Posts Tagged ‘Software’

Introducing: Blackberry Enterprise Server Express – FREE

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Blackberry has released their newest business server, the BlackBerry Enterprises Server Express edition.  Express is a free download, and the licenses are free.  It will wirelessly sync email, contacts, and calendars to blackberry mobile phones.  Express supports up to 75 users on a shared server, up to 2000 users on a dedicated server, and over 2000 when used with a dedicated SQL server.  It can be installed on a messaging server or an Microsoft Small Business (SBS) server.  Blackberries on either BES (BlackBerry Enterprise Server) or BIS (BlackBerry Internet Service) plans can connect to it. 

Did we mention it’s absolutely free? If you are using BIS (BlackBerry Internet Service) to redirect your email to your mobile phone, this will be a great product for you. For more information call StoneHill at (949) 218-1258 or visit BlackBerry’s official release page.

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Tech motivation for HP: Smart phones

Sunday, March 7th, 2010

Hewlett Packard is one of the world’s most flourishing manufacturers of desktop computers, printers, servers, and laptops. With a strong and reputable consumer brand, the company has managed to grow its services and expand to provide services to a large number of businesses. During the first quarter of the company’s development, HP managed to establish a sales growth of 8%. On the other hand, HP has surprised analysts with their declining market performance with their hand-held products including the iPaq Smart Phone. Their sales have dropped $25 million in the first quarter while Apple had a $5.6 billion market growth with their iPhone.

 HP has realized that because of the iPhone, Apple has managed to build more intensive relationships with customers. They have accomplished more than three billion software applications through the store which is directed to the iPhone.  Now, Apple is looking to repeat this with their latest invention which is the iPad, a tablet computer which was recently launched. Researchers at HP are using this as a motivation key for building the reputation of their hand-held products and  have talked about developing software’s and services that will let people print easily from their phones as well as manage and communicate their photos and communications more efficiently with each other through mobile versions of social networks

 It is expected that HP is to offer a smart phone in the coming year that will utilize the latest mobile version of Windows. Already, there is a lot of competition in the cell phone industry and it is a good idea that HP has announced to dedicate more of their focus on other products on the side of the Smartphone category.

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One of the Biggest Tech Shifts of Our Lifetime

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

Today, companies involve huge IT departments that are dedicated to storing and sharing extensive data. This means huge amounts of data and data servers being handled by companies who are at best minimally familiar with the ins and outs of computing. Presently there are more than 15 million computer servers operating globally. Every organization has to build its network for its peak demand leaving 80% of the running servers idle every day, which as you may imagine leads to huge waste of time and money for these companies.

There is an expansion of networks, computer storage and servers, and the growth has left companies wanting a new solution to their computing needs. “Data Utilities” will allow companies to discard their data storage infrastructure and hand off all their data storage and maintenance needs to third parties able to efficiently and responsibly manage them.  These data utilities will allow sharing of servers to meet the peak needs of companies without requiring the company to pay for and maintain the server during its times of lower demand.

The concept of data utilities isn’t all that new, and we all use them everyday.  For example, every time you share photos through services such as Facebook, snapfish, Shutterfly, Kodak, or Flicker, you are operating in the cloud and using a data utility.   Similarly, the online software suite from Google Apps allows users to generate and access information and spreadsheets exclusively online.  Users can create, edit, and share all sorts of files from any computer with Internet access.

Basically any kind of storage can be met by a data utility. It is estimated that the internet contains 5 million terabytes of data. That is just an initiating point since constant improvement will only increase storage demands. Data utilities will allow the collaboration of computing power, data storage, software applications, and other IT needs through a global network. It will permit businesses to concentrate on what to offer rather than technical know-how of how to offer the service.

At the time of great economic concern where cost efficiency is gold, the data utility trend has only hastened.  IT decisions are being made based on economic reasoning as well as a technical viewpoint. Data utilities enable companies to utilize resources on demand and pay for them when needed.

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Integrated Backup & Recovery Platform

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

Businesses of all sizes are witnessing an explosion in the volume of data they hold. Whether it is the result of the internet, email, or increasingly heavy and media rich application software, there is a massive growth in the volume of data all around. Data is increasingly being recognized as one of the real assets of a company, and losing this data would cause severe damage to any organization. An effective back up strategy is essential if your business is to be safe from the effects of data loss.

Companies big and small are under constant pressure to manage and protect critical data in complex environments, both in the data center and across multiple remote locations. Limited resources, complex IT environments and hyper data growth are inevitable no matter what size the business. Integrated Backup and recovery offers unparalleled data protection giving companies the ability manage the hyper growth without the hassle or drain on resources.  Data duplication, remote storage, remote content management, and enhanced data security are just some of the benefits of such system.

StoneHill’s system, Backup & Recovery Server (BRS), provides this solution by providing a backup disk product that sends data offsite to multiple information centers and turns itself into a virtual server in the event of a client hardware problem. It saves time and effort with an “install in minutes” feature as well as reducing back up storage capacity requirements up to 95%.  This recovery platform is incredible since it hacks backup windows up to 90%. The method provides a cost effective data security solution and is executed on an off-site disk backup system for rapid disaster recovery. The BRS system provides tremendous operational benefits since it is cost competitive, fast and secure.

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A Major Upheaval since the Internet: Enter Cloud Computing

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
Diagram showing overview of cloud computing in...

Image via Wikipedia

Cloud computing is a new technology which essentially utilizes the power of a cluster of servers to power a website by dynamically scaling resources such as processing power, memory and storage among others. Each server in the cluster can be thought of as hosting the website.  If this is ambiguous to comprehend, then think of it as if your website resides on a super high powered server which never breaks down because this super high powered server actually is a combination of several servers working together.

It is a fact that maintaining a huge IT department is costly and a lot of corporations have no idea what networking and computer software involves. Cloud computing introduces strategies in which companies can send their files to people that can manage and handle them more effectively. With this facility, companies will be able to cloud into any kind of IT that they need including hardware, software, web hosting, networking, and etc. As a result, companies can focus on what to offer rather than technical details on how to offer their services. 

Some of Technology’s biggest names are leading the cloud computing system. Google’s internet based word processor and spreadsheet program are fighting to replace the desktop version of Microsoft’s Word and Excel.  But perhaps, even a better way to jump in the present is through the more vague service providers. These businesses provide the physical servers, hosting space, and means to communicate with them. Well-known names include Equinix (EQIX), Rackspace (RAX), and Terremark Worldwide (TMRK).

I believe there will be a vast amount of consolidation in the production over the next decade. The largest tech names will gulp up the less relevant players as a cheap way to gain admittance to the most recent breakthroughs. The new IT attitude of outsourcing will provide companies with more effective support and will further allow them to focus on what they do best, instead of struggling with computer issues and constantly breaking servers and networks.  

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BEWARE OF THE ANTI-VIRUS

Monday, January 18th, 2010

About three weeks ago I sat down in front of my laptop to do my homework and a screen that looks like the one below popped up telling me I had serious threats/viruses on my computer.  Looks legitimate right?

antivirus

WRONG!!!! This anti-virus “software” was the virus. However, I didn’t think anything of it until I was suddenly locked out of the sites I frequent, such as my school, my Gmail, my bank, etc. I may not be Miss Techie, but I do know enough to recognize that this wasn’t normal. So, in casual conversation with Zach, who is a Mr. Techie,  regarding the  strange behavior of my computer, before I was even half way done he said, “You have a virus”. Those dreaded words rang in my ears as I began to see the dollars falling from my wallet. Luckily, I work for the best IT company on earth and Zach was able to remove the virus within one day and install legitimate firewalls and virus protections.

Ironically, that same evening I was watching the nightly news where they were featuring a story on “New Organized Crime Rings”…HACKERS. Apparently, technology is not only transforming the way we do business, it has transformed theft as well. The newest trend amongst thieves is to send out   these nasty little parasites, disguised as helpful software, that infect your computer allowing the hacker to track your key strokes, thus gaining access to all of your personal passwords and information. A local OC business man was recently taken for $1,000,000 due to this type of scam. OUCH!

Two days ago, I was out sick and received an email from Zach saying three clients in the past week had been hit with the same thing and decided that YOU need to be aware of what is out there!!!! He sent me this really informative article:   Take a look, it could save you a lot of time, money & heart ache!

Beware fake anti-virus programs

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How to install RAM

Monday, March 2nd, 2009

With our easy to follow informational videos, you can manager your computer like a pro! View our video today to learn how to install RAM.

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