Technology Advisor Blog

Is my UPS a Generator?  This might sound like a crazy question, and we're not talking about the delivery service with the brown trucks, we're talking about an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). With last weekend's severe thunder storms in the area (and winter on the way), it's a good time to think about Power Management.

As a general rule, all computers, servers, and network equipment should be protected with a UPS.  In some cases, you may need a big battery to keep a system on for short outages, or just enough to enable a safe shutdown, and protect from spikes/variations in power.  

It's important to know that a UPS isn't a generator - it doesn't keep your power running for extended periods of time such as when the power is out for hours or days.  The UPS will keep your system running for typically for a few minutes (depends on the battery size), and if the power isn't restored, the software will trigger a safe shutdown of your computer or server. The UPS also protects you against power surges and spikes, voltage sags, and frequency differences (when the power is not at 60Hertz).  Features to consider when selecting a UPS is the size of the battery, and software capabilities to enable a safe shut down. Some units also provide the ability to power cycle equipment over a network.   Longer run times will greatly increase cost (bigger battery).  

As a quick check of your technology,  servers, computers, or network gear should be never be plugged directly into the wall.  In addition, any printers or other electronics should, at a minimum, be protected with a surge protector power strip.  Note that power strips should not be connected to a UPS, they should only be plugged into the wall.  

Should my monitor be connected to the UPS or just a surge protector?, If you're just interested in safe shutdown, your monitor doesn't need to be connected to the UPS, but if you intend to run for a period of time, then your monitor should be connected.   Long power outages are rare, but you may also consider a generator for your business.

And always remember to save your files frequently and close them when you're done working, and make sure you have a robust backup. 

Security is the top technology concern among small business owners, and the flood of information about new security threats can seem overwhelming at times.  Just about every week we see a new headline about a new threat or breach.  

One of the most important actions to protect against threats is to keep your software up to date.  In fact, the Massachusetts Data Security Law and other industry-specific compliance rules require up to date security updates:  "For files containing personal information on a system that is connected to the Internet, there must be reasonably up-to-date firewall protection and operating system security patches..."  

Every month, Microsoft releases new security updates on "Patch Tuesday" which is the second Tuesday of the month.  These security updates are free with your licensed products, but they need to be installed to be effective.  As you may know, you can turn on "automatic" updates with Microsoft, and get all the updates, but in many cases, blindly installing the updates can be a problem in a business environment and we don't recommend Automatic Updates. This is why our "best practice" is to test updates before installation and create a "patch policy" to manage installation.  Just last week, Microsoft repealed security updates that were linked to blue-screened systems.  The software is so complex, and occasionally a patch gets released that has unintended interactions.  One of the most common is that many line-of-business applications won't run with the latest version of Internet Explorer, and a blind update will cause problems.  

We get a lot of questions about this, and we thought it would be useful to explain the reasoning behind the generation of a patch policy.  As a general rule, we'll install all Microsoft Operating System, Office, and other critical patches after testing.  In general, critical patches will be tested within 24 hours, and lower priority patches will be tested within one to two weeks.  

Sometimes customers look at the Automatic Updates information from Microsoft and become alarmed that they are not getting automatic updates, and the reason is that we test patches first.  Our software monitors for patch compliance, and we are automatically notified when there is a problem and we can report back to users as needed.  Each month, we review the list of installed patches and have a person on our team who specifically reviews sites every day for compliance.

Additional patches that are installed include Apple operating system patches (for MACs), and also "third party" patches such as Adobe Acrobat, Flash, Reader, Safari, Mozilla Firefox, Java, among others.  As a general rule, we install hardware drivers on an as-needed basis as these are very specific to different systems and configurations.

The next most important feature of a patch strategy is to manage reboots.  Many security patches require reboots for installation, and some patches are sequential in that the next patch can't install before the first installation is complete.  For servers, we generally program a scheduled reboot after security patch installation at a scheduled time to minimize disruption to the office (generally in the midnight to 5am window).  In a few cases, some line-of-business applications are known to not gracefully start after a reboot, and instead we schedule attended reboots so that the server and applications can be checked after the reboot.  We'll call the office and schedule a specific time that works.

For desktops, we generally don't schedule forced reboots because of the potential disruption this can cause a user.  If someone forgets to close an important document, or they're working at an odd time, a scheduled reboot can be annoying.  Also, if a system is "asleep" during the scheduled time, the reboot will be attempted when the computer is "awake" again, and this can be annoying as well.  We monitor reports of systems in need of reboot, and typically communicate with the office to let them know who needs a reboot.  Also we ask all users to reboot at least weekly.  In a few cases, we have scheduled site-wide reboot times, and if we see consistent problems with reboot compliance, we will strongly recommend this.

Data security is critical for protecting your business, and security updates are the first line of defense.  Every month we get questions about security patches, and we hope this post has addressed some of your questions.  Let us know!

Thank you!  Thanks to everyone who sent in a customer survey card back in June!  As promised, in appreciation for getting cards back, we donated a big box of socks to Boston Healthcare for the Homeless:  122 pairs of socks were donated! 

In the survey, we asked clients: "How likely is it that you'd refer Ekaru to a colleague or a friend?"   The overall core values repeatedly cited in the responses are responsiveness, knowledge, and friendly service, and we were pleased with the overall response (80% of cards were a 9 or 10 and over ½ of the cards were a 10).  We want to keep improving our strengths, and of course we need to correct things when we fall short of expectations. 

The key areas we are working on strengthening are better communication and follow-through on open issues.  We’re working on call flow to get a faster response to support calls and a faster resolution including full root cause resolution.  We’re also working on team coverage so that more resources can help you get faster resolution.  Typically one person on the team works with you regularly and gets to know you very well, but to provide better coverage, we need other team members ready to step in seamlessly when needed. 

Another thing a few people have asked for is simplified billing.  Instead of hourly billing, we will also be offering fixed priced engineering support contracts based on the number of users at your site.  Call us if you’re interested in exploring this.

Quick Tip:  During a busy work day you may find your computer desktop cluttered with many open browser tabs and applications.  Need to quickly get to your uncluttered desktop?  Remember the Windows shortcut:  Windows Key + D.  Hit the Windows Key and then the "D" key and your desktop will appear.

If only this would magically work for the rest of a cluttered office!

Keep in mind that if your computer starts running slow, you probably need to actually close out the things you aren't actively using, but the shortcut is great for seeing the desktop fast.

Every day we review security patch compliance for all our clients with managed services coverage with us.  Often, we see systems with security patches pending reboots.  Many security patches require a reboot to install, and some security patches are sequential, so the next one won't install before the previous patch is complete.  This can result in a system that isn't fully protected.

Server reboots are handled on a scheduled basis, but with desktop reboots, often we leave it to the user to reboot at their convenience to reduce the risk of disruption or lost files that aren't saved.  As a general rule, we ask users to reboot (at least) weekly.

One thing we've noticed recently, is that many users think they're rebooting, but they're not. To clarify, here are the steps (in Windows 7).  

• Click on the "Start Button" (Windows colorful flag in the lower left hand corner).
• Click on the arrow next to "Shut Down", and select "Restart" from the list. This closes all programs, shuts down Windows, and then restarts Windows again