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How to Pick a Brand As most computer manufacturers utilize largely the same parts, the brand you prefer will most likely depend on more specific specifications. This means that whether a computer is made by Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, or any of the others (with the exception of high-end, specialized devices and their manufacturers) you will have plenty of cost-effective options to consider. The real differences come in where laptops and all-in-one devices are concerned. For instance, someone who is artistically inclined might want a laptop that has a pen input, so they might lean toward a device from Microsoft, HP, or Lenovo that features that option. However, this is really specialized for the purposes of this guide. Regardless, we recommend that you read as many reviews as you can find for any specialized hardware; and, if possible, give it a test run at a big-box store. If you still can?t decide, give us a call here at White Mountain IT Services? we can help, too. Full-Size Case, or Compact Case For a Desktop? There are a few key reasons that you might pick a full-sized case over a compact case, or vice versa, for your computer. Maintaining full-case computers tends to be easier, as is upgrading their components. They?re also generally more affordable, which is an undeniable benefit. However, if you?re working with a more limited space to keep the finished system, a compact desktop may be the better choice, but their upgrade options are far more limited. These considerations make it so that the use case of computers usually dictates the case used. The smaller, compact cases are most commonly found in the workplace, while the space in the full-size desktop makes them very accepting of a gaming system, or a video production rig?s cooling needs. Check the Reviews There are plenty of computer and computer component reviews online, so don?t hesitate to do a bit of research. Just because they are meant for the more knowledgeable power users, higher-end systems will have higher-quality, in-depth reviews available. The more reviews you read, the more educated a decision you will be able to make. Bloatware Awareness Whenever you purchase a pre-configured desktop, there?s a good chance that there will be software installed ahead of time that you may not want. You may want to spend some time going through and deleting the software you have no interest in, while saving the antivirus or trial version of Microsoft Office as you wish. How to Dispose of Your Old PC Finally, you?re ready to get rid of your old PC. Whatever you plan to do with it, you?ll want to make sure that all of its old drives are completely and thoroughly wiped. This is a job for the pros, unless you intend to completely destroy the drives themselves. Some industries will need to see that additional compliance rules are followed. You also have several options to recycle your old PC. Just remember that it shouldn?t just be thrown away – data aside, it contains some very harmful elements that can do some serious damage if not disposed of appropriately. If you plan on donating your old PC to another business, make sure that it has been professionally wiped, and its drives completely replaced. Donating is a great thing to do, just don?t […]

Explaining Azure (and the Cloud in General) As you?ve probably figured out already, Azure is a set of cloud services offered by Microsoft. Take about any type of computing platform that you could need, and Azure has an option for it. Organizations can run applications, buy storage, security, and support and alter the way their company operates with the use of the public/hybrid cloud platform. This provides the accessibility and the tools any business could need to further their organizational productivity goals. Azure has solutions for a number of business problems, including The Internet of Things Artificial intelligence Enterprise resource planning Blockchain Databases Private cloud platforms DevOps Mobile management E-Commerce Regulatory compliant platforms and reporting Collaboration Data warehousing Big data Business Intelligence Line of business applications Productivity applications (SaaS) Development (PaaS)  Data backup and comprehensive archiving Marketing Digital media Gaming If you can believe it, there are more uses for the Azure cloud platform. This array of services and uses gives any organization an option to get the scalable computing construct that they need to push their business initiatives forward. Of course, before implementing any sort of cloud solution (even Azure or AWS), you?ll want to first assess your options. If you?re new to these types of platforms, you will want to test them to ensure they will meet your performance and budgetary needs. At White Mountain IT Services, we suggest working side-by-side with an IT professional. Their experience with cloud computing, business computing, and computing of all types can help you find exactly the solution you need to solve your business? problems. If you want to talk to one of our certified experts about if Azure is right for your company?s needs, call us directly at (603) 889-0800 today.

In the past few decades, data storage technology has leapt forward, as a brief comparison of capacity to time passed can show us. Take the standard 3.5-inch floppy disk, and its 1.44 MB (megabyte) capacity. While this was enough to hold large text files, this wasn?t even enough to contain an MP3 file on a single disk. Compare this to the typical CD, which can hold about 650 MB, or a DVD?s 4.7 GB storage limit (which equals that of 3,342 floppy disks). A Blu-Ray disk can store about 10 times as much as a DVD. Of course, this is diminutive compared to Google?s total data storage capacity of over 15 exabytes. This equals approximately 15,000,000,000,000 megabytes, or about 10,416,666,666,667 floppy disks worth. How Your Storage Needs Vary by Intended Usage Before you decide upon a storage device to use, you should take the time to consider what you will need from your solution. For instance, if the computer we?ve been putting together is going to be introduced to your workplace?s network, it?s likely that there is a central location or cloud solution that is used as a primary data storage. In this case, your device won?t need much onboard storage – basically, just enough for the operating system, any non-cloud-hosted programs you use, and some extra space for file storage. You?ll want to invest a bit extra in your storage if your computer is for personal use or a home office – especially if you plan to use it for video production, as the specific files types involved will require dedicated storage. What?s the Difference Between HDD and SSD Storage? Your storage solution will be made up of at least one of these two kinds of devices: hard disk drives (HDDs), or solid-state drives (SSDs). Each have their pros and cons, which will come into play depending on your situation and your plans for your new device. Hard Disk Drives HDDs are the legacy storage components, having been used for thirty years. By leveraging spinning magnetic platters and an arm to read data from and write data to this platter, they work quite similarly to a record player, albeit at a much, much, much faster speed. While HDDs have high capacities, they aren?t the most energy-efficient, and tend to be very fragile – both reasons that laptops frequently eschew HDDs. However, they are still cheaper than the alternative. Solid State Drives SSDs don?t have any moving parts, with any and all data recorded electronically. While they have historically come at a higher price point than an HDD, there are many benefits to balance this out. They are hardier and more reliable than a hard disk drive, work faster, and (due to their lack of moving parts) deal with less wear over time – which cuts down on their failure rates. The major downside to a solid-state drive is the cost/capacity ratio, and how quickly higher-capacity drives can get to be expensive. For reference, as of this writing, a HDD with 3 terabytes of storage costs less than a SSD with a third the storage. Considering Your Storage Needs Your required storage will greatly depend on the intended use of the device, as we touched on before. How much sense would including an SSD make? If your PC isn?t used […]

Understanding the Employee Perspective To make sure your employees stay productive, you first need to look at their duties from their perspective. Depending on their motivations and goals, your employees will have a different reason to want to do a good job. Some might be in it for the long haul, thinking of your business as a career. Others might only be using it as a stepping stone toward achieving their ultimate goal. Understanding where they fall on this spectrum is imperative to getting the most out of your workers. If you give your employees the ability to invest themselves in your company for their own benefit, you might find that they are much more productive and efficient with their time. If you give them the opportunity to learn new skills that they can carry with them in the future, you may find they are more devoted to their work. After all, there?s one thing that?s certain: an employee who is unfulfilled and uncertain of their future with a business will be less productive, leading ultimately to their departure in search of greener pastures. Augmenting Productivity Productivity is a necessity to maintain operations without losing out on profit, so you should establish the following guidelines to ensure that your employees remain cognizant of their own work ethic. You might have to rely on them to self-police themselves at times, since if you micromanage too much, they might grow to resent your management style. Here are a couple of ideas to get you thinking about how to get the most out of your employees: Establish KPIs for friendly competition: Key performance indicators help you establish guidelines for how much you want your employees to get done throughout the workday. These are generally used to ensure that projects and tasks are on time and on budget. While it could easily be marketed as the bare minimum to strive for in terms of productivity, you should instead look at it as an opportunity to instill some friendly competition amongst your staff. With KPIs being visible and transparent in the workplace, your employees can really own their work and use the information to better themselves. Implement a content filter to keep them on task: A content filter can keep the endless content of the Internet at bay so that your employees can stay productive. A content filter can keep users off of social media and streaming services to help them be as efficient as possible with their time. You can even implement them on a per-user basis, meaning that problem employees can be remediated while those who don?t make a habit of it can enjoy the fruits of their labor every now and then. White Mountain IT Services is a staunch believer in the power of technology to make your business as productive as possible. To learn more about how we can help, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.

This might sound pretty boring, but you can do a LOT to control your users and protect your business. On the other side of the coin, if your Active Directory isn?t set up very well, you could be leaving things wide open, preventing you from meeting industry compliance regulations or granting your users with more access than they really should have. We?re going to discuss some of our Active Directory best practices, but a quick disclaimer first: there isn?t a one-size-fits-all solution for all organizations. Depending on your security needs, the type of permissions you need to have, and any compliance regulations your business falls under, some of these policies won?t apply as-is for you. Still, if you are coming from a situation where you don?t have anything (or hardly anything) in place, this is a great place to start. Nobody Needs to be an Administrator When users log into their PC on your domain, they are logging in with their domain account, which is centralized in Active Directory.  Not a single user on your network, whether it?s the owner of the company, or your onsite IT person, or the Pope, needs to log into Windows on a daily basis with administrative privileges. This includes both privileged access as the Domain Admin, AND as a local admin on that particular machine. Why? It?s just too risky. This overrides all other settings and there is just no reason for it. Instead, we suggest following the least privilege administrative model. Each user should only have the minimum permissions to complete their work. You can always elevate access temporarily if needed. Otherwise, if a user gets a virus, that virus will have the same access the user does and could do a lot more damage because the user has access he or she didn?t need in the first place. The virus has the capability to spread across the network, whereas if the user?s permissions were locked down, the virus would only have a minimal impact. This means that everyone on the network, including the business owner, IT staff, and/or the Pope, log in as a regular non-administrator to do their normal day-to-day work. If they need to get administrative control, they can log in with a separate admin account. Keep that administrative account secret, safe, and carefully guarded (by the Swiss Guard if need be). Force Strong, Complex Passwords and Set Password Expirations Human beings are terrible at creating and memorizing complex passwords. Unfortunately, hackers, or at least the tools that hackers use, are very good at guessing passwords that aren?t complex enough. Quick tip: Teach your staff to use passphrases instead. Combining multiple random words is actually more secure than using an eight-character complex password. Keep in mind, the words need to be very random. Here?s a quick example: Bad Passphrase Examples:classofeightyfiveEyeofthet1g3rgameofTHRONE$25November24!1982pizzaisdelicious42 Good Passphrase Examples:SstructureBalloonmamm0thPeanutbutterdoghousellamatown5!ExileSausageYodelNoodleMagnet!82BLUEdisneyhockeylasagna64captainamericapancakesbbqALF80 Back to Active Directory, you should require passwords to be long – at least 12 characters and lock a user out after three failed attempts. Forcing passwords to expire every 30, 60, or 90 days is a good idea too, and Active Directory can remember the password history to prevent a user from rotating back to last month?s password. Delegate Permissions to Security Groups, not Individual Accounts This is something we catch pretty often when we audit […]