The Business PC helps you focus on what matters most – your business. Combining the latest hardware with the Windows 7 Professional operating system and the Office 2010 productivity suite, the Business PC helps you work and collaborate better, stay productive anywhere, and safeguard your work. But it is very important that you continue to update your machines at appropriate intervals. So if you are running a computer with Windows XP or older, it is definitely time to consider Windows 7.

Why should I move from Windows XP to Windows 7?

Windows 7 Professional is

• Easier to use
• More reliable
• More secure
• Faster than Windows XP.

Windows XP is nearly a decade old, with limited support for new hardware and software. Additionally, Windows 7 Professional has been specifically designed to meet the growing demands of modern technology users with more sophisticated networking, mobility, entertainment, data protection, and compatibility features. And with Windows XP Mode*, you get the compatibility of Windows XP in Windows 7 Professional. Finally, with Windows XP support ending in 2014, you need to think today about your long-term plan for phasing out Windows XP and moving to the future standard.

Why should I purchase Windows 7 Professional instead of Windows 7 Home Premium?

• Investing in Windows 7 Professional can bring long-term value to your business, while helping your workers be more productive – at home, at work, and on the road.
• New PCs with Windows 7 Professional are designed to be faster, more reliable, more secure, and easier to use than older PCs running Windows XP or Windows Vista.
• More sophisticated networking and mobility features help mobile workers access their computer programs, files, and network resources away from the office.
• PCs with Windows 7 Professional can do more to protect your valuable business and customer data.
• Compatibility features let you run many of the programs and devices you use today – including applications for Windows XP – in Windows XP Mode.
• Windows 7 Professional offers more protection for sensitive information and enables you to schedule automatic backups to storage or network drives.

So if you think it is about that time for you to upgrade all your machines and IT infrastructure, you should come and talk to NetCare and we will be more than happy to help you out.

On the 1st April 2011, NetCare officially became a NETGEAR Platinum Partner. We have been providing NETGEAR hardware to our small business customers for many years so it was a logical step for us to move to top level partner status.

We have standardized on the provision of NETGEAR ProSafe switches to our customer base throughout Australia. We have found them to be exceptionally reliable and they offer great value for money. We love their lifetime warranty so that on the rare occasion when there is a switch failure at a customer site, we can quickly perform a swap-out task, and effortlessly take care of the warranty claim issues later.

We have also introduced the ReadyNAS range of network storage devices to many customers as part of their backup strategy. These devices offer faster and more reliable backups than traditional tape-based solutions. NetCare now recommends the NETGEAR ReadyNAS drive as a key component of our preferred backup solution. A full report on this backup strategy can be found at Best Backup Strategy.

A report outlining all the IT-related things to consider for your new office. Author: Darryl McAllister, Managing Director, NetCare HelpDesk

Background

Over the years, many of our clients have either moved into larger premises, or opened a new branch office. Some have gone smoothly, others have caused a great deal of stress as promises by ISPs, electricians, telcos or others have not been delivered.

As a participant to some extent in most of these situations, NetCare has gained a good understanding of what to do and what not to do. The following is our checklist to ensure your exciting move into your new premises is not dampened by technical hiccups, delays and failures.

Our checklist for ensuring opening your new office is stress-free…

1. Ensure internet coverage is "very good" or better before you sign the lease - There is nothing more important than performing this first step. You can affect the outcome of all the ones following - but not this one - you're at the mercy of ISPs. PLEASE call us before you sign the lease and we'll let you know what internet coverage is like at your exact address.
2. Ensure there is a suitable area for your telephony and comms lines to terminate at - One that has easy access to your comms cabinet, your modem, your router and your PBX.
3. Ensure that the fitout includes a comms cabinet with a patch panel - Also make sure there is room for Netcare to install a rack mounted switch.
4. Ensure that there is a secure area for the server to be installed - Often of course this is next to the comms cabinet, if room permits.
5. Ensure the comms cabinet and server area are well cooled.
6. Resist the urge to install a conventional hardware based PABX based telephony system. A new office is a great opportunity to invest in an internet based PBX solution that offers substantial initial cost savings, ongoing cheaper phone calls, plus a number of enhanced features to increase business productivity. NetCare recommend considering the Windows server-based 3CX solution.
7. Consider carefully how many "conventional" phone lines you need installed by your telco (typically of course, Telstra). Depending on the decision you make up above, the number may fall to ZERO.
8. Ditto for that fax line you thought you had to have - 3CX may negate the need for that too.
9. Consider the type of Internet connection you install. NetCare are largely agnostic when it comes to ISPs - they ALL have their ups and downs, The most important consideration is whether you get a standard ADSL link or whether you go for the more expensive synchronous link (known under various monikers including SHDSL and BDSL). If this is a branch site that will be linking to the head office for your main business application then the latter may make a huge productivity difference for those working at the branch office. The only problem is it comes with a significant higher cost. NetCare can assist navigating the ISP plans minefield.
10. Ensure the electrical contractor installs CAT6 cabling (or at the very least CAT5E) to ensure reliable gigabit performance. And make sure that the same cabling is used for computer AND phone connections.
11. Ensure the electrical contractor installs two cable ports for each workstation area - One for the computer and a separate one for the phone. Installing extra cabling at this point is a lot cheaper than doing it later.
12. Consider installing a PoE switch - If you're installing an internet based PBX solution. PoE (Power over ethernet) does away with those annoying power adapters that handsets all seem to need these days, and that frequently seem to fail. Far better to put a PoE switch in now, and use the cabling to provide the small amount of power the handsets actually need to operate.
13. Getting quotes from office removalists - Ensure you engage one that safely and securely moves all your office equipment – PCs, monitors, printers, fax machines and so on. It may even be necessary to engage a specialist removalist if you have a large multi-purpose printer/scanner/copier device from a vendor like Kyocera, Canon or Xerox.
14. Check, CHECK, CHECK before move in day. An onsite visit prior to moving day must be made to ensure that everything is as it should be:
    • The fitout is complete (not a hanging out electrical outlet to be seen);
    • The power is on (not just the lights - also the wall sockets - we've been there!);
    • The cabling has been tested (NetCare has a tester!);
    • The telco has terminated the cables (test the phone line can make an outgoing call with any old analog phone);
    • The ISP has not only got the internet connection running but also running properly (this is a VERY common failure point). NetCare suggest we visit onsite with a test modem to absolutely ensure this is the case BEFORE the removal truck turns up.
15. On the big day, get NetCare staff to move the essential equipment – your server and the related networking equipment. We don’t want to be involved in moving all your other items like desktops, monitors and printers, but it is important for us to correctly decommission the server and its related devices. And we believe we are best placed to transport this essential equipment to the new site, so that we can begin the re-commissioning process at the new site as soon as possible.
16. Push the GO button and enjoy the excitement of the move-in day, safe in the knowledge that you've done the preparations fully and correctly.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are a number of technical considerations to be covered off with a site move, or the opening of a new branch office.

NetCare welcomes the opportunity to be involved in the process - either on a fixed price fully outsourced project management/research/activity basis, or on a time and materials basis for parts of it.

The reality is we’re going to need to be involved at some stage, so perhaps it’s a good idea to make us responsible for it all! Make the buck stop with us! Our Site Move services - including project management, testing, decommissioning, transportation, and re-commissioning - start from $1,290 (plus GST).

A report on Best Practices for maximizing the value of your computer system

Author: Darryl McAllister, Managing Director, NetCare HelpDesk

Everyone knows that staying on top of system patches and updates is essential to keeping your computing environment safe from viruses and malware. These electronic demons search for security holes that they can exploit. System patches and updates help plug these holes, leaving the demons out in the cold.

But it’s not just about security - an often overlooked advantage of keeping all your company PCs patched is that your staff will be more productive because their PC will run faster and have fewer annoying little quirks.

Here are just a few of the tasks that system patches and updates perform:

• Fix security holes
• Update subsystems and drivers to increase software compatibility
• Optimize how the operating system handles resources
• Add updated features and tools
• Remove outdated features and tools

 

So are these updates really necessary? Well for the last seven years, Microsoft has issued its security fixes on the second Tuesday of every month – commonly known as Patch Tuesday. But here is the problem: The day after Patch Tuesday is known in the hacker community as "Hack Wednesday."

Here's why. As soon as Microsoft releases its patches, hackers scramble to reverse engineer them. That's right - although Microsoft has already found the problems and fixed them, the patches still have to be downloaded by you - the user. Until you do, the Microsoft security update is essentially a treasure map for hackers. These online criminals know that a lot of users don't bother to install their updates right away - so for these people, the security fixes actually work against them.

In a way, Microsoft is damned if they do, damned if they don't. So what must we all do?

Update quickly and regularly

But wait there’s more. In an office environment, the problem is multiplied by the number of users connected to the computer network. You now see that system patches make good sense, but how do you convince EVERYONE else (including the MD and the warehouse guy) that their PC needs to be updated with patches too.

What we need to do is find a way to minimize the pain for everyone and also ensure that all PCs in your network are updated regularly – after all, a chain is only as strong as the weakest link.... The great news for all our NetCare clients is that the solution is a very simple one. Every single NetCare plan provides system patching for servers and all the PCs in the network as well.

Here’s our standard strategy – of course, if it needs to be adjusted to meet your requirements, we’re happy to do so:

• Downloads – most networks we start looking after have been set up so each PC gets its updates from the Microsoft update website. So if you have 20 PCs that means the same patch is downloaded 20 times. We set your system up in a far better way – we download all patches once to your server and then each PC gets its updates from the server. This saves your internet bandwidth quota and means that updates are actioned quicker. It can mean that initially there can be a surge in your internet download usage, especially if your network needs a lot of updating. And it also means that we need to permanently reserve 10Gbytes of space on your server for all these updates to be stored.
• Servers – we set all servers to update patches on one night of the week – at 3am. In most cases not much is happening at 3am – except perhaps the backup process, which is why we typically set the server updates to Sunday at 3am. Most of our clients don’t do backups on Saturdays and Sundays, so the patches are applied quickly and effectively with little or no performance impact. And if a server restart is required then downtime is minimized.
• All other PCs – we use our NetCare management software to force updates on a regular basis. However we do it in way that minimizes impact - just because we can push a mass update in the middle of the work day doesn't mean we do! Common sense should rule when devising rollout and deployment schedules. Non-critical updates should always be scheduled to run after hours when the fewest amount of workers will be affected. We use the process over the page to determine the optimal strategy for your organization.
• Monitoring – it’s not much good having the above fancy strategy if we don’t monitor that its working! Fortunately, we have the systems in place to record the success or failure of every single patch that is applied, and we are therefore alerted whenever a patch issue arises. This allows us to investigate and resolve the issue quickly and with the minimum of fuss.
• Reporting – the final piece in the system patching puzzle is to provide you – the client – with concise information that confirms that we’re doing our job. We do this on a regular basis, depending on the NetCare plan you have, so you can be assured that your exposure to malware is being minimized, and that your PC productivity is being maximised.

 

In other words does he stop tooth decay before it requires a painful and costly filling?

Or do you go and see him urgently because you're really sick and he gives you a series of prescriptions which will take time to take effect, and you suffer in the meantime.

In IT support terms, do they monitor your system on a continuous basis, checking that your server is performing well, that your PCs are fully updated with the latest Windows system updates, that your network is always safe and secure, and that your critical applications like email and your accounting software are running optimally?

If you have, then you're one of the lucky ones - you have a Managed Services Provider looking after your system. In simple terms a proactive IT support provider who you are paying a service fee each month to keep your systems working in an optimal fashion so that you can concentrate fully on building your business with an always productive workforce.

But maybe you have an IT support provider who you call when something doesn't work and he comes out and fixes it. And he may well do a fantastic job every time at getting you back up and running quickly. BUT the fact remains you have lost time, money and staff productivity in the meantime. You have paid him to fix a problem that has already occurred. Or put another way, they have made money because your system has failed. And that absolutely seems the wrong way round to me.

That is why you should consider looking at NetCare to provide the level of IT support that you deserve. My team would love to take this proactive approach in dealing with your IT system. So take the time and please contact us with your request and we are more than happy to see if we can help you improve your network.