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Archive for the ‘Backup’ Category

Is Your Business Ready For a Server?

05 Sep

There comes a point where every business considers adding a server to their network to streamline processes and make workers more productive. You may have already contacted a local business computer support provider. Most will try to sell you a server by telling you how many new features you'll be able to take advantage of. However, before making the plunge, here are some things to consider.

Hardware cost. Servers typically cost a lot more than a standard desktop computer. Prices can range from a few thousand dollars to $10,000 +. Some servers come with built-in redundancy to keep the server running all the time, even if a given piece of hardware fails. Even though these redundancy options cost more, think of the cost to you if your server goes down in the middle of the morning and can't be repaired for 24+ hours. Most stores don't stock server parts, so a little redundancy goes a long way, even if you pay more for it up front.

Backups. What do you do for backups now? An alluring reason for getting a server is having a central place for all your workstations to send their backups to. You still need to backup the server! Once a server is in your network and people are using it, the amount of data stored on the server will grow rapidly. You need to have some type of backup solution in place to backup the server and all it's data. One option might be setting up RAID 1, which mirrors data across multiple hard drives. Every week, you can swap out one of the drives to an off-site location. Another option would be on line backup services, but one thing to consider is those services usually charge by the size of your data you're backing up, so it can get expensive quick.

Server software can cost a lot, especially for per-user licensing. Sure, there are a lot of very useful applications available to run on servers. But because software vendors know it's going on a server, they charge more than a pretty penny to use their software. Usually it's a cost that is renewed every year, and price is usually based on how many users you currently have using that piece of software. It might not be too bad for one application, but when you start adding everything up it's typically one of the most expensive parts of owning a server.

More things to fail. When you add a server into your network, it's just one more thing that can break. Servers are designed in theory to be more stable than normal operating systems, but servers still rely upon microchips and solder to function. There's also a lot of coding in server applications, so you're just increasing the odds of finding an unfortunate software bug or "glitch." If your users are hosting files on the server, you have to examine your network infrastructure as well. If you have a network switch or router fail, all your workstations may lose access to anything stored on the server.

IT Providers try to up-sell you. It may be hard to believe (sometimes not), but IT service providers are trying to make money. How can these providers make more money? By selling server software. Some software companies offer quite a nice commission to the IT provider selling the software. Sometimes, this extra commission is enough to encourage the IT companies to push this software to their clients. It's not always in the client's best interest. Another example is Microsoft requires IT providers to sell a certain amount of server-based licenses and software in order to move up in the Microsoft Partner Program. It's not just based on how competent the IT provider is, but how much software they can sell in a given year.

Having a server in your network may be a wise business choice, sometimes it's not. Choosing the right business IT support provider is arguably the most important step of the whole process. Only someone with experience in server installs and maintenance can truly know the impact financially and the reliability of certain server-based network installs. Call around, get server opinions and research all the options before making a snap-decision to get a server installed in your company.

Will Luker
IT Manager
Luker Technologies
http://www.LukerTech.com

Author: Will Luker
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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What You Should Know About Registry Easy

05 Sep

The most popular registry cleaner in the market today is registry easy. Different people from a hundred countries have downloaded this effective program. Registry Easy functions as your assistant in repairing any problems that your Windows Registry encounters. Having a defective Registry can make the computer to function slowly and can possibly crash your computer.

You should get this software because it is a very efficient Registry cleaner. It scans any viruses or damage which your computer may have, it also cleans any entries or errors that are invalid that can result to freezing, crashing and slowdowns. After using this cleaner, your computer is good as new. This is the best choice that every regular computer user would want to have, especially if you want to avoid the headaches of computer slow down and instability.

It has a very powerful fixing and scanning capability. The ease of use is fantastic, just by clicking the necessary option it fixes the problem automatically. It can run on a low-grade system in a very efficient manner. It's an all in one powerhouse that is unbelievable. As a whole package you get to have many add-on features. These add-ons include registry cleaner, evidence cleaner, duplicate cleaner, junk file cleaner, system toolkit and optimize system toolkit. After seeing those features, you couldn't ask for more because this software has it all for you.

The best part of this is the ability to make backup files. The main parts of this feature are restore point, folder backup and favorites backup. Restore point is the ability of your computer to go back to the previously used configuration. Another one is called the folder backup which makes backup files and important documents. And the last one would be the favorites backup is preventing data to get lost in your favorites by saving the information and data easily.

Always know how your cleaner works before even trying to repair something on your PC. You should make sure that you have made the backup files before repairing your computer to avoid losing all the important data that you need.

Always be prepared. Even if it is in good condition, there will come a time that your computer gets busted. Unexpected freezing, crashing or slowing down can happen. It's a good thing that you have the Registry Easy to restore and fix the problems in your computer. Rest assured that this software is the answer to all your worries.

Do you want to know what are the different registry cleaners and how it differs to each other? For more information about this, make sure you visit Registry Easy now.

Author: Calvin Turner
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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The Best PC Protection Software – What Features Should it Have?

05 Sep

There are hundreds if not thousands of software suites available that feature utilities designed to protection PC systems and optimize performance. Each has specific features that set it apart from the others. Some have more features than others. Here, we shall look at what features make up the best PC Protection software.

- First, a registry cleaning utility should show the results of each scan and allow the user to decide what entries are safe to delete. Since many people are not familiar enough with the registry to make an informed decision, the utility should include information about the marked entries that explain why it has been marked for deletion and whether or not it is completely safe to delete a specific entry.

- Malware removal programs include antiviruses, anti-spyware, and adware removal programs. One thing that sets these apart from others is the frequency with which malware definitions are updated. Some update once a week. Others update daily. The very best update is at least hourly. More frequent updates of definitions ensure that malware will be caught and blocked or removed from the system sooner after it is created.

- Disk cleanup utilities should be able to locate and mark damaged or bad sectors on the hard drive so that the system no longer recognizes those sectors as valid storage space. This prevents the system from attempting to store data there that would be effectively lost due to an inability to retrieve it.

- A disk defragmentation utility should be able to create a backup of the files it is going to move as a precaution against the file being corrupted during the move. It should also be able to determine when files are shared across more than one application and place all the related files for those applications near one another on the hard drive to minimize the amount of time it takes the system to locate individual files when the application calls them.

What About Backups for PC Protection?

- Backup utilities should offer options on how extensive the backup should be. One should have the option to copy the entire hard drive, backup system files only, backup documents and user files only, or some combination of the latter two. One should be able to choose the media on which the backup files will be stored so that they can be catalogued and filed for quick access in the event of a system crash.

If a utility suite contains all of these features, it would be hands down the best PC protection software available.

Get the Top Free PC Protection Software Scan Here

Author: Tyler James Marks
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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How to Successfully Manage Your Digital Photo Collection and Prevent Catastrophic Loss

05 Sep

Wow.... talk about digital explosion, progress in leaps and bounds. In just a space of 20 years we have gone from the Polaroid instamatic photos to digital cameras and digital phones that take pictures better than most average cameras. 20 years ago the challenge was where to store all the tons of hardcopy photos that had been printed and developed and this lead to having volumes of photo albums all over the house, today the challenge is where to store all those digital phones we now collect. I can't remember when last I saw a photo album...how passe it has now become. In the past we used to have hard copies so at least if the camera crapped out we still had the picture available but today we store all these in memory sticks, USB keys and external hard drives. These storage devices are now available in terabytes and people are rushing to buy these devices but the one thing they are not thinking about is how to successfully manage their painstakingly collected digital photo and media collections. If any of these multiple gigabyte devices fail, the cost to recover the data on them can run into thousands of dollars as this needs to be done by professional data recovery services. How can we prevent these losses of both digital memories and money if we need to recover a lost USB key or drive? Very simple IT 101 principle that we should always follow - Backup Backup Backup!!!

Always keep data in triplicates, yes three backups or copies. For instance we can do the following - - One backup copy stored on your computer, One backup copy stored on your USB key, external hard drive or Memory stick/compact flash/SD card, One copy stored online on a free image storing/archiving site. Another viable combination if you don't have too much storage space on your computer is - Print your digital photos and store hard copies, One copy stored on your USB key, external hard drive or Memory stick/compact flash/SD card, A copy stored on the image storing/ archiving service.

I personally like to use the online storage services. The benefits of these sites are:
1. They are free,
2. Extremely easy to use,
3. Can be shared with as few or as many as you desire to view your photos,
4. Easy way to publicly show case your work if your are a professional,
5. They are available from anywhere you have an internet connection,
6. Most of these storage sites will allow you unlimited space and bandwidth usage,
7. A few of these storage sites will even backup and send you copied of your photos on CD or DVD for a small fee,
8. If the site is a paid site then you have successfully off shored the management of your digital photo collection to a 3rd party,
9. You just have to send links to these photo to friends and family thus conserving bandwidth for those that have slow connections to the internet, instead of sending these huge 3 meg picture to everyone,
10. Did I mention that it was FREE! These image sharing or archiving sites are a good way of storing your photos and utilizing digital resources to the fullest.

Toks Daniels is a seasoned IT professional who enjoys photography and the wonders of image creation and manipulation. Most of his photos and images are housed on an Image and Picture Storage Site and he also subscribes and believe in sharing and image viewing as ways to uplift oneself and mood. Toks in his spare time evaluates software and reviews them on a Free Software Blog for the general public to appreciate and use.

Author: Toks Daniels
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Home Network Storage Devices – 3 Benefits A Regular Hard Drive Will Miss

05 Sep

If you feel inundated with a massive amount of information you are storing on your personal computer or notebook, such as photos, videos, music files, ebooks, PDFs, your electronic documents, and are looking for ways to securely organize and protect this information, you are reading the right article.

You will find here three major reasons why installing a simple home network storage device is a much better solution than buying just another hard disk to store and organize your data.

When you are done reading, you should be better prepared when the time comes to buy an additional data storage device for your home.

The three reasons for installing home network storage devices instead of just another hard disk attached to your laptop or desktop, are: Data access from anywhere, Access anytime, and a Separate secure storage for backups. Let's look at all three in more detail.

Data access anytime

When your new hard disk is attached to your laptop or your desktop, that hard disk becomes inaccessible as soon as you shut down your laptop or desktop. And when you travel, or work outside your home, that can happen quite often with a laptop. When, however, you have a networked storage device, that device stays on and attached to the network. So it can be accessed anytime as the network in your home will be on at all times. The energy consumption is not an issue as home network storage devices can consume as little as 20 Watt. Such devices can even be put to sleep automatically when idle and can be awaken as soon as a data request is received on the network.

Data access from anywhere

A huge number of homes today have internet, or LAN, local area networks already installed. Your existing network will be a route to your home network storage device. So it will be a simple matter to connect each computer on the network to your home network storage device.

But you can do more. Using a secure connection from the internet, you can decide to have your files stored on your house network device, available on your laptop or netbook when you travel. Also, you can stream your music and videos over a wireless broadband connection to your smart phone or iPhone. You can make your home network storage device a central information repository and information service to anywhere you have a connection to the internet.

Secure network backups

Backup is a safety procedure that many of us know we should practice but many of us don't practice regularly. The reasons are many. One of them is the possible complexity and possible backup failure when a device we backup to becomes unavailable. This becomes quite a non issue with an always-there, accessible-from-anywhere home network storage device. One big reason for backup frustration due to failures is removed. You can setup backups easily, in a "set it and forget it" fashion and you will have peace of mind that as long as your home network storage is operational, all your computers will be backed up safely.

For more information on the various options for your home network storage devices and their manufacturers, please see the website http://homenetworkstorage.org.

Author: Jason Stark
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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