Archive for May, 2009
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…