Put Your Router Out in the OpenSome people don?t like the appearance of routers. They fashion them an eyesore and try to hide them away in cabinets or elsewhere, away from where people can see them. This is often both counterproductive and dangerous, as the device can potentially overheat in a place with poor air circulation. If you store your router in a cabinet, you?re also weakening the signal, which can make it spotty and difficult to use. Instead, we recommend that you keep your router out in the open, where it can get plenty of air and keep the signal as strong as possible. This is a best practice for your technology, including workstations and servers that generate a lot of heat naturally by functioning properly. Use a Central LocationWhile it might be tempting to just put your router in a far corner of your office and forget that it exists, chances are that the other half of your office won?t be receiving a very strong wireless signal. To avoid this, you need to set your router up in a central location where it can broadcast its signal to the entire office. Depending on your office?s setup, you might even need multiple access points to allow each of your employees to access the Internet. Also of note, you should elevate your router slightly to ensure that the signal isn?t being blocked by furniture that sits on the floor. File cabinets, desks, and other objects could all get in the way of the wireless signal. Review Your Bandwidth and Internet Service AgreementSometimes the placement of a router won?t have anything to do with your problem, and the issue is with your network connection instead. In this case, the problem would be with your modem or your Internet service agreement limiting your bandwidth and the flow of data. If you?re having wireless problems, and you?re sure it?s not your router, it?s worth looking into the problem on the ISP?s side of things. Upgrade Your RouterAre you using the same old router that you picked up when you first started your business? If so, there?s a strong chance that your router?s hardware or firmware is outdated. Since you actually have control over your router, you?d do well to investigate the issue before you purchase a new one. It?s recommended that you go with a router that?s capable of supporting both 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz bands. This will help you keep your network strong and healthy. Plus, sometimes all it takes to resolve connectivity issues is to upgrade your system?s firmware. For help optimizing your business?s wireless network, reach out to White Mountain IT Services at (603) 889-0800.
Security company LeakedSource was able to obtain and analyze the stolen passwords from an online black market. They found that the most commonly used password (connected to more than 120,000 accounts) is also the easiest to guess: ?123456.? This despite (or perhaps because of) the famous password scene from the 1987 film ?Spaceballs.? If you recall, the joke was regarding King Roland being blackmailed by Dark Helmet to turn over the password securing Druidia?s planetary forcefield. The super-secret password in question, ?12345.? The revelation of the password being so ridiculously simple caused Dark Helmet to reply, ?That’s the stupidest combination I’ve ever heard in my life! That’s the kind of thing an idiot would have on his luggage!? Not surprisingly, the other most-used passwords from the Twitter haul are just as easy to guess; ?123456789,? ?qwerty,? and ?password.? We make the connection to Spaceballs in order to highlight the fact that using weak passwords has been a major IT security issue for at least 30 years, with little hope of things changing. Fortunately, the remedy is quite simple; use complex passwords with a string of random characters. Taking this measure alone will improve your security vastly over all the other King Rolands to be found on cyberspace. However, using complex passwords will only get you so far. For example, as in the case of the recent Twitter heist, if your password is stolen, then it doesn’t matter how complex it is. This is why we highly recommend that you take advantage of two-factor authentication security solutions. Twitter and other major websites offer two-factor authentication, which messages your mobile device with an additional code upon entering the correct password. It?s a small inconvenience that will virtually guarantee that you?ll be protected, should your password fall into the wrong hands. Additionally, we recommend following the best practice of using a different password for each of your online accounts. For example, if your Twitter password gets stolen and this happens to be the same password used for your other online accounts, then the hacker would have an easy time logging into your other accounts. Actually, this happens more than you would think, with Facebook?s Mark Zuckerberg becoming the recent poster child. On June 6th, Zuckerberg briefly lost control of his Twitter and Pinterest accounts after hackers used the same password to access both. The password in question was not only ridiculously easy to guess, but it was also one that he?s apparently used before, ?dadada.? Therefore, if you?re using complex passwords, two-factor authentication, a different password for each account, and you?re routinely changing your passwords, you?ll apparently have better online security than Mark Zuckerberg, which is something to brag about. Following all of these password security best practices will go a long way in protecting your online identity, and when it comes to network security, the more precautions you take, the better. To that end, call White Mountain IT Services today at (603) 889-0800 to equip your business with the best security solutions on the market.
Risks Involved with Renewing Software LicensesIt?s important that all businesses have a solid plan to approach software licensing issues. This means taking an accurate assessment of the risks that are involved with managing software license problems. Here are three of the biggest culprits: Downtime: One of the most immediate issues associated with software licenses is that they can run out at any given moment, especially if you don?t take the initiative to renew them before they expire. Imagine this scenario: your team is working full-throttle to finish a project, but then the software is made unavailable because it?s no longer licensed. If this happens, your team could lose precious momentum while waiting for IT to resolve the issue. This wasted time translates to downtime, which has a negative effect on any strict budget. Shadow IT: In the above scenario, let?s say that your team doesn?t want to wait for IT to resolve the issue. This may cause them to look into alternative solutions that may not be approved by management. This is what?s known as shadow IT; solutions that are implemented without the proper oversight. When this happens, infrastructures could be put at risk of being compromised, while ignoring software licensing requirements. Legal issues: Employees may get the idea that they can find a illegal copy of the needed software online at a cheaper price (or free). While your employees may only be trying to help, their intentions are irrelevant, primarily because if they download a ?discounted? or ?free? version of a particular software on the Internet, it may not come from a legitimate source. In other words, you run the risk of your employees resolving the issue in a potentially illegal way. If your business is found to have a pirated copy of a software solutions, you could be subject to nasty fines that are easily avoidable. All it takes is an unexpected audit to completely drown your chances of success. If your organization finds it difficult to handle software licenses, we?re here to tell you that there?s an easier way to manage your business?s mission-critical software solutions. With our remote management and maintenance solution, we can manually update your business?s crucial systems, making sure that they remain secure from potential threats. We can also arrange your software licenses in a way which lets you update them at around the same time. This way, you?ll never miss a critical update or software license renewal ever again. For more information, give us a call at (603) 889-0800.
First, a quick review of the two options: HDD: Hard disk drives have been around since IBM introduced the technology in 1956, and utilizes magnetism via a mechanical arm with a read/write head to store data on a spinning platter. This spin dictates the performance speed of the drive. Drivers today typically will achieve either 5,400 or 7,200 revolutions per minute. SSD: Solid state drives are a much more recent innovation, storing information in microchips controlled by an onboard, embedded processor. This processor is referred to as the controller, the quality of which ultimately controls the speed at which the drive operates. Since there are no moving parts, this is the preferable choice for laptops, as jostling will not affect performance, as it will in a HDD. Of course, to a company, the how the drive operates is not nearly as important as the how well, or the how much. Weighing one option against the other will help to narrow down the proper solution for a particular business? needs. To do so, a quick review of the stats will be helpful. Capacity: An incredibly important statistic to consider, as it is the entire point of utilizing a storage device. HDD can range in notebook devices from 500GB to 2TB, as far up as 6TB in desktops. SSD in notebook devices generally cap out at 1TB, and max out in desktops at the same. Speed: The copy/write speed of HDD can be anywhere from 50 to 120MB per second. This is dwarfed by a SDD?s typical speeds of at least 200 MB/s, sometimes up to 550 MB/s. Regarding how much time it takes to open files, HDD file opening speeds lag by about 30 percent behind SSDs. Cost: Being a long-established technology, HDDs typically cost about $0.06 for every gigabyte of storage space. While the price of SSDs has been dropping in recent years, the cost per gigabyte is still at $0.24 per GB, making SSD a considerably more expensive option. Power Draw/Battery Life: HDDs lose this bout, drawing an average of 6 or 7 watts compared to the SSD?s 2 or 3. This gives SSDs significantly superior battery life. Depending on your business?s financial state and priorities, there are different paths to take when selecting a storage device. If capacity and price are larger concerns than speeds, a hard disk drive may just be the route to take. If there is a want for technology to function faster and there is some financial ?wiggle room,? a SSD is certainly the preferable choice. Ultimately, it is your responsibility to select a storage solution for your business?s IT needs. Our technicians can give them professional guidance into which solution fits their information storage needs the best. If interested, give them a call at (603) 889-0800 and set up a consultation to discuss the preferable IT solution your business needs.
The break-fix IT model is one that has simply lost its flavor in the business environment. Organizations are leveraging technology in previously unprecedented bulk, and are now more reliant on technology than they ever were before. They want a more dynamic solution that doesn?t rely on them investing heavily in new technology whenever something breaks down. That, and the increasing amount of efficiency and productivity that organizations demand, requires a more conscientious approach to managing their technology solutions. Thus, managed IT services were born. Designed to proactively manage and maintain technology, the managed IT service model seeks to take a more active role in the upkeep of your business?s technology. In comparison, the break-fix IT model takes a reactive approach, only stepping in when major problems surface. Managed IT prevents the problems altogether by handling minor issues at their roots, preventing expensive downtime. Here are some of the top reasons that small businesses are choosing managed services as a quality alternative to traditional break-fix IT solutions: Fewer capital costs: Technology is expensive. There?s no getting around this fact. Naturally, you want to replace your technology as little as possible due to the immense up-front costs of doing so. This means that you need to take exceptionally good care of your technology if you want to limit your expenses in the long run. Plus, the amount of money that you invest in your managed services agreement can be recorded as an operating expense, further mitigating your capital costs. Reduced management responsibility: One of the key benefits of the managed IT service model is that your business doesn?t need to spend as much time dealing with technology repair problems, and can instead focus on improving business operations. In other words, the responsibility of handling your technology is taken care of for you, so you can concentrate on what matters most: running your business. Quality technology maintenance: If your team doesn?t regularly handle IT maintenance, and you don?t have an internal IT department, chances are that your technology isn?t getting the attention it needs in order to stay up to date. By outsourcing this responsibility to a managed service provider, you can rest easy knowing that your IT is being handled by seasoned professionals. If your business is ready to start handling your technology the smart way, give White Mountain IT Services a call at (603) 889-0800.
