Confucius once said… “In the world there are many different roads but the destination is the same.” While we’re quite certain he wasn’t talking about backup and recovery of your workstations, servers and data, there is an application in there somewhere. There are many ways to provide backup of your most precious data and devices – and they all lead to the same destination – an ability to recover. But are they all the same?
Let’s look at two general types of backup and discover whether the “destination” is truly the same – Local and Cloud.
You’re already familiar with local backups – you most likely use them every day. They could be tape or disk-based, utilizing expensive hardware that needs to be refreshed, and are really only useful for on-premise restores (meaning, in the event of a disaster that requires recovery off-site, you’re either going to need to physically move the backup system to the new site or you’re simply out of luck).
Then there’s cloud backups. They provide high availability and redundancy at a lower cost than local hardware and can recover to anywhere in the world. They also are limited by your Internet connection and, if you have no connection, can be rendered useless.
So what’s a business to do?
Each “road” has its’ downsides in getting to the recovery “destination”. The answer lies in taking both paths. You need the speed of local backups and the scalability, redundancy and “anytime, anywhere” recover-ability of the cloud. This is what’s known as hybrid cloud backup & recovery. By using a hybrid cloud solution, you take advantage of a monthly expense over making costly purchases, have the assurance that you can recover the smallest file or the largest database no matter where you need to recover to, and utilize the fastest recovery medium to ensure you are operational quickly. You also partner with a service provider to ensure every aspect of your business is recovered within an acceptable time-frame.
It’s a win-win
When it comes to backup and recovery, Confucius was a bit off – he’d be more likely to say, “to get to the destination, use both paths together.”

August 2015

There are thousands of theories out there on longer lasting battery life on your laptop and smartphone, but let’s be honest, many of them could not be further from the truth. We’re here to help you distinguish between those old wives tales that you’d be better off to ignore, and those handy tips that could really breathe new life into your battery, every time.

That OH NO moment…

“No, no, no!! This can’t be happening! I charged it just couple of hours ago and I only need five more minutes!” Sound familiar? You’ve been so engrossed in the conference call or the document, presentation or spreadsheet you’ve been working on that it comes as a complete surprise when the dreaded message pops up saying you’ve only got 1% of battery power left. Problem is, you’re traveling and in the rush to catch your train or plain you’ve forgotten your charger. Whatever the case, squeezing a few precious extra minutes out of your battery, or simply making sure it lasts the distance in the first place, can make all the difference when closing a deal or making a crucial deadline. So how to get the most out of your power source?

Turn stuff off

It sounds simplistic, but in order to get the most out of your battery, making sure it only needs to supply power to essential things that you’re currently using is a good place to start. Most laptops have a power saving mode which automatically reduces the consumption of power across a number of areas. Once you’ve taken this easy first step, you can go further by using your device manager to disconnect any peripherals (like a USB mouse or external drive) you aren’t using, and turn off the hungriest power hogs, like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios, graphics processors, and unused optical drives. Wifi and Bluetooth are some of the greediest processes on smartphones so, if at all possible, turning them off will give you some extra time before your phone dies. If you can work offline on your phone, turning it to flight mode will automatically have the same effect.

One program at a time

Think like a chef. Any chef worth his salt will always keep his workspace clean and tidy, so he’s ready for the next onslaught of orders. Do you really need all of those programs open? Even in the background Skype, Spotify, Dropbox and the like all suck your battery dry. If you’ve finished with it, turn it off. To easily see which programs are running and to turn them off, open your task manager – this will also show you which ones are using the most processing power, a good proxy for battery consumption. Most smartphones also now enable you to view your open apps and turn them off with just a couple of swipes. Location services and push notifications will also place a strain on your battery – so it’s a good idea to turn them off when you’re traveling.

Blackout

Ok, so you obviously still need to see what’s going on in order to work, but you can save significant power by reducing the amount of lighting required. With laptops start with the keyboard backlighting – unless you really are working in the dark you don’t need it. Next is how bright you need your screen to be. You don’t want to strain your eyes, but turning down the brightness of your screen on both your laptop and smartphone will have a definite impact on how long your battery lasts. Again, it depends on the environment you’re working in. Finally, it’s not just light but sound that can be turned down to save on juice. Listening to music on full blast is a sure fire way to drain your battery. Turning the volume down or muting the speakers entirely means they won’t suck power that could more productively be used for something else.

Tender loving care

The above are all relatively reactive solutions to the problem of battery drain, but there are a few good habits to get into if you want your laptop or smartphone battery to last the distance. If your battery is removable, check to make sure the contacts are clean, because this can reduce the flow of power. A hot battery is an unhappy battery – keeping things cool will extend its life significantly. Make sure the vents and fans are free of dirt and dust, and that air can freely circulate. Using a laptop on a soft surface such as in bed or lying on the sofa can also often obstruct the air circulation. If you use a holder to keep your smartphone from rolling around when using it as a navigation device in your car, make sure it isn’t placed on top of a hot air vent.

Boost your battery and your productivity

Of course the easiest way to make sure you don’t run out of power while on the road is simply to take a spare battery pack with you, but even they run out eventually. So better to follow the tips above for your battery to last the distance – and enjoy being productive on the go.

Sourced: HP Newsletter

10 Time Saving Tech Tips

The uninterruptible power supply – or UPS – is one of the most misunderstood components of the IT and power infrastructure. Yes, it can save your bacon, but it can also be an intimidating piece of technology. As Eaton product manager David Windsor once put it, “You don’t have to have an engineering degree to understand it, but it helps.” Whether you’re on the verge of implementing your first UPS or are gearing up for your next upgrade or replacement, this guide can help you make sense of things.

What it is and why it’s awesome

A UPS is a battery-based power supply that keeps your critical equipment running in the event of a power outage. A UPS is generally used to provide enough power to allow a graceful shutdown of your equipment when the power goes out. In situations where no downtime can be tolerated, a UPS can be used until systems can be cutover to a backup site or until an alternate source of power, such as a generator, can be brought online.

But wait – there’s more! Depending on the type of UPS you have, it can also protect equipment against power surges and power “sags,” which is important because both can wreak havoc on sensitive IT systems. This process of regulating incoming power to eliminate surges and sags is sometimes known as “power conditioning.”

Depending on your environment – and your budget – you may want to protect every system in your infrastructure with a UPS of some kind. Or you may have to prioritize and protect only the most business-critical components.

Basic types

Most UPS devices fall into three basic categories:

A standby UPS allows your equipment load to switch quickly to battery power when power through your normal sources is disrupted. There can be a micro-second delay while the UPS takes over. Depending on what equipment you’re supporting with your standby UPS, this blip may not hurt anything. This is the base model UPS, and it may or may not regulate incoming power to even out surges and sags.

A line-interactive UPS does the same thing as a standby UPS in terms of switching quickly to battery power after a micro-second delay. But unlike most standby UPS devices, a line-interactive UPS regulates incoming power before passing it through to protected equipment. You’ll pay a little more for this type of UPS, but it offers better protection against power fluctuations.

A full-time UPS (also known as an “online UPS”) is always ready to take up the load and therefore can take over seamlessly when a power outage occurs. This is the kind of UPS you want when your equipment cannot tolerate the momentary blip of a standby or line-interactive UPS. A full-time UPS provides the best power protection – and is also the most expensive.

Line-interactive and standby devices that regulate incoming power are known as “single-conversion” devices. A full-time UPS is known as a “double-conversion” UPS because it does more than just regulate power as it comes through – it converts the AC power to DC, then converts it back to AC again before passing it through to protected equipment. The purpose of this process is to completely isolate the IT equipment from the original power source. It may help to think of the line-interactive device as a power filter – and the full-time UPS as a power purifier.

Mixing it up

What if you need full-time UPS protection for some equipment but not others? Mix it up! Since full-time UPS protection is the most expensive, it doesn’t make sense to use it for your entire infrastructure. Use a full-time system to protect your most sensitive workloads, then provision a line-interactive or standby system to protect the rest.

Nowadays you can also buy what’s known as a “multi-mode” system that can act as either a line-interactive or a full-time UPS device, depending on the power situation. This is more of an enterprise or data-center solution, though. For the average SMB, it will probably be cheaper just to divvy up your systems based on the protection they need and buy separate devices.

Key terms you should know

Before you jump into any UPS discussion – either online, with colleagues, or with a vendor – there are a few key terms you should be familiar with:

VA: VA stands for volt-amperes and is how the power rating for a given UPS is expressed. A small UPS might have a rating as low as 500 VA. Giant ones have ratings in the millions. The average SMB is probably looking at closer to 20,000 to 100,000. Also, don’t confuse VA with wattage, as they are completely different things!

Single-phase vs. three-phase: These terms are referring to the type of power delivered to your facility by your power utility. Generally, residences receive single-phase power, and businesses receive three-phase power. The UPS you choose will likewise be single-phase or three-phase. Of course, single-phase UPS devices are cheaper than three-phase, but they are only appropriate for protecting relatively low-amperage systems (less than 20,000 VA).

Output load: In simplest terms, this is the load your UPS is capable of supporting in the event of a power outage. Keep in mind that you don’t ever want to have to run your UPS at 100% of its capacity. You could easily overload it and cause everything running on it to fail. Aim to run your UPS at no more than 80% load to give yourself some breathing room.

Runtime: This is the length of time that the UPS will support the load you have assigned to it. The higher your output load, the shorter your runtime. Likewise, the lower your output load, the longer your runtime. Needless to say, if your runtime is too short, you won’t have enough time to react when a power failure occurs. Supporting appropriate output loads, most UPS devices are designed to provide five to fifteen minutes of runtime. Make sure your UPS will give you sufficient runtime to get your IT affairs in order.

Rightsizing your UPS

How do you know what size of UPS to buy? That’s the $64,000 question, and it’s one you should probably get a UPS vendor to help you answer. But here is a fun math calculation you can do on your own to help you know if you’re in the ballpark:

1.     Identify all the equipment the device will be protecting, then use OEM information to determine the volts and amps each device draws.

2.     Multiply volts by amps to get the VA of each device, then add them all together.

3.     Multiply that figure by a minimum of 1.2 to allow for breathing room. If your business is growing quickly or you’re planning to add or upgrade servers in the next few years, you’ll want to use an even higher number.

You should also have an idea of whether you prefer a rack-mounted UPS or a freestanding device. Depending on the size of UPS you need, you can probably have your choice of form factor.

Need more than the standard five-to-fifteen minutes of runtime? You can always augment your UPS with supplemental external battery modules. Depending on the capacity, these can give you hours of emergency runtime instead of mere minutes.

Replacing batteries vs. replacing the UPS

According to industry averages, most organizations will get eight years of reliable life out of their UPS device and will need to replace the batteries once during that lifespan. If your batteries are more than four years old or the UPS itself is more than eight years old, you may be starting to press your luck, especially if you’re seeing any alerts or errors. Both age and errors dramatically increase the risk that your UPS will fail when you need it most. And an unreliable UPS defeats the purpose of having one! That said, a well-made and well-maintained UPS has been known to provide upwards of 20 years of safe and reliable service, assuming it’s still sized correctly to meet the output load.

They say up to 85% of UPS failures are caused by battery failures. It’s a depressing thought that the UPS itself can be fine but the batteries can conk out, rendering the entire device useless. But that’s exactly how it works: The batteries are the heart of the UPS, and they have to be in good shape if the UPS is going to do you any good. Keep in mind, however, that batteries represent roughly 80% of the cost of the UPS. So if the UPS itself is nearing retirement age and has already had the batteries replaced once, you may want to seriously consider replacing the entire unit instead of just replacing the batteries, especially if it’s time to reconsider your output load

Source: Jason Crowther-Toshiba

Everyone wants and needs to extract every last dollar of their capital investment; it’s a good business practice. So when is the right time to replace the company server?

When it stops working?

Let’s stop for a moment and think what that means…

A server is powerful computer. They are engineered to run continuously day after day. But like all electronic and mechanical equipment, at some point it will fail. It isn’t anyone’s fault. Computers just do that, just like light bulbs burn out and old cars break down.You put a call into your IT guy and this time it isn’t just a power outage over the weekend. The server just won’t re-boot.

The realities are:

The older the server gets, the day that it will let you down gets closer. If you don’t replace your server while it is still operational you’ll have to do so after it has failed. Just like a light bulb, where life expectancy is often written on the packaging, a server’s life expectancy is not a secret; 5 years is typical, but from experience and depending on the environment that it’s in, perhaps closer to 4 years.

So what happens when it fails?

We always do our best to get hold of replacement parts (most likely available on a next business day basis), reload the operating system (about half a day’s work), reinstall your business application software (say, another half a day’s work), and finally restore backup data (which, of course, could be from the night before the failure – hoping that you had a working backup).

It is an emotional time; we’ve been through this scenario with new customers many times. It is worth repeating the obvious, because you definitely don’t want to be in this position.

If your server isn’t replaced while still operational you’ll have to do so after it has failed.

Can this scenario be avoided?

Yes, absolutely it can. The above scenario is what happens when a conscience decision is NOT made to replace a server BEFORE it fails.

Adopt a strategy to replace ageing equipment before it fails in service.

On the one hand, in the current economic climate, you want to squeeze every last bang out of your hardware buck. On the other, the cost of downtime (potentially 3 or more days of it) that will result from a server failure could have a dramatic effect on your company’s bottom line.

So in the absence of a crystal ball, when is the right time to pull the plug on the company’s existing server?

The answer is Hardware (Server) Life-Cycle Management

There are many different approaches to hardware life cycle management. The size of the company, number of offices, financial priorities, but the most import thing about a life-cycle plan is to have one!

Many large corporations, for example, make decisions and budgets about how long computer hardware will last at the time of purchase. By specifying this from the beginning these companies are able to:

• Budget for acquiring new systems at that time
• Plan to evaluate the systems prior to that time
• Analyze what condition they’re in

If necessary, for financial reasons, take steps to extend their useful life by replacing or upgrading components and warranty coverage.

In the absence of an existing life-cycle plan we suggest that 4 years is a reasonable life expectancy for your server. To run it past 4 years without replacing some major components (mostly mechanical), your company runs an ever increasing risk of inevitable and catastrophic server failure.

We would very much like to help you avoid this scenario

The purpose of this post is because we never enjoy these situations either. The very last thing people think about is prevention. Urgent things have a habit of getting in the way of the important things. But why not let us do all the planning for you? That’s what we’re here for.
Drop us a note and we’ll be delighted to put forward a range of options and recommendations. If you don’t do it now…
Source: http://www.arnclan.co.uk/when-to-replace-servers/

“How could she do something like this to me?” said a voice in my head. All the time. Every day.

Back in 2011, when everything had gradients, iOS icons made sense, and people used deodorants, I was stuck in middle of a pretty bad depression due to my divorce.

Thankfully, I think I was smart enough (and had great people around me) so I managed my way out.

One day I walk into the office, and my day begins at my computer screen. It was all great, until I saw this message:

Your password has expired.
Click ‘Change password’ to change your password.

No shit. I thought clicking ‘Change password’ was gonna do something else.

I read this dumb message in my mind with angry grandpa voice: The damn password has expired.

At my workplace, the Microsoft Exchange server is configured to ask thousands of employees around the planet to change their passwords. Every 30 days.

Here is the horseshit: The server forces us to use at least one UPPERCASE character, at least one lowercase alphabetic character, at least one symbol and at least one number. Oh, and the whole damn thing can’t be less than eight characters. And I can’t use any of the same passwords I’ve used in the last three months.

I was furious that morning. Tuesday, 9:40 a.m. It was so hot that my torso was already sweaty even though I just got to work. I was late. I was still wearing my helmet. I think I forgot breakfast. Something tastes like cigarette in my mouth. I need to get shit done before my 10 a.m. meeting and all I have in front of me is a huge waste of my time.

So there it was… this input field with a pulsating cursor, waiting for me to type a password that I’ll have to re-enter for the next 30 days. Many times during the day.

Then, letting all the frustration go, I remembered a tip I heard from my former boss.

I’m gonna use a password to change my life.

It was obvious that I couldn’t focus on getting things done with my current lifestyle and mood. Of course, there were clear indicators of what I needed to do — or what I had to achieve — in order to regain control of my life, but we often don’t pay attention to these clues.

My password became the indicator. My password reminded me that I shouldn’t let myself be victim of my recent break up, and that I’m strong enough to do something about it.

My password became: “Forgive@h3r”

I had to type this statement several times a day. Each time my computer would lock. Each time my screensaver with her photo would appear. Each time I would come back from eating lunch alone.

In my mind, I went with the mantra that I didn’t type a password. In my mind, I wrote “Forgive her” every day, for one month.

That simple action changed the way I looked at my ex wife. That constant reminder that I should forgive her, led me to accept the way things happened at the end of my marriage, and embrace a new way of dealing with the depression that I was drowning into.

In the following days, my mood improved drastically. By the end of the second week, I noticed that this password became less powerful, and it started to lose its effect. A quick refresh of this ‘mantra’ helped me. I thought to myself I forgive her as I typed it, every time. The healing effect of it came back almost immediately.

One month later, my dear exchange server asked me again to renew my password. I thought about the next thing I had to get done.

My password became Quit@smoking4ever

And guess what happened. I shit you not. I quit smoking overnight. This password was a painful one to type during that month, but doing it helped me to yell at myself in my mind, as I typed that statement. It motivated me to follow my monthly goal.

One month later, my password became Save4trip@thailand

Guess where I went three months later. Thailand. With savings.

So, I learned that I can truly change my life if I play it right. I kept doing this repeatedly month after month, with great results.

Here is an extract of what some of my passwords have been in the last two years, so you get an idea of how my life has changed, thanks to this method:

Forgive@her ← to my ex-wife, who started it all.
Quit@smoking4ever ← it worked.
Save4trip@thailand ← it worked.
Eat2times@day ← it never worked, still fat.
Sleep@before12 ← it worked.
Ask@her4date ← it worked. I fell in love again.
No@drinking2months ← it worked. I feel better.
Get@c4t! ← it worked. I have a beautiful cat.
Facetime2mom@sunday ← it worked. I talk with my mom every week.

And the one for last month:

Save4@ring ← Yep. Life is gonna change again, soon.

I still await very anxiously each month so I can change my password into something that I need to get done.

This method has consistently worked for me for the last two years, and I have shared it with a few close friends and relatives. I didn’t think it was a breakthrough in tiny habits but it did have a great impact in my life, so I thought to share it with you all.

Try it yourself! Write these statements with the right mindset and attitude, and you’ll change your life. Let me know how it works for you!

Remember, for added security, try to be a bit more complex with the words. Add symbols or numbers, or scramble a bit the beginning or the ending of your password string. S4f3ty_f1rst!

Pass the tip to those who might need it.

Updated on Jun 21, 2014: She said yes.