At AGT, we recently had the opportunity to virtualise the entire hardware structure of one of our clients. The system was no longer covered under warranty, but rebuilding the server and domain was not practical. By virtualising the existing hardware, we were able to make a complete clone of the current setup, which we then moved onto new hardware. This eliminated the risk and danger of a failure in the older hardware. Virtualisation has other benefits as well, from reduced energy costs to improved uptime. The combined pros of virtualising your hardware far outweigh the cons. Below are 5 benefits for virtualising old hardware to help you decide if virualisation is right for you and your business.
Rapid Provisioning and Simple Deployment– Deploying a virtual machine is much easier and faster than deploying a physical counterpart. Rapid provisioning is possible by using a storage area network, or SAN, to perform a clone of virtual machines. Rapid deployment and provisioning will help streamline your operation and make it more productive.
Lower Costs and Strengthen Your Bottom Line–Creating virtual servers saves money, that’s the bottom line. When your company is able to host multiple virtual servers on a single physical machine, this eliminates the need for multiple physical machines. It’s just simple math. Reducing the amount of hardware your business operates will reduce costs and strengthen your bottom line.
Lower Your Energy Usage –As energy prices rise, it is very possible that energy costs may exceed your hardware costs over the lifetime of your system. Using virutalisation to consolidate servers will yield a significant reduction in energy costs over time. This can add up to big savings for small businesses. It’s a simple equation of less physical mass equallingless energy consumption.
Improve Uptime–Virtualization can improve the uptime and ensure your servers are running at maximum capacity. Increased uptime means increased customer satisfaction. A satisfied client base is the foundation of any successful and well-run company.
Upgradability – Upgrading hardware, while necessary, can be a time consuming endeavor. Virtual servers, however, can be upgraded quite easily by simply adding more RAM and hard drive space. When upgrades are performed seamlessly, your business can easily take advantage of the latest developments in hardware and provide added value to your customers and clients.
At AGT Computer Services, we can help you with all of your virtualisation needs so you can streamline your operation and save money. Fast and simple upgrades, rapid deployment and improved uptime are reasons enough to make the switch. Reducing the physical space that your business needs to dedicate to hardware and servers is just one more advantage of virtualisation. Virtual operating systems are the future of computing so there’s no reason not to virtualise. Enjoy the peace of mind of knowing that any damage caused by a failure of physical data storage and network servers will be mitigated. Contact AGT Computer Services and find out how we can help you make the transition to virtual hardware.
Protecting you computer systems from virus, malware and spyware infections is a never-ending game of cat and mouse. Both sides are constantly devising new ways to out manoeuvre each other. Employing the latest, most advanced and up-to-date antivirus software is an important step, but as we advise our customers in Lytham St Annes, there are other ways to help protect yourself.
1: Always Install Quality Antivirus Software
It is not enough to rely on the antivirus applications provided by your Internet service provider. While free and usually included in your bundled service, these types of antivirus software applications do not offer the best protection against virus and malware threats. Windows users should be proactive and use a pro-grade antivirus system that offers better protection through continual updates while the computer is in use.
2. Don’t Forget Your Daily Scans
By conducting daily scans of your PC’s hard drive, you will better protect your overall system from spyware and virus threats. Even the best antivirus software is vulnerable to infection, so the added protection of daily scans goes a long way in deterring malware from getting past your first line of defence.
3. Do Not Click on Email Links or Attachments
As much as we rely on antivirus software to protect our PCs from harm, discipline and diligence is required of the user as well. This means resisting the urge to click on the links and attachments we receive in emails. Even emails from trusted sources can be Trojan horse files just waiting for the opportunity to attack our computers. It can take only a minute or two to unleash a torrent of destructive malware that can take down Windows on your machine and others in the network. Attachments should be scanned and links should be keyed into the Browser manually.
4: Be a Smart Web Surfer
Browser plug-ins that come with anti-malware apps should be enabled to offer protection against a variety of threats online. Phishing attackers, for example, attempt to mimic real web pages so they can retrieve your personal data. By enabling features like link protection, you can limit your risk to this type of attack, and other drive-by infections, while you safely surf the Internet. Automatic pop-up blockers are another effective way to protect yourself while online and are included in most browsers.
5: Always Deploy DNS Protection
Whenever you are connected to the Internet there is an increase in the risk of infections. A Web page that has been compromised, once visited, can infect not only an individual PC, but all the machines in a network. This poses a risk to customers as well, and that is a gaffe that can be difficult for a business to recover from. Some sites may also distribute infections in the form of applications and files. A service like OpenDNS offers protection against phishing attacks and other viruses by allowing users to change the way their PCs interact with the DNS system.
AGT Computer Services has Answers and Solutions
No matter what your business is, or how many employees or customers you are linked to, whether you are in the Lytham St Annes area or anywhere else the world, you need protection against virus, malware, and spyware. AGT Computer Services can help with all your security concerns, even if it’s just explaining to our customer how to prevent virus, malware and spyware infections.
Unfortunately, many people enjoying a life of happy pastoral living in rural Britain suffer from a lack of quality broadband. While some live in total “not spots,” many more experience inadequate service. This can be frustrating, especially for business owners who rely on Internet access to stay connected to customers. There are broadband alternatives in rural UK, however. Here are a few ways to get you out of Internet Purgatory.
ADSL Broadband Alternatives
The easiest option would be ADSL broadband. ADSL stands for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line which is simply accessing the Internet through an existing telephone line. ADSL lines generally delivers enough broadband for home use or even for small businesses. You can check to see if your line can receive broadband by visiting the BT Broadband Availability Checker and entering your telephone number. If you don’t have a land line you can enter your postcode or address to determine whether broadband is an option in your area.
Bonded ADSL Broadband
For businesses that have outgrown the single ADSL connection, Bonded ADSL Broadband is a good next step for staying connected. It provides a less expensive alternative to leased lines and MPLS connections found in high-performance networks. Broadband is delivered using multiple ADSL lines that combine to form a single connection to deliver faster download and upload speeds.
Mobile Phone Broadband / 3G / 4G
For some people getting a BT phone line may not even be an option. They may also find that an ADSL line is too slow and erratic. Mobile broadband then becomes an attractive alternative, providing you get a good mobile phone signal. Using what is basically a router that plugs into a USB port, 3G speeds may deliver comparable speeds to ADSL and 4G will likely outperform it all together. While this will be a more expensive option it may be possible to find a deal for unlimited or high usage. Ofcom’s mobile broadband coverage checker allows you to see if this is an option in your area.
Satellite Broadband
Another alternative for those living in rural areas is satellite broadband. A satellite dish is required to allow two-way access to the home. While traditionally this type of broadband delivery was painfully slow (and expensive), there have been great improvements in speed in recent years. A clear line of sight is required for optimal reception, however, and what is considered optimal for satellite broadband still falls short of the speeds many people have come to expect. Inclement weather can also negatively impact service and cause delays or latencies.
Wireless Delivery via Radio Masts
Access to broadband can also be achieved wirelessly through a radio mast. A smart antenna is required which needs to be set up outside the home or business and in sight of the mast. A wireless router is used inside the property, similar to the way you would route broadband through a land line.
Leased Lines
Leased lines are a good option for businesses operating in remote areas with unreliable broadband access. Companies in Blackpool, Lytham and Lancashire have the option of using these private circuit lines to make sure they have uninterrupted access. Businesses operating in Cumbria’s Lake District can use these data lines to stay in touch with offices further south.
If your company needs to make a Microsoft Office 365 migration, but you don’t employ in-house IT support, this need not be an obstacle for you. If you are operating your business in Blackpool, Lytham, Preston or Lancashire and you need to perform an Office 365 Migration to Microsoft Servers, AGT Computer Services offers solutions to make this transition seamless. We can also help you set up and maintain Office 365 Exchange Online so that you can stay connected to your employees and your customers and maintain complete control of calendars, mailboxes and contact managers.
Microsoft Office 365 Business Premium
Office 365 is available in several different packages, but the Business Premium Plan provides the overall best value. With this plan your company will receive the full installation of Microsoft Office applications for up to five PCs or Macs. This includes Excel, Word, Powerpoint, OneNote and Publisher, as well as one terabyte of file sharing and storage space. Full installation is also available for up to five phones and tablets. Some of the outstanding features that come standard with the Business Premium Plan include business class email, calendars and online audio and video conferencing capabilities with Skype and instant messaging. Access to the Yammer platform allows employees to connect and collaborate no matter which business applications they use. You’ll always have access to the latest versions of Office applications across all devices and the Business Premium Plan supports up to 300 users. Syncing files is a cinch and multiple users can edit documents in real time. Office 365 is easy to set up and use. In fact, it’s all the IT you need and the yearly cost is only £93.60 plus VAT.
Office 365 Exchange Online
Once migration to the new Microsoft Exchange server has been achieved, your business is ready to set up Microsoft Exchange Online. This e-mail based server allows for collaborative communication between multiple users throughout your company. As an authorized Microsoft reseller, AGT can assist your business with this transition.When your business needs to migrate to the Cloud in Blackpool or Lytham, Preston or Lancashire, AGT Computer Services can perform that task for £30.00 per year plus VAT. For a charge of £95.00 per mailbox, our Exchange Online migration offers solutions to protect your company’s information. Security experts provide 24 hour monitoring to protect data. Malware and antivirus protection and anti-spam filtering offers protection to your mailboxes, and you can rest easy knowing your sensitive data is secure on multiple servers so that data can be recovered fully in the event of an emergency. With 99.9% uptime, your e-mail will never be down and communication will be constant between you, your employees and your customers. The admin center is intuitive and allows you to stay in control, which eliminates the need for in-house IT support.
Start Your Migration Today
If you operate in Blackpool, Lytham, Preston, Lancashire or the surrounding area, AGT Computer Services offers reliability and protection for your Office 365 applications and Exchange Online. As an authorised Microsoft reseller, we deliver personalised, customisable IT solutions and support for your Office applications. Big or small, we provide plans that fit your company’s size and budget and allow you to stay connected while being protected.
All businesses have sensitive or confidential data, but some have requirements that go beyond the standard for data security, a fostering company is a prime example of one such business.
AGT were approached to develop a solution where data could be locked down, accessed only by specific users and where documents were only available to be viewed for a certain period of time.
The Analysis…
Discussions with the business highlighted the level of importance of the data security, and that just a password protected document or device would be insufficient in order to maintain the confidentiality of the data. Regardless of the level of security required, Wi-Fi capability would still be needed on the device.
The Solution…
Various types of software were tried and tested with the strengths and weaknesses of each one evaluated as to its suitability towards the requirements. The software must not only be able to password protect documents and data, but also the ability to print had to be removed and an expiry time or date needed to be applied too. Meaning the data would become inaccessible once certain criteria had been met, for example once it had been viewed or once it had reached a specific date or time.
Utilising multi-layered authentication we were able to achieve the level of security the business needed, meaning if the tablet was lost or stolen no data could be accessed and an additional failsafe allowed the tablet to be wiped remotely if there was any doubt it could be compromised.
Once the software was found that met all the required criteria, it was then loaded onto a tablet, configured for testing and presented to the customer to ensure it fulfilled their requirements.
The Outcome…
With the authentication in place, the applications were locked down and the tablet and SD card were encrypted – meaning if someone even tried to hack the tablet using an SD card it would become encrypted and therefore be rendered useless.
Several tablets were loaded and configured with the necessary security requirements and enabled for Wi-Fi access, proving to carry out exactly what was needed. These tablets are now being used throughout the business.
AGT were asked to help accommodate a proposed office relocation for a large company. Where relocations are involved the logistics must be planned down to the last detail, ensuring minimal impact to the business and that any unnecessary downtime doesn’t occur.
The Analysis…
An audit was carried out of the existing office and infrastructure as well as at the proposed new location. This enabled us to clearly identify our involvement as well as highlight any potential problems that may arise or benefits to the business that could be incorporated into the relocation.
The Solution…
With careful planning and liaison with 3rd parties, the preparation stages involved working out the infrastructure requirements at the new office, from the basic cabling and power needs through to the network and phone needs including the procurement of new kit where needed.
It was identified that the business would benefit from some new hardware, with the relocation providing an ideal time to implement this new hardware. This consisted of new, higher specification servers and new VOIP phones.
We arranged for the new site to have three ADSL broadband lines installed, two of the lines to be used for load-balancing and the third line for the SBS/Exchange server. Getting the lines in place prior to the move is essential so that all machines could be plugged in and up and running as soon as they arrive at the new location.
The Outcome…
The relocation was a success. With the infrastructure ready in place at the new location the users were back up and running in no time, along with new virtualised servers running on the network and VOIP phones installed ready to use.
After the work AGT carried out on installation and configuration of the VOIP network, we were granted reseller rights through the VOIP suppliers . Another example of how AGT is constantly building trusted, reliable working relationships within the IT and Data industry.
AGT were asked to come and assess the current infrastructure of a Healthcare business, a large company that was planning further developments and expansions of services within the UK. As with any business in this day and age, especially where expansion is involved, the IT requirements are an imperative foundation which allows a business to function effectively and proactively.
The Analysis…
The business consists of three sites – one Head Office and two remote sites, which together were running a total of eight servers. All servers were using Windows Server 2003 technology and had limited resources which was the first issue to be addressed, especially as mainstream support for Windows Server 2003 ceased in July 2010.
The Solution…
AGT sourced some new, powerful servers and built them with Windows Server 2012 and MS Exchange 2013. In order to retain the data currently held on the servers, they were cohabited with the existing servers to allow a seamless transfer of data, and once complete the old servers were removed and decommissioned.
As well as the server technologies being dated and out of support, the client machines were also running Windows XP, for which Microsoft will be ceasing support in April 2014. Therefore all the client machines were upgraded to Windows 7, added back to the domain and tested to ensure full functionality.
Using bespoke software is very common with businesses and this often means liaising with 3rd party suppliers. AGT spent a lot of time working with external suppliers to ensure the data and functionality of the non-standard software remained intact during the upgrade. Due to the close working relationship that was formed, this was carried out flawlessly.
The Outcome…
Within the timeframe of 3 weeks, from start to finish, the business was brought up to date with current, more efficient technologies. Removing any risk associated with dated or unsupported hardware and software. All work was carried out with the minimum possible downtime, with most of the work being out of hours to ensure as little disruption as possible.
As a result of this the Healthcare business now use AGT Computer Services as their contracted support channel.
AGT were asked to look at the current Wi-Fi setup at a large Hotel in Lytham St Annes. With Wi-Fi now being a highly demanded requirement of hotel guests, the hotel wanted to ensure that they could suitably accommodate their guests’ requirements and provide a reliable Wi-Fi internet service throughout the entire hotel.
The Analysis…
After the initial site survey it was discovered that the hotel currently had a mixture of wireless networks in place, one of which was starting to fail. Whilst on site it was also noted that the server cabinet and cabling could benefit from being relocated and re-cabled as well as implementing a new EPoS system, so this was also drawn up in the proposed solution.
The Solution…
It was decided that the most efficient course of action would be to roll out a full managed system with multiple Wi-Fi access points throughout the hotel, utilising BT Infinity broadband lines to ensure sufficient bandwidth could accommodate heavy usage by the guests, not just in their rooms but around the hotel as well.
A new web-based EPoS backend server and network was set up on its own VLAN to ensure it had a secure and dedicated workspace. A new network switch was installed and the current till points were re-patched to it.
Setting up the new Wi-Fi system for the hotel could actually be done off-site, meaning all the work could be carried out at the AGT headquarters, then once it had been configured and tested, it could be moved straight into place at the hotel. Thus making the implementation extremely fast with minimal disruption to the hotels day to day working.
The Outcome…
Utilising the many Wi-Fi access points, the hotel guests could now access the internet anywhere within the hotel and the hotels grounds without losing connection. A captive portal (or splash page) was created so that the guests could be authenticated prior to internet access being granted, giving that extra piece of security to the setup of the network.
Due to the success of the work AGT carried out at the hotel, we were once again approached to carry out work on the hotels brand new expansion project. Situated just 50 metres away from the main hotel, this building required a full technical solution creating from the bottom up.
The Analysis…
With this being a new installation we weren’t forced to use any existing infrastructure, therefore giving us free reign to implement the best, most effective technologies available. This would include a full refurbishment and wiring, wireless network points, VOIP phones, CCTV and a wireless door locking/key-card system.
The Solution…
Working with electricians we helped compose the structure of the cabling throughout the building, forming part of the foundation required for the technologies that were to be installed. Once in place the networks could begin to be built.
As with the parent hotel, access points were installed throughout the new building, once again utilising a VLAN for the wireless connections and VOIP phones that use POE cables to transfer data as well as power.
CCTV with DVR was set up and configured on the network. Part of this configuration allows the CCTV to be checked from anywhere with an internet connection, which enables an excellent element of security.
AGT worked with SALTO Systems to set up and implement the wireless access key-card system for the new building.
The Outcome…
At the end of the project was a plush, technologically advantaged building with full wireless access, a low carbon footprint and exceptional detail right down to the networks chrome faceplates. But what makes this stand out is that this building is unmanned (yet secure) with no server housed on the site. Making this essentially an IT maintenance-free building!
CryptoLocker – A new destructive malware / ransomeware threat that calls itself CryptoLocker.
The CryptoLocker is infecting machines via spam email attachments and Botnets. Once your machine is infected it will encrypt all files within your machine and spread to network shares,encrypting all your company’s documents and files – rendering them unusable.
Spam emails have always been existent however, they’re now incorporating this new high level threat.
Do not open email attachments from unknown senders. Culprit emails are appearing to come from genuine senders, examples of such emails are:
Sky
Dun & BradStreet (titled Complaint and your domain eg.. “DNB Complaint MyBusiness.co.uk)
