Tag Archive for online backup

9 Things to do when the Internet drops out…

November 14, 2012 admin cloud computing
Twitt

There is no quicker way to realise how much you rely on your internet connection when it suddenly drops off. You get the dreaded and hated “Internet Explorer can not display this page” and your email say it’s trying to connect.

help, we have no internet

internet explorer cannot display the webpage

Here are some tips and ideas on what to do when this happens so that you don’t go completely insane. At the same time, it may be a good idea to look at building in some Internet redundancy by having a second Internet connection. With a phone line around £15 per month and a broadband connection around £20, it is a very small price to pay per month verses the amount of money you probably lose per hour when your staff can’t work. Contact us here for more info - http://www.colins-it.co.uk/contact.html

need more than one internet connection?

Broadband Backup

However, while you are down, here are 9 ways to stay productive. If you have a power outage to boot then some of these may not be relevant.

1: Use Windows offline folders or on-line briefcase

It is always very useful when travelling, having a copy of all the data you require on your laptop. Same concept apply if the server goes down, each computer has a copy of the data that synchronises around the office and into the cloud whenever a file is added or updated. This starts from only £10 per month for 512GB of data. You can also take advantage of the Windows offline files feature. It allows you to mark folders on network drives as available for offline use. The contents of the folders are then cached to the laptop’s hard drive. This way, you can always access your files, regardless of whether you’re connected to the network. When you do connect, the changes are synchronised.

backup online

2: Find another way to get online

If you’re at home or at the office and the Internet goes down, the most sensible solution might be to find another connection. Probably won’t work for a big office but either use your mobile phone, a 3G dongle or head off to Starbucks or similar coffee shop with Wi-Fi internet access.

 

connecting to the internet while having a coffee

mobile internet while having a coffee?

3: Print what you’ll need

If you have a big report to go through and you are having issues with connecting to the network or will have issues with power on your laptop, then print it out and work on it manually. Sometimes going back to paper can be productive if you are facing computer problems at that specific point in time.

print out your work but watch those trees…

4: Answer emails

With no internet, it is a great time catch up on all those emails you have not answered yet. Microsoft Outlook caches Exchange Server mailboxes in an .OST file. This means that Outlook can display your email messages, contacts, tasks, and calendar, even if it can’t connect to Exchange. This caching makes it possible to reply to email messages even without Internet connectivity. Your replies will be sent once a connection to the mail server can be re-established.

If you have email on your phone then you can often keep going by reading and replying to emails on there or your iPad etc until you are fully operational again. Works very well when you are out the office.

need your emails where ever you are

Need email on the move?

5: Take care of other neglected tasks

If the Internet is going to be down for a hopefully short time period that doesn’t involve heading over to Costa / Starbucks then do those tasks you have been meaning to get round to doing but never seem to have a chance. For example, clean your desk or work on your latest travel expense report. Renew your tax disc or actually put tax disc in the car!!

6: Take the Internet offline with you

If you need to do a lot of research while travelling then you can download various websites that you need to look through / read by using a feature in Internet Explorer that makes Web page contents available offline. Simply cache the pages you need before heading out the door.

7: Give your brain a break

The idea of taking a brain break probably seems really out of place, especially since this article is all about staying productive when no Internet service is available. Taking a short break often improves productivity. And what better time to take a break than when your ISP is having an outage? Just put your swimming costume on and head out the door. Just be careful if it’s winter or if you’re living in the UK!!

hosted exchange

take a break while the internet if off…

8: Have a brain storm staff meeting

If you work in an office environment and your Internet service goes offline, one way to remain productive is to have an brain storm staff meeting. The outage may give you time to go through outstanding issues, catch up on the status of various projects, and discuss issues that might ordinarily have been neglected.

american president Obama

Not sure if following Obama’s style is recommended?

9: Return phone calls

Most people have a string of phone calls to make that they put off. If you have a VOIP system you are stuffed although you probably have a mobile phone. Now would be a great time to make those calls while there is no facebook on your office PC to distract you.

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Best practices for network security

September 4, 2012 admin Uncategorized
Twitt

While i think a lot of companies hide their head in the sand when it comes to understanding and deploying network security, it is something that will eventually bite you in the bum and can have severe consequences.

Securing the modern business network and IT infrastructure requires an end-to-end
approach and a clear understanding of vulnerabilities and how to protct against them.

While such knowledge cannot prevent all attempts from hackers, it can empower network engineers to reduce your risk by eliminating certain general problems and  quickly detect breaches. With the ever-increasing complexity and number of attacks, a keen approach to security in both large and small enterprises is critical.

Having a good think and strategy about your security policies can significantly increase the security of a network. While policies can be very complex and generally annoying to end users, it is often the simple aspects that prove most useful.

A centrally managed anti-virus update system should now be common place but consider adding a host scanner facility to detect new or out of date systems and have complete control of all your assets on the network.

In general, policies and automatic enforcement tools help reduce the obvious security flaws so that network engineers can concentrate on the more complex issues.

Here are some ideas of what a security policy should consist of:

• Scan and lock down unneeded network ports on all network devices, turn off unnecessary services

• Centrally managed anti-virus software on entire network

• Utilize central security updates, i.e. Windows Update Server

• Secure central authentication for example, Radius, Windows/Kerberos/Active Directory

• Firewalls at all public-private network transit points

• Version controlled and centrally deployed firewall rule sets

• Set-up DMZ protected zones to protect externally facing servers

• Password policy (i.e. must change every 3 months and must be “complex password”

• Proactive network scanning for new and out of date hosts

• Network monitoring systems for suspicious activity

• Incident response procedure (policies, process, etc.)

• Web Browser protection from malicious software downloads

The above list represents the key items one should have in your security policy. There are probably a lot of other items one could have in a policy. It’s important to balance factors such as company size, risk analysis, cost and business impact when determining the items to include in a security policy.

Start with understanding what exactly is on your network (especially mobile devices accessing files and email) and then what you actually need. You could have an extremely locked down and secure network but one old Windows 2000 computer that lets hackers directly into your internal network in 2 minutes flat.

Every company regardless of size should have a security policy as all computers are a potential target for a security breach.

Do you have any policy ideas to add to the list?

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7 valuable VMware infrastructure backup tips

August 31, 2012 admin cloud computing, Uncategorized
Twitt

At small companies or in brand-new virtual infrastructures, backup can be straight forward. You may be able to use a free tool that makes VMware backup deceivingly simple.

However, over time, your infrastructure will probably grow, as well as the number of virtual machines and the amount of data needing backup. As this happens, you’ll find what other virtualization experts have already figured out – virtualization backup can be much more complex that it seems and you need the right tool for the job.

In this blog, you’ll learn how to save time, prevent data-loss, and create a bulletproof VMware backup infrastructure by employing the 7 valuable VMware infrastructure backup tips from virtualization backup experts.

Selecting the right tool for the job of backing up your virtual infrastructure is the critical piece of your entire virtual infrastructure protection plan.

Here are the steps I recommend to select the right backup tool for your virtual infrastructure:

1. Don’t assume you have to select the same tool as everyone else. There are a number of good tools on the market. Just because a tool has the best marketing strategy doesn’t make it the best tool. Do your own research and find the best tool for your environment.

2. Test tools for yourself and take your time doing it. Every tool offers a free trial period that allows you to test their product on your own infrastructure (plus, if you are really interested in the product, most companies will give you a free extension to try their product longer than the original trial). Make sure that you test these tools in a test environment and not your live infrastructure. Put these tools through their paces, with your applications, and focus on features related to recovery.

Remember, you aren’t just getting a tool to backup your VMs, what you really want is them to be restored and FAST. Test things like multiple restores at a time, file level restore, and application integrity after restore.

3. Make your life easier by selecting a tool that has the latest features. Your tool should offer features like fast restore for multiple VMs, application integrity in your backups, replication, backup of multiple hypervisors, backup of physical and virtual servers, deduplication, and more. Cost make effect your decision here…

Avoid VMware Snapshots of Virtual Machines

Snapshots aren’t backup. Snapshots should only be used for very short-term and not as your primary backup method. Let’s say that you are about to perform an application upgrade, you would take a snapshot (and do a backup) before the upgrade. Then, the next day, if the app upgrade was successful, you would remove your shapshot.

A week later you needed a pre-upgrade database then you could restore if from your backup and not the snapshot.

Snapshots take up tons of disk space and space in your backup repository. Space used by snapshots is, many times, forgotten and easily overlooked, causing unexpected results.

Plan for Offsite Backup and Replication

The problem with so many VMWare backup tools is that they stop once something is backed up. They leave the files on a disk and leave it up to you to figure out how to get them offsite in case there is a disaster.

Something else to consider is that you may need to recover a virtual server on a physical server or vice versa. Can your backup product cover all of these scenarios?

I recommend moving to 100% virtualization, backing up all VMs, and then replicating those backups offsite. In the event of a disaster, you’ll be able to bring them up at the DR site. And more importantly all your data will be on another site if you just need to restore one VM.

Test your backups!

Just because your backup software tells you that backups were “100% successful”, doesn’t mean that you can restore your data. You need to either manually test your virtual machine restores AND applications inside or have your backup software do this for you.

How many VMs have you restored that bluescreened when they were booted up?

How many VMs have you restored that had corrupted Exchange or SQL server databases?

To ensure that your backups will be 100% recoverable, make sure that you test:

• VM image level restore
• VM file level restore
• The VMs boot successfully and filesystems (like NTFS) mount perfectly
• The application databases mount and services start (e.g. Exchange, SQL, and SharePoint)

Testing all of this on a periodic basis can be very time consuming but it is vital to save your bacon and your job / company should it ever be needed in an emergency.

Cloud Backup and DR

Replicating to your own secondary datacenter is an option however not everyone has a secondary datacenter, nor does it make sense for everyone to build one. Cloud-based disaster recovery services are now available that can store your replicated data pretty affordably so worth considering.

How Applications Affect Backups

End users now expect applications like Exchange, SQL, and Sharepoint to be available 24×7. There is no more backup window. Your backup software must be able to:

• Backup mission critical applications without downtime
• Verify that backups have application integrity
• Restore individual items from mission critical applications back into production

The purpose of your backups is to also protect your applications. Make sure that your backup software not only backs up VMs, but recovers your critical application data.

Agent-less vs agent-based backup

From our experience, agents may be a headache to deploy but they do tend to be more reliable communication with the agent and server. However, agent-less backups means it is very simply to deploy and manage. So look at both options and see which one works best for you.

Conclusion

Make sure that you plan for offsite backup and replication, consider cloud-based
backup, and use automated testing to ensure backups are recoverable. Selecting a backup tool that knows your applications and can reliably restore them is crucial. Finally, don’t dismiss any tool without fully understanding and testing its capabilities, personally in your test environment.

 

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a day in the life of a network engineer…

August 29, 2012 admin Uncategorized
Twitt

I thought it may be interesting in writing a blog about what we actually get up to. The kind of things we deal with on a day to day basis. I am sure other network engineers out there will have some interesting comments to make of their own experiences?

Issues range from people having viruses on their laptop computer. We will get rid of the virus for them, clean up the computer of any additional spyware or software that shouldn’t be installed, install premium and authentic anti-virus software and make sure the laptop is completely clean and virus free. In addition we will advise if they need to upgrade their laptop’s memory for example or if they are running out of disc space. We also ensure they are backing up their precious documents and photos so they don’t lose anything if the hard drive crashes.

We have recovered data for clients where their hard drive has crashed but they need vital documents. Even if we have to send it off to a 3rd party data recovery specialist, we handle the whole process for them. Arranging collection and delivery and putting the customer’s data back on their laptop. We will also install a new hard drive and set up their system again for them.

We manage client’s whole network of computers and server. We had a call yesterday where the client in Coventry could not access any of their servers. After much looking round we discovered a small network switch was not working. It wasn’t quite as simple as turning it back on but through our knowledge and problem solving skills, they were all back up and running.

We had another client who was not receiving email. More specifically whenever they reboot their router their IP address changes so they don’t get their email delivered. It is a bit like constantly changing your address and expecting the postman to find you. In this instance we called up the internet service provider and ordered them a permanent address so regardless of the router rebooting, they will always have email.

We have had more technical challenges where email stops working on a client’s server. We have a look for a specific error message in the event log and then do some research on this event and how to resolve it. It is not always the error you first see but may be a totally different error which is having a knock on effect so you have to think out the box. It is always satisfying and a relief when everything starts working again after successfully resolving an issue. Obviously failure is not an option so we need to utilise all our resources to quickly resolve issues which in turn reduce downtime for the client and save them money.

We are very strong advocates of everyone who has a computer firstly backing up their data and secondly having good anti-virus protection. If you use free anti-virus protection, don’t be surprised if a virus gets through and destroys your computer. Not only do we sell a product called Trend Micro which we have found to be the best in the market but we also install it for our clients and make sure they are fully protected. We don’t even charge for this. We often install the anti-virus remotely on a client’s computer which saves time for both us and them.

We also sell an online backup product at only £5 a month for unlimited data. We set this up for clients remotely as well, making sure the relevant files are all selected for backing up and it is actually working. It is pointless installing and paying for a backup solution when it is not actually backing up your critical data.

After all the work we do, here is some feedback from a few of our clients

Darren Rawlinson – “For Colin, providing IT solutions isn’t just solving a problem you may have come to him with first; it’s about providing knowledge, support and guidance as well as extremely personable and professional approach, which works well with small and larger clients. Colin is also professional enough to see the value in working in partnership to achieve common goals and greater future value for all.”

“Colin is impressive in his quiet confidence in his skills and abilities and in his commitment to work and causes. So far we have collaborated outside work; Colin supports Cord, the international peace building charity, strongly in various ways. I recommend him as someone who takes the initiative, thinks around a situation to find the best way of tackling it and delivers 100% reliably on what he says he will do. A very good guy to work with! Kit Lawry, Cord”

Peter O’Donnell – “Colin understands what a business needs, not just what they think they want. He designs, delivers and support all his projects and systems with great professionalism and enthusiasm. And he works all the hours of the day to get it done. A professional IT supplier and terrific person.”

PS – Pictures are for fun and not representative of actual customers!

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Free tools for removing nasty software

August 22, 2012 admin Uncategorized
Twitt

CCleaner

Malicious software (be they viruses, rootkits, trojans, worms, or malware) are so prevalent it seems one of the primary jobs for IT is the protecting, cleaning, and removing of said software. It seems no matter how hard you try, or how much you pay for the software you use to protect your desktops, it always seems like a losing battle.It doesn’t have to be that way. There are plenty of tools that can help in the quest to have a virus/malware-free environment. These tools can be either installed on your machines or used as a toolkit to carry with you to fight the good fight. We find that these tools do the best job at keeping my systems clean.

Malwarebytes

People are always surprised to find out they need anti-spyware as well as anti-virus protection. Of the anti-malware tools I have used, Malwarebytes seems to be the most effective. Now there are two different versions of Malwarebytes: Free and Paid. The biggest difference is the Paid version has a real-time scanner built in. The free version must be run manually. This is not a problem if you are in control of all the PC scanning, or you can trust your users to manually run the software nightly (as well as manually update the definitions often.) If you can not trust your users to run this piece of software, you might need to buckle down and drop the $24.95 for the licensed version.

CCleaner

Another free tool, CCleaner does two things incredibly well: Cleans the Windows registry and removes cached web data. There are a lot of registry cleaners available, but CCleaner is the one I always trust. As with any tool, you want to make sure you understand the tool before using. And although cleaning cached browser data is fairly harmless, cleaning the registry is not.

I highly recommend always doing a backup of the registry when using CCleaner to take care of this task. Fortunately CCleaner has a built-in tool for backing up said registry as I have heard of a few people coming unstuck with ccleaner.

Microsoft Security Essentials

After using so many different anti-virus tools, the one tool that seems to work nearly as well as any other, without any attached cost, is Microsoft Security Essentials. Not only will this anti-virus tool work well to help prevent infection, it does so with as little drain on the system as nearly any anti-virus tool.

Windows

Combofix

Combofix is my first line of defense tool when I suspect something has taken over a machine. But you shouldn’t just run this powerful tool without a few considerations. First, and foremost, what will Combofix fix? After a successful run of Combofix, you should have cleaned (if applicable): Malware, Rootkits, Trojans, Worms, and Viruses. What you need to know about Combofix, prior to running is quite important. The single most important issue with Combofix is that you can not run it with an antivirus tool enabled. With some antivirus solutions you can simple disable the tool (Symantec Endpoint Protection is a perfect example). One particular antivirus solution, AVG, I have found to require complete removal before running Combofix. And to be on the safe side, I prefer to run Combofix with the computer in safe mode. One other note: Never download Combofix from any other site than Bleeping Computer or ForoSpyware.

Trend Micro

Trend have a few great (free) tools for getting rid of horrid software. Take a look at their page of free downloads. We are using these in our environment now which is really helping keeping systems clean. This includes housecall as an online scanner and PC cleanup. There is also RUBotted, Rootkit Buster All and HijackThis. http://www.trendmicro.co.uk/products/free-tools-and-services/index.html

Finally

There are so many pieces of software available to keep your PC clean however, do some research before you use anything as sometimes the software you are trying to use to clean up your computer is itself a little nasty critter. Trend Micro is a trusted source and have a great reputation as do the other products listed above but let us know what you think and if you have any better tools?

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Back the F:\ UP!

July 27, 2012 admin cloud computing
Twitt

In its simplest terms online backup is a way of keeping your data files safe in the ‘cloud’ so that you can access them anytime, anyplace, anywhere ( for those of you who remember the old Martini ads!) and in the event of a disaster, you can have complete peace of mind that they can be easily restored.

 

image copyright http://ijustine.com/

There are a plethora of online backup services out there so without going into the pros and cons of each service I have compiled the top 5 features that I think are the most important:

1. Easy to set up – you don’t want to have to call in Bill Gates to set it up. You want something that is very easy to configure and where you don’t spend all day scratching your heads with a bemused expression on your face – don’t worry, we’ve all been there.

2. Automatic – it needs to be automatic so that it runs without you having to think about it. Don’t buy a service that you have to prompt yourself – you can’t be trusted.

3. Simple disaster recovery – if the worse does happen, and sometimes it does, you want a backup service that is able to restore all your data quickly and easily without you needing to take a crash course in computer science.

4. Compatibility – you need an online backup service that will work with a broad range of operating services. You might be using Windows 7 now but you are bound to upgrade at some point so you want to make sure that your online backup service doesn’t go AWOL just because you change your operating system.

5. Transmission encrypted – it needs to be transmission encrypted so that your data remains completely secure. This means that nobody can intercept your data and have their wicked way with it. Let’s face it, that’s why you are doing a backup in the first place.

So that’s my top 5. I could witter on for ages about various features and their benefits but I like to cut to the chase and I also like an online backup service to do the same.

 

“I have been working with this online backup for a number of years now and I’m pleased to say that it meets the top 5 criteria that I’m looking for and I am able to offer it to my clients with absolute confidence.”

Check out this link and for £5 a month you can be safe and secure in the cloud http://www.colins-it.com/Online-Backup.html

For advice about online backup and IT support in general please contact Colins-IT on 0800 107 7782 or email at sales@colins-it.co.uk

 

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The Importance of Being…..Social

March 4, 2012 admin Uncategorized
Twitt

Social Media has changed the world… a cliché but true. Wouldn’t it have been fascinating if social media had existed back in history? You can just imagine what Oscar Wilde would have done with Facebook or Twitter, though I guess the number of characters would have been frustrating for him.

I still like to think he would get more followers than Justin Bieber though!  And what about the great industrialists of the time? Isambard Kingdom Brunel might have tweeted something like “just finished designing the Clifton Suspension Bridge, please like my page.”  It amuses me to think how historical figures may have used social media but just how important is social media to your business?

It wasn’t so long ago that it didn’t even exist and businesses still managed to trade with each other so what’s the big fuss? That’s true, but the mere fact that it exists means that there are now extra channels available that you can use to promote your business and if you don’t do it, you can be pretty sure that your competitors will be.

The word social suggests that these are tools for building relationships and keeping your friends/colleagues/associates aware of what you have been up to. All of this is true but don’t under estimate the power that social relationships can have with helping to build and grow your business.

This doesn’t mean that you cynically litter your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts with promotional messages. People will soon get tired of that and before you know it you will find yourself unfriended!! There is a balance to strike here and how your business manages its social media output is important in terms of the image that you want to convey to both your friends and your customers.

Like it or not (see what I did there!) social media is here to stay and everybody from big businesses to small business owners are using social media as part of their marketing strategy. So what are the benefits? Here are a few for you to think about;

  • Through social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin etc you can start to differentiate yourself from your competitors through your profile and the type of posts that you make
  • You can share content through blog posts, articles and videos which help demonstrate your expertise in the field that you are in and make you the go-to person for that product or service
  • You can connect with people across the world sharing your ideas, building friendships and creating trust so that people will want to do business with you
  • Through the creation of fan pages you can showcase your business and target your audience effectively

All very good I hear you mutter but when am I going to find the time to do all this? This is a problem that most businesses face and this is where Colins-IT can help you.

Ever since the launch of social media Colins-IT has been monitoring its trends, understanding its impact and measuring what works and what doesn’t. We have helped several businesses by managing their social media so that they can concentrate on what they do best…running their business.

We have helped businesses grow their numbers of followers, showcase their products and services, and helped them generate more traffic to their websites and get new sales leads. Don’t just take our word for it. Here is what one of our customers has said about our social media management service;

“Colins-it has been managing my social media for a few weeks now and I have seen my numbers of followers on Twitter increase dramatically over this time. Having Colins-it manage your social media for you is a massive time saver and the articles that they source and post for you definitely add to your credibility and show you as an influencer in your field. I would recommend this cost effective service to anyone who wants to use social media effectively as part of their marketing strategy.”

We can manage your social media for as little as £58 +VAT so call us now on 0800 107 7782 and, to paraphrase Oscar Wilde, get to understand ‘The Importance of Being….Social’

Click here for more info - http://www.colins-it.co.uk/Social-Media-Management.html

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Does every Cloud have a silver lining?

January 19, 2012 admin Uncategorized
Twitt

So what is cloud computing? Should I be embracing it or sheltering from it? Whenever I’m faced with a question like this I always find it comforting to make a list of the pros and cons but before I do this let’s start with some basics.

Cloud computing, in its simplest terms, enables you to store files and software remotely rather than on a hard drive or server in the office. You may not know it but you are probably using the cloud everyday in your life. Services such as Gmail, Hotmail, Skype, YouTube, Vimeo and SoundCloud all operate in the Cloud.

So if all these services are using the Cloud it should be safe shouldn’t it? OK, it’s nearly time for that list. It’s now possible for businesses to have their own private cloud which incorporates specific services and is only accessible to selected people. Sounds good doesn’t it?  Let’s look at the Pros of Cloud Computing:

  • Employees can access data and files they need even when they are working remotely or outside of office hours.
  • Assuming they can get onto the internet employees can access information from home, in the car, from customer’s offices, and from their smart phone.
  • Employees can work collaboratively on files and documents even when they are not together. Documents can be viewed and edited at the same time from different locations.
  • Setting up cloud computing can be very quick and easy. If you think about how easy it is to set up a Gmail or Hotmail account and be up and running in comparison to installing software which can be time consuming.
  • Cloud computing can be cheaper – you don’t have to buy and install software because it’s already installed online remotely.
  • You don’t need loads of disk space. With cloud computing you subscribe to the software rather than own it which means it works a bit like pay as you go. You only pay for what you use and you can scale this up and down depending on your requirements.
  • Cloud computing can offer unlimited data storage because it is online. It is not restricted by server and hard drive limits and there are no issues with server upgrades etc. If you need more data you just up your subscription fee.

Sounds like a no-brainer so far doesn’t it?  With all of the above benefits why wouldn’t I embrace the Cloud?  Let’s have a look at some of the Cons of Cloud Computing. After all, every silver lining has a Cloud, if you pardon the pun!

  • With the Cloud you do not physically possess storage of your own data, leaving the control and responsibility of your data storage with your Cloud provider. So it could be seen that this is a leap of faith.
  • You could become completely dependent upon your cloud computing provider taking away your freedom to some extent.
  • Your business continuity and disaster recovery are in the hands of your provider. Do you trust them enough?
  • What happens with data migration issues should you want to change provider?
  • What happens if your cloud provider goes out of business?
  • Can your Cloud provider guarantee the security of your data?
  • Cloud servers can go down just like normal servers so how do I access my data if this happens?
  • Cloud computing is only as robust as your internet connection. If you are experiencing internet issues you won’t be able to access your data.

Hmmm, not so sure now. However, it’s still early days for Cloud Computing and as time progresses then some of these issues will get ironed out. The comedian Peter Kay once famously said about Garlic Bread…..it’s the future!

The same can be said aboutCloud Computing. It’s here to stay, it is the future and whatever size your business is, it’s time to start thinking if Cloud Computing is going to be the most cost effective and flexible solution for your future data needs.

If you are interested in finding out more about how Cloud Computing can help your business, please get in touch with us - http://www.colins-it.com/Contact-us.html

Phone – 0800 10 777 82

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A cost effective server for small businesses

December 20, 2011 admin Uncategorized
Twitt

It’s been a pretty hectic couple of weeks. We are currently installing Small Business Server 2011 for clients based in Leamington Spa and Nuneaton.

The Small Business Server 2011 is a great option for a small business whether you are looking to have your first server or if you are looking to have an upgrade. Small Business Server 2011 will help protect your business, enable on-site or cloud expansion and enable you and your staff to work better together.

Here are some of the benefits that our clients in Leamington Spa and Nuneaton will receive by installing Small Business Server 2011;

1. It is a comprehensive all-in-one solution that is designed for small businesses and is introduced at a price point which is attractive to smaller businesses.

2. It will simplify IT management by managing common IT tasks and deal with technical issues before they happen by having a single view of the health and security of their computers and servers from one administrative console.

3. They can stay connected to their business by having constant access to email, voicemail, instant messaging etc

4. They can get 24/7 access to their files, calendars, tasks and contacts from virtually anywhere.

5. They can easily migrate their business information to Small Business Server 2011 because of its enhanced migration tools, comprehensive pre-migration checks and easy to follow guidance.

6. They can backup their data very easily through automatic backups and recover accidently deleted files. With easy to use interfaces and backup capabilities they will have greater control of their data, PCs and network, especially in the event of a disaster.

7. They can keep their network healthy and up to date by producing “green check” reports that give a quick view of PC and Server status, anti virus status, Microsoft software updates and backup progress etc.

If you are a small business and are looking to install your first server or upgrade to a new server then Small Business Server 2011 could be the simplest, most cost effective solution for you. There are options for up to 25 users and up to 75 users. To find out more about having a server installed or upgraded then please contact 0800 107 7782 or email sales@colins-it.co.uk

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New Server Install – part 1

December 1, 2011 admin Uncategorized
Twitt
Well, it was new server install time which is always an interesting journey. Our challenge is that in this instance we were upgrading the server, rather than replacing it so the old server wasn’t online post the upgrade. However we had some tricks up our sleeve to get back to the original server if required.
Essentially the server is a dell power edge 1900 with 2 x 300gb sas drives in a hardware raid. Currently running sbs 2003 server to be upgraded to sbs 2011. The reasons we are upgrading are based on
1. Exchange 2003 no longer supported by Microsoft
2. Sbs 2003 runs on 32 bit platform but Sbs 2011 runs on 64 bit which is quicker, more stable and supports a lot more memory.
3. Being a retails business, security is critical and we are subjected to PCI security scans which was failing with the older system.
4. General software improvements and stability with newer versions of exchange, SQL and the server itself.
There were a number of SQL databases that needed to be backed up and restored. There were a few applications that need to be restored on the server. The biggest challenge we ran into was that there is some custom software on the server that runs the till system.
There are loads of different modules and customisations on the whole server required to make this run and essentially we discovered that there wasn’t really a install guide for this or procedure for this.
So while the company was pretty good with eventually getting it all back up and running again, it did highlight that we need a very specific and detailed process in place should we experience a disaster and loose the server.
to be continued…
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