What Are Your 3 Office Printing Options?

Office IT, ,
14
Apr 2015

Printing

It is essential to have a working printer in an office of any size. Here are 3 ways to connect printers as well as their advantages and disadvantages.

Depending on how many staff you have working at your office and the printing requirements needed, you’ll want the most efficient setup available for them. Below are 3 office printing options for you to consider:

1 – Local printer shared over a networkPrinters-HP-OJ-4500-DESKTOP-ALL-IN-ONE-PRINTER-1

Advantages–

  • Local printers are relatively cheap to purchase, prices can vary, however the cheapest you can buy new can range from $35-40 or more.
  • They are very straightforward to set up.
  • They fit easily onto a desktop.
  • Suitable for a small team or office to use.

Disadvantages–

  • In order for the shared printer to work, the computer hosting the device needs to be online over the network so that other users can print to it.
  • Not suitable for large offices, where hundreds of print jobs need to be processed daily.
  • Most cheap desktop printers that are set up as a shared printer tend to print slower, producing less printed pages per minute than, say, a heavy duty laser jet printer.

2 – Network printer connected over Wi-Fi

Dell wireless printer-p713w-1

Advantages-

  • Moderately priced, prices can range from $100 upwards for a cheaper end laser jet printer.
  • As long as the printer is connected and online, everyone can use the printer.
  • Suitable for medium to large offices who need access to a heavy duty printer such as a laser jet.

Disadvantages-

  • A little more complicated to set up, this usually requires an IT administrator to configure.
  • This setup depends heavily on a wireless connection; therefore the quality of Wi-Fi is essential for this to work efficiently.
  • The distance between the printer to the router is also essential. The bigger the distance, the weaker the connection will be. For instance, the router being too far away from the printer could mean lack of Wi-Fi signal for there to even be a connection. You’ll also need to assess anything that may disrupt Wi-Fi signals, such as the use of microwaves in eating areas nearby.

 

3-Hard wired network printer connected with Ethernet26754_00_1000x1000

 

Advantages-

  • Like the Wi-Fi printers, hard wired network ones that are able to connect via Ethernet are also moderately priced.
  • Suitable for medium to large offices that also require a heavy duty printer or even a multi-functional one with scanning capabilities.
  • A more stable connection compared to Wi-Fi, making it the most reliable solution of them all as far as shared network printing goes.
  • Anyone on the network can connect to the printer without having to rely on it being on a single PC.

Disadvantages-

  • The inevitable use of cables, but can be tidied away with a cable tidy accessory.
  • Even Ethernet printers need to be set up by an IT administrator to allow it to reside on the network and make it available for all to use.
  • As this setup will likely use a heavy duty printer, it’ll also need its own space in the office.

As you can see, the best solution for a small office (or even for a home-based office) is to have a local printer shared over the network. On the other hand, if reliable is important for users at all times within a medium to large sized office, a hard-wired network printer is a much better choice.

For more ways to optimize your printer network setup or network infrastructure, contact your local IT professionals.

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Internet as a Utility: What Does This Mean For You?

Network, ,
09
Apr 2015

The internet has recently been classified as a utility by the FCC. Read our article here to find out what this means for you and your business.

As of February 26, 2015, the Federal Communications Commission ruled to classify broadband internet as a utility. This is a landmark achievement for individuals and groups supporting net neutrality or the movement to ensure the internet remains free and open to the public.

According to FCC Chairman, Tom Wheeler, the decision was needed to protect innovators and consumers preserving the internet’s role as the “core of free expression and democratic principles”. The two other commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Mignon Cyburn who voted in favor of the decision are also supporters of net neutrality. Cyburn cited the important role broadband internet plays for low-income families as their only opportunity to get access to the internet. Other notable supporters of the net neutrality include Google, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Netflix, and President Barack Obama.

But not all the parties are happy with the ruling. Internet service providers (ISPs) such as Verizon are expected to sue the FCC and make a court appeal on its recent policy decision. Verizon claims that instead of making the internet free, it’s actually putting the network under stricter government control. Instead of price reductions to internet services, it will likely help promote the emergence of higher or new taxes since the new ruling can discourage the entry of new ISPs that would ensure strong competition.

What does this mean to personal or home broadband users?

FCC_Chairman_Tom_Wheeler

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. Credit FastCompan.com

 

How will this new FCC ruling affect ordinary broadband users in the United States?

  • Better and wider access. Once a product or service is classified as a utility, the government is recognizing that it has become an essential part of daily living similar to water and electricity. This means having broadband internet is already a right for the public including those living in remote areas.
  • No more blocked content. Some web pages and content, even if they are lawful, are blocked due to geo-targeting or marketing only to certain locations. The new ruling prohibits unlawful blocking of content.
  • Eliminating the data capping problem. Perhaps, the most significant effect of the FCC ruling is the elimination of data capping concerns. If you are using broadband or wireless internet, you certainly have experienced slower and even hampered internet connection even if your internet provider has promised an unlimited plan or higher speeds. Have you also noticed that wired internet is faster than broadband internet? It’s not really about signal or connection but the speed throttling practices of ISPs.

How about websites and corporate users?

This is certainly good news for website owners and corporate users of broadband internet or the internet in general. The new ruling will eliminate the existing paid prioritization or pay-to-play fast scheme of ISPs. For websites and companies who need massive bandwidth and speeds like Netflix, they often need to pay more to ISPs just to ensure their viewers can experience uninterrupted media streaming.

Additionally, the FCC classification will improve internet media competition. New ventures won’t be discouraged to spend more just to gain faster speeds. This will eventually result in expanded internet use and provide further media options to the public.

It’s important to note that the FCC doesn’t plan to meddle with each ISP’s pricing scheme and engineering decisions.

For more information on how the FCC’s ruling can impact your business and operations, contact your local IT professionals.

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Does Your Office Need a Windows Server Domain Controller?

Network, ,
30
Mar 2015

Server_Domain_Controller

Find out if your office really needs a Windows server domain controller. Here’s what you need to know to help you decide what is best for your business.

What are domains?

To understand the need for domain controllers, let’s first look at what a domain is.

computer_network

Domains relate to any given network that hosts a large number of computers and devices. When a business uses Windows domains, this usually is to help manage a large network. For instance schools, large businesses, hospitals and government institutions will all have a domain that defines their large network.

The role of a domain controller

Now that we’ve looked at what constitutes a domain; we can relate the use of domain controllers.

  • Just as the name suggests, a domain controller is a role that network administrators assign to a server to help them manage computers and the network. The advantage of having domain controllers in a network pertains to the ease that administrators can enjoy when managing all the computers from one single point.
  • A typical domain will be made up by a large number of computers within the local network. However, it is possible for computers to join the domain via an Internet connection or through a Virtual Private Network ( VPN) connection.
  • Network administrators are then able to manage portable devices that connect to the network externally. This is useful for remote workers and people who need to work from home, as well as students who need to access study material.
  • Domain controllers are also used to authenticate user login sessions. Its role is to manage user accounts and passwords, which allows for users to log onto any computer with the same credentials within the domain.
  • Domain controllers also allow network administrators to assign and edit group policies which can be deployed out to the computers on the domain. Any policies pushed out from the Domain controller will override any individual computer policy set up by the user.
  • This allows for much more control over a network, where computers are locked down. For instance, a group policy can specify for all computers to display the same corporate wallpaper. This will add many restrictions to users on the domain from making any system changes.

When a Domain Controller is needed

There are only a couple of hard technical requirements to needing a domain controller:

  • Managing many different users for logins and various user access rights to shared resources over the network such as printers or shared drives.
  • If you have more than 25 computers accessing a resource on the network such as a shared drive or application on a server.

If a business doesn’t need to meet these requirements, and your setup is much simpler, then it’s best not to have a domain controller.  When a domain controller goes offline, this will create a period of business downtime, therefor it’s better to forgo this risk and added layer of complexity.

When a Domain Controller isn’t required

  • You have a simple home or office network.
  • All access to business email and file sharing is carried out through the cloud. For instance, the use of Gmail for email or Dropbox for file sharing.
  • Your office is phasing out Window PCs and uses Macs or other devices instead. LDAP services can still be used to authenticate Linux and Mac computers as well as other devices.
  • Looking for more flexibility in a directory that doesn’t limited a domain to a physical setup. A service known as DaaS (Directory as a Service) allows for a centralized  cloud-based directory that exists to securely authenticate users and assists with device management.
  • Access to certain folders on the network needs to be restricted to certain users, however this can be accomplished with a NAS device.

Here is a list of top selling servers on Amazon.

For more ways to simplify and secure your office networks, contact your local IT professionals.

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What is Google Fiber
What is Google Fiber

What is Google Fiber?

Office Network, ,
02
Feb 2015

What is Google Fiber

Google Fiber is a new Gigabit Internet provider that could be coming to your area. What is Google Fiber and what should you know to be ready?

Will Google have to step on anyone’s toes to roll out such service and what impact can Google Fiber have on businesses and private users? Before we delve into all of this, let’s first understand what Google Fiber is.

What is Google Fiber?

Google is expanding their service portfolio to provide fast Internet to the market and become an established Internet Service Provider (ISP), in hopes of joining the ranks of their competitors AT&T, Comcast and others.
Google is also pushing out the boat by claiming to provide 100 times faster internet speed than other ISPs, with Gigabit (1000 Mbps) download speed. Google Fiber also offers 1TB Cloud storage and TV packages, in addition to their Internet service, to make the plan more appealing and practical to their potential customers.

With Google Fiber, businesses and private users would benefit by having:

The Roadblocks for Google Fiber

Running_utility_lines_fiber

Google is looking to roll out their Google Fiber services across the United States, and have already planned to include metropolitan areas such as San Antonio, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Jose, Portland, Nashville, Atlanta, Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham.

Since this covers a wide geographic area with different topology to contend with, Google needs to be able to access the utilities infrastructure in order to install the service, which has become their main obstacle. Therefore in efforts to overcome this obstacle, Google has filed a request to reclassify ISPs under Title II of the Telecommunications Act to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). If reclassification is granted by FCC, then Google will be able to run their Fiber installation on the same poles their competitors currently use to provide broadband.

This would be a huge victory for Google, but a nightmare for Comcast, AT&T and other broadband providers as they’ll need to adapt to newer regulations and give up a share of the market.

If Google has Title II rejected by the FCC to use the already established infrastructure, this would hinder Google Fiber’s roll out across the country as they’d need to literally build around it, making it even more costly business venture for them.

Where is Google Fiber Active?

At present, you’ll find Google Fiber rolled out and live in the area of :

  • Austin,
  • Kansas City
  • Provo

Google provides a website to check if your address is serviceable by Google Fiber.

If Google is granted Title II by the FCC, that’d make the infrastructure available to move the service quickly across to other cities and areas.

For more ways to speed up your office network to ensure business continuity, contact your local IT professionals.

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Malware holding data ransom
Malware holding data ransom

Timeline of Sony Cyber Attack

Uncategorized, ,
20
Jan 2015

Malware holding data ransom

The Sony data breach in late 2014 has caused embarrassment towards their own top executives and employees. Here is a timeline of the Sony hacking events.

Here’s the timeline of the 2014 Sony Pictures Cyber-attacks:

November 24

Sony Pictures Headquarters

Early morning at Sony Pictures Entertainment Headquarters, based in Culver City, an image of a skull with long skeletal fingers simultaneously appeared on all employee’s computer screens. The image contained a threatening message saying, “This is just a beginning. We’ve obtained all your internal data.” This was noted to be the first sign of the digital break-in.

November 25

Computers at Sony headquarters in Culver City and overseas remain shut down.  The spokesperson of Sony Pictures Entertainment said that they were investigating an IT matter. However, several news organizations report that Sony has suffered a digital security breach.

November 26

Sony employees continue working even without computers and other digital technologies, such as voicemails and emails.

November 27

Mr_Turner_Promo_Poster

Five Sony films were leaked online and made available on on-line file-sharing hubs. Four of the five films are yet to be released. Included in the films are Brad Pitt’s Fury, Annie, Still Alice, Mr. Turner, and To Write Love on her Arms.

November 28

Initial reports surface that Sony Pictures Entertainment suspects North Korea being the one responsible for the attack. Sony beleives that the attack is in retaliation for the film “The Interview”. The story is about a plot to assassinate the North Korean dictator.

November 29

Computer_Turned_off

Sony’s computers are still shut down.

November 30

The speculation and reports indicate that North Korea is behind the cyber-attack.

December 1

Multiple confidential Sony documents were leaked including the pre-bonus salaries of Sony’s executives. The information also includes salary details of more than 60,000 Sony employees. Executive figures are published in many sites, including Deadline. Sony works with the FBI to investigate the attack.

December 2

A company-wide alert was delivered to employees about the attack, which was issued by Sony’s chiefs Amy Pascal and Michael Lynton.

December 3

Critical information has been extracted from a big dump of stolen data which included a large list of account credentials, YouTube authentication credentials, UPS account details, all in plain text. To add to this, it also included a collection of scathing critiques of Adam Sandler movies along with files containing information on passports and visas of crew and cast members who have worked on Sony films. Some of this confidential information is published on online sites, including a 25-page list of workplace complaints of Sony employees.

Sony stated that the investigation is on-going.

December 4

FBI_Seal

A Flash warning from the FBI is made regarding the malware attack, named Destover Backdoor, and alerted all large American security departments.

Press reports also stated that some cyber-security experts found out some significant similarities between the codes used in the cyber-attack of South Korean companies and government agencies, which were also blamed on North Korea and the codes used in the Sony attack.

December 5

The Sony attackers who are claiming to be the “Guardians of Peace” sent Sony employees an e-mail threating them that they will hurt their families if they don’t sign a statement disclaiming the company.

December 7

Further data leaks occur involving the financial details from Sony Pictures. According to Bloomberg, the leak traces back to a hotel in Thailand where an executive from Sony was lodging there at the time.

North Korea praised the attack by calling it a “righteous deed” and denied any involvement in the attack.

December 8

More leaks, which were uploaded to pastebin, were added but were soon taken down. This information illustrated details of email archives belonging to two executives; the President of Sony pictures and his co-chairman, Steve Mosko. This leak was believed to have not been North Korea; it most likely came from a disgruntled employee group.

December 10

The_Pirate_Bay

More legitimate leaks are disclosed, this time pertaining to details of tracking film piracy activities. Such activities include showing Sony’s internal anti-piracy procedures and details regarding the five ISP (Internet Service Provider) giants, used to monitor illegal downloads.

December 12

News reports from Buzzfeed, Bloomberg News, and Gawker stated that stolen documents from Sony were released, which included the medical records of Sony employees. The listed medical conditions include liver cirrhosis, cancers, and premature births.

December 13

Further genuine leaks are involve financial account information, showing revenues, expenditures, past and current projects, and deals, of which are all current still to Sony.

December 14

Spectre

The latest batch of stolen Sony documents was released by the hackers. Included in these documents is the latest version of the script of “Spectre” which is the next James Bond Film. Sony hired famous litigator David Boies who sent a letter to different news organizations demanding that they erase all stolen information that the hackers had provided them.

December 15

Former employees of Sony filed a class-action lawsuit against the studio with the claim that Sony took inadequate security measures to protect their personal data.

December 16

The hackers sent an e-mail to reporters threatening to attack movie theaters that will show “The Interview”, which was set to premiere on Christmas Day. The communication sent by the cyber terrorist to the reporters even mentioned that they should  remember the 11th of September 2001.  They also threatened to fill the world with fear to show to the people that Sony Pictures Entertainment has created an awful film (The Interview).

Another batch of data was released including a huge number of e-mails stolen from Sony’s co-chairman and CEO Michael Lynton. Former Sony employees filed a second class-action suit with the claim that Sony was negligent in not protecting their personal data.

In connection with the threat made by the hackers to theaters, Sony told theater owners to cancel the showing of the film “The Interview” if the threats of the hackers worry them. In response to this, Carmike was the first chain to declare that it will not show the film. Landmark Theaters also said that the New York premiere of the same film was been cancelled.

December 17

The_Interview_Poster

Sony Pictures Entertainment pull the planned release of the film “The Interview” on Christmas Day in connection with the threat of the cyber terrorist to attack theaters that show the film. Moreover, Sony also pulls every TV advertisement of the film.

December 18

The hackers praised Sony’s decision of pulling the premiere of the film and said that as long as the film was kept out of theaters the threat will end. However, there is still a high chance of attack if the film is to be released in VOD (video on demand).

December 20

North Korea invites the United States to take part in a joint investigation regarding the Sony attack as a proclamation of their innocence. However, they warned the United States of “serious consequences” if ever they retaliate.

December 23

Sony decided to move ahead with the release of the film on Christmas day and allow it to be screened across participating theaters.  Simultaneously, the film would be planned to be released in VODs. Sony claimed victory for this decision since they have never given up a film before.

December 30

Sony made the film available for rent online.

Final thought …

This timeline for Sony Pictures Entertainment Cyber Attack serves to create a better picture of what all the fuss was about. With so many events, it can be confusing to keep up with the news; therefore, we hope some value is found from understanding what such a run of malicious attacks can do to a company, even as big as Sony Pictures. Stay safe and always keep your systems and networks up to date.

For more ways to secure your data and systems, contact your local IT professionals.

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