Cloud Backup Services – Bandwidth Considerations

Cloud backup systems can offer the ultimate in security for your precious data.  Depending upon the volume and frequency of your backups, it may be important to ensure that you have an adequate communications bandwidth in place to support this approach. 

We are sometimes asked to explain the variations in cloud backup services and why they affect something called ‘bandwidth’.

This is something best explained in a conversation but here is a quick overview!

All of the critical data and systems in your IT environment should be backed up.  That’s to ensure that in the event of one form of disaster or another, your critical data could be rapidly restored to enable your business to keep running.

Through our cloud backup services, all of this can be done automatically and invisibly to you.  Your data will be backed up and stored in a secure location and you will never have to worry about things such as disk copies and so on!

However, not all IT installations are the same. 

For example, some organisations have largely entirely outsourced their IT operations meaning that they don’t have big boxes sitting around on their premises.  All of their databases, applications software and so on, are stored in the Cloud already. 

That means that when their systems are being backed up, it is effectively cloud-to-cloud and nothing of their data being backed up needs to go through the communication lines between their office and the outside world.

Customers that have their file servers and software in-house can still use cloud backup services to protect them but when the data is being copied, it will be moving from the customer’s site down through one form of wire or another to a secure cloud location.

In the case of larger organisations, this can mean very substantial volumes of data are going up and down your communication lines to the outside world on a regular basis.  Depending upon the amount of space and speed that your line provider offers you (also known as its bandwidth) that might, at times, be something of an issue.

Let’s not speculate further here though. Instead, why not call us for a discussion about your specific situation and we can offer you very precise advice on cloud backups and whether or not they may be an issue for your communications infrastructure.

Read More

New Computer Hackers Crackdown - Server Sentry

A major crackdown in the United Kingdom on computer hackers has provided a timely reminder that you can never pay too much attention to this subject and the importance of protecting yourself from such criminals.

We have recently gone through a relatively quiet period in terms of major computer security and virus news.

However, that doesn’t mean that the hackers and cyber criminals have ‘gone away’.  It simply means that the media have chosen to highlight other things over the very recent past.

Just one recent story to illustrate the need to be constantly alert though, comes this time from the United Kingdom where police have arrested 56 suspected hackers in a number of raids and operations.

Here at Server Sentry, we’d like to stress to all of our Australian clients that this sort of problem is not restricted only to the United Kingdom and other countries.  In terms of IT services, Melbourne and elsewhere in Australia are just as vulnerable to these criminals as anywhere else on the planet.

Original Source - http://www.serversentry.com.au/new-computer-hackers-crackdown/ 

Read More

Using the Cloud or ‘Going Local’ – the Pros and Cons

There is nothing new about the debate relating to how much of your IT application architecture and data should be stored on your local PCs versus a big central location ‘somewhere else’.

That debate had its origins in the early 1980s and continues today, although we tend to talk about ‘The Cloud’ as that big central location as opposed to ‘the mainframe computer’ in times past.

So, what are the pros and cons of putting your applications on a platform that is actually not physically on your premises?

Pros

1. You won’t have to worry about things such as backups, upgrading your systems to cope with growing volumes, disaster recovery and so on. Your provider should do all that for you.


2. You may see significant cost advantages arising as a result of the reduced amount of IT equipment you might need to maintain on your own premises.


3. Your business equipment insurance issues may be simplified.


4. You will benefit from expert technical support (e.g. IT consulting) from your cloud backup services provider rather than needing to try and develop some of those skills within your own company.

Cons

1. To some extent, you may be reliant upon a third party for the provision of an environment that allows you to continue your day to day business.

2. You may have some understandable concerns relating to data confidentiality and access control –including legislative constraints. That last point may be a particular issue if you are considering using an offshore provider.

3. In some situations there might be a risk of escalating costs in future, though that can be mitigated with appropriate contract provisions.

Deciding upon the shape and location of your IT infrastructure is something that isn’t easy and that is why we at Server Sentry recommend that you allow us to assist with your analysis and decision-making processes. It just might help you to ensure you make the right decision.

Read More

How Long Should You Keep Your Historic Data?

To all intents and purposes, electronic data can be stored indefinitely.

For those who are pedantic, yes, we know that electronic media can deteriorate over time and it is sensible practice to ensure that multiple copies are taken from time to time to ensure that your data is residing on the latest media.

That’s also important because storage formats can change. File and database formats of 20 or 30 years ago may be difficult to restore and gain access to unless they have been converted to more up-to-date versions.

However, the fact that you could practically keep your data forever doesn’t necessarily mean that it makes sense to do so. Although storage is typically low-cost, it nevertheless involves a certain degree of periodic administrative overhead in order to maintain catalogues etc.

There are two real drivers in terms of answering that ‘how long’ question :

• Regulatory Requirements – certain types of business are required by law to store certain types of data for a minimum number of years. Transgress here and you could find yourself in deep trouble with the law. 

• Your operational business requirements. For example, historical data can be invaluable in terms of marketing campaigns and statistical analysis in support of product development. Scrapping all of your historical operational data at the end of a calendar year might not be a sensible use of it given it could generate so much more benefit through what’s called Data Mining.

Why not contact our Business IT Support Services for a discussion of what things such as Server Sentry’s Vault Care proposition might be able to do for you in this area? They may not be able to give you an in-depth definition of what the law requires by way of data archiving for your particular type of business but we can tell you what your technical and cost options are.

Read More

Connecting Your PC to a Large Screen - How to do it?

One of the most commonly encountered questions for us at Server Sentry arises from customers who wish to connect a PC to a wide-screen TV of some sort or another.
Here is a quick overview but things may vary a little from case to case, so don’t hesitate to pick up the phone or contact our online help desk support.

•    There are several different ways of connecting your PC to a TV screen and displaying the results of what you are doing on it.

•    At one time some of these were rather tricky but today it’s typically very simple - assuming that both your PC and TV are relatively modern.

•    If you look at your PC, you should be able to see a port labelled either ‘HDMI’ or sometimes ‘TV OUT’.

•    Look at your television and you should see a port labelled again as ‘HDMI IN’ or possibly ‘PC IN’. You may see slight variations on the terminology depending upon the manufacturer.

•    You will then need to purchase what is called an HDMI cable.  These will have a plug at each end that should fit nicely into your PC in one case and the appropriate slot at the back of your TV in the other. These cables are typically very low-cost but remember to make sure to buy one of suitable length in order to give you the maximum flexibility between where your PC and TV will sit.

•    All you will typically then need to do is to switch on your PC and TV.  You may need to select the TV channel labelled as “HDMI” or “PC IN” with the TV’s controller.  From that point onwards, everything on your PC screen should be displayed on the TV.
It’s also possible to get wireless solutions to this though that involves a slightly different approach and once again, it’s probably a good idea to give us a call before you go forward.  

Read More

Business IT Support Services and Integration

Are you disappointed with what you’re getting out of your IT?

Perhaps those new super-powerful PCs and servers you purchased just are not doing much to improve your overall software performance.  Are your efforts in videoconferencing still being stymied by pixelated screens and major lags between voice and video?  Do you keep getting error messages on your screens from certain of your applications?

It’s possible that you’re experiencing any of the above or indeed one or more of many other potential problems with your IT.  What’s going on?

Of course, we at Server Sentry Business IT Support Services cannot answer the question without knowing a lot more about your installation and business.  However, it’s possible that you have simply purchased solutions that are not optimal for your needs or perhaps they have been poorly installed and configured to begin with.

The good news though is that sometimes Business IT Support Services can make a huge difference to the way your technology systems work and without involving you in huge expenditure on revised approaches.  In the past, following a short survey of a customer site and changing a few relatively minor parameters, we have been able to resolve long-standing problems that the company had assumed they just had to ‘live with’.

In other situations, we may be able simply to recommend that you change certain of your approaches to the use of your technology and you might find as a consequence that things are far more efficient and successful.

The bottom line is very simple.  You don’t have to put up with Information Technology systems that are holding you back or simply not delivering the benefits you anticipated.  There is almost always something that can be done about such problems and often without large-scale expenditure.

That’s why we would welcome the chance to demonstrate our Business IT Support Services to you in terms of helping you integrate your processes and technology into optimum configurations.  Why not give us a call for an initial entirely free and non-commercial discussion of your requirements?

Read More

Data Recovery Solutions Melbourne

If it doesn’t matter how modern your technology is, how much you have invested in it or how careful you are when using it, unfortunately problems are always a possibility.

One of the most serious consequential problems of a technology failure arises from the loss or corruption of your data.

Space here doesn’t permit a full discussion of the technical reasons as to why that can happen but it can.  There are also a number of different types of data problem, just a sample of which might include:

• Data that has been derived or input and then subsequently lost.
• Information that has somehow or another become corrupted and is therefore not retrievable, usable or trustworthy – or perhaps a variety of all these things.

The impact on your business of finding yourself in such a position is almost too terrible to contemplate.

You may end up needing to explain to customers why their information has been lost and that they must provide it again.  It may be difficult to engage in billing or debt collection because you simply don’t know what the real situation is.  Your customers may be looking at information on your systems and seeing that it is fundamentally inaccurate or out of date.

Of course, the longer a problem persists, the greater the cumulative effects of the damage to your data and your professional credibility are likely to be.

In a nutshell, this is why data recovery solutions are important.

Data recovery solutions in themselves can’t stop a problem happening.  What they can do though is to ensure that you are able to make the fastest possible recovery and to get your data back to a point in time before the problem occurred. This is sometimes referred to as doing a ‘data restore’.

Thinking about the frequency of data backups and how to restore to a given point in time is a science that we at Server Sentry are experts in.  This process isn’t one where a business should be taking chances or making wild guesses.

Remember that ultimately your data recovery solutions may be all that stands between your business and catastrophe.  That’s why it’s essential to take this subject seriously and highly advisable to contact us for further advice and guidance.

Read More

How do you see data recovery solutions?

Companies come into one of several categories where data recovery is concerned:

• Those that realise that their business is largely data-driven and that the loss of their data would cripple their operations – possibly fatally. They take steps to protect themselves against such a possibility

• Companies that know nothing of the risks involved and as a result, who take no preventative measures

• Those that think they have protection in place but which, in reality, is woefully inadequate.

• Organisations that think the risks are not significant and that the area is hyped-up through scare tactics in order to sell expensive data recovery solutions Melbourne.

Here at Server Sentry, we know with a sad certainty that companies in the last three categories are sooner or later going to have the reality of their vulnerabilities made only too clear to them after a disaster.

In some cases that’s going to lead to regret, recriminations, post-mortems, firings and in extreme situations, the end of their business.

So, what is the solution?

We make no apologies for continually preaching the need for increased corporate awareness as far as data recovery solutions are concerned. It’s one thing to realistically assess the risks to your organisation arising from a catastrophic loss of data then decide to do nothing. It’s entirely another to do nothing through a lack of awareness.

Nor are data recovery solutions simply a case of copying files and information onto another secure site.  For example, there are issues to do with cycles of backup and currency of data.

So, if you ask your provider of data recovery solutionsto restore your files as they were at the end of your last financial quarter for audit purposes, you might not want to hear at that stage, for the first time, that they only keep backups for 30 days.

Equally, if you lose an entire day’s work at say 4pm, would you prefer to restore your data to the last time a backup was taken at say five minutes before, 12pm that day or perhaps at 8pm the day before? Keep in mind anything done between your last backup and your disaster may be irretrievably lost.

That’s why professional data recovery solutionsand their analysis are critically important.

Read More