The Ekaru Technology Advisor  Vol 8-4  August 2008

Welcome to this month's issue! The Technology Advisor provides technology advice, strategy, tips and trends to help you manage and grow your business!

Gas prices got you down? Consider remote access.
Many users ask us what the best solution is for remote access to their office network. There are actually several great alternatives and we have clients using all of them:

VPN - This acronym stands for "Virtual Private Network". Users can access their office network remotely with encryption and user authentication. VPN enables a secure private connection over the public Internet, typically with a VPN client application or through a web browser. After connecting, it's just like you're on the network in the office.

Remote Web Workplace - If you have Microsoft Small Business Server, you already have a very powerful method to connect to your office remotely, without any special equipment: Remote Web Workplace. All you need is a web browser to be able to access email and shared calendars and control your machine just like you were sitting right in front of it.

pcAnywhere - pcAnywhere is a popular program from Symantec that enables a very simple interface to connect remotely to an office system. The software is purchased as a one time license for about $200 (Host and Remote).

GoToMyPC - GoToMyPC is an on-line hosted solution by Citrix. Connect remotely to your office system for $14.95/month. Software and service upgrades are included in the monthly fee.

LogMeIn - LogMeIn is another online remote solution which costs $12.95/month (there is also a free version with limited functionality). Note, if you are an Ekaru desktop care client, you already have a LogMeIn license bundled with your service. Just ask us for some simple instructions for how to use it!

Review your backup often!
If you have a very robust solution to back up your server, but users are keeping their important documents on their individual workstations, this is a big problem. Look for the gaps in your backup! There is no cookie-cutter solution that fits ALL businesses, but there are enough good choices available to find a solution that fits for your business. For workstations on the network, we recommend a My Documents re-direct or running backup software on the systems to save to the server (and then backup the server!) If you have many users with laptops that are often not in the building, you may want to consider implementing individual on-line backup, or consider a solution that will detect when the laptops are on site and available for backup.

It's also a good idea to have a discussion with employees or implement a company policy regarding using company computer storage resources for personal files (such as music or photos). If you have many users with large personal storage, this could wind up being expensive, or slowing down your backup significantly.

It's important to know where your critical files are, what the file version control is available, and how often they need to be backed up. Also, be aware that if your backup doesn't handle open files, the files that you use all the time may not be getting backed up at all (because they are always open!). This is particularly important to consider for your email and programs such as QuickBooks. Review your backup often!

Update on Windows XP Service Pack 3:
In May we sent out a warning against installing Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3), and several people have emailed us to ask if they can move forward with SP3 now. Back in May, there were reports of severe compatibility problems with certain systems resulting in endless reboot cycles. It turned out that the problem was traced to certain HP systems with AMD processors. Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) was released to manufacturing on April 21, 2008 and to the public via both the Microsoft Download Center and Windows Update on May 6, 2008. There were widespread reports of problems around this time, so we advised users NOT to install SP3. A few weeks later, Microsoft announced that they would put filters in place to make sure AMD-powered PCs susceptible to an "endless reboot" wouldn't receive SP3 from the Windows Update service. HP acknowledged the problem and announced they would issue a patch, and in late June Microsoft created a fix and added it to Windows Update. SP3 has now been released to Automatic Updates as of July 10. We are now installing SP3, but users are cautioned to make sure that if they have an HP System with and AMD processor, that they make sure they have the patches in place BEFORE installing SP3. Keep in mind, though, that there are risks with any upgrades and we typically advise against automatically installing updates. Overall, its safer to keep your system up to date, but don't do a major upgrade at a time when you absolutely can't afford down time!

Was this newsletter helpful to you? If so, forward it to a friend or colleague! Do you have suggestions for future newsletter topics or a particular question you'd like to see answered? Send us an email!. We want to write about what's important to you! Click here to read past issues.

   Enjoy Summer!

Sincerely,
Team Ekaru

Introductory Technology Assessment Over 250 local small businesses have chosen Ekaru to manage their computers and networks. We offer a free, no-obligation initial consultation to get started. We'll visit your office, review your network, and make recommendations. Call us at 978-692-4200 or email us to schedule a no-obligation assessment. If you know someone who could benefit from this offer, simply forward this email to them. Thank You!

           
  ©2007 Ekaru, LLC. All Rights Reserved.