:00

Apple has released Server Admin Tools 10.5.6, a package that contains remote administration tools, documentation, and utilities you can install on a computer other than your server. The download is free; the .dmg file weighs in at exactly 88MB.

According to an Apple support document, Server Admin Tools 10.5.6 is required to administer Mac OS X Server version 10.5.6 from a remote Mac client. As usual, the Server Admin Tools 10.5.6 are available as a manual download, and as an automatic Software Update for Macs running Mac OS X 10.5.6 with version 10.5 or later of the Server Admin Tools already installed. Users should note that the Server Admin Tools 10.5.6 require the latest version of Mac OS X available today - 10.5.6.

Apple also posted a note for users who might have accidentally moved or deleted some of the files contained in the Server Admin Tools folder. If as little as one file has been removed from its original location, OS X 10.5.6 users may see the Server Admin Tools 10.5.6 update appearing in their Software Updater again. If this is the case with you, Apple advises to return the Server services to their original location, or remove any duplicate copies of the Server Admin Tools, before using Software Update.

Affecting Mac OS X Server 10.5, Server Admin, the Server Admin Tools 10.5.6 deliver the following enhancements, according to Apple Support.

Server Admin Tools 10.5.6 include several improvements, including those delivered in Server Admin Tools 10.5.3 and Server Admin Tools 10.5.5, as well as the following:

System Image Utility

When deploying a system image created from a volume, the target computers will no longer have identical local KDC files.

Adds NetBoot/NetInstall model filters for the latest MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air computers.

Server Admin

Fixes an issue that could cause Server Admin to stop responding when propagating permissions on a folder which is on a volume other than the boot volume.

Download Server Admin tool Free

Architecting Memory for Systems on Windows Server 2008

2009-01-20T06:44:00.000-08:00

The initial provisioning of RAM on systems is quite important, and with Windows Server 2008, it becomes even more critical now that 64-bit servers are common equipment. This tip breaks down how RAM can be used in Windows Server 2008.

Prior to Windows Server 2008, most servers did not have much of a RAM requirement above 4 GB. In Windows Server 2008, it is time to give some thought to x86 vs. x64 computing in regards to memory allocation.

The chart in Figure A shows the RAM maximums available with the different versions of Windows Server 2008.

Now that all new hardware is x64 capable, it is almost a no-brainer to go ahead and provision systems with the x64 editions of Windows — this includes the Standard and Web editions, which can hold more RAM. The only real distinguishing factor is whether these machines will be virtual machines or carry a heavy workload as a physical system. If new Windows servers (including selected virtual machine workloads) will be doing very little work, it may make more sense to only provision them with 4 GB of RAM.

When comparing x86 to x64, the systems should be made x64 (if possible) if there is any foreseen need to increase the RAM beyond the 4 GB limit. However, cases can be made for x86 installations; namely, drivers that need to be installed for certain equipment, vendor support for third-party applications, and the possible need for 16-bit applications (read 10 things you should know about 64-bit Windows Server) can become great obstacles in adopting x64 distributions of Windows. The other side of the discussion is to minimize the number of editions of Windows Server 2008 that you use in your environment, which is a very valid management point.

Increasing the footprint of operating systems is something that most administrators want to avoid, but this one may be an exception. With Windows Server 2008’s x64 versions being able to process more RAM, the case becomes quite clear. This becomes an even more convincing case when we consider that the x86 versions of Windows Server 2008 will likely not go beyond the base release, paving the way for the x64 platform exclusively available with Windows Server 2008 R2.

Source: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/datacenter/?p=483

Windows Server 2008 Store something for Small business

2009-01-15T06:48:00.000-08:00

This is a philosophy that the Windows Server team at Microsoft adopted since Windows Server 2003 R2 beta will be available for download on the WinServer R2 web site.

While R2 arrives with myriad new features, there are two key areas that are of great interest to IT generalists and small VARs that cater to the Small business. First, a new DirectAccess feature eliminates the need for VPN connectivity by providing seamless intranet based connectivity to Windows 7 clients from remote locations. DirectAccess will do away with the need to buy any VPN appliance. What's more, administrators will be able to manage remote computers just like computers inside corporate intranets. For VARs, DirectAccess spells a boom in new business revenue. VARs can offer managed services directly from their networks.

In R2, Microsoft also changed some of the network plumbing and underlying protocols to increase the efficiency of file transfers and improve remote connectivity with Hyper-V. As a result, the old Terminal Services will no longer be supported.

R2 provides a new Remote Desktop service using a new Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). In a R2 VDI environment, remote computers will be able to connect to virtual desktops, instead of physical machines. Hyper-V's virtualization technology makes it looks seamless. From the point of view of users, they won't be able to distinguish if the virtual desktops are virtual or installed on physical hardware.

While this might sound too esoteric for many small businesses to deploy, in actuality, it is not. I've worked with Hyper-V in the past and found it extremely easy to use. Small business will be able to reduce operational costs because the desktops exist in the VDI environment (a server box). You won't be rolling your eyes back when you see the price. It's all included in the Windows Server 2008 license.

Source: pcmag.com

Microsoft touts Mac-Windows collaboration at Macworld

2009-01-07T07:09:00.000-08:00

Microsoft Corp. today said it would launch new Macintosh software later this year that will let Office 2008 for Mac users collaborate with people running the Windows version of the application suite.

The company made the announcement at the Macworld Conference & Expo, where Apple Inc. delivered the keynote for the last time, without CEO Steve Jobs, a longtime fixture at the event.

Document Collaboration Companion will be released to a small number of beta testers next month, said a Microsoft spokeswoman in an e-mail today. However, Microsoft would not commit to a definitive final release timetable, saying only that it would deliver the software "later this year."

The spokeswoman said that the program will make it easier for users to download and upload documents to enterprise servers running SharePoint, Microsoft's browser-based collaboration platform, or to Office Live Workspace, the free online server service that offers similar functionality. Document Collaboration Companion also will provide Mac-based tools to let Office users check shared documents in and out.

Microsoft touted the upcoming software and a planned makeover of Entourage -- the e-mail client for Office 2008 for Mac -- as its first moves toward providing some of the same kind of services to its Mac customers that those running Windows already enjoy.

"Entourage Exchange Web Services and the Document Collaboration Companion lets Mac Office users connect with counterparts on a PC," said Eric Wilfrid, general manager of Microsoft's Mac business group, in a separate statement. "These releases are the first step in harnessing the power of software plus services on the Mac."

Microsoft promised that Entourage will also be beefed up this year so that it's more on par with Outlook, the Windows e-mail client, in enterprises. As part of that upgrade, which Microsoft will offer later this year free of charge to Office 2008 users, it is transitioning Entourage to Exchange Web Services (EWS) for connecting to Exchange mail servers and dropping the currently supported WebDAV.

The changes will also include new support for synchronizing tasks, notes and categories in Entourage via an Exchange server.

Source:http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9125032&intsrc=hm_list

Small Business IT Services: Save Money with Third-Parties

2008-12-26T02:19:00.000-08:00

Hiring Third-Party IT Services

There are four key reasons why small businesses are hiring third-party IT support services providers right now.

1. Cost-Savings

Hiring outside IT services is often much less expensive than hiring a full-time IT staff member. With outside service providers you get to choose exactly what IT programs your company size and workload needs. That means you can decide whether you want to pay for network management, help desk support, systems security elements, server support and on-going maintenance or just a subset of these. With an IT consulting firm you get what you need when you need it and can avoid the high overhead cost of paying an employee.

2. High-Quality Service

Professional IT providers often offer a much higher quality of work than a single IT employee. A good IT consulting firm hires fully trained IT professions that are able to design and implement competitive IT systems, analyze server, desktop, and network vulnerability, and provide desktop and network support. This kind of comprehensive analysis is often more than a entry level IT manager can handle.

3. Improved Network Security

By hiring an outside IT service provider, small businesses can utilize the critical and objective assessment of an unbiased, diligent professional. Outside IT providers are often asked to thoroughly examine threats that exist outside the company and implement technologies that help protect the business from these threats. These companies' main objective is to stay on top of the latest network and system threats to make sure they are on top of securing the systems. That takes time and work that most business owners don't have on their own.

4. Peace of Mind

Probably the most honest and simplest reason small business owners are seeking out outside IT service providers is the peace of mind it can bring. An IT service provider with years of proven experience in the field and access to state-of-the-art tools will undoubtedly do a better job than an employee with a basic knowledge of internet trends and technologies. Knowing that the IT components are taken care of allows small businesses with limited resources to focus their energy on sales, customer service, project management and other income generating work.

Small business owners in any industry can find value in researching IT support services for their company. It is not vital that they understand all the components for a secure and functioning server and systems network. It is important for them to take time to find someone who does. There are professional services out there willing to help cut costs and save you time.

Source: goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=1288137

Layer Zero Server Management

2008-12-19T04:03:00.000-08:00

It's kind of surprising in this day and age how rudimentary server management can be. Far too many IT organizations are still using pen and paper trying to keep track of which servers are attached to what applications. In short, they are using the most basic of manual processes to keep track of the equipment we use to automate every other aspect of the business environment.

The good news is that the discipline of IT service management is maturing quickly. A lot of internal IT departments are taking a page from professional IT services organizations by starting to manage their own operations like a service company. We have all kinds of IT automation tools available today to help accomplish that, but the first step along that journey is to start figuring out what server equipment is actually in place.

Turns out that may be a seemingly obvious thing to do but you might be surprised that there are not that many tools focused on the physical management of servers. In fact, Hewlett-Packard just expanded its portfolio of systems management tools to include Vista server management and monitoring tools from Aperture, which makes a set of tools that company officials say address the often overlooked "Layer Zero" aspect of server support services management.

The other side of this equation is that in this economy IT organizations are likely to find they are going to be short-handed when it comes to data center personnel. That means they need more tools to proactively monitor data center environments that are becoming more complex in the wake of virtualization and data center consolidation projects.

With the advent of blade servers and multicore processors, the challenges associated with managing servers are only going to get more difficult. But you can't really manage what you don't really know you have. And when you're dealing with hundreds of servers.

Source: blogs.eweek.com

Microsoft Rolls Out New Small Business Server Options

2008-12-09T04:29:00.000-08:00

Microsoft has announced new server software that it said provides small and medium businesses with enterprise-quality capabilities while helping them to save money, increase productivity and grow their businesses.

While designed specifically for small and midsized companies, Windows Small Business Server 2008 (SBS 2008) and Windows Essential Business Server 2008 (EBS 2008) include Microsoft's high-end server technologies delivered in a way that smaller companies can make the most of them.

“Around the world, small and midsize businesses are the engine that drives economic growth and opportunity,” Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, said in a company statement. “To help these businesses succeed, Microsoft has focused on creating integrated, affordable server solutions that are optimized to meet the needs of companies with limited IT resources. Small Business Server and Essential Business Server deliver a comprehensive set of capabilities that will help small and midsize business thrive and grow.”

Designed for small companies with up to 75 people/computers, SBS 2008 server software integrates a variety of Windows functions to help small businesses better secure data and increase employee productivity regardless of location.

Based on Windows Server 2008 Standard technology, SBS 2008 incorporates

Exchange Server 2007 Standard Edition for messaging and collaboration
SharePoint Services 3.0 for online collaboration workspace and productivity tools
Forefront Security for Exchange Server to handle e-mail security
Windows Server Update Services 3.0 for network updates and protection
Windows Live OneCare for Server to manage viruses, hackers and other digital threats
Microsoft Office Live Small Business to help take your business online
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Standard for Small Business, a database available in the Premium edition

The server software offers a range of features including anytime/anywhere access to your PC and its data, including e-mail, files, business applications, and more. It's also designed to let your employees share Internet access, printers, fax machines and other network resources. Click here for SBS 2008 pricing information.

Microsoft designed EBS 2008 for midsized companies with up to 300 people or computers. It's meant to simplify and automate common IT tasks, and a unified administration console gives IT managers more control over an integrated network infrastructure.

Windows Essential Business Server 2008 also incorporates the applications found in SBS 2008, and Microsoft said it provides the following features:

Significant costs savings compared to buying stand-alone products.
Remote access, anti-spam, antivirus protection and improved messaging technologies improve productivity both in and away from the office
An integrated setup saves time and reduces installation steps from days to hours Simplified licensing with a single server license and Client Access for all included products.

Steven VanRoekel, senior director of the Windows Server product group, noted that both server products help small and mid-sized companies compete in tough economic times.

"Small companies have the same needs and face the same challenges as big business, but they lack the staff, resources and time to manage IT environments," VanRoekel said. "The new EBS 2008 and SBS 2008 products are an integrated, affordable, enterprise-quality solution that can help small and midsized companies become more productive, cut costs and be more competitive." Click here for EBS 2008 pricing information

The company said that Dell, HP and IBM will offer hardware configurations that have been optimized for running SBS 2008. HP, IBM and Intel will offer blade servers designed and priced for midsized companies. The more common rack-and-tower server configurations will also be available in a range of sizes from companies such as IBM, Dell, HP and Sun Microsystems.

On the software side, Microsoft's ISVs (independent software vendors) will support both SBS 2008 and EBS 2008 with a variety of applications ranging from backup and recovery, security, business management, systems management and more.

Via: http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/biztools/article.php/3784851

Printer Server Management Options in Windows Server 2008

2008-12-04T06:15:00.000-08:00

Windows Server 2008's print server role offers a new Print Management console. (An earlier form of the console was part of Windows Server 2003 R2.)

The Windows Server 2008 version, which is provided to the server when the print server role is added, allows you to retrieve information and the state of printers and other print servers. For clean installations, you can also use the Print Management console to install printers to client systems via Group Policy.

After installing the print server role, the Print Management console appears and offers a central view for the printers and print servers.

The Print Management console is one of the stronger features for Windows Server 2008 simply because of the deployment options of printers through Group Policy. For a printer deployed through Group Policy, the corresponding Group Policy Management configuration is shown in Figure.

As with other Group Policy configurations, it can be applied to User or Computer objects. This flexibility can avoid risky scripts or inconsistent driver situations that can result from haphazard printer deployment.

You can apply the Print Management console to a permission model for delegated control so a help desk technician could clear a queue or even deploy the printer to a client. Printer drivers can also be managed within the Print Management console, avoiding issues where unnecessary printing features complicate the support of the solution.

Source:zdnetasia.com/techguide/windows/0,39044904,62048326,00.htm

Secure Remote Desktop and Application Publishing Solution

2008-11-24T04:21:00.000-08:00

SecureIDA delivers remote users and branch offices highly secure access to servers, applications, and desktops over economical public Internet connections – and all traffic is encrypted. This is accomplished in minutes, with near-zero complexity and rock-solid security. The SecureIDA portal provides an uncomplicated and intuitive way to add systems to the network, control who has access to these corporate resources, and for end users to instantly and effortlessly access those same resources. Systems go online instantly, and there is near-zero impact on your IT staff, and none on your users.

Unlike hardware solutions that require significant network expertise and large commitments of capital, SecureIDA is a low-cost and low-risk alternative. Beyond secure remote networking, we extend applications that were once confined to the office to anywhere on the planet, without extra software licenses or IT administration. SecureIDA can also connect mobile workers to their office desktops, keeping them continually productive. All this is accomplished without additional hardware, and without having to install any client software. You can effectively budget secure networking while meeting your internal and regulatory requirements, all without impacting your staff.

Click here to download the "Secure Remote Desktop and Application Publishing Solution"

Source: dabcc.com/downloadfile.aspx?id=328

Windows HPC Server 2008 Launched By Microsoft

2008-11-18T04:23:00.000-08:00

Microsoft India has recently introduced its latest offering in the High Performance Computing (HPC) segment with the Release to Manufacture (RTM) of Windows HPC Server 2008. The product aims to provide an easy-to-deploy, cost-effective and scalable high-performance computing solution combining its rich, out-of-the-box functionality with the capabilities of the Windows Server platform to help enhance productivity and reduce complexity of any given HPC environment.

“The success achieved by Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 in the last few years is a strong testament of our value proposition in the High Performance Computing market. We are confident that as the successor, Windows HPC Server 2008 will help us further build on this momentum by offering an easy to deploy, cost effective and scalable HPC solution for firms to leverage their existing resources and scale from workstation to cluster, all in a familiar Windows environment,” said Pallavi Kathuria, Director, Server Business Group, Microsoft India.

Based on Windows Server 2008, the solution is designed to deliver improved productivity of systems administration and cluster interoperability by dramatically simplifying the overall deployment, administration and management over the entire system lifetime while ensuring interoperability with existing systems infrastructure.

The product will enable rapid HPC application development through integration with Visual Studio 2008 with its parallel programming environment. In addition to supporting standard interfaces such as OpenMP, multiprocessor interconnect (MPI) and Web services, the solution will also support third-party numerical library providers, performance optimizers, compilers and debugging toolkits.

In India specifically, apart from the academic space, the company has experienced a great rise in the adoption curve of its HPC solutions in commercial scenarios such as Manufacturing, BFSI and Media & Entertainment.

The HPC solution will be available to Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and computer manufacturers for final distribution. Evaluation copies of Windows HPC Server 2008 are now available for download on the company’s website.

Via:networkcomputing.in/Server-018Nov008-Microsoft-Introduces-the-Windows-HPC-Server-008.aspx

Can Windows 7 overcome Vista driver woes?

2008-11-10T23:07:00.000-08:00

Microsoft has revealed some staggering figures showing how often driver installations fail in Vista.

Microsoft is hoping for zero hardware install problems when Windows 7 finally hits the market, but is that really realistic when more than 10% of printer drivers for Vista are still failing to work properly?

However, Microsoft's own internal evidence shows that not everything is working that well in Vista. In a presentation on how to build drivers more effectively in collaboration with Microsoft, senior program manager lead Chris Matichuk disclosed rarely-seen figures from Microsoft's own internal systems that collect data on how Vista performs, principally its Online Crash Analysis and Customer Experience Improvement Program schemes. The data, which covers attempted driver installations for Vista SP1 users during September 2008, shows that in many categories, a significant number of users are still having problems even getting their hardware to work properly.

The biggest embarrassment category is printers, where more than 10% of installations failed. For Windows 7, Microsoft is hoping its new integrated approach in Windows 7 to device management will allow more successful installations of multi-function printers, which in Vista often show up as multiple devices. However, if a tenth of them don't show up at all, there's clearly some more fundamental work to be done.

Modems, though utilised by far fewer people, were also a major source of problems, with 8.64% failing to install. (I'd hazard a guess that 3G broadband modems, which are notoriously fickle under Vista, are a big part of the problem here.)

"Typically, anything above 3% is not good," Matichuk conceded. "If you look at printers for example, we've got some gaps we need to work through."

Another major challenge for Microsoft is getting more 64-bit drivers released. 64-bit versions of Vista now account for 25% of new system sales in the US, though the global figures are much lower. The performance improvements of the 64-bit version have been somewhat offset by a lack of drivers. Microsoft's own research suggests that while 92% of 32-bit Vista systems could find core drivers in the OS or online, for 64-bit systems the figure is just 83%.

Getting vendors to agree to make drivers available through Windows Update had also proved a time consuming process, and one that doesn't always succeed. Currently for Vista, there are more than 8,000 messages in place in Windows Update pointing users to third-party sources because the drivers can't be incorporated into Microsoft's own update technology. "We're continuing to add approximately 50 a week," Matichuk said.

Despite those challenges, Matichuk remains hopeful that driver nirvana can be reached. "Imagine that once the OS gets released right out of the box, devices just work. We need to nail this for Windows 7."

The most crucial moment for achieving that goal may have already passed, though. Matichuk suggested that drivers included as part of Microsoft's Inbox program, and thus in the core OS at installation, would already need to be present in the pre-beta in order to ensure widespread compatibility. "Ultimately, you need those drivers into the beta build." Other device manufacturers could ensure a successful installation by making their drivers online via Windows Update, he said.

Source: apcmag.com/can_windows_7_overcome_vista_driver_woes.htm

Ten Surprises in Windows Server 2008

2008-11-04T01:46:00.000-08:00

Windows Server 2003 felt like a refresh of Windows Server 2000. There were few radical changes, and most of the improvements were fairly under the surface.

Windows Server 2008, on the other hand, is a full-sized helping of 'new and improved'. While the overall package is good, there are a few surprises and hidden delights you may want to know about before deciding if you will be moving to Windows Server 2008 any time soon.

1. The 64-bit revolution is not complete:-

There have been 64-bit editions of Windows Server for years now, and Microsoft has made it quite clear that it wants all of its customers to move to 64-bit operating systems.

That does not mean that you can throw away your 32-bit Windows Server 2008 CD, however.

Over the last few months, I have been shocked, on more than one occasion, by the pieces of Microsoft software that not only do not have 64-bit versions but will not run under a 64-bit operating system (OS) at all. This list includes Team Foundation Server and ISA Server.

If you are planning on moving to 64-bit Windows Server 2008, be prepared to have a 32-bit server or two around, whether on physical hardware or in a virtual machine.

2. Who moved my cheese?

While the changes to the user interface in Windows Server 2008 are not nearly as sweeping as those implemented by the Aero interface in Vista, it has undergone a dramatic rearrangement and renaming of the various applets around the system.

In retrospect, the organisation of these items is much more sensible, but that hardly matters when you have years of experience going to a particular area to find something, only to find it has suddenly changed places. Expect to be a bit frustrated in the Control Panel until you get used to it.

3. Windows Workstation 2008 might catch on

Microsoft has provided the ability to bring the 'Vista desktop experience' into Windows Server 2008.

I doubt that many server administrators were asking for this, but the unusual result is that a number of people are modifying Windows Server 2008 to be as close to a desktop OS as possible.

There have always been a few people who use the server edition of Windows as a desktop, but this makes it much easier and friendlier. These home-brewed efforts are generally referred to as 'Windows Workstation 2008', in case you're interested in trying it out on your own.

4. Hyper-V is good, but…

Hyper-V was one of the most anticipated features of Windows Server 2008, and it's surprisingly good, particularly for a version-one release from Microsoft.

It is stable, easy to install and configure, and does not seem to have any major problems.

For those of us who have been beaten into the 'wait until the third version' or 'don't install until Service Pack 1' mentality, this is a refreshing surprise.

5. …Hyper-V is limited

Hyper-V, while high-quality, is sorely lacking in features.

Considering that it was billed as a real alternative to VMware and other existing solutions, it is a disappointment — to say the least — that it does not seem to include any utilities for importing virtual machines from products other than Virtual PC and Virtual Server. Even those imports are not workaround-free.

6. NT 4 domain migration — it's not happening

If you have been putting off the painful migration from your NT 4 domain until Windows Server 2008 was released, don't keep waiting.

The older version (3.0) Active Directory Migration Tool (ADMT) supports migrations from NT 4, but not to Windows Server 2008.

The latest version (3.1) supports migrations to Windows Server 2008, but not from NT 4.

Either migrate from NT 4 before changing your domain to be a Windows 2008 domain or get your NT 4 domain upgraded first.

7. The ashtrays are now optional

In prior versions of Windows Server, a lot of applications came installed by default.

No-one ever uninstalled them because they didn't cause any harm, even if you didn't use them or installed an alternative.

Now, even the 'throwaway' applications, like Windows Backup, are not installed by default.

After installation, you need to add features to get the full Windows Server suite of applications. This can be frustrating if you are in a hurry, but the reduced clutter and resource overhead are worth it.

8. Licensing is bewildering

Continuing a hallowed Microsoft tradition, trying to understand the licensing terms of Windows Server 2008 feels like hammering nails with your forehead.

The Standard Edition makes sense, but when you get into the issues around virtualisation in the Enterprise Edition and Datacenter Edition, things can get a bit confusing.

Depending upon your need for virtual machines and the number of physical CPUs (not CPU cores, thankfully) in your server, Enterprise Edition may be cheaper or it may be more expensive than Datacenter Edition.

9. There's no bloat

Maybe it's because Vista set expectations of pain, or because hardware has become so much cheaper, but Windows Server 2008 does not feel bloated or slow at all.

Microsoft has done a pretty good job at minimising the installed feature set to the bare minimum, and Server Core can take that even further.

Depending upon your needs, it can be quite possible to upgrade even older equipment to Windows Server 2008 without needing to beef up the hardware.

10. Quality beats expectations

Microsoft customers have developed low expectations of quality over the years.

While the company's track record for initial releases, in terms of security holes and bug counts, seems to be improving, customers are still howling about Vista.

As a result, it has come as a real surprise that the overall reaction to Windows Server 2008 has been muted, to say the least. The horror stories are not flying around like they were, and are, with Vista.

Maybe it's the extra year Microsoft spent working on the product, or different expectations on the part of people who work with servers, but Windows Server 2008 has had a pretty warm reception so far. That speaks a lot about its quality.

Source:resources.zdnet.co.uk/articles/features/0,1000002000,39486976-2,00.htm

what process is using a TCP port in Windows Server 2008

2008-10-21T23:16:00.000-07:00

You may find yourself frequently going to network tools to determine traffic patterns from one server to another; Windows Server 2008 can allow you to get that information locally on its connections. You can combine the netstat and tasklist commands to determine what process is using a port on the Windows Server.

The following command will show what network traffic is in use at the port level:

Netstat -a -n -o

The -o parameter will display the associated process identifier (PID) using the port. This command will produce an output similar to what is in Figure A.

With the PIDs listed in the netstat output, you can follow up with the Windows Task Manager (taskmgr.exe) or run a script with a specific PID that is using a port from the previous step. You can then use the tasklist command with the specific PID that corresponds to a port in question. From the previous example, ports 5800 and 5900 are used by PID 1812, so using the tasklist command will show you the process using the ports. Figure B shows this query.

This identifies VNC as the culprit to using the port. While a quick Google search on ports could possibly obtain the same result, this procedure can be extremely helpful when you’re trying to identify a viral process that may be running on the Windows Server.

Source:blogs.techrepublic.com.com/datacenter/?p=453

Small Business Vista Support Deal Extended

2008-10-13T23:07:00.000-07:00

Microsoft is extending an offer giving free support to small businesses that upgrade to Vista. The deal will now run to the end of the year, with support offered until 31 January.

The offer, marketed as Small Business Assurance, was originally set to expire at the end of September. It’s not clear why Microsoft is extending the deal; in the FAQ section on its website about the offer, it appears to have simply changed the date in the question about why there’s a time limit in the first place. The answer still doesn’t get particularly specific:

Windows Vista Small Business Assurance is designed to help our small business customers make the transition to Windows Vista today. As Windows XP availability begins to wind down, we want small businesses to know we’re behind them to provide special support during this transition period.

The scope of the deal remains unchanged: it’s still limited to US companies with a maximum of 25 PCs or 50 employees, and is still telephone support only.

Most significantly, the deal still only applies to the Business and Ultimate editions of Vista. As we reported last week, while three-quarters of home users have opted for the Premium edition, a surprising 57% of ‘low-end business PCs’ are now running the Home Basic edition.

From Microsoft’s perspective, these aren’t buyers who need to be talked into buying Vista; instead the key to increased revenue is making sure they opt for the more expensive flavors. Keeping the support deal exclusive to the upscale editions could theoretically sway the smallest of businesses.

The problem with this logic is that there’s a good chance businesses running Home Basic do so because they want to keep both hardware and software costs down, so simply don’t have the computing power to reap any benefits from the small business or Ultimate editions. And in any case, there’s still the risk that making free support seem such an important bonus simply draws attention to the problems buyers perceive they might get in running Vista.

Source:vista.blorge.com/2008/10/13/small-business-vista-support-deal-extended/

Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2: Powering Small Businesses

2008-10-07T05:27:00.000-07:00

Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 (SBS 2003 R2) is an update release to the award-winning SBS 2003 product, providing new features to address the growing needs of small businesses.

Benefits of SBS 2003 R2
Get the "Green Check" of Software Health with SBS 2003 R2
How Can You Get SBS 2003 R2?
Learn More

Why Do You Need SBS 2003 R2?

Keep Your Business Up and Running: SBS 2003 R2 helps secure your network, keep it up and running, and protect your business information, allowing you to spend more time focusing on your business and less time and money on technology issues.

Do More with Less: SBS 2003 R2 offers the technology and tools to help you run your business more efficiently, improve employee productivity, and reduce costs.

Connect with Customers: SBS 2003 R2 helps you communicate in new ways and take better care of your customers by providing tools that help you stay more connected, look and interact more professionally, and manage your customer relationships more effectively.

Get the "Green Check" of Software Health with SBS 2003 R2

SBS 2003 R2 delivers all the current product benefits plus new features, including:

The "green check" of software health indicates that your computers running Microsoft software are up to date or the daily report details actions necessary for attaining "green check" status.

Simplified update management to keep your PCs and servers current with the latest updates, enhancing the security of your network, so you can have peace of mind.

Improved e-mail productivity: increased mailbox limits from 16 gigabytes (GB) to 75 GB, so you can get more from your e-mail communications.

Reduced costs and increased flexibility through expanded client access license (CAL) rights: SBS 2003 R2 entitles you to access additional servers in your network (Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Workgroup, Microsoft Windows Server), saving you money and offering you more flexibility in growth.

How Can You Get SBS 2003 R2?

SBS 2003 R2 is available through original equipment manufacturers (OEM), system builders, resellers and select retailers. Microsoft Partners, especially Microsoft Small Business Specialists, are trained to help.
For Existing Customers

Customers with SBS 2003 can take advantage of the following programs:

SBS customers with Software Assurance are able to obtain SBS 2003 R2 without purchasing a new server license1 for a nominal shipping and handling fee.

SBS customers without Software Assurance are able to purchase a version upgrade SKU via retail, which will enable them to cost-effectively upgrade from any previous version of SBS (4.0, 4.5, 2000, 2003) to SBS 2003 R2. Learn more.

Source:microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/sbs/r2/default.mspx

Trend Micro: Don’t buy antivirus software

2008-10-01T06:53:00.000-07:00

Trend Micro’s consumer security product manager has recommend people not to buy antivirus products, including his own. But there is a method to his madness, he assures.

David Peterson, consumer segment director for Trend Micro’s ANZ business, said only a handful of the top 10 security threats these days are viruses, with downloaders, Trojans, keyloggers and phishing scams filling up the list.

As such, he believes standalone AV software is best suited for infrequent users of the internet such as dial up users, or those who want protection from nasties on USB keys.

He said standalone AV products are there because the market demands it. “I wish they wouldn’t. I don’t recommend buying antivirus products,” he said, referring to Trend Micro’s and its competitor’s products.

What is important is complete protection. “You are better off get Internet security suites,” he said.

Peterson has support.

“Trend is correct,” said Neil MacDonald, vice president and Gartner Fellow.

“Standalone AV is no longer sufficient for protecting endpoints; however, this does not mean that signature-based mechanisms don’t provide value. They just don’t provide the value they used to and the vendors haven’t adjusted pricing models to reflect the diminished effectiveness of standalone AV,” he said. “The ideal endpoint security product is an endpoint security platform that provides organizations with a variety of styles of protection for endpoints – firewalls, AV, anti-spyware, application control, device control, behavioral monitoring and so on. This enables organizations to pick and choose the styles of protection appropriate to the endpoint – which will likely be different combination for desktops, laptops and servers. Even among severs this will vary by role. “AV is just component of the endpoint security platform.”

Trend Micro joins a swag of security companies to release security suites this month. It’s claims Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security Pro 2009 is significantly faster than last year’s effort. Others released in September include BitDefender Total Security 2009 and BullGuard Internet Security 8.5.

Source:arnnet

Microway Offers Scalable Server For High Powered Computing

2008-09-25T09:38:00.000-07:00

Microway has introduced a scalable server that breaks the barrier for performance and memory size.

The company showed off its NumberSmasher vSMP on Monday at High Performance On Wall Street.

The server has 1,024 GB of shared DRAM for reduced simulation times, preprocessing, and parallel applications. The shared memory configuration is large enough so users can eliminate swap-to-disk for high-powered simulations in science, electronic design automation, mechanical engineering, and research.

The server allows users to manage critical workflows on a modular, scalable system that features Intel Xeon CPU and compiler technology. Intel's latest Fortran and C++ Compiler technology helps the NumberSmasher vSMP deliver more power with higher efficiency and lower total cost of ownership. Microway said that a single Linux operating system and remote server monitoring improve manageability and reliability while offering a choice of threaded or MPI parallelism.

The company recently sold its first NumberSmasher vSMP to the National Institutes of Health. The server was on sale at the conference for $19,995. It features a 16-core, 2U system, 128 GB DRAM -- 667-MHz, 4-TB disk. A modular scalable system offers up to 128 cores (with 32 Intel Xeon Quad Core 3 GHz CPUs -- E5472), up to 1 TB hot-swap hard disk drives and works on Linux OS and Intel Compiler Suite 10.1.

Source:informationweek.com

Microsoft to deliver SQL Server 2008 in August

2008-07-28T02:26:00.000-07:00

The long wait for SQL Server 2008 is nearly over.

At its Worldwide Partner Conference in Houston on July 9, Bob Kelly, Microsoft Corporate Vice President of Infrastructure Server Marketing, told attendees that SQL Server 2008 will be on the August price list. He said that Microsoft will keep pricing the same for the new release as it is for SQL Server 2005.

Microsoft released the near-final Release Candidate (RC) 0 test build of SQL Server 2008 in early June.

Microsoft officially “launched” SQL Server 2008 in February, alongside Visual Studio 2008 and Windows Server 2008. Earlier this year, Microsoft officials said they were planning to deliver SQL Server 2008 by mid-2008. Company officials changed their guidance a couple of months ago, noting that Microsoft was planning to deliver the final SQL Server 2008 release in the third calendar quarter of 2008.

Kelly also announced that Microsoft has released the near-final Release Candidate (RC) 1 test builds of its Windows Essential Business Server 2008 mid-market server bundle, as well as its Windows Small Business Server 2008 product. Microsoft will make the RC1 builds available for download from the Microsoft Connect site, officials said. The company is planning the official launch of these two servers for November 12; the actual final code will likely hit before that date.

Microsoft also is planning some kind of “official” virtualization launch event in Seattle on September 8, Kelly said, without offering more specifics. On July 8, Microsoft made its Hyper-V hypervisor available on Windows Update for download.

Source:blogs.zdnet.com

Technology Support Services

2008-07-14T03:52:00.000-07:00

Is there anything more boring than other people's stories of their domestic IT disasters, and their desperate struggle to get an answer out of tech support? No, but I've suffered plenty of these tales in my time - and now it's your turn. Hopefully this will be brief and to the point - and for a technology correspondent to spend some time in tech hell can be instructive for both him and his audience.

So, 10 days ago my wife's e-mail - connected to a domain she bought from our ISP seven years ago - just gave up the ghost. She's a reasonable woman but this left her close to despair. I was deputed to fix things - replacing our 17-year-old director of IT who was out with his mates.

First call was to the ISP. I've no wish to inflict public humiliation in them so let's call this company "Tunnelvision". We've been with them for 12 years but I've grown more and more unhappy with their prices, broadband speeds and service - especially since they were taken over by a larger company who we shall call "Monteverdi". I had suggested moving - but my wife was reluctant, fearing that moving her website and e-mail would be a nightmare.

But the nightmare did indeed begin with a call to Tunnelvision's outsourced call centre somewhere in the Far East. They could only tell me there were no general problems with the network and our issue would be addressed by a "second-line engineer" within a day. When we grew impatient and called back 24 hours later, the story had changed. There was an issue affecting a number of customers - and we should not expect to hear a result for 48 hours.

My patience snapped - and I decided on swift executive action. We were going to switch ISPs - but that would take around 10 days, and in the meantime we would move my wife's domain to another hosting company. She was impressed by my new-found decisiveness.

I contacted a hosting company - this one had 24/7 UK-based support - to get the domain to a safer place. They told me this could happen in a couple of days and then the e-mail would be up and running again. All we had to do was forward an e-mail to Tunnelvision asking them to change the name servers on the domain. So we sent off the e-mail, along with a letter sent by registered post, and we waited. And waited.

Three days on, with nothing happening, I began an extraordinary series of phone calls all around the Tunnelvision - or rather Monteverdi - empire. First, customer service. "Not us, speak to our domains registration business." "Nothing to do with us," said the next lot, "speak to the hosting company, Tunnelvision Solutions." No solution there either: "Never heard of your domain, go back to customer service." "Sorry, we know nothing about domains," said customer service, "speak to technical support in the Far East."

Then a long, long call to technical support (interspersed with much Vivaldi while on hold) which ended with the message that the only option was to e-mail domains@tunnelvision.net. "But that's where we started three days ago," I screamed. "Is there no phone number for the domains department?" No.

In desperation, I started posting messages on the Twitter micro-blogging service about our problem. Within minutes, lots of kind Twitters were proffering advice, much of it very learned. But without a response from Tunnel vision, we could do nothing. Then a few hours later came a call from the company itself. Their PR people had spotted my anguished Twittering and wondered if they could help. Yes, yes, yes, please! But that was Thursday. Friday brought no advance - except for an request to resend the original e-mail detailing the required change in name servers.

On Monday morning I'm still awaiting the call to say the domain has been successfully moved. And if it isn't done today, I will be sleeping on a park bench tonight - there's only so many excuses I can make for my failure to get the domestic IT set-up running smoothly again.

So a typically boring tale - but with some lessons informing my future purchasing.

1. Customer service, not just price or speed, should be a major factor when choosing a supplier.

2. I want to be able to speak to my supplier, night and day - and get a clear response. In future I will test companies' call centres before I sign up.

3. I will be wary if a supplier is taken over by another firm. "Hosting is no longer a core part of Monteverdi's offering," was what one person at the firm told me. In other words we may have taken your supplier but don't expect us to care about all that tedious stuff you bought from them years ago.

4. Shouting about bad customer service can work. I was lucky this time - my ravings were spotted by a PR person who recognised my name. All anyone can do is make as much noise as possible.

5. Err, I'm sure you too have a long tale to tell about your domestic IT nightmare - but can it wait a few days? I'm still getting over mine.

Windows Small Business Server

2008-07-08T07:15:00.000-07:00

Announced back in February, previewed and priced in May, the business products built on Windows Server 2008 from the Windows Essential Server Solutions product line (all-in-one IT solutions designed for small and midsize businesses) now have a release date. Windows Small Business Server 2008 (for up to 75 PCs) and Windows Essential Business Server 2008 (for up to 300 PCs) will be released on November 12, 2008, Steven VanRoekel, senior director of the Windows Server Solutions group at Microsoft, said today at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference.

The announcement comes as the Release Candidate 1 milestone for both products is almost finished. Those interested in prerelease versions of Small Business Server 2008 and Essential Business Server 2008 can still sign up to download and evaluate them.

VanRoekel also took the time to reveal that "AMD, Dell, HP, IBM, and Intel are all demonstrating systems at the Worldwide Partner Conference this week. Fujitsu Siemens Computers and Wortmann AG in Europe also plan to deliver products built on both of the solutions. HP, IBM and Intel are integrating their hardware management software with Essential Business Server."

Software development kits and other resources will be available to software vendors via sources like MSDN, and of course products and software currently compatible with Server 2008 should work just fine with Windows SBS 2008 and Windows ESB 2008. In the next year, Microsoft will be training more than 25,000 partners through events and online tools.

Microsoft is putting a lot on the line with the launch of these two products, and this doesn't come as a big surprise if you remember how big the small and midsize business market is and how steadily it is growing. See the interview with VanRoekel below for more insight on Microsoft's plan to move into this niche.

Source: arstechnica.com/journals

IT Support Services

2008-06-30T09:09:00.000-07:00

IT Support Services

We are able to provide you access to a team of specialised professionals that have a passion for technology and the many benefits it can bring to your business systems and communications.

We look at providing complete solutions and will take the time to fully understand not only your requirements, but also your business, this is key to providing a solution that fits YOU.

We explain things in simple terms that make it easy for you to fully understand and we recommend processes that would suit your business and tell you why. We then make technology work for you and your company, with as little interruption as possible.

We work with a variety of companies that do not have their own specialized IT Staff and we can become an extension of your own company; effectively it is like having your own IT department on call, just without the expense of actually hiring dedicated IT support staff.

How would it affect your business if you lost critical data or had an unexpected loss of access to your computer systems?

Most companies would suffer greatly, which is why we can provide robust, reliable IT system to meet the demands of your growing business. From remote access solutions to online backup, we will ensure your computer systems and critical data are covered in the event of a disaster.

Remote desktop IT system for businesses with 1-50 users and provides full remote access to your desktop, crucial data, communications and business applications, anywhere in the world. Empower remote sales forces and company directors with an easy to use system that will put you back in control of your IT.

Full corporate-class disaster recovery is included as standard, providing your company with a hassle-free IT system.

With a leased line or with bonded ADSL broadband, you can have reliable, stable internet connection with superior upload/download speeds. Why share your internet connection with upto 50 other companies or users. From just £575 per month, you can have a direct internet connection using copper fibre cabling that is a dedicated connection just for you

source: www.davidberman.com

It Support Services - Windows, Server, Computer

2008-06-02T03:45:00.000-07:00

This page outlines the different types of Support Service Plans and Subscription Support that iyogi offers for our different technical support services and packages.

Keep your computer systems current and protected from viruses by automating distribution of software updates to all your networked assets. You’ll never have to rely on end users to perform critical IT tasks. Maintain licensing compliance with high standards and respond quickly to audit requirements, too. Track all technological changes from one integrated console.