Tech Tip: Updating Your "Legacy" Computer

It’s a pretty common occurrence among today’s contemporary industry to have antiquated (Legacy) machines still in service. You may have a computer that functions as an appliance for your business that drives machinery over Serial or has a piece of software that only operates on an old, no longer supported Operating System.

Generally, the reason businesses have these machines around despite the rest of the network being updated on a regular basis is that such transitions are problematic. Newer machines lack appropriate device interfaces, necessary OS for software packages to run, set up may be laborious/cost intensive and/or you simply never got around to it. Unfortunately, this style of non-proactive maintenance of critical systems greatly increases your exposure to loss. If the machine goes down and you can’t fix it, what’s your contingency plan? How will business be impacted and for how long?

One of the easiest ways to bring these machines up to 21^st century standards without having to start over is to virtualize the machine. Essentially, virtualization (which we’ve discussed before for other applications) is a computer within a computer.  Aside from offering decreased cost, easier backup, administration, maintenance, transition of systems and less energy use it can also be used to get these legacy system roles working on contemporary hardware.  This can greatly increase your business’s plasticity in the event of a failure and reduce the chances of failure occurring at all.

You can essentially ‘Copy’ an old computer and put it on a Host machine; a computer that ‘houses’ the virtual (Guest) computer. The availability of modern software solutions such as VMWare, VirtualBox and Microsoft’s Hyper-V mean there’s likely a solution available to suits your specific needs. Virtualization technology such Intel’s VT-D, features such as USB Passthrough, the ability to emulate Serial/Parallel commands, customizable virtual devices, etc. means that there are few environments that this doesn’t work. However, you MUST make the evaluation and transition while the current legacy solution still works, not after.

Of course there are some drawbacks. Generally, the abstraction involved in virtualization also means that there’s overhead for computations; you won’t be able to use the Host’s hardware’s performance to its full capacity. However, the host machine is typically many times faster than the machine you’re virtualizing for this purpose and the line between physical and virtual is diminishing at an exponential rate. There are also some instances such as the need for proprietary device/driver support that this solution won’t work due a limitation of hardware/software compatibility or other limitation.  

Employing the use of Virtualization if it fits the bill can save money and a lot of future headaches. Be sure to let us know if you’d like to discuss its applicability to your environment. 

Should You Upgrade to Windows 8?

With the release of Microsoft’s Windows 8 Consumer Preview, many people have now had their first look into the future of the world’s most widely used OS.  As a company that services both businesses and consumers, we have already been asked, should I upgrade to Microsoft’s latest and greatest once Windows 8 is officially released later this year? We downloaded and ran the consumer preview ourselves for review and the answer to that question is dependent on the user. 

There are several factors to consider before deciding to upgrade.  The first being what type of customer are you?  Are you a consumer or business?  In addition, how do you currently use your current OS?  Is it for work, play or a little of both?  Do you primarily use a desktop or do you have a laptop or netbook because you are always on the go?

Windows 8 is a significant leap from Microsoft’s previous operating systems.  Some say it is the biggest change since they moved from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95.  Taking into account the current environment where people own PC’s, tablets and smartphones, Microsoft looked to bridge these devices into a unified OS.  There are many elements of Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 mobile OS that is built into Windows 8.  Most notably, the Metro user interface with its live tile based system.  What Microsoft has done is address the power PC user and tablet user all at once.  For the first time, users will be able to choose between a touch screen interface and a power-user desktop platform that runs legacy apps such as Office.  There is also SkyDrive, Microsoft’s cloud-based storage system, which will enable apps to synchronize data across multiple devices.

For consumers, upgrading to Windows 8 could be an easy decision.  Many simply want to be at the forefront of technology.  For those that are looking to upgrade their current PC or laptop within the next year, this could be a perfect time to jump into Windows 8.  If you have been holding off on purchasing a tablet because you’ve been longing for a device that could be used for work and play, Windows 8 may be for you.

For businesses, the decision to upgrade is significantly trickier.  Are you ready to make the financial and time commitment to upgrade every desktop and laptop within your organization especially if you’ve recently upgraded to Windows 7?  Will the software you are currently running be supported in Windows 8?  Will the learning curve to get acclimated with Windows 8 impact the productivity of your employees? These are all questions you will have to heavily consider to make a decision that best benefits your business.

TCM has been running the Windows 8 consumer preview since it launched and we like the potential of Microsoft’s new OS, yet have some reservations with the OS as it sits now replacing the “standard” windows desktop that so many users are comfortable with.  As the release of the retail version draws closer, there will certainly be questions from many of you on whether you should upgrade or not.  As always, we will be here to help you make the right decision for your situation.

Social Media for Small Businesses - From Us to You

Small businesses are turning more and more to social media to stay connected to their customers both personally and professionally. The Chip Merchant is no exception! Recently, we’ve been working on boosting our social media presence on Facebook. Twitter, LinkedIn, and our blog. We’re excited to have the opportunity to keep in touch with our customers and can’t wait to provide you with more tech news, tips, and the chance to get to know us as a company. While social media may not be something we've covered before in our newsletters, as a tech company and a small business, we realize the importance of social networking to consumers and small businesses everywhere.

Here are some social media tips for you and your business, as well as a look at our own social media experience here at TCM.

Facebook: Like our page at http://www.facebook.com/thechipmerchant

We're a team of tech enthusiasts, so we like being up-to-date on the latest tech industry news.  Facebook is a fun opportunity for us to share that news with our customers and to connect with you on a personal level. When you see us on your newsfeed, we want to provide you with the best the Internet has to offer, including articles, videos, and relevant news. Be on the lookout for deals in the future, too! Like our page and like posts you think are interesting and helpful so we can continue to provide you with the information and content that YOU want.

Tip: Use Facebook Insights for your company page! This free analytics tool keeps track of how many people your posts reach and how many people engage with the content you provide. These metrics allow you to optimize your page and the kind of content you post by showing you which posts get clicked on most and what times of day are prime for more interaction!

Twitter: Follow us here: http://twitter.com/TheChipMerchant 

Twitter is a quick and easy way to reach out to a lot of people at once, share news, and start conversations. We retweet important news stories, share articles that are worth reading, and frequently check trending topics for techies so we don't miss a thing in the tech industry! Have a quick question or comment for us? Do you just want to say Hi? Twitter is the way to do it! Follow us and @mention us and we'll get back to you with 140 characters or less.

Tip: Tweet and mention other Twitter accounts! Retweeting and mentioning other Twitter users are great ways to get people tweeting to you and about you. 

LinkedIn: Follow us here: http://linkedin.com/company/the-chip-merchant

As a professional networking site, LinkedIn is becoming the go-to social media outlet for B2B companies. We are working on our company profile to share our products and services with LinkedIn users. We're also working on our personal profiles so you can get a sense of our team's expertise and what we all contribute to the company. Want to keep up-to-date with TCM's services? Follow our company page! And, if you've had success with any of our products and services, feel free to recommend us! 

Tip: For your company page, make use of the Products And Services tab and give descriptions of what your company offers. The Analytics tool is also handy for getting an idea of how well your page is doing in relation to the pages of similar companies. For your personal page, make sure your profile is 100% filled out and request valuable recommendations from colleagues and business partners to boost credibility for yourself and your company. Also, one of the best ways to receive recommendations is to give them! Don't be shy about singing the praises of an old co-worker or a business you've worked with in the past.

Blog Get the latest here: http://blog.thechipmerchant.com

We’ve had our blog for a while, and our Tech Tips are a monthly staple in our newsletters. We're working on stepping up our game to bring you more quality information for consumers and small businesses. Comment on our blog posts if you have something to add or if you want more clarification! Add us to your RSS feed so you won't miss a single post from us!

Tip: Tag or label your posts! Not only will it make your blog easier to navigate for people who want to learn more about your thoughts on certain subjects, but they can also get your blog to pop up more frequently in search results for those keywords on Google, Yahoo!, and Bing. 

Tech Tips – UPS Delivers Uptime

Uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) can save critical machines from losing power in the event of an outage.  They essentially operate like a laptop’s battery; when you pull a laptop’s power cord out of the machine while it’s running, the operation of the computer isn’t interrupted up to the limits of the battery capacity.

While they’re generally too cost and space prohibitive to have on every workstation on the network, having them with critical network components (such as servers, NAS units, firewall/routers, and modems) can help preserve some level of connectivity. This can be crucial for keeping phones up during outages, especially as the transition to VOIP based phones becomes more and more common in small businesses. It will also allow servers that are in the middle of backing up data to finish or at the very least terminate the operation properly, reducing your chances of database corruption and otherwise mitigating the consequences of technological down time. How a UPS might fit into your environment varies greatly depending on what you and your network do, so there’s no catchall application.

Of course as with any battery operated system, the length of time they can provide power is not unlimited. Along with planning for the impact of such outages, you’ll need to consider the draw of the equipment attached to it and how long it reasonably needs to be up. This will help you balance the return on investment potential with cost. Luckily, there are UPS’s of varying costs that can make sense for just about any budget.

Think about how you or your business works. To what extent would an outage affect your operation and what would be the consequences? Uninterruptible power supplies could be the solution for you. 

Tech Tips – Making Use of Solid State Drives (SSDs)

SSDs aren’t new, but with the recent spike in platter Hard Disk pricing due to flooding in Thailand they’ve been an increasingly common choice in our builds. Depending on your use of the machine, it may make sense for you too even as pricing on Hard Disks (HDDs) come down.

The main difference between HDDs and SSDs is what your data is written to and how. In Hard Disks, data is stored on rotating, disc shaped magnetic platters. A moveable arm moves the head to read/write to various sections of the platter, akin to moving the arm on an old school vinyl record player to the desired location of your favorite track in the old days

There are a couple of problems with this. Needing to move the arm to read/write the desired data takes time and you can only read/write to one area of the disk at once. If you have a big file, program or other data stored or written to different parts of the disk, your head will be seeking all over the place (see: Fragmentation) to access or write the requested information. The end result is you waiting longer for your computer to boot, your programs to launch and your projects to be saved to your hard drive.

SSDs offer a different way of reading and writing data. Instead of moving assemblies based on physically moving platters and heads you essentially have something like a memory card that you’d use in your cell phone or digital camera… just on steroids. A digital controller directs data to the various ‘sections’ of the non-volatile, nonmoving storage ‘chips.’ Since there are no moving parts there’s no physical lag as with a hard disk spindle and head. With modern SSDs, it’s possible to saturate SATA 3/6 Gbit/s with real work. In other words these drives may outperform or nearly outperform the capabilities of the computer it’s connected to. This is not altogether a bad thing. Often people's feeling that their computer is "slow" has a lot to do with the hard drive that's in that machine and it's having to move around to save/store/find data.

While the reliability of SSDs vs HDDs is subject to controversy and we won’t get into that here it should be noted that ANY data of any importance ALWAYS needs to be backed up. Theft, physical damage, accidental deletion, etc. are all real possibilities that can occur irrespective of the storage media and their inherent qualities.

Of course, with the good comes the bad. Currently, SSDs on a per capacity basis are nowhere near as cost effective as HDDs. While the gap is closing at ever increasing rates the technology is still far from a mainstream product, so volume and competition haven’t driven the prices down quite yet. However, for those of you who don’t need a lot of space (or have other places such as a NAS to store the bulk of data), or are willing to pay for that space to be as fast as possible SSDs offer some huge advantages that you should look into.

Tech Tips - Making the Best of DNS

DNS (Domain Name System) is a digital directory that translates mnemonic names such as URLs (Ex. http://thechipmerchant.com ) and Machine names (Ex. ‘Office-Workstation’) into computer usable IP Addresses. By design, it’s meant to be behind the scenes and make life easier; you don’t have to remember strings of numbers since it takes care of that for you.

While the purpose and functions of DNS are rudimentary, there are powerful ways to modify what it does to suit your computing:

·         Avoid ISP URL Redirection – Utilizing DNS records from someone other than your ISP for your Router/Domain Controller or configured on the Workstation will avoid a common but annoying ISP practice; ISPs frequently redirect mistyped or otherwise unresolvable addresses to a search page instead of failing like they’re supposed to. If DNS fails in the ‘standard’ way with a ‘can’t be found’ error your browser can be set to show no page at all or utilize a search engine of –YOUR – choosing. Some but not all ISPs allow you to disable this feature or have alternative DNS servers available to avoid this.

·         Content Filtering – Do you own a business wanting to maximize productivity or are a parent concerned about the browsing habits of children? Various DNS services exist that allow you to have control over what websites can be viewed (See limitations below). This can be a lot easier to set up and maintain than local software or policy solutions.

·         Security – Many DNS providers have built in detection of URLs known to be malicious and can shield your users from ever visiting the pages.

·         Monitoring – You can review the sites that are ‘looked up’ and take note of them manually or set criteria for automatic alerts.

That said it isn’t foolproof. Resources that can be accessed by IPs are generally still usable unless precluded by other policy, software or technical limitation.

For example, attempting to access http://youtube.com by IP address (Pinged  http://74.125.239.15  at time of writing) will send you to Google’s home page; both Google.com and youtube.com reside at the same potential IP(s). In order to figure out where you meant to go the server looks at the request (URL) for the page to figure out what to display; DNS can block this site effectively but would be poor at blocking Google; Google is the default destination when it doesn’t know what URL you’re looking for and connect by IP. Many websites have one website at the respective IP address and be fully usable with that information alone; it’ll be inconvenient to follow links and download content but not impossible.

You also have to be sure that workstation(s) cannot be configured to use an alternative DNS to circumvent what you put into the Domain Controller, Router or Adapter depending on your configuration. Taking note of the technical prowess and determination of the end users is a necessary evaluation for DNS applicability.

While not all DNS providers deliver all these features or may provide only some for free, those that can utilize the benefits should see if it meets their goals. 

- West

Section 179 Means Tax Deductions For Your Business

TCM would like to share information about Section 179 of the Internal Revenue Code, a tax code that allows a business to deduct the costs of long-term assets in the year they are purchased. We're excited to spread the word about Section 179 because of what it means for our business customers. With Section 179, businesses that invest in new or used hardware or software can write off 100% of those purchases for the year they bought it!

Section 179 only applies to the purchase of tangible personal property such as computer hardware and software. To take the deduction, you must use the item for business more than half of the time in the year you buy it. This means that if you buy an item (such as a computer) for personal use and then start using it in your business more than one year later, you cannot deduct it under Section 179.

According to the IRS, your purchased property must be one of the following types of property to qualify for the 179 deduction:

1. Tangible personal property (including machinery and equipment)
2. Other tangible property (except buildings and their structural components) used as:

             -An integral part of manufacturing, production, or extraction or of furnishing transportation, communications, electricity, gas, water, or sewage disposal services,
      -A research facility used in connection with any of the activities in (a) above, or
      -A facility used in connection with any of the activities in (a) for the bulk storage of fungible commodities. 

3. Single purpose agricultural (livestock) or horticultural structures.
4. Storage facilities (except buildings and their structural components) used in connection with distributing petroleum or any primary product of petroleum.
5. Off-the-shelf computer software.

The rest of that IRS article can be found here: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=213666,00.html

Section 179 could mean potential savings of several thousand dollars to your business. To take advantage of the Section 179 deduction this year, equipment must be purchased and put into use by 12/31/11.

 For more information about Section 179, visit http://www.section179.org/ .

Friday Tech Tips - Antivirus False Positives

We should all be taking security seriously. As we’ve mentioned before staying on top of security updates is critical as is maintaining an antivirus product. While you should always take the reports of the AV product seriously, sometimes they do miss the mark. They may mark files or processes as malicious when in fact they’re perfectly legitimate.

Heuristic scans can help provide protection against so called "zero day" viruses; threats released before the antivirus vendors can get a sample, prepare definitions files and deploy them to customers. It works by taking a look at a file’s code and noticing certain patterns that differentiate it from normal programs. However, because the detection methods rely on a set generic behavior rules to determine something is malicious, false positives are higher than explicit antivirus definitions; rules that are engineered to detect specific threats or otherwise well-known behaviors.

This is frequently the case with IT toolkits used to perform certain tasks. These applications may access or modify system files, establish remote connections, send data to/from the machine or otherwise do things that are very virus-like. Like with all tools whether or not it’s necessarily malicious depends on what it’s made for and after that how it’s used.

If you have a threat detected it pays to get a second opinion after the threat is quarantined. Services such as VirusTotal can scan files against 40+ scanning engines and current definitions files at once; if it’s only one engine/definition set that detects the file it may be a false positive or that vendor’s definitions are ahead of the others with a specific threat. You may try to send the file again after a day or two and see if anyone else detects it as malicious.

Once you’re sure a file is/is not malicious, you can best evaluate current practices to see if you’re doing all that needs to be done to secure yourself against threats.