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

Deferring Expensive IT Upgrades

Hardly a month goes past without some manufacturer announcing a new device or new piece of software aimed at business users.

There is nothing unique in manufacturers trying to sell things but the rapid pace of technological change means that it is perhaps rather more frequently seen in IT than other domains.

Another thing that makes Information Technology slightly unusual is that much of it is marketed on the basis not of offering competitive advantage but fear.  The fear stated is that if you don’t upgrade or purchase that new piece of kit, your existing equipment may shortly start to creak and groan at the seams and be unable to cope.

In fairness, to some extent, that has some foundation in fact.

Whilst many businesses marvel at what technology can now do for them, the price being paid for that increased sophistication is usually that ever higher-specification equipment is needed to achieve it.
So, should you be running out every 12 or 18 months and replacing your file servers and PCs?

At Server Sentry, we don’t believe that is necessary and we welcome the opportunity to explain why in the context of the following:

• We believe in cost justification.  That new technology may appear very sophisticated but will it generate business benefit for you?

• Even if your existing systems are becoming a little elderly in terms of their performance or storage capacity, there may be far more cost-attractive options available to you than buying all-new kit. Examples might include buying additional disk storage or upgrading your processors.

• If you build the big resource-consumption components of your IT systems on the Cloud, you are future-proving yourself to a large extent from growing demands for more capacity and processing power.

So, don’t just reach for the chequebook because your existing architecture is proving to be a bit sluggish.  Call us instead and let us do a full analysis for you.

Read More

Data Recovery Solutions – How Frequently Should You Back Up?

At Server Sentry, we’re often asked this question.

In practice, there is n’t any one answer.  It depends a lot upon the nature of your business operations and how frequently your data and systems are updated.
To understand why, it’s necessary to think a little bit about the fundamentals of what are sometimes called data recovery solutions.

Let’s assume that your system has had some sort of problem resulting in a catastrophic loss of your data.  The basic principle of data recovery solutions means that you may need to ask yourself just how much of your work and other information you could afford to lose or how much time you could afford to spend in recreating it.

Take, for example, a situation where your catastrophic problem arose at 11:30AM.  If you are unable to resolve the problem, you may need to restore your data files as they were at the last point the backup was taken before you had your disaster.

If you only take a backup of everything at the end of a working day, that means that any work done between (e.g.) 6.30 PM that day previously and when your problem happened at 11.30 AM the following morning, could potentially be irretrievably lost.

You could only restore your system to as it had existed the night before at 6.30pm.

Would that be a problem for you? It’s impossible to say in isolation. At the very least you may have lost several hours’ work. In worst-case scenarios, it might not only be lost but also impossible to replicate – something that might be a disaster.

If the thought of losing several hours’ work is too terrible to contemplate, you might need to take much more frequent backups as part of your strategic data recovery solutions. In some cases, companies actually run what’s called ‘hot standby’ whereby their data is replicated off-site in real-time meaning that in the event of a problem, they could instantly cut over to a virtually mirrored environment where all their data is fully up to date.

What you need by way of data recovery solutions will be driven by many different factors – and we can help you discover what they are.

Read More

Why pay for IT Consulting?

It’s terrifying but true that some companies base their entire IT Services on what might be termed ‘DIY’ computing.

You should be very clear that there is a VAST difference between someone who might be considered by friends and family to be something or a home technical guru with a smartphone or PC software and a professional IT establishment.

Providers such as Sever Sentry invest very significant sums of money in training and maintaining the skills base of their experts providing IT consulting services Melbourne.   They also understand that technical issues can’t just be seen in isolation but also have to be matched to the company’s business culture and overall business model.

It’s important for a professional IT consultant to also be well-versed in a range of different potential solutions and be able to critically evaluate them against each other rather than simply to champion an approach because it’s the only one they know.

The results of amateur, even if well-intentioned, IT consulting are often all too visible.

For example, ‘part-time home IT experts’ may be very well versed in the latest equipment and software but will they be capable of understanding just how compatible it will be with your existing IT infrastructure?

The very latest products also often come with a hidden risk – that of being one of the first in the marketplace to start using it.  Do you really wish your company to be at the cutting edge of IT if that means that you’re also a de-facto guinea-pig site for the manufacturers?

In addition, what will be the payback on your new investment? Will it be the most cost-effective approach?

These and dozens of similar issues is really what IT consultingis all about.  It’s about delivering benefit through IT to your company both cost-effectively and within a managed risk environment.

Amateurs, however, technically gifted they may be, may struggle to have the breadth of professional experience required to deliver warranted solutions to you with ticks in all these boxes.

Of course, you can keep asking your neighbour who knows a “lot about computers” for help and advice – if you’re brave that is.  Maybe he or she will also be around to help out in a crisis rather than on holiday etc.

Alternatively, if you’re not inclined to gamble with your company’s future, use professional IT consulting.

Read More