News

300 User Windows 2003 Domain to Windows 2008 Domain Sucessfull Migration

We are pleased the announce to sucessful migration of one small business 2003 domain , and two active directory standard 2003 domains into a 2008 Active Directory Forest. All together there was a total of 300 + Users and Computers to be migrated over the course of a 2 month period. The new 2008 Domain was setup by Response-IT which runs on a fully redundant VMWare ESX platform across 3 sites with three Storage Area Networks and 9 Physical Servers across the sites. Not only did all the User machines migrate  across sucessfully as well as all the user accounts with their Active Directory Permissions and Exchange 2007 Calendar/Mailbox permissions, but we also had sucess in the full migration of all the Group Policy Security settings.

The migration also involved an upgrade From Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2007 , an implementation of a global Distrubuted File System and a VPN Cisco Mesh between all three sites. We also upgraded the sites Blackberry Enterprises Servers from Version 4 to Version 5 without the need for users individual blackberrys to be migrated manually. Due the moving away from Small Business Server's Remote Webworkplace we setup Windows Server 2008 Web Access which not only allows users to access Outlook over the terminal services Remote App Interface, but they also can login to a terminal Server or their own computer. This was a very easy step to get remote workers migrated as easily as possible either back to their machine @ work or to the new Terminal Server.

End users were migrated painlessly using the Active Directory Migratation wizard which modified the permissions on their local profiles so they could be accessed on the new domains. Each user was migrated in under 10 minutes due to a carefully planned migration checklist as well as lengthy testing to ensure the ends users got back their machines quickly and without major modifications.

Overall the migration was a huge sucess for Response IT and ADS!

Windows Server 2008 R2

Wow are we excited about this new server 2008 version! After much testing in house, as soon as Windows 7 was released, we have been giving it the green light and rolling it out to customers sites. So far the feedback is better than expected with customers straight away, wanting to change the whole office into Windows 7! With Windows 2008 Server R2 being based on the same Windows NT 6.1 core, it can only mean one thing!

So what does Windows Server 2008 R2 mean for you as a customer?

Direct Access

We are big believers of Outlook over HTTP! There is nothing easier, when a mobile worker can just connect to an internet connection and open outlook straight off to receive emails securely. For some countries who block VPN due to web censoring , this sometimes is the only way! Direct Access brings this technology to everything else you connect to the server with , mainly file access. This means no more VPN's , which means direct out the box file access and secure authentication with Windows 7

Terminal Server

Service 2008 R2 handling of remote sessions is getting better than ever. Not only can it stream live Windows Media Player through the connection , you can also record audio off a remote desktop connection! The same technology enables utilisation of the Windows Aero Theme through RDP enabling a seamless RDP Intergration with the users Desktop. It also supports Dual Monitors for the first time with Windows 7 andRDP 7

Branch Office Cache

If you are like many of our customers , then you might have different branches your workforce work from. The need to collaborate files can always seem slow as they are based out of a main office usually with only a 2mb leased line. Thanks to Branch Office Cache, files that are accessed once from a branch office , will be cached on the server, so the next time the file needs to be accessed again , it will be instant. This caching can cache HTTP (e.g. Sharepoint) or SMB ( Normal File Access )

Response IT At Bahrain Air show

Response IT was selected as the IT supplier to the Bahrain Air show following their work as IT supplier to the show’s organiser Farnborough International Ltd (FIL) over the past four years.

Bahrain International Airshow (BIAS) to be held from January 21 to 23, which will begin under the patronage of His Majesty King Hamad, is being organised by Bahrain Civil Aviation Affairs and Farnborough International.

Andy Coulson, Head of Operations for Farnborough International said: “It’s vital given the size and reputation of the Bahrain Air show that exhibitors and the organising team have access to first-class IT services with excellent technical back-up that they can rely on. Response IT understood perfectly the needs of the show and provided a solution to meet them.

Around 40,000 visitors from all over the world are also expected to visit the show. The 160 sq m air-conditioned chalets will house the participating companies and be fully-fitted to host 40 executive clients per day.

During the seven day event Response-IT will support Farnborough International staff and their exhibitors from 35 countries

Simon Rafferty, Managing Director of Response IT commented: “Following our continued work with Farnborough International Ltd, we are delighted to have been appointed as the official IT supplier to the Bahrain International Airshow.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

* Response IT was formed in 1999 by Simon Rafferty, a former Avionics and Radar Technician in the Royal Navy. Simon has worked in the City as a network engineer for Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse First Boston and Morgan Stanley.

* Response IT is a Microsoft Certified Partner and Microsoft Small Business Specialist.

New Response IT Shirts

We are pleased to annouce a whole new line of Response IT Company Clothing to go with our new Re branding. Theres more action planned so keep your eyes peeled on our website in the new year or subscribe to our email notifications on the left hand side here ->

We would like to thank our designers Big Pond Design who continue to do an outstanding job for us and our clients , in meeting their design needs!

Welcome to the 21st Century Network!

At Response-IT we are proud to be announcing the automatic migration of all our it support customers to BT's 21st Century Network ( 21CN ) for Free!

How Will I Benefit from 21CN?

At the moment most business lines utilise ADSL1 Technology which has a maximum throughput of 8mb Down and around 0.5mb Up. The 21CN roll-out utilises ADSL2+ technology increasing your maximum speed to 24mb Down and up to 1.3mb up.

How fast will these new services be?

The new services will provide download speeds of "up to 20Mbps" and upload speeds of "up to 1Mbps". The speed you can expect to receive will depend on the following factors:

1. The distance you are from the local BT exchange

2. The quality of wiring from the BT exchange to your premises

3. The internal wiring within your premises and interference with any other electrical equipment within your premises

Customers less than 3km from the local BT exchange will see the biggest improvement in speeds.  (It is estimated that the average download speed will increase by 35%.)

You Can Find out how far you are from your telephone exchange here : http://www.samknows.com/broadband/search.php

What will change to my Service?

Nothing , you are still with our normal SLA's

* 1 working hour fault response time

* 20 working hour fault resolution time

* 1 month minimum contract

* Fast Provisioning

Let Us Know If We can Help you join this network!

VMware ESXi Solution for Small Business

At Response-IT we are always looking into the new technologies to help our existing clients add value and save costs. A Small Business wanted to update their existing Small Business Server and Terminal Server hardware with as little distruption to the office as possible.

We proposed the solution of one high spec server with high redundancy to replace both of these servers as well the migration of another Galileo computer reservations system they had on another separate computer. Using VMwares's Free ESXi virtualized operating system and converters, we where able to migrate both Servers and computer overnight to Virtual Machines and power them up to continue normal operations.

This now gives the customer reduced overhead on hardware maintenance contracts as well as giving them a flexible disaster recovery solution using VMwares Snapshot solution

Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcuts....

You would undoubtedly be a more efficient user with these shortcuts  - difficulty is remembering them all! So here is a short compilation...

More Windows 7 resources: 

Wndows 7 Ultimate Guide

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Firstly, where Win is written in this text, please use the Windows Key:

Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcuts:

Win +Home: Clear all but the active window.

Win+Space: All windows become transparent so you can see through to the desktop.

Win+Up arrow: Maximize the active window.

Shift+Win+Up arrow: Maximize the active window vertically.

Win+Down arrow: Minimize the window/Restore the window if it's maximized.

Win+Left/Right arrows: Dock the window to each side of the monitor.

Shift+Win+Left/Right arrows: Move the window to the monitor on the left or right.

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You can also interact with windows by dragging them with the mouse:

Drag window to the top: Maximize

Drag window left/right: Dock the window to fill half of the screen.

Shake window back/forth: Minimize everything but the current window.

Double-Click Top Window Border (edge): Maximize window vertically.

Taskbar Shortcuts:

Win+number (1-9): Starts the application pinned to the taskbar in that position, or switches to that program.

Shift+Win+number (1-9): Starts a new instance of the application pinned to the taskbar in that position.

Ctrl+Win+number (1-9): Cycles through open windows for the application pinned to the taskbar in that position.

Alt+Win+number (1-9): Opens the Jump List for the application pinned to the taskbar.

Win+T: Focus and scroll through items on the taskbar.

Win+B: Focuses the System Tray icons

[HTML6]

In addition, you can interact with the taskbar using your mouse and a modifier key:

Shift+Click on a taskbar button: Open a program or quickly open another instance of a program.

Ctrl+Shift+Click on a taskbar button: Open a program as an administrator.

Shift+Right-click on a taskbar button: Show the window menu for the program (like XP does).

Shift+Right-click on a grouped taskbar button: Show the window menu for the group.

Ctrl+Click on a grouped taskbar button: Cycle through the windows of the group.

Here's a few more interesting hotkeys for you:

Ctrl+Shift+N: Creates a new folder in Windows Explorer.

Alt+Up: Goes up a folder level in Windows Explorer.

Alt+P: Toggles the preview pane in Windows Explorer.

Shift+Right-Click on a file: Adds Copy as Path, which copies the path of a file to the clipboard.

Shift+Right-Click on a file: Adds extra hidden items to the Send To menu.

Shift+Right-Click on a folder: Adds Command Prompt Here, which lets you easily open a command prompt in that folder.

Win+P: Adjust presentation settings for your display.

Win+(+/-): Zoom in/out.

Win+G: Cycle between the Windows Gadgets on your screen.

Win+L: Lock your workstation

Win+D: Display the desktop

Win+Spacebar: Preview desktop

Win+M: Minimize all windows

Win+Shift+M: Maximize all windows

Win+E: Open Computer

Win+F: Search

Win+R: Run dialog

Win+Home: Minimize all but active window

This list is in no way definitive, so if you discover a new shortcut, please do leave a comment...

Windows 7 resources

Windows 7 Ultimate Guide

windows 7 ultimate guide

Discover over 50 different things you can do to improve your experience with Windows 7. Inside this valuable book, you will discover how to "Master" most Windows 7's secrets! Answers to your questions, fix the things that bother you.

What you will discover in the book -

* How to install Windows 7 and not make the usual mistakes.

* Find out why a clean installation is better than an Upgrade.

* Why those pretty backgrounds slow your computer to a crawl.

* How to make Windows 7 work your way

* The hidden aspects of the Control Panel.

* How to use the Repair Computer function when you have a problem

* Why you need more than one restore point

* Why did Microsoft make it hard for you to change things and leave a LOT of open backdoors for the hackers? Plus what to do about it!

* Why you should take backup seriously and make the Recovery CD!

Click her to find out more and order your copy of this great book - it comes with a 100% refund guarantee so you can make sure it is really providing value for you. Instant download so you can benefit straight away.

Windows 7 Software from Amazon UK

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Windows 7 Books from Amazon UK

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Windows 7 Software from Amazon USA

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United States

Windows 7 Books from Amazon USA

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[HTML7]

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Speed up your Internet with a plugin box - BT Iplate Internet Accelerator

Speed up your broadband by eliminating interference from your extension wiring

Did you know the telephone extension wiring in your house can pick up all sorts of electrical noise and interference from TV's, lights and other everyday electrical equipment? This interference can affect your broadband signal resulting in a slower broadband speed.

"We estimate that around nine million UK homes have the potential to benefit from installing this simple but effective device," BT said.

Try our quick and affordable solution

Help is at hand! BT has developed the I-Plate, a unique filter that helps stop any interference affecting the broadband signal. As long as you have a suitable BT Master socket, (see below) and extension wiring (see below) the I-Plate can help. It's quick and easy to fit with a screwdriver and you don't need to disconnect any wires.

How much could my speed improve by?

In previous tests the I-Plate has been shown to boost line speeds - typically by 1.5Mbps. The actual change will vary from house to house. Although speed improvements are likely, they can't be guaranteed. The improvements in speed will take up to 2 weeks to come through so that line stability is not affected. Even if it doesn't improve the speed the I-Plate can help stabilise your broadband line making it more reliable.

BT I-Plate - Will it work for you?

1. Do you have extension wiring?

Extension wiring is the telephone wiring, usually a small white cable, which often runs along your skirting boards or outside your house. It connects the main socket to any extension sockets you have. It doesn't matter if you use the sockets or not, as long as the wiring is there the I-Plate may help.

2. Do you have a master telephone socket with a horizontal line across the front? The I-Plate is NOT suitable if:
  • your socket has a horizontal line, but also an Openreach logo on it - this socket has an I-Plate filter built in.
  • your socket doesn't have a horizontal line across the front
  • your socket has two connection points - for telephone and DSL

A user here has found an extreme method or manually removing the bell wire all together although we don't recommend this, as it could leave you with a BT Repair Bill

Get yours here now , and see how much faster you can get!

Response-IT Becomes VMWare Partners

We are pleased to announce Response-IT has achieved the VMWare Partnership Status. Thanks to the qualification of 2 Inhouse VMware Sales Professionals and 2 VMware Technical Sales Professional. We are now able to offer our clients virtualized solutions to minimise their downtime and also maximise their spare resource utilisation. As VMware Solution Provider Professionals , we can offer you the entire line of VMWare products as well as helping you plan and create your virtualized infrastructure.

Here's a few reasons why we at Response-IT like Virtulization :

  • Reduce Energy Costs and Drive Green IT Initiatives and reduce overheads
  1. Reduce energy costs by 80%.
  2. Power down servers without affecting applications or users
  3. Green your datacenter while decreasing costs and improving service levels
  • Improve your IT Resources
  1. Increase utilization of existing hardware from 5-15% up to 80%
  2. Reduce hardware requirements by a 10:1 ratio or better
  • Improve availability of applications and services
  • Secure your data and infrastructure from risks
  1. Recover from disasters rapidly
  2. Ensure reliable disaster recovery
  3. Reduce the cost of disaster recovery
  4. Automate disaster recovery
  • Reduce Software License Requirements

A current implementation includes the implamentation of VMware vSphere 4 Essentials Plus to implement high availability to which promises zero downtime due to any hardware failure

Windows Media Centre

The Concept

Being able to mix TV with hifi, photos and video into one device seemed such an exciting prospect that 18 months ago I consigned our old Freeview PVR to the cupboard under the stairs to be replaced with a Windows Vista Media Centre PC.

The Conception

Of course with any project like this there were several things to consider.First off, did I want to purchase an off the shelf media centre ready PC or build from scratch to my own specification. Let’s be honest, I didn’t procrastinate for long and my research into off the self units wasn’t thorough; in my mind the choice was clear.I was going to build a PC to my own specification.

Since this PC was going to be an ever present object on our living room it couldn’t look like the old grey/black box we are used to seeing under our desks.It needed to be stylish and more importantly quiet. Antec have long manufactured high quality cases and their Fusion Black case is no exception.

Now what to put in the case?Some bits were easy to pick, a motherboard here, some memory there and a couple of fast and large hard drives to store all our media.The crucial components are the TV tuner and graphics cards.I’ve had experience with a few tuner cards over the years and none had really impressed.After some research I found a UK company by the name of Blackgold Technology with a range of TV tuner cards that were getting very good reviews.I chose to go with a dual tuner card that would enable me to record/watch two digital or analogue channels at once.The key requirements for the video card were to find one that could provide the resolution required for a high definition TV (This is quite low compared to your average PC monitor) and remain silent.Such a card exists, the ASUS EAX1600XT.Back in 2006 this was described as a mid/low performance card but it met the specification required and just as importantly was fan less with the cooling provided by a large heat sink on the card.

The Everyday

Using the media centre has been a breeze.The interface is clear and intuitive and the electronic program guide is the best I’ve seen.Picture quality from the BlackGold TV Tuner card is very good and the difference between the built-in tuner on the TV and the media centre is minimal.The built-in tuner is marginally better but that is to be expected.

Media centre has certainly changed the way we use our TV.It is a much more rewarding and involving experience.Being able to record and watch two channels at once means there are no longer schedule conflicts and the ability to pause, rewind live TV means you don’t miss a thing.

There are times now when our TV isn’t a TV.It regularly is used to display slideshows of photos, play music and browse the internet from the comfort of our sofa.

A great addition to our media centre has been TunerFree MCE.This is a great piece of software from www.milliesoft.co.uk that enables your media centre to play back online TV and radio content from the BBC, ITV, Channel4 and Five.Having iPlayer seamlessly integrated into your TV means that even if you don’t remember to record a program you still have seven days to watch it through iPlayer.And with the BBC now streaming High Definition programs through iPlayer, the quality of the stream is better than any standard definition picture.

What Next?

Things have moved on of course over the past 18months.When our media centre was originally built, HDMI graphics cards were an expensive novelty.Now they are much more attractively priced.Also, Freesat now brings high definition TV to your house so the addition of a Tuner card that is Freesat ready would make an interesting choice.

The next big change is going to be the upgrade to Windows 7 Media Centre. If our experiences running Windows 7 on our desktops are correct this should prove to be quicker, more reliable and have fantastic new features such as the remote media streaming service that will simplify streaming your favourite media to other devices.

Problems?

Yes, there have been a few problems; it’s a PC after all.We’ve had problems with the Media Centre software occasionally freezing and the remote control behaving erratically but these problems have all been resolved over time.

Summary

Overall it’s been a total success and we won’t be swapping it for another system for quite some time.

Welcome to Cloud Computing - A way to reduce your overheads!

First off a quote from the fountain of knowledge

Cloud computing is a style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources are provided as a service over the Internet

At Response-IT we are always looking ahead for technology that will benefit existing and future customers , and help them to achieve the most out of their IT Systems. A new customer approached up with the task of creating a total scalable system with the aims of :

  • Sharing large amounts of data securely between colleges over the internet without the speed limitation of ADSL upstream
  • A centralised database for their contacts and sales leads
  • Hosted Large Email Accounts ( 5 Gigabytes Each ) with Spam Filtering
  • No Centralised Point of Failure

Due to the main concern of a Centralised Point of Failure and how dynamic the company was , we choose a fully hosted solution in the cloud

For their data storage we implemented Microsoft Office Groove workspaces for the Sales Team for Document and Calendar Storage and Collaboration with the same security model as a normal Windows Server. As the data is hosted with Microsoft across multiple servers and locations , there is no need to implement rigorous backup continuity and the speed of accessing data will only depend on your download bandwidth ( Anywhere between 2mb - 8mb) , A much faster solution for home workers!

For their Lead and Sales Contacts , we helped them implement SalesForce.com to their company , a totally hosted Customer relationship management that is fully scaleable to their needs , without the high initial start up costs. We helped with the customisation  the CRM to their business needs as well as ongoing support for the creation of unique reports and batch importing of new contacts and leads.

For their email needs , we implemented Google Apps which fully intergrates into salesforce, for a totally hosted contact collaboration solution. The Spam filtering is provided by the every reliable GMAIL Spam Filter which can flag 99.8% of Spam!

The installation was a great success, the customer was delieghted with how flexible the solution was to their company and the minimal operation costs , has promoted work on rolling this solution out to their other offices within the company.

Cloud Computing looks like a solution that will help save Small Business' server mantience costs  and reduce their IT spending in this troubled time.

Toshiba CIX Phone System Approved Resellers and Installers ( Perfect for Small Business )

We are pleased to announce Response IT as an approved Toshiba Phone System authorized dealer and Installer. We can provide the following systems :

Strata CIX40 for 1 - 26 Users

** Strata CIX100 for 1 - 72 Users ** Most installed System

Strata CIX200 for 1 - 160 Users

Strata CIX670 for 36-560 Users

Not only do we guarantee the Warranty of the system ourselves , but your Response IT contract hours will cover the maintenance of the phone system as well providing great value and a one stop shop for Telecoms and Computer Maintenance

Our Strata CIX communication platforms are complemented by a portfolio of elegant and classically styled IP and digital featurephones and operator positions. Easy-to-use, they require minimal user training and are robust and reliable to ensure maximum business continuity.

Within our portfolio we have a wide choice of featurephones to meet your specific requirements, including a low-cost entry-level digital option, through to the most sophisticated large display IP featurephone. You can therefore select the most appropriate featurephones for the individual requirements of your users, increasing office efficiency in a variety of ways.

Our featurephones provide fixed buttons for message retrieval, redial, conference, transfer, hold and volume control, as well as microphone and speaker. In addition to the 800 system speed dials provided by Strata CIX, our featurephones also offer 100 personal speed dials, and a common feature set to ensure that your users have the functionality they need, regardless of their location. User productivity features include easy identification of who is on the phone or available through red/green Busy Lamp Field (BLF) indication, on-screen directory dialling, and flexible one-touch keys for regularly used functions.

New Conficker Security Worm

worm1

A new computer worm is doing the rounds recently , or the round robin with up to 9 Million Infected Users! The Worm takes advantage of the security vulnerability "MS08-067" which Allows Remote Code Execution (958644). This exploit was found in October 2008 and Microsoft have released a patch to fix this security hole. If you are one of our customers, WSUS would have already downloaded the critical updates to the server and enabled this installation over group policy all automatically so no need to worry!

This virus however is clever enough to attach itself to memory sticks, so make sure your you connect your laptop/desktop frequently to the internet so it can automatically download and install the latest fixes and virus databases for Kapersky.

For the people out there with no IT Support , Grab the latest fix from Microsoft Direct http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS08-067.mspx , and call us before it's too late!

HP D2D Backup Installation

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We are please to announce our sucessful finished installation of the new HP StorageWorks D2D 100 Backup System. A customer had issues with its daily backup over-running into the early office hours due to the size of company data that had to be backed up onto tape to be stored offsite. Also multiple servers with multiple tape drives where getting difficult to administer.  This systems combines the speed of disk transfer with the reliability of tape which consolidates their backups onto a couple of tapes and leaves the backup to run on it's own server keeping network and server permorfance at its upmost during the day.

It Provides :
* Support for LTO-3 tape drive and autoloader emulation which saved costs due to the moving of the existing invested tape drives
* Support for up to six virtual tape drives or autoloaders providing backup for up to six servers simultaneously.
* Data transfer rate increase to 50MB/s.
* Increase in virtual tape capacity to 800GB per virtual cartridge.

Watch the video yourself Here

We combined this hardware solution with Backup Exec version 12.5 which provided needed functions :

  • Remote Media Server Agent for Linux Servers

  • Expanded Granular Recovery benefits for SharePoint Server

  • Protection for the Comprehensive Microsoft Windows 2008 Server Portfolio

  • Data Protection for VMware Infrastructures and Microsoft Virtual Servers

WiMAX and 3G

We know how important a reliable internet connection is for us and our customers , which is why we use a multiple award winning ISP such as Zen. However we are always looking for the latest and greatest to provide to our customers. Our latest venture is the use of Wireless Broadband to grantee your internet connection. With the help of a  Vigor 2820 Series ADSL Router Firewall to provide you with your secure office Wireless Network, Point to Point Office VPN's, Home VPN's and Dual Internet Connections it can also failover to a 3G Card! This provides you with up to 3 Points of Failure bringing SLA's near to 100%!

However we won't stop there, a 3G card can provide around 1.8Mpbs. Sometimes this isn't enough even for the last point of failure. This is why we have gone with a new technology called WiMAX. WiMAX is perfect for business' who need that extra redundancy in their networks without the hassle of an extra line. Providing another internet line sometimes isn't enough as usually this line is run from a telephone box near your office and has exactly the same bottlenecks and redundancy issues as your existing internet line. If the cable gets cut by a trusty BT employer, or who knows someone , helps themself to some equipment at the exchange then both lines are gone for up to a day! WiMAX delivers SDSL qualities matching your internet connections speed to up to 10MBs (Full Duplex both ways)!! and keeping your existing ADSLs SLAs! We are pleased to announce this technology is available in the Great London area at the moment , and we are looking to expand further when more masts are up!

Lastly we are pushing a campaign to get people out of their offices to work! There is no excuse now, with remote web workplace , VPN's and Email via a browser all you need is an internet connection, a laptop and a cup of your favorite hot beverage to be back in the office!. With the cheap and easy setup of a 3G dongle at only £5 a month on your laptop or on your desktop if you so wish , you'll never know you've left! If you don't want to shell out that extra money a month duing this crunch, no problem just use your phone as a 3G Modem and leave it in your pocket while your laptop connects to it over bluetooth.

Green IT - sometimes your suppliers just won't help!

IT news site The Register has a story about Hewlett-Packard's ludicrous packaging habits. I've actually had first-hand experience of this. I once ordered 26 licences for some of HP's software tools (each licence was a single sheet of A4 paper with the licence code on it). Each licence was individually packed in an envelope. Each envelope was individually packed in a cardbox box, with foam packaging to protect the delicate contents. These cardboard boxes were then packed into larger cardboard boxes with more foam packaging and finally the whole lot was strapped to 2 full-size shipping pallets and delivered to me. All that, for 26 sheets of A4 paper.

HP also emailed me the licence codes.

(HP aren't alone in doing this. Dell are also notorious for shipping out tiny, non-delicate items in massive packaging.)

Green IT can be done. But not all your suppliers will play along...

USB Over Remote Desktop

We have been looking hard into Terminal Services recently with the strong opion that things will be moving into the "cloud" very soon. The need for standalone high spec machines on your desktop is reducing, with the maintenance of software and hardware compared with a thin simple client with a basic Remote Desktop Client installed connecting you to a heavily managed and redundant virtual desktop.

Key Features you would want from a solution like this to provide for you are the following

  • Email
  • File Storage
  • Creation and Editing of Word , Excel and Power point files
  • Messaging through voice or chat
  • Web Browsing
  • Printing

Microsoft has already provided a solution for this , Terminal Services which runs on it's own on a separate box does exactly the above. Given Small Business Server 2008 provides enhanced printer support for clients and a smother user experience we where still looking for something to beat it.The other main player in this remote world is xen Desktop as shown here provided some nice examples , however only came with one small benefit which was the smother web performance. Given Xen Desktop is backed by Citrix theres a heafty price increase for the ability to have a faster rate of 40ms

USB Drives can be mapped in Remote Desktop with ease , microsoft just hide it away!

Open Remote Desktop Connection ( Programs , Accessories )

Select the options button , Local Resources tab , More Button , and then Tick Drives

Not only can you access your existing drive letters , but anything else you plug in will be mapped automatically

SPAM - why do they bother?

I read an interesting article today on spammers and the success rates for junk email.

Apparently the hit rate for spam is one in every 12.5 million emails sent!  

Not a great return you would think but when you are sending Billions of emails every day, you can actually make yourself very rich very quickly.  To do this the researcher took control of a Bot Net (a group of PC’s that have been taken over by spammers) and ran a trial sending out messages.  They also created Pharmacy site so any dumb individuals who took up the offer could pay for the product.

While running their spam campaigns the researchers sent about 469 million junk e-mail messages. The majority of these were for the dodgy pharmacy campaign.

After 26 days and almost 400 million email messages, 30 sales resulted.

 However when you scale this up to billions of emails sent every day you can see sildenafil the sales figures will increase rapidly. 

We have been dealing with this junk email problem for some time for customers and have tried a number of solutions.  We started with GFI Antispam and then moved to Kaspersky Antispam but found them a pain to administer and not very accurate.  They also slowed down servers and created havoc with internet connections as so much traffic was being sent to the servers. 

We also had issues with the blacklisting of IP addresses and reverse DNS lookup.  Eventually we found a service new from Microsoft called Exchange Hosted Services, it’s basically the same service offered by Messagelabs but for considerably less and without the onerous contract terms (they always want 3 years!).   

This has been a god send, we don’t get any problems with the service, it’s quick to setup, never goes wrong and is hosted offsite so we have no relay or Internet performance issues.  It’s also cheap at £2 per user per month with no contract! 

Nokia Intellisync Wireless Email Administration

Wireless Email Support Intellisync

With Nokia Releasing the Free Application "Mail for Exchange" you can now have any of these devices as an Active Sync Mobile , Syncing your Contacts , Mail , Calendar and Notes Wireless' via your Phone with an existing Small Business or just Plain Windows 2003/8 Server!

Supported Mobiles

N95 8GB ,N95,N93i,N93,N92,N91,N90,N81,N80,N77,N76,N73,N72,N71,N70,N-Gage ,QD,N-age

E90,E70,E65,E62,E61i,E61,E60,E51,E50,9500,9300i,9300,9210i,9210,8800,7710,7650

7600,7370,7360,7270,7260,7250i,7250,7210,7200,6822,6820,6810,6800,6681,6680,6670

6650,6630,6610i,6610,6600,6310i,6280,6270,6260,6230i,6230,6220,6170,6111,6101,6100

6060,6030,6021,5140i,5140,5100,3660,3650,3300,3250,3230,3220,3200,3120,3100,2652

Grab a copy here and if you need any help you know where to find us!

This comes just in the nick of time as Nokia has abandoned its Business Mobility Solution Intellisync ( Compeition for the Blackberry Enterprise Server) it seems , so no need for the headache of managing a Non Supported Intellisync Server , Just use the tools and software you already have to save money this Credit Crunch!