Turbocharge Home or Office File Sharing and Backup With A NAS

General, Office IT, Office Network, , , ,
26
Mar 2014

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What a NAS typically looks like.

NAS (not to be confused with NOS) is an essential tool for sharing files, doing backups and many other common functions between computers in your home or office.  Network Attached Storage, or ‘NAS’, isn’t the first thing you will think of when you’re shopping around for a computer.  As your home or office PC’s, tablets and smartphones build up, the term NAS will likely come up somewhere.

How can you use a NAS for your Home or Office?

Once you have several computers in your home or office, you’ll realize that it’s an inefficient use of time to constantly duplicate files from one hard drive to the next just so you can access them from all your devices.  That’s where NAS come in.  It’s an external hard drive with a light operating system (OS) to help make ‘sharing’ easier.

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Another look at a different NAS model.

Most of us pull information directly from the cloud, or huge datacenters scattered all over the world, but the issue with this is many people are not yet connected to a high speed connection.  A typical image (i.e. JPG or PNG) will download in just a few seconds if you’re retrieving it from a server, but large files like HD videos will require several hours.  The proximity to a server and the connection quality become limiting factors when we want to share any type of digital content.

So instead of uploading huge video files to the cloud (i.e. DropBox) and then sharing them via this route, people on the same network can share information using a NAS.  The biggest benefit of having a NAS for your home or office network is that you don’t need to run a dedicated PC at all times for people to access files.  As we already pointed out, the NAS is a computer on its own, with the exception that it possess just enough horsepower to carry out what it’s intended for.

More features already built in

Most NAS devices also have built-in printer sharing, so a single household can have access to the printer’s feature at all time from any supported devices.

You may also notice that your computer has a ‘back-up’ feature, which allows you to restore or retrieve lost files should there be some sort of software complications down the line.  While this method is completely acceptable for most cases, people who are even more concerned about their data should find a secondary source to back up their files to, such as a NAS.

Lastly, NAS is also extremely useful for pulling up information on-the-go.  If configured correctly, a NAS can act like a server so any user can pull up whatever is stored on the server from any location with an internet connection.  Just keep in mind that once you’re out of range of your own network, how fast you can retrieve these files from the NAS will depend on the connection you’re currently using.

To learn how your office can benefit from a NAS device, contact your local IT support.

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Google Apps GMail vs. Your Webhost Email

Services, ,
16
Mar 2014

gmail-dash

Google didn’t get to where it is now if it offered only a search engine.  GMail, a member of the GApps family, is perhaps the crown jewel of all the services that Google has to offer.  So what makes Google’s email service more appealing than its competitors?  Why should a business move its email system to GMail instead of relying on services offered by the hosting company which already maintains its website? Below are some of the reasons why we think GMail is such an appealing service:

  1. Spam filter—Unwanted emails are perhaps the reasons why many of us dread checking our emails each morning.  Google has put a lot of effort into developing an extremely good spam filtering system that will send most (if not all) of the unwanted ad/scam/phishing content into the junk bin.  From time to time, one of these dubious emails will sneak past the spam filter, but at least you can instantly notice the bad egg if its among 20 or so legitimate emails you have in your box.
  2. Security—The first step to keeping your digital information safe is to create a good password for your account.  After you’ve done that, it’s up to Google to handle and store this information in a safe vault (not literally of course).  Google enforces secure transmission of your personal messages by encrypting them via the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol.
  3. Automatic sorting—This GMail feature was only recently added, but we have to admit it’s pretty awesome.  If you’re a heavy social media user, chances are your inbox is flooded with notifications from Twitter, Facebook and whatever else you’re into.  GMail sorts out the different types of emails into three tabs: A ‘Primary’ tab, which receives all your important emails, a ‘Social’ tab to store all your social media/networking content, and a ‘Promotion’ tab that contains some of the less spammy ads (deals from Amazon and such).
  4. Speed and uptime—If you’ve been using the internet every day for the last ten years or so, can you recall the number of times Google.com was down?  Maybe once or twice?  If the servers were ever down, we can’t recall it happening. For that exact reason, we can say we’re confident in how Google handles its datacenters so users can have access to all the services it offers 99.99% of the time.  Moreover, Google has invested heavily in its infrastructure to ensure that most of us can access things like GMail in a timely manner.  By timely, we mean broadband users can essentially pull up anything from their inbox in a blink of an eye.
  5. Capacity—There once was a time when most email services offered just a few MB of storage, but that ancient tradition has since been squashed by GMail’s 15GB of free space.  Most emails are just a few hundred KB in size, so just imagine how many emails you can save if you have 15GB.  You also have the option of sending emails with a 25MB attachment, and if you signed up for Drive (Google’s cloud storage solution) you can ‘attach’ a 10GB file.  The 10GB file won’t be directly sent to your recipient (imagine losing 2/3 of the inbox storage in just one email!) as the file is actually stored in Drive as a shared file.
  6. Accessing Google goodies from GMail dash—Lastly, if you’re a Google fanatic and use services like YouTube and Hangout, these services are readily available right from the dashboard.  Thus, there’s not need to manually type in the individual service URLs to get to these pages. What Google basically did was bookmarked most of the services it offers into the GMail dash so you don’t have to do it through your browser.

For small businesses (and even large ones), GMail is an indispensable tool.  One GMail account gives you access to a slew of other Google-derived applications.  Services such as Calendar, Hangout, Docs and Sites all sync with one account.  That means, you can easily access any of the documents or services you started via GApps under one handle.  The added benefit of being able to integrate personal or business domains (i.e. Janesflowershop.com) into the GMail system will greatly improve your workflow and information management. All the pros that we’ve listed above are either not offered via webhosting emails or are just too clunky to work.  For help moving your email to GApps, contact your local IT professional.

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Youtube ads serving up malicious code
Youtube ads serving up malicious code

Hackers Use YouTube Videos to Serve Up Malware Ads

Security, , , ,
12
Mar 2014

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Make sure you have your firewall up!

With over 1 billion users, YouTube is one of the most visited sites on the web, but its incredible popularity is also drawing in criminals and viruses.  Cyber criminals are always looking for new ways to exploit popular platforms, and YouTube is not an exception.

Recently, it was discovered that YouTube videos were serving up ads that contained the necessary precursors for an attacker to inject malware into a targeted machine.  According to a Bromium Labs, the cyber criminals were leveraging holes in systems running Java, and if that was the case a Banking Trojan belonging to the Caphaw family was dropped locally onto the user’s computer.  Another reason to keep your Java up to date.

Once a connection with the victim’s machine is established, the malware then tries to connect with domains which are likely based in Europe.

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It’s as easy as 1-2-3.

The YouTube malware ad was delivered in the following manner:

  1. User watches YouTube video
  2. User sees an appealing thumbnail embedded in and clicks on it to watch another video
  3. Once the thumbnail is clicked, the machine opens up the malware ad in the background (served by Google Ads)
  4. Malware then redirects the user to ‘foulpapers.com’
  5. The malicious website then serves up iFrames with the aecua.nl domain
  6. Aecua.nl then detects the system’s Java version and drops the malware onto the victim’s machine

Casual YouTubers may never even notice that their machine was the target of such an attack.  Cyber criminals will often put some work into promoting their YouTube videos to make them seem legitimate and worth watching.  A video containing such exploits may contain thousands or even hundreds of views, so it is only after the damage is done that one will notice his machine is infected.

As always, we advise everyone to take the necessary precautions to prevent such an attack by installing and updating their antivirus software.  It is also recommended that people disable Java unless it is absolutely necessary for running verified/safe services and applications.

For further help keeping your office or home computers secure against such attacks, contact our IT support services.

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Simplifying Small Business IT With Google Apps

Office IT, Services, , , , , , ,
12
Mar 2014

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Access your documents from anywhere.

Just because you have a ‘website’ it doesn’t mean you or your organization is ready to start dealing with internet matters.  Depending on where you’re going with your business, you have to decide which tools will suit your needs most.  There are many supposed ‘all-in-one’ packages out there, but no one specific product will likely meet or even come close to fulfilling your demands.

That said, if you’re searching for a cloud suite to conduct and collaborate on ‘general’ internet matters, Google Apps for Business is a wonderful tool.  Unlike niche-specific tools like customer relationship management (CRM) and content management systems (CMS), GApps provide you with most of the tools you would need to complete and collaborate on various tasks.

The Must-Have Emailing System

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GMail from Google.

Let’s start with email.  When it comes to brand building and recognition, you should have your own ‘domain’, which (in this instance) is something like www.mybusiness.com.  Along with the domain name, you’ll also likely want to send out emails with a @mybusiness.com address.  The hosting service you’ve chosen may provide you with an email system, but trust us when we say that these systems are simply just not as robust as the one built by Google.  If you’re using a @gmail email address, you’re using one of the products GApps offer.  From spam filtering to on-point subject searches, the Google-based emailing system is as powerful as you can get without getting your hands dirty.  Once you’ve signed up for the GApps service, you’ll be able to integrate your business domain into Gmail and send out emails from the Google-built system.

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Browser-based productivity apps that you can share and edit in real-time.

Collaboration In Real-Time

For creating documents, there are GApps products like Docs, Sheets and Slides for you to use—these are the cloud equivalent to Microsoft’s Word, Excel and PowerPoint.  Since the GApps document apps are based in the cloud, all your work will be saved onto Google’s server so you can access them whenever and wherever you want.  The documents also have built in ‘sharing’ features so that you and/or you employees can share and collaborate with each other without needing to constantly email drafts back-and-forth.  Moreover, authorized users of any shared documents will be able to monitor and edit (if given permission) them in real-time.

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Cross-platform Calendar app allows your employees to sync all their activities with each other.

Streamlining and keeping all your employees and partners up-to-date is also covered via Calendar.  Despite all the technological advancements we’ve experienced in the last decade or so, a calendar is still exactly just that.  Unlike the paper pocket reminder you have stashed away in your desk drawer, cloud-based calendar programs provide much more flexibility.  Calendar from GApps gives you the ability to sync all your planned activities with your employees.  This is especially beneficial if you’re all on time crunches and in need of a tool that will display when exactly everyone will be available.

Heavy In Features But Lighter Than A Cloud

Of course these cloud services will also require some sort of cloud storage, so Google is offering 30GB per user at a price of $5 per month.  Should a person need more than 30GB, the administrator of the account can add 20GB to Drive for $4.  Your information is automatically encrypted with Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) security technology, so the burden of having to build virtual private networks from the ground up is negated.  Google guarantees that their servers will be up 24x7x365, which means you won’t have to ever worry about not being able to access your data—provided you have an internet connection.

We can’t forget to mention that GApps is a cross-platform service, meaning you can access/create documents and generate new information on virtually any devices.  Many businesses have adopted the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) model, and chances are your employees have more than just iPhones in their pockets.  GApps is accessible on Android, iPhone, Blackberry, Windows Phone and any phone or mobile device that supports a modern browser.  Keep in mind that a modern browser is basically one that’s built for a smartphone, so a flip-phone from 10 years ago will likely not support GApps.

Well Done or Medium Rare?

GApps for Business isn’t, as we already mentioned, a tool that will provide you with everything you need to run your business from a workstation.  Moreover, since there are so many ‘separate’ tools available, you need to decide which apps will offer the most return on your time spent using them.  The GApps ‘system’ itself is like a raw piece of prime cut steak, and you get to decide how you want to have it done.  Essentially, the only con when it comes to cooking a delicious GApps system is the time spent to figure out what you’re in the mood for, and for some this part of the thought process is the ‘make-it’ or ‘break-it’ portion.

A lot of work has to go into information management and GApps simplifies a lot of these areas.  The apps themselves are simple enough to use, but with choices come confusion.  How will you put all of it together?  That’s why we’re here, send us an email or give us a call, we’ll be more than happy to guide you through the GApps process.

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