Disaster Recovery - Image Backups

If your computer failed or got a virus today how much time and money would it cost to get it working again? In most cases it will take an entire day or two to get all of the data off of the computer and reinstall all of the programs and settings.

If you have an image backup of your computer it can be restored within an hour depending on how much data you keep.

An Image Backup is a snapshot in time of a computer (desktop, laptop or server).

Here is an example of how an image backup works: An image backup of a computer is taken of all of the data on the hard drive and saved to another hard drive. A week later the computer then gets a nasty root-kit virus that makes the computer unusable. Using the image backup taken the week prior the computer is restored completely. All of the settings and files are restored.

An image backup can be made of the computer manually or automatically.

A great time to make an image backup of a computer is right after one has their computer just the way they like it. Incremental backups can also be made daily.

In order to better protect your computer we would like to make a manual image backup or setup daily automatic backups on your working computer now.


For more information concerning image backups:
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/

Sublime Computer Services - Desktop Optimization

While you are taking holiday it is a good time for us to cleanup your computer and get a little more speed out of it.

We have been working on a process to help cleanup desktop computers to make them run as they did in their youth. As a result we have created an optimization process that will help cleanup the things that make your computer slower than it should be. As a service to our clients we will charge a flat fee of $125 to perform the following:

* Install needed updates to Microsoft, Java and Adobe products
* Cleanup all un-needed temporary files
* Cleanup all orphaned registry files
* Perform a full Adware and Malware scan
* Perform a de-fragmentation of the hard drive and schedule for automatic future de-fragmentations
* Confirm that the existing Antivirus is working

Your computer will need to be connected to a broadband internet connection and we will need uninterrupted access to the computer up to three hours.

In the event that there are problems with the computer we will discuss them with you before we take action. Actions taken outside of the optimization process do not fall under the flat fee and will be billed at normal rates.

Call us today and we will setup an appointment to Optimize your computer around your schedule.

Sublime Computer Services - Managed Services

Do these thoughts cross your mind and you pretend like you didn't think them: Is my server online? If I have a disaster is there a backup copy of my data? Is my server being updated?

Sublime Computer Services offer managed services.

Is my server online? We setup an agent on your computer and receive alerts if any of the following things happen: The CPU Utilization is at 90% for over 10 minutes, The Server is offline for more than 10 minutes and when it comes back online, The C: drive has less than 10% free space, Software has been installed on the server, Software has been removed from the server and memory utilization is at 90% for 15 minutes.

If I have a disaster is there a backup copy of my data? We setup the backups to happen daily. At the end of each backup we receive an email that tells the success or failure results. We keep track of that every day. If there is a backup failure it gets addressed that day so a successful backup will happen that evening. At the beginning of each week you receive a simple summary that shows the results of last weeks backups. You know that your files are being backed up.

Is my server being updated?
We download and install the latest Microsoft and other 3rd party updates on the server monthly. We will check the results of the updates and event logs for errors. This method helps reduce unscheduled maintenance.

These managed services typically cost $150 per month for a single server. Call and let us worry about your server.

Do Not Be an Administrator

You should not be logged in as an administrator on your computer. While you are logged in as an Administrator you have permission to initiate any task that the computer is capable of performing. You have permission to almost all of the files on the computer and the registry. What is the big deal? This is how a computer gets a virus or gets broken. You can install programs on your computer by simply visiting a website. Windows Vista and 7 both have UAC (User Account Control) which reduces the risk of installing programs without your knowing.
To reduce the risk of unwanted software being installed on your Windows XP, Vista or 7 computer make yourself a regular user and set the Administrator password to something that you can remember. When you need to install a program Windows will ask you for the Administrator password then it will install. Windows XP is more complex in handling administrative permissions which is why users are often administrators over their computer. When a program needs to be installed with Windows XP you often have to give yourself administrative permission again and set the permissions over folders and registry keys then return to being a regular user.
While doing these steps adds additional work to install software that you do want, it prevents installing software that you don’t want.
P.S. While running as an administrator Windows XP is the least secure of the three operating systems.

The Top 5 Cloud Apps to Edit Documents

Top 5 Apps to Edit Documents Online

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.4

How to Properly Eject your USB key

When Should You Properly “Eject” Your Thumb Drive?

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.4

How Does Google Protect Your Data in The Cloud?

How Does Google Protect Your Data in The Cloud?: "Google has one of the largest and most secure clouds in the entire industry. You do not often hear of a successful distributed denial of service attack against Google and rarely are Google applications hacked (unless, of course, it reportedly comes from the Chinese government). How does Google keep the data centers that comprise its cloud so safe and are they the gold standard in data protection?

"

Samsung Galaxy Tab MIFI Feature

A few months ago I purchased a 7” Samsung Galaxy Tab from Verizon Wireless. I wasn’t sure if the tablet would be a valuable asset or a toy. Today if you ask me I will say that it is an asset. I run Sublime on Google Apps so the Android integration is very nice. The Galaxy Tab has a number of features but the one I would like to mention is the MIFI.

MIFI is a term for a device that shares its internet connection with other computers via wireless. This week I was experiencing an issue with my Comcast internet. In the middle of the day while the technician was terminating new cables I was down The cell phone was ringing off the hook so tethering to the laptop was out of the question. I decided to try the MIFI. I turned on the MIFI feature and the tablet told me the SSID for my wireless and the password. Within seconds my laptop was once again on the internet and I was making phone calls.

MIFI is a great feature for use in hotels and meetings. It is also handy when storms take out office power or internet. I did not even know this feature was included with the tablet but I am very pleased that it is.

Telecommuting: When You Cannot be in the Office

This is written for the people who work on a computer every day for their job.

Telecommuting: One definition of telecommuting is a work arrangement in which employees enjoy flexibility in working location and hours.

Being able to telecommute can be a good thing or a bad thing. I am going to focus on telecommuting being a good thing. There are many things in our lives that keep us from being able to get to the office. Sickness, sick kids, bad weather and school holidays are a few things that keep us from being able to get to the office. That does not mean that we cannot work at all, that means it is time to telecommute.

There are many ways that telecommuting or remote access to the office can occur. I am going to talk about two ways that I recommend: VPN and Logmein

VPN: I recommend a VPN connection to the office when a user has a company laptop that they take home on a daily basis. The laptop is maintained by the company and deemed a secure computer. When the user has a secure VPN connection to the office they can work like they do when they are in the office. They can connect to network shares, email and printers. The speed of their connection will be slower than in the office because they are transferring data over the internet rather than over their local office network. However the user can work like they are at the office. If the user can forward their office phone line to their cell phone they can work almost anywhere with a solid internet connection. *NOTE* If the user is going to use a wireless internet connection at a public facility such as Starbucks they need to make sure they have a solid signal. A weak wireless signal will result in a problematic VPN tunnel.

Logmein: I recommend Logmein when a user does not have a company issued laptop that they can take home. Logmein is a software portal that uses a web browser to connect to the users work computer. The user will connect over the internet to their computer at the office. It will be just like they are sitting in front of their office computer. Because the user is just seeing a visual representation of what is really happening on their computer in the office the user will be able to work as fast as when they are sitting in the office. I use the Logmein Central portal for my clients which allows me to assign only one computer or a group of computers to a single person. In the event the person leaves the organization I can remove their Logmein account and they no longer have remote access. If wake on LAN is enabled on the office computer the user can turn on their computer even if it is turned off.

With new software and fast internet connections working from outside the office has never been better. If you would like assistance setting up secure remote access for you or your employees please contact us and we will be happy to assist you.

Adam Bell

Senior Systems / Network Engineer

Sublime Computer Services

We make your technology work

615-942-0850

adam@sublimecomp.com

www.sublimecomp.com

Suppliment Your Current Antivirus With Microsoft Safety Scanner

Supplement Your Current Anti-Virus Software with the Microsoft Safety Scanner

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Why your wireless should be encrypted

Seattle police say 'wardrivers' are hitting small businesses

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

How Carrier Exclusives Help and Hinder Mobile Devices

How Carrier Exclusives Help and Hinder Mobile Devices: "We’ve all been there. A hot new piece of hardware is announced, and we wait with bated breath only to learn it's coming to a carrier other than our own. Device exclusivity can be a real bummer for users, but that doesn't mean it's always a bad thing for the product itself. There are reasons for manufacturers and carriers to enter into these arrangements, even if it frustrates us in the short term.

We're going to go over the ways these arrangements can both help, and hinder a product.

Carriers drop the marketing cash

The mobile carriers we all love to loath have to make a significant financial investment to sell a phone. We, the consumers, are not the direct customer of HTC or Motorola. Rather, it's the carriers that are buying all the phones. Usually in great great quantities before the product is even finished.



A carrier may guarantee a manufacturer that they will buy "X" phones. But in return for that guarantee, a period of exclusivity is usually granted. In doing this, a carrier knows that they will be able to talk up a handset as much as they like. They can also offer reasonable subsidies on the device to bring the cost more in-line with the consumer's pocketbook. They are buying the phones to get people into contracts after all.



You may be wondering why this matters. If they have the phone, they could still spend the marketing cash even if the competition does as well. Well, yes. But if they make a phone or tablet sound like the best thing ever out of the gate, consumers might just buy it from their own carrier. These companies want to lure new users in by pointing to the new hot piece of kit and reminding us that we can only get it from them.



Even in instances when there is not technically exclusivity, carriers like to pretend there is. Take the Galaxy S phones in the US for instance. Each one of them was redesigned and renamed for each carrier. T-Mobile could promote the Vibrant hard, and be the only place to get it. AT&T could talk about how great the Captivate was, and be the exclusive home of the phone. To most consumers, these were totally different devices, despite the fact that they were almost identical beneath a thin veneer of sameness.



It's about having the exclusive phone or tablet. That's what a carrier needs before they are willing to really sell a product. In the long run, that can be good for the product because it may end up selling a boat load.

Accelerated development cycle for hardware and software

Another hidden benefit of carrier exclusivity is that the development cycle of a phone is going to be accelerated. Manufacturers often approach their carrier partners with a sort of menu of possible devices. A carrier may choose to order one and work with the maker on development.



If there is just the one exclusive carrier for launch, the process of making the device could be much easier. Consider the additional time it would take to source, test, and build-in cellular modems for multiple carriers. When you're looking at GSM and CDMA carriers competing in the same market, the requirements are going to be vastly different. Focusing on one design and one hardware build is more efficient.



The software is also likely to be developed at an accelerated rate when there is just one version of a phone on one carrier. On Android, the updates are put together by the device maker (except for Nexus devices). These companies only have so many resources directed to these ends. We can complain about that all we want, but that's the fact of the matter.



If they are working on updates for four slightly different versions of a phone, instead of one phone, things are going to take longer. This is the reason Samsung states for taking so long with the US Galaxy S updates. Sure, if they just dropped the carrier modifications and custom UIs, it might not be an issue, but they're not doing that any time soon.

Cheaper Wi-Fi only tablets get delayed

It's not all rainbows an puppy dogs in the land of carrier exclusivity. One of the factors that really affects a product's perception in the market is price. Many normal people (read: not most of our awesome readers) look at the price tag first before anything else even enters their mind. For a product like the Xoom, price is a barrier to entry and carrier exclusivity is blocking the whole street.



Verizon got an exclusive on the Xoom Android tablet. Good for them, but bad for the Xoom. Why? The Verizon version was expensive with its 3G modem, data contract, and single size option. By getting their exclusivity deal, and pricing the device naively, they hurt the product as a whole.



There should have been a Wi-Fi Xoom at launch. Instead, it took months for the cheaper version of the tablet, the one that more people would actually buy, to become available. For Android tablets to take off, carrier exclusive deals can't be the norm. When a new tablet drops, it's going to be marketed like mad (see above). If consumers decide that Android tablets are too expensive because of these carrier deals, it's going to hurt not only those products, but the Android platform.

Smaller user base

This one almost goes without saying. If the new device everyone wants is only going to be on one carrier, that might hurt it in the long run. The majority of wireless subscribers are content (though probably not happy) with their carrier. We know the coverage, pricing, and plans. There is little impetus to change.



If the unicorn device (say the HTC Sensation) were to launch on a small carrier that's about to be bought out (say T-Mobile USA), things might not go so well. By putting a device on only one network, you effectively limit the number of users that are going to buy it. Often, the marketing might of a network that's bought thousands of units can overcome that. But not always.



Remember the Palm Pre? It was a hotly anticipated phone, but one of its major failings was that it was exclusive to Sprint for 6 months. A great number of users that might have bought it on their current carrier decided to pass because of this.

User Dissatisfaction

The final drawback comes from the deep, visceral core of human kind. We get honked off sometimes. When a manufacturer gets to putting all their best devices on one carrier, there is the potential for user dissatisfaction.



When you just can't get the device you might want because of an exclusivity deal, you'll buy something else. If the snub really hurts, you might even harbor ill will toward the handset maker that decided to keep you from getting the phone of your dreams.



So you get the other phone, and you end up in another manufacturer's ecosystem. Maybe that's just a different Android UI and set of services. But maybe it's a completely different platform. The original manufacturer can lose a potential customer forever if an exclusivity agreement goes awry. That is, as you'd expect, bad for a product.



To be clear, we don't much care for exclusivity agreements. That's based on the fact that it's a pain for us as users. It might still be advantageous for the device makers, and the carriers. If it wasn't, they wouldn't do it. That still doesn't mean consumers will like it. If the companies involved can work closely to deliver a better software and hardware rollout experience, they can avoid some of that ill will.



A poorly executed exclusivity arrangement is fraught with danger, a la the Palm Pre. There will always be alienated users and a reduced pool of potential buyers. The product just needs to make up for that. An overpriced, over-hyped device that might have done moderate sales with a wide release might become a cautionary tale because of a lengthy exclusivity arrangement. "

Desktop Optimization - CPU

In continuation with our desktop optimization series I am going to talk about the Central Processing Unit or the CPU. The CPU is like the engine of a car. In cars engines are matched to meet the performance of the car. If a four cylinder engine is put in a semi truck that is expected to transport cargo across the country it is not going to go very far. The same is true of CPU’s in a computer. The more horsepower your CPU has the more computations your computer can complete in a timely manner.

CPU’s come in many different sizes and designs. Some CPU’s are meant to be work horses that use a lot of power and do a lot of work. There are times when a computer needs to be power conscious and a smaller processor is used even though it has less horsepower. An example of this is a cell phone, laptop or tablet PC. While the end user would like to have as much processing power as possible the battery life of the computer has to be considered. More heat is also generated from faster processors. CPU manufacturers are constantly trying to get more processing power out of their chips while consuming less electricity.

What is most important to the end-user is that the computer is able to run all of their programs without their computer crashing. If you are buying a computer that costs $400 you almost certainly purchased the slowest processor and RAM that was available for that computer. That doesn’t necessarily mean that all hope is lost for that computer. Brand name computers such as Dell, HP, IBM, etc. engineer their computers in most cases from the ground up. That means the component are designed to work with each other. The problem with that some components are proprietary. That means if you have purchase a computer that does not have enough CPU horsepower you may or may not be able to upgrade to a faster processor. Also you may only be able to upgrade the CPU to a small family of processors that are designed to work with that computer. Custom built computers are a bit more flexible in that components are more easily swapped because they are more generically manufactured.

Bottom Line: Some older computers can have their CPU’s upgraded to faster processors. This will help increase the speed and productivity of an older computer. When purchasing new computers I usually get the 2nd to best processor that can be purchased with the system. The 2nd best processor is fast but cheaper, more stable and more people are using it because it has been around longer. I almost never go with the cheapest processor. You usually get what you pay for. Users who are creating animations or 3-D renderings it is sometimes necessary to get the best processor.

If you would like to read more about CPU’s you can do it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_processing_unit

If you could care less about CPU’s and just want someone else to think about it and take care of it we at Sublime Computers Services will do just that.

Adam Bell

Senior Systems / Network Engineer

Sublime Computer Services

We make your technology work

615-942-0850

adam@sublimecomp.com

www.sublimecomp.com

P.S.

Custom Computers: Custom built computers are not always better than a brand name computer. If you are going to have someone build you a custom computer make sure they have a long track record of building good machines.

Brand Named Computers: For businesses I recommend brand name computers. (We work mainly with Dell). I recommend a three year warranty on systems. The warranty costs less for the customer than having us come out and troubleshoot and fix the computer just once.

Desktop Optimization - RAM

Since I have been running Sublime I have seen a lot of really “messed up” computers. We find a lot of computers that are painfully slow. Not all of these computers are 10 years old. It doesn't always make sense to either wipe and reload or purchase a new computer. As a result my team and I have been working on a desktop optimization process to help speed up desktops without having to replace them. If we can speed up or revitalize and existing computer we feel that is a benefit to our clients.

When you purchased your computer it seemed really fast. Did it slow down or did you just get used to the speed? Most of the time the computer has slowed down over time. I call that the Operating System creep. However, there are probably some task that have always been slow. It could be that your processor is not fast enough, you don’t have enough RAM, your network connection is inadequate or your computer is running out of disk space. I am starting a series discussing the different aspects of why a computer is slow and what can be done to speed it up.

RAM / Memory
The most common cause of computer not being fast enough is that there is not enough memory or RAM (Random Access Memory) The RAM is the “short-term memory” of the computer. The files that you are working on are stored in the RAM. If there is not enough RAM installed the “short-term” data has to be written to the hard drive. When data is being written to the hard drive that slows down the computers ability to work. The solution to that problem is to make sure that your computer has an adequate amount of RAM installed and the Paging File (The overflow of data being written the hard drive) is properly configured.

Here is the amount of memory that I recommend for computers based on the processor and operating system:

• Windows XP, Vista and 7 32 Bit - 4 GB (3.33 will be usable)
• Windows XP, Vista and 7 64 Bit - 8 GB

Compared to other upgrades RAM is inexpensive and can usually be added cumulatively to what is already installed in the computer. Not all RAM is created equal. You will need a technician or a sales assistant to make sure that you get the correct RAM for your computer.

If you really wish to geek out and read more on RAM you can do so at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random-access_memory

Recommended Antivirus Programs

I get asked a lot what Antivirus program that I recommend. I have yet to see a perfect Antivirus program. I have seen a virus or malware on every program that I know. It really depends on how badly you want to protect a computer to determine which Antivirus that you want installed.

If you are looking for a free Antivirus program I recommend Microsoft Security Essentials. For the home user Microsoft Security Essentials does a good job of protecting without making the computer unusable. Version 2.0 adds network filtering and heuristic protection. I use Microsoft Security Essentials on my home computers. However I backup my computers every night in case I get a virus I can revert to yesterday.

If you are looking for an antivirus program that locks down the computer I recommend Kaspersky. It does lock the computer down but It doesn't seem to strangle the computer like other antivirus programs of that nature.

Antivirus programs are there to help us remain virus free but be careful where you surf. Not all of the internet is good.

Microsoft Security Essentials - Get what you pay for it
http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

Kasperksy - Business class Antivirus
http://usa.kaspersky.com/products-services/business-security/