Welcome to this week’s installment of Cool Tool Friday! Each Friday we will feature a tool – hardware or software – that we’re using and think you might enjoy. Whether it increases productivity, helps with organization, provides a quick work-around for difficult networking situations, or is simply interesting and fun, we’ll share it if we [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Data Centers'
Cool Tool Friday: WinSCP
November 18th, 2011 · No Comments · Dallas Data Center, Data Centers, Microsoft
Tags: Cool Tool Friday·cool tools·Linux·Microsoft·Windows·WinSCP
Dell to Acquire Force10 Networks
July 20th, 2011 · No Comments · Data Centers, Switches
Dell announced today that it intends to acquire Force10 Networks. This purchase furthers Dell’s goal of expanding their network solutions to serve the needs of data center and enterprise customers.
Force10 Networks, with operations in over 60 countries, specializes in high-performance, high-density networking equipment for data centers and other environments that require high-performance data management systems.
This acquisition will [...]
Tags: Dell·Force10·networking
My First Two Weeks at Dallas Data Center
May 26th, 2011 · No Comments · Dallas Data Center, Data Centers, Managed Services
When a network engineer joins a new team, the goal is to make them an efficient and productive team member. Regardless of their technical skill level and knowledge, no two data centers are run exactly alike, and every customer is different. The introduction process has two parts: familiarizing the tech with the day-to-day internal operations [...]
Tags: Dallas Data Center·data center·network engineer·technician
Documenting and Assessing Your IT Needs
December 1st, 2010 · No Comments · Backup, Business Continuity, Cloud Computing, Consolidation, Dallas Data Center, Data Centers, Managed Hosting, Managed Services, Security, Servers
Documentation and assessment of your IT needs might expose the fact that your IT environment is not as efficient as you thought it would be. This may explain why you are experiencing problems such as a weak internet signal or a web browser that won’t load.
Today’s businesses rely heavily on computers. That’s why most entrepreneurs [...]
Tags: Backup·Internet·IT Environment·Managed IT Services·Recovery·Web Browser
Three Business Plan Essentials: Backup, Disaster Recovery, and Business Continuity
November 29th, 2010 · No Comments · Backup, Business Continuity, Cloud, Cloud Computing, Colocation, Dallas Data Center, Data Centers, Dedicated Servers, Disaster Recovery, Firewalls, Managed Hosting, Managed Services, Security, Storage, Virtualization
Erratic by nature, disasters (natural or man-made) can happen anywhere at any time, and often with little or no warning at all. Planning ahead is imperative to ensure that your business can get back to normal operation as quickly as possible, with minimal loss and damage.
Small to medium-sized businesses usually think that disaster plans are [...]
Tags: Backup·Business Continuity·catastrophic·Colocation·Dallas Data Center·disaster·Disaster Recovery·Disaster Recovery Plan·IT Infrastructure·IT Management·IT Services·Managed Hosting·Managed Services·ROI·Storage
Internal Social Networks: Ethics, Policies, and Use
November 26th, 2010 · No Comments · Dallas Data Center, Data Centers, Firewalls, Managed Hosting, Managed Services, Uncategorized
Internal social networks help when you need to cascade and disseminate information within the company, but you also need the right policies and management to use these networks right.
One of these purposes is the creation of internal social networks which, in a nutshell, improve communication and information sharing within the organization. While some may worry [...]
Tags: Ethics·Firewalls·Malware·Palo Alto Networks·Policies and Use·Social Networking
Beware of Documents Containing Viruses!
November 22nd, 2010 · No Comments · Dallas Data Center, Data Centers, Firewalls, Managed Hosting, Managed Services, Microsoft, Security
Microsoft Word and Adobe Reader are probably the most used document editing / viewing applications out there, and documents and PDF files can be used to introduce viruses and malware into your system.
It might be common knowledge that Microsoft Word and Adobe Reader are probably the most used document editing /viewing applications out there, but [...]
Tags: Adobe·Foxit Reader·Gmail·Google·Managed Services·Microsoft Word·PDF Studio·Security
The Importance of Managed Services
November 19th, 2010 · No Comments · Dallas Data Center, Data Centers, Managed Hosting, Managed Services
More entrepreneurs these days are using Managed Services for their businesses. Why? Because it’s a good investment that’s sure to help increase a company’s revenue.
These days businesses are increasingly dependent on IT, making it essential to have experts to handle the regular maintenance of your IT infrastructure. However, most small and medium businesses cannot afford [...]
Tags: IT Infrastructure·Managed Hosting·Managed Services·Network Solutions
Storage At Its Finest
November 15th, 2010 · No Comments · Dallas Data Center, Data Centers, Dedicated Servers, Managed Services, Servers, Storage, Virtualization
For those who haven’t heard or aren’t familiar with the EqualLogic line of SANs from Dell, they recently announced some quite impressive changes for the PS6500 series of products. These new options include a PS6500E with 96 Terabytes of disk space in a 5U package, a PS6510E with the same capacity, the PS6500X and PS6510X [...]
Tags: Dell·EqualLogic·Fiber Channel·Managed Services·SAN·Servers·Storage·Virtualization
MS Outlook Now Integrated With Social Networks
November 10th, 2010 · No Comments · Dallas Data Center, Data Centers, Managed Hosting, Managed Services, Microsoft, Uncategorized
As the social networking phenomenon continues to grow, not only for personal use but for business purposes as well, business email staple MS Outlook now allows for integration with popular social networking websites.
Outlook has long been the staple in many business communications – it is truly one of Microsoft’s feats of genius given how prevalent [...]
Tags: Facebook·LinkedIn·Microsoft·MS Outlook·MySpace·Outlook·Outlook Social Connector·Social Networks·Windows Live
Mac vs The PC…The War Rages On…Somewhere
November 9th, 2010 · No Comments · Dallas Data Center, Data Centers, Linux, Managed Services, Microsoft
I’ve been working with computers for over 20 years. I’ve seen everything from Apple IIGSs, to IBM AS400s, to Commodore 64s. My first computer was actually a Commodore VIC20 that had a whopping 1024 kilobytes of RAM and a magnetic tape drive for storage. When I was in college, I spent a great deal of [...]
Cloud Integration Technology
November 8th, 2010 · No Comments · Cloud, Cloud Computing, Dallas Data Center, Data Centers, Managed Hosting, Managed Services
Dell announced this week that it is going to acquire Boomi. The acquisition represents another step as Dell builds a technology portfolio that solves the challenges of adopting and managing cloud based applications. Once the acquisition is closed, Dell will provide the most innovative cloud based integration capability available. This capability will allow customers to [...]
Tags: Boomi·Dell·Dell Certified Partners·Integration Technology·Managed Services·Network Solutions·SaaS
Attitude and Diversity in SMBs
November 5th, 2010 · No Comments · Dallas Data Center, Data Centers, Uncategorized
As a hiring manager or team leader, you’re often faced with challenging decisions in regards to who is the right person to hire for a job. There is no cut in stone rule to follow either. You’ve got to look at the whole picture and make the best objective decision that you can for your [...]
National Cyber Security Awareness Campaign Challenge a Huge Success
November 3rd, 2010 · No Comments · Business Continuity, Dallas Data Center, Data Centers, Firewalls, Managed Services, Security, Uncategorized
The United States Homeland Security Department’s National Cyber Security Awareness Campaign Challenge was a huge success, with more than 80 security proposals submitted with the goal of increasing awareness regarding threats to cyber security.
Out of the over 80 submitted entries, seven were chosen to receive awards at a ceremony at the White House recently. One [...]
Tags: Cyber Security·IT
CRM Service Providers Expanding To Include Social Networking Features
November 1st, 2010 · No Comments · Dallas Data Center, Data Centers, Managed Services, Uncategorized
CRM service providers are beginning to realize the value of social networking and are beginning to integrate similar features into their services.
With the popularity of social networking mechanisms and websites continuing to grow, more and more businesses are adapting their service offerings to include features that are linked into common social networking websites / platforms [...]
Tags: CRM·Customer Relationship Management·Security·Social Networking
Do you have a backup?
October 20th, 2010 · No Comments · Backup, Business Continuity, Dallas Data Center, Data Centers, Disaster Recovery, Managed Services, Security, Servers, Uncategorized
How many articles, blogs and entire websites have been dedicated to backing up our data? The idea has been around for a long time, but we still dedicate a lot of resources to backups. Recently I had two experiences that really drove home not only the need for backups, but the right questions to ask [...]
Tags: Backups·Continuity·data center·Disaster Plan·Disaster Recovery·Failover
Site-to-Site VPN Between Cisco and Juniper
October 11th, 2010 · No Comments · Backup, Business Continuity, Dallas Data Center, Data Centers, Dedicated Servers, Firewalls, Managed Services, Servers, Uncategorized
I was recently faced with configuring a Juniper SSG320M Firewall for one of our client’s remote offices in China. I was also faced with creating a site-to-site IPSec VPN between the Juniper (in China) and the Cisco ASA 5505 that was here in their Dallas office. If you’re unsure of what a site-to-site VPN or [...]
Tags: Cisco·Firewalls·Juniper·Site-to-Site VPN·WAN
Managing your rack…
October 8th, 2010 · No Comments · Colocation, Dallas Data Center, Data Centers, Managed Hosting, Managed Services, Servers, Uncategorized
For those of you who work daily in server rooms and data centers, you’ve probably seen how messy your rack can become. Cables start growing additional branches and servers and network gear seem to get lost in the jungle. This is especially problematic if you haven’t memorized the exact rack location of every server you [...]
Why Backing Up Your Data is Important
October 6th, 2010 · No Comments · Backup, Business Continuity, Dallas Data Center, Data Centers, Disaster Recovery, Managed Hosting, Managed Services, Security, Uncategorized
Data is important to any business, and losing it can spell disaster, which is why it is important to always have backups of your files and information.
Let’s begin with a simple question: How important is your data to you? Think of all the information you have in your computers – all your databases, spreadsheets, documents, [...]
Tags: Backup·Business Continuity·data management·Disaster Recovery·IT Solutions
October is CyberSecurity Awareness Month
October 1st, 2010 · No Comments · Dallas Data Center, Data Centers, Firewalls, Managed Hosting, Managed Services, Security, Uncategorized
You’re Invited
October 2010 is an important month for IT and cyber security, and you are invited to join us in advancing the cause of online security.
To Support National CyberSecurity Month
The cyber threat has become one of the most serious challenges we face. America’s competitiveness and economic prosperity in the 21st century will depend on effective [...]
Tags: CyberSecurity·Managed Hosting·Managed Services·Security