As McCoy would say, “He’s dead Jim”
Yesterday we discussed how mobile computing platforms will soon leave the desktop PC dead and buried (well, hopefully recycled, not buried). The server is also fading in importance, but at the same time is gaining importance. How can this be? Server roles are moving into the cloud, but, even in the cloud, something has to run the applications and host the data.
VMWare, Microsoft, Oracle, Sun, IBM, and a host of other players are all touting the advantages of virtualization. Slicing up a server into a bunch of smaller ”virtual” servers that can be moved from physical box to physical box (often on the fly) provides some compelling advantages over racks and racks of underutilized hardware.
Most virtualization is being done at the enterprise level, on large servers. But the growth market for virtualization is the SMB space (less than 100 users) where businesses have traditionally used Microsoft’s Small Business Server(SBS). The traditional roll of SBS is to host a website, centrally store files, and provide email services.
Lets take a look at those areas and see how the cloud will impact the SMB Server market.
Web hosting
It doesn’t make much sense to host your website on premises any more. There are clear cost savings (both hard and soft) by moving your website to a hosted solution. Often the hosting companies will include periodic updates for free. Their data centers will have up-times much higher than most SMB’s can claim. There are host of value added services (Microsoft Sharepoint, SEO, Database drive pages, etc.) these hosting companies provide as well.
Central file storage
Numerous companies offering cloud based file hosting/sync services (Microsoft Skydrive, Dropbox, etc.). The beauty of these services is your data is backed up automatically in the cloud. So you have anywhere access and backup. Synchronization technologies will help ensure that you have local access to the data even when the cloud is unavailable.
Email services
Unless your an organization with more than about 30 people, hosting Exchange/email locally is just not a prudent decision. Managing the server, the users, the spam, the updates, etc. is just not a cost effective way to deliver email services. Hosted exchange is quickly becoming a commodity item that provides all the collaboration and robust mobile device support for a reasonable price. Oh, and backups are taken care assuming you have a reputable provider.
Where does this leave the traditional SBS server for the SMB market? Might as well dress it in a red shirt, ‘cuz it’s only a mater of time before McCoy delivers his all-too-familiar line.
The PC is dead. Born: 1981, Died: 2009(ish)
The PC is dead. That beige or black box under your desk that runs your email/web access will follow 8-track, mimeographs, and typewriters to the graveyard of dead technology, and sooner than most people are ready to admit.
Already we get our email on our Smartphones and Netbooks. The Netbook is now 20% of the mobile computing platform. At the same time PC sales are down, mobile computing device sales are up. Even industry stalwart Apple has seen a decline in desktop PC sales while their sales of iPhones has increased.
The world is going mobile and there isn’t a place in it for a 25 lb. box that adds no value over a Netbook, Notebook, or Smartphone. As data moves into the cloud, synchronization technologies will allow people to have their data delivered anytime, anywhere. The challenge of cloud-sync will be solved so that even when the cloud is not available, you will have access to your data. Any changes made when the cloud is not available will be seamlessly synced when you reconnect.
We are starting to see Netbooks being sold by major cell carriers. It won’t be long before your Internet, mobile phone, and computing device are all delivered by your mobile carrier. You’ll pay a flat fee and all your voice, messaging, and data services will be delivered via mobile devices. This transition has already begun for the consumer makert (fixed: market) and its only a matter of time before it begins to affect the small business owner as well…
Tomorrow we’ll talk about how this impacts the small business owner…the death of the Server…
Firewalls explained…
Did you know that when your computer is connected to the Internet, it has over 131,000 ‘ports’ that a hacker could connect to? These ports are like doors in a building and if they aren’t protected properly, then someone could sneak in without you noticing. If the hacker is not installing a virus, they can still do some serious damage without alerting your security software, including transmitting your personal information.
So how do you watch all of these doorways to your information? You need a firewall!
Fortigate Firewall
In construction terms a firewall is a fire-resistant wall that subdivides a building to stop the spread of fire from one area to another. In computer terms, we need to stop communications between your computer and others on the Internet. A total block of all Internet communication would be useless though, so you need a way of selecting which type of communications you want to receive. For this, computer firewalls have rules and filters much like construction firewalls have access doors.
Where do I put this firewall?
Firewalls can be on a hardware box (a separate unit or part of your Internet modem or router) or can be software installed on your computer. Most popular security software packages also include a firewall. A hardware firewall is great for providing a barrier before your computer is even reached and will also mean that your computer doesn’t have to spend its precious resources on running the firewall software. It also reduces the risk of the firewall itself being compromised, as some viruses can try and disable security software features that are running on your computer. The downside is that a hardware-based firewall can be more expensive and not as easy to configure and maintain if you are unsure of how to use them.
If Microsoft gives me a firewall, do I need another one?
The Windows Firewall (on Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Vista) only examines inbound communications coming into your computer from the Internet. If your computer becomes infected (e.g. if you install some free software that turns out to have a hidden nasty) then your outbound communication to other computers on the Internet won’t be examined or filtered. This can turn your computer into a source of infection, impacting your security and Internet connection. It’s also not recommended that you run more than one software firewall as this uses more processing power and can cause conflicts, so if your security software includes a firewall, turn off the Windows Firewall.
If I have a secure wireless connection do l need a firewall?
A wireless connection is another way to get onto the Internet and wireless security controls who can use that connection. This is similar to allowing who can plug into your phone line. Once you are connected, your 131,000+ ports are still open to hackers, so you still need a firewall. A firewall may be included on your wireless router but it pays to check.
Why does it keep on giving me messages?
If you are doing something specific (like installing new software or troubleshooting a connection problem) you may need to temporarily disable your firewall. Software firewalls may alert you that a connection has been attempted and blocked and may ask if you wish to allow that kind of connection in the future. In general, if you are doing something new which would probably involve a connection to the Internet, you can allow the connection - either ‘this time only’ or for all future connection attempts. If in doubt, block it, as you can always allow it later if you find that it is needed.
Firewalls provide an enhanced level of security that has now become the minimum standard to protect your computer.
Where is your cloud?
Everybody is talking about the cloud. Google Docs, Zoho, Microsoft Office Small Business, and the list goes on. The world it seems is moving to the central storage model where your data is stored on a server somewhere on the interweb and you access whenever, wherever you need it. That is, as long as the tubes don’t break.
I love the cloud concept, but you should review your data requirements before jumping into the cloud. Things to consider:
How long can I go without my data? (for when the clouds are not available)
Does the service allow for local syncing? (so I can get access to some of my data even without the cloud)
How stable is the cloud provider? (will they still exit in in 2 years when cloud providers are commodities)
How do I get my data out if I want to move to another cloud? (am I locked into this one provider)
We use several clouds in our business. We have our email hosted via our Hosted Exchange provider, our CRM system is Autotask, our accounting system is Quickbooks run via VMWare in our office that is available via LogMeIn to both our internal staff and our external accounting folks. So, we have opted for both a local and remote cloud. We decided that we wanted the full functionality of Quickbooks (not the watered down Quickbooks Online), but, we wanted the covenience of being able to access it whenever and wherever we needed it, and to share it with our external financial folks.
Think about how and who you want to access your data and use that to drive your cloud migration…
A Desktop that acts like, well, like a desktop…
We are all familiar with the traditional 2-D desktop interface of our PCs. Odd that we use the term desktop to describe something that doesn’t really emulate a traditional desktop.
Check out BumpTop’s alternative approach to desktop management. BumpTop has re-created the physical desktop experience and applied it to our virtual desktops.
Check out the video below…they have a free and paid version and it works with all major releases of Windows (OSX and Linux in development)…
Windows 7…the Vista (and XP) Killer…
I will spare the bashing of Vista. Suffice to say it was released too early, on underpowered hardware, and with the press looking for blood. 2+ years later and we are looking at the next release of Windows…Windows 7.
I have been testing Windows 7 for several months now and the result of my testing is that I have converted my primary business PC over to Windows 7 for 100% of my work. It is faster than Vista (and feels faster than XP at some things), more stable than either Vista or XP, and gosh-darn prettier than any previous version of Windows. This is the version of Windows that people will actually *want* to run, not just because they have to, but because they really want to take advantage of the features.
Details on all the features can be found on Paul Thurrot’s great Windows site.
Nobody knows for sure when this latest release of Windows will ship, well, nobody outside of Microsoft. Based on what I have read and my experiences so far, it’s ready now. Windows 7 is in better shape now, in beta, than either Vista or XP was when they where released as shipping products.
Most rumors indicate a late Q3 early Q4 ship date to capitalize on the 2009 holiday season.
Simplify your Outlook email filing…
…with SimplyFile. Along with Xobni (see previous post), I use SimplyFile to help manage the constant flow of email. SimplyFile helps you file Outlook emails into folders automatically. It learns where items are typically filed and then offers to file them with a single click.
Another excellent feature of SimplyFile is appointment scheduling. Say you receive an email and you need to create a meeting based on the contents of the email. A single click one the SimplyFile toolbar will open a new meeting dialogue, include the original email and also invite the email sender. An excellent tool for email management. More info on SimplyFile here: http://www.techhit.com/SimplyFile/
Warp speed…
One of our customers sent me this video link and it was so compelling, I had to share it with you all:
Its a crazy tech world out there…don’t forget to turn off the PC and read a book every once in a while 
-roy
Zombies are bad, XOBNI is GOOD!
Zombie bad, Xobni good.
This is for those folks who use Outlook to manage their email, contacts and calendar, and, like me, don’t organize it as well as we should. XOBNI is a free utility that manages Outlook in a way that just makes sense.
Here are some features:
- Fast email search
- Threaded conversations
- Attachment history
- Phone #’s extracted from emails
- Navigate email by person/conversation
Lets review each quickly just to clear any confusion:
Fast Email Search: It is fast, accurate. Nuff said
Threaded conversations: Ever want to find the 4th email in a trail of a dozen emails you have had on a single topic with someone? Well, you can follow the conversation thread easily with Xobni and drill into the one you want easily.
Attachment history: You need that PDF that so-and-so sent you last friday. Just search for so-and-so, and under the results will be every attachment they sent you, with the date. One of the best features!
Phone #’s extracted from emails: This means that even if the contact isn’t in your Contacts database, Xobni will find the phone #’s of contacts from within their email signature and display them under their profile. Really nice for one-off email contacts, etc.
Navigate email by person/converstaion: You can find all emails from a certain contact, and then follow conversations you have had with that contact over time.
At this time of year, beware of Zombies, but don’t fear the XOBNI
Don’t backup your data….
Everyone knows they should backup their data. Why is it then, at Computer Troubleshooters, we spend an inordinate amount of time recovering data for people? Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt…
Since everyone knows you should backup your data, I’m not going to bang the “backup” drum any more. I’ll instead talk about the right way to protect your data. Basically there are 2 ways to back up your data, a traditional backup (save a copy to a safe place) and an archive (a series of backup files).
Think of a backup as single photo and an archive as a movie. With a backup you can get to a very specific moment in time. That photo of you at the party with the lampshade on your head. Imagine this is the only photo of you available. Is it accurate? Does it represent YOU?
Well, it is accurate in that it is you at that moment in time, but it may not be the photo you want people to remember you by.
Imagine you had a movie of you at the same party…you’re happy, you’re smiling, you’re having a good time, then, your wearing the lampshade and the movie ends. You can rewind to the points you like and skip the points you don’t like. This is an archive of you at the party.
Ok…so we have two ways of representing you at the party. Now, what if we want to show someone YOU having fun at the party. If all you have is a single backup, your stuck with the lampshade photo. But, if you have the archive, you can find a variety of happy moments (with or without the lampshade).
Having a backup, a single copy of a file at a single point in time, is better than nothing. But, what if you want to see a previous version of that file, to go back in time to an earlier edit; you can’t. You only have that single backup file.
An archive is a series of backups, taken over time, that let you rewind and fast forward to any point in time. Lets try a real world example (sorry, no more parties).
Tuesday morning, someone accidently erases your cost tracking spreadsheet. The system is backed up Tuesday night, and you come in Wednesday, and voila, no spreadsheet. You have a backup, but its after the file was deleted, you have nothing to restore. You have a backup, but it doesn’t help.
If you had an archive, where you have a series of backups over time, you could rewind to the last known good backup that included the spreadsheet and restore it. This is why you need an archive, and not just a backup.
When you create your backup strategy, ensure you include archiving procedures to allow for increased data protection flexibility. Many backup tools and software allow for archiving. We use products from Storagecraft, Carbonite, and Mozy Pro which all provide archiving as part of their feature set.