Even though virtualization offers a significant benefit, we realize that some businesses might not be completely aware of how virtualization works. As defined by Gartner, virtualization is: […] the abstraction of IT resources that masks the physical nature and boundaries of those resources from resource users. An IT resource can be a server, a client, storage, networks, applications or OSs. Essentially, any IT building block can potentially be abstracted from resource users. For example, a virtual network would be hosted in a data center environment and deployed via the cloud, making access easier without all of the complicated wiring. Adding users becomes much easier, as they don?t require specific cabling projects for adding new connections, making scalability an ideal feature. Virtualization services are so popular that, according to a report from Cisco, 77 percent of small and medium-sized businesses are using some kind of virtualization, be it for storage, server hosting, or desktop infrastructure. Introducing virtualization to your IT infrastructure has several benefits. The main one, which we previously mentioned, is that your infrastructure will be simplified, meaning that you won?t have to manage as much hardware. This means that you won?t be as susceptible to threats like hardware failure or natural disasters, provided your virtual infrastructure is hosted off-site. Another benefit is cost savings that stem from decreased operational costs. Naturally, if you?re running fewer workstations or servers, you?ll be consuming less electricity, and if you?re running a virtual desktop infrastructure, you can administer maintenance much more effectively. Of course, nothing is as simple as it seems. A virtualized network still needs to have measures put in place to halt the advance of threats of all types. Although virtualizing a network does go a significant distance in separating your system from some threats (primarily that of hardware failure), there?s always going to be a chance that threats slip past your defenses. This is why it?s important to always be using the latest security solutions, like powerful antivirus, firewall, spam blocking, and content filtering, to minimize the risk of your virtualized network. In conclusion, your organization?s entire virtual desktop infrastructure needs to be designed with security and uptime in mind, not just to minimize the amount of hardware your organization needs to stay productive. For more information about virtualization services and security, give White Mountain IT Services a call at (603) 889-0800.

Dim Your ScreenGo to Settings > Display and toggle Adaptive brightness. If you had to pick just one of these adjustments to make, have it be the brightness of your screen. Even if your screen is just a little bit brighter than it needs to be, all that wasted juice will have you running to a wall charger much sooner than you?d like. In addition to adjusting your screen?s brightness, you can also adjust how long it stays powered on after it?s activated. For example, you don?t need your screen activated for a full minute after each and every notification. Turn Off Location Service (GPS)Go to Settings > General > Location. With your phone?s location service enabled, your device will consume a lot of energy trying to stay connected to GPS satellites. The thing about this feature is that you probably don?t actually need it activated unless you?re actually using an app that requires location information, like Google Maps. If you?re not using a GPS-dependant app like this, then it?s in your battery?s best interest to just turn location service off until you need it. Disable WiFi When Out and AboutGo to Settings > WiFi, Bluetooth, or Data Usage. You?ll want to keep your device?s WiFi on when you?re settled in at work or home, but when you?re on the go, turn off WiFi in order to save battery power. If you don?t, your phone is going to use significant juice to actively look for and try connecting to every new WiFi signal it comes across–which could be many if you?re traversing through a heavily populated area. Turn Vibration OffHit the Volume Down key until you feel the phone vibrate, then hit it once more to silence all notifications. Having your phone vibrate comes in handy when you?re in a social setting requiring you to keep noise to a minimum, but if you?re trying to conserve battery power, you might be able to do without it. It takes a significant amount of energy to get your phone to vibrate like that. Although, with your phone?s vibration turned off, you?re going to want to make sure to keep your device within view so you can see any incoming notification. Manually Update AppGo to Play Store > Settings > Auto-update apps, and turn auto-update off or set it to update over WiFi only. Since updating your apps automatically is the default setting, you may not think twice about having this auto update activated. However, if you want to conserve battery power, then you should. Otherwise, your device may start automatically updating its apps and pulling huge chunks of data from the Play Store at the worst possible time for your dying battery. Disable Background DataGo to Settings > Data Usage. You may think that you?ve closed your app, but that doesn?t mean it?s still not open in the background and doing battery-draining activities. Thinking back to our second example, some apps still tap into the GPS settings to track your activity, even though you?ve closed it out. Many apps utilize background activity like this which unnecessarily drains the battery. Therefore, when you?re in a pinch, disable background data. However, if you access an app and find it to be not working like it should, you may want to turn the background data […]

For example, let?s say that your business is storing your data backups on the cloud. Normally, there are two ways that you can store these backups: traditional tape backup, which is generally prone to user error and requires a significant amount of physical space; and cloud backup. Usually, a data backup would take up a ton of space on your in-house network. Furthermore, backing up your network and storing this information on the network is a rather precarious situation. If something were to happen to your network?s data, your backups would also be eliminated, and then you?d be in a seemingly impossible situation. This is the primary reason why your business needs to store your data off-site in a secure data center, in the cloud, or both. Why Tape Backup is LackingTape backups have been around for a long time, but are outdated and incompetent compared to new backup solutions for the small or medium-sized business. Since it depends on humans properly instigating it to work properly, tape is a manual backup solution. This means that if your staff forgets to set the backups to occur every night, there?s a chance that you could lose all of the day?s data due to negligence and user error. Furthermore, taking a backup using tape is a very resource-intensive procedure, which can?t be taken during ordinary work hours. These two traits combined make tape an unattractive backup process, especially compared to cloud backup. Why the Cloud is SuperiorCompared to ordinary tape backup, a cloud-based backup solution presents several desirable qualities. While tape backups must be performed manually, a cloud-based data backup solution is capable of automatically taking snapshots of your organization’s data. This completely eliminates the possibility of user error or someone forgetting to take the backup. Plus, unlike tape backup, which takes backups of all data on the network, a cloud backup solution will track changes made to your files, and back up those which were changed. Thanks to this process, you put less strain on your systems, and you can take multiple backups throughout the day, rather than just one huge backup that causes downtime. The cloud is great for storing data both efficiently and securely, but its main purpose is to make the data recovery process easier. White Mountain IT Services?s Backup and Disaster Recovery solution is a device that can revolutionize the way your organization looks at data backup and disaster recovery. The BDR will take multiple backups throughout the workday, which are immediately deployed to either the cloud or an off-site data center. From there, it?s simply a matter of deploying the data remotely through the cloud. You?ll be back up and running before you know it! Plus, in case of a hardware failure or similar disaster, the BDR can act as your server while you figure out a more permanent solution to the hardware issue at hand. For more information about our BDR solution, contact White Mountain IT Services at (603) 889-0800.

Don?t Fear New TechnologyThere?s a certain convenience of being able to communicate with the click of a button. While email and conference calling have been office staples for the collaboration environment for some time, there are several new technologies that are capable of making this process vastly easier. For instance, consider the profound effect that comprehensive solutions like video conferencing and instant messaging have brought to the office. People can communicate in ways which were previously unprecedented, like using an IM for urgent requests rather than sending an email for delayed reactions, or having face-to-face conversations from halfway across the world. In other words, your business shouldn?t be concerned about adopting new solutions. If anything, your company should embrace the power of the latest technology while using the basics to augment your communications strategy. Email is still necessary, and telephone lines are still helpful under certain circumstances. Even while some of these solutions might feel like they?re unimportant compared to the latest communications strategies, they are still vital assets. You Don?t Have to Be an ExpertEven though it helps to have a little technical know-how, it doesn?t take a brain surgeon to operate the latest collaboration technology solutions. Many modern technology solutions are very similar to everyday services that are provided by consumer products. For example, an inter-office IM solution utilizes a similar interface to other instant messaging applications, like Facebook Messenger and Google Hangouts. Video conferencing tools are similar to Skype video calls, which means that users will likely be familiar with the general user interface of video chat solutions. Be Sure to Enforce Boundaries and Usage ProtocolEven if some solutions are easy to use, others will still require a fair amount of training, particularly in terms of ensuring your team handles your new technology solutions in ways which benefit your organization. Basically, you want to make sure that your team isn?t using your new technology solutions to distract others around them, and that your employees use the solutions in a logical manner. For example, why would you want to use video conferencing technology when there?s a perfectly fine conference room for that express purpose? Another problem is your employees using the in-house communications solutions, like email and instant messaging, for their personal purposes, which is both unprofessional and potentially problematic, should they choose to leave the company or engage in illicit activities. Your business?s technology solutions should be designed to get the most productivity and efficiency for your buck. For more information, give White Mountain IT Services a call at (603) 889-0800.

What?s a Botnet?A botnet isn?t just a single threat; it?s a collective term used to describe several computers or devices that have been turned into bots, which are at the mercy of hackers. Essentially, as described by CyberTrend, botnets are: […] a series of computers, or smartphones and tablets in the case of mobile bots, that have been infected with a self-replicating backdoor Trojan that lets cybercriminals force the network to perform unauthorized commands, en masse. Once infected with such malware, a computer or mobile device becomes a single node in the botnet, referred to as a zombie or bot. The strength of the botnet is in the numbers. Cybercriminals use a system known as a command-and-control computer to issue commands and distribute the malware. In other words, a botnet emulates a zombie horde, absorbing more devices into its control and forcing them to bend to the will of a hacker. These devices can then be used for any number of purposes, such as spreading malware and viruses across a vast network of users, generating spam, collecting information, and so on. One of the worst things botnets can do is initiate a DDoS attack, which overloads a server with traffic, rendering it useless until the attack ceases. This causes excessive downtime, which can lead to wasted time and expenses. But Why Mobile Devices?As previously mentioned, the same security solutions that work for many desktop and workstation platforms don?t necessarily work the same way for mobile devices; or, rather, people tend to not consider mobile devices as a threat medium. This makes mobile devices a prime target for being turned into botnets. The fact that so many people are partaking in BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), where employees bring their own devices to the office for work purposes, is also fostering the idea that mobile devices can be used to spread malware and viruses. What You Can DoThe best way to avoid becoming part of a botnet, for both a mobile device and a workstation PC, is to integrate comprehensive security protocol on all of your devices. By taking a proactive stance against this threat, you can avoid getting infected and becoming a tool to spread the infection to others. For mobile devices, be sure to take advantage of some sort of security solution, and to keep it updated at all times. The same goes for any applications you use on your devices. Ensure that you are using the most recent versions of your apps, which will minimize the security holes in your system?s defenses. Of course, while mobile botnets are increasing in number, their PC counterparts are far more prevalent. Therefore, you need to ensure that your business?s workstations are also secured from the threat of botnets. A Unified Threat Management solution can provide the means to keep malware and viruses out of your system, eradicate those that do get in, put a halt to spam, and block malicious or time-wasting web content. To learn more, give us a call at (603) 889-0800.