We are now at http://blog.shadowfaxtechnology.co.uk/
Adam
4 Aug 2009
13 Jul 2009
Working on holiday
It still amazes me how many support calls we get from people on holiday.
Don't get me wrong, I do take a laptop away with me, and do understand the need for the small business owner to keep in touch whilst away, but some people can't seem to drag themselves away from work!
So for those that absolutely can't switch off from the office here are some tips for successfully working on holiday.
First of all preparation. Check what Internet access you will be able to get. If you are using a 3G card then check the providers coverage map. If they don't have coverage it might be worth getting a Pay as You Go card from another provider. They are very inexpensive now, and will save having to drive around trying to find a signal (I have a contract on T-Mobile and a PAYGO on 3 just in case).
Take data with you. Just because the brochure says Internet Access available don't rely on it. If there are a few files that you know you will need to work on then take them with you. That way you can still do a bit of Off-Line working. And take it securely, encrypt it if you can.
Prepare in advance. Remember that if you cannot connect from home the week before, then the chance of being able to do it from the Seycelles is next to none.
Schedule your day. More for your family's sanity, I find it best to schedule the work you are going to do as part of the day, so you don't miss out on the fun, and they don't have to sit and watch you plugging away at a Blackberry for the whole day.
Enjoy yourself. No point going on holiday if you sit in front of the laptop all day long. Enjoy the downtime and deal with any problems when you get back.
Don't get me wrong, I do take a laptop away with me, and do understand the need for the small business owner to keep in touch whilst away, but some people can't seem to drag themselves away from work!
So for those that absolutely can't switch off from the office here are some tips for successfully working on holiday.
First of all preparation. Check what Internet access you will be able to get. If you are using a 3G card then check the providers coverage map. If they don't have coverage it might be worth getting a Pay as You Go card from another provider. They are very inexpensive now, and will save having to drive around trying to find a signal (I have a contract on T-Mobile and a PAYGO on 3 just in case).
- http://www.three.co.uk/_standalone/Coverage_checker_mbb
- http://maps.vodafone.co.uk/coverageviewer/web/default.aspx
- http://www.webmap.o2.co.uk/
- http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/services/coverage/street-check/
- http://web.orange.co.uk/coverage/
Remember that if you want to get on the Internet then it is the 3G coverage that you probably want.
Check Roaming charges. If you are going abroad check roaming charges. These are coming down for voice and text, but data is still high.Take data with you. Just because the brochure says Internet Access available don't rely on it. If there are a few files that you know you will need to work on then take them with you. That way you can still do a bit of Off-Line working. And take it securely, encrypt it if you can.
Prepare in advance. Remember that if you cannot connect from home the week before, then the chance of being able to do it from the Seycelles is next to none.
Schedule your day. More for your family's sanity, I find it best to schedule the work you are going to do as part of the day, so you don't miss out on the fun, and they don't have to sit and watch you plugging away at a Blackberry for the whole day.
Enjoy yourself. No point going on holiday if you sit in front of the laptop all day long. Enjoy the downtime and deal with any problems when you get back.
9 Jul 2009
Bridging with your Neigbours (wirelessly)
Yesterday I went to visit a client on a small estate whose broadband has been playing up intermittently. BT have been extending the dealine for fixing the line fault, and it is now obvious that it is going to be a long term problem. The client is very dependent on their internet connection to access their accounts software that is hosted in the cloud
So I had a chat with one of their neighbours - another of our clients - and set up a wireless bridge using two Linksys access points between their networks. The link is the WAN side of both their firewalls, so their networks aren't talking to each other. It just means that my client can now use their neighbours internet connection whilst theirs is flaky.
It is working very well, they now have a stable route out to the internet.
My generous client is also safe in the knowledge that should they have a problem with their internet, a backup solution is already there for them.
So I had a chat with one of their neighbours - another of our clients - and set up a wireless bridge using two Linksys access points between their networks. The link is the WAN side of both their firewalls, so their networks aren't talking to each other. It just means that my client can now use their neighbours internet connection whilst theirs is flaky.
It is working very well, they now have a stable route out to the internet.
My generous client is also safe in the knowledge that should they have a problem with their internet, a backup solution is already there for them.
8 Jul 2009
Differences between POP3 and SMTP E-mail
SMTP is a long established Internet protocol that is used for the delivery and receipt of e-mail. POP3 is also an Internet protocol but is used only to collect e-mail.
When configuring your e-mail software (e.g. Outlook or Outlook Express) you always need to specify the name or IP address of the SMTP server for outgoing e-mail. This name or address is normally provided by your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
Note, that it is perfectly possible to have one ISP just for Internet access and another service provider to host your e-mail. However, many ISPs include e-mail as part of their Internet access package.
To collect e-mail you have a choice of POP3 or SMTP. However, you can only use SMTP with software that is SMTP aware such as Microsoft Exchange. Outlook and Outlook Express cannot on their own receive e-mail using SMTP.
With SMTP you need to have a static IP address on the computer that is running your e-mail software. Whoever is hosting your e-mail domain name will attempt to deliver e-mail to your e-mail server as and when e-mail arrives and regardless of who the e-mail is addressed to. Your e-mail software is responsible for organising which e-mails go into which inboxes. If your e-mail server is off then your e-mail service provider will store the e-mail for you until your e-mail server can be contacted again.
The main advantages of using SMTP to receive e-mail are that e-mails arrive more or less immediately at your server and that you do not have to set up individual mailboxes with your e-mail server provider.
With POP3 you need to set up an account, with your e-mail service provider, for each e-mail address that you wish to use called a mailbox. When e-mail is sent to your domain the e-mail will be stored in the appropriate POP3 mailbox until you collect it. Your e-mail software has to actively connect to the your e-mail service provider's server to check if there is any e-mail and then download it. This must be done separately for each mailbox. Most e-mail clients can be configured to automatically check for new e-mail every few minutes.
E-mail service providers use a variety of charging schemes for SMTP and POP3 Mail. Some charge to provide SMTP mail, others charge for each POP3 mailbox. Some ISPs include a specific number of POP3 mailboxes for free as part of a package.
In general, businesses that use an e-mail server such as Exchange should use SMTP for incoming e-mail.
When configuring your e-mail software (e.g. Outlook or Outlook Express) you always need to specify the name or IP address of the SMTP server for outgoing e-mail. This name or address is normally provided by your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
Note, that it is perfectly possible to have one ISP just for Internet access and another service provider to host your e-mail. However, many ISPs include e-mail as part of their Internet access package.
To collect e-mail you have a choice of POP3 or SMTP. However, you can only use SMTP with software that is SMTP aware such as Microsoft Exchange. Outlook and Outlook Express cannot on their own receive e-mail using SMTP.
With SMTP you need to have a static IP address on the computer that is running your e-mail software. Whoever is hosting your e-mail domain name will attempt to deliver e-mail to your e-mail server as and when e-mail arrives and regardless of who the e-mail is addressed to. Your e-mail software is responsible for organising which e-mails go into which inboxes. If your e-mail server is off then your e-mail service provider will store the e-mail for you until your e-mail server can be contacted again.
The main advantages of using SMTP to receive e-mail are that e-mails arrive more or less immediately at your server and that you do not have to set up individual mailboxes with your e-mail server provider.
With POP3 you need to set up an account, with your e-mail service provider, for each e-mail address that you wish to use called a mailbox. When e-mail is sent to your domain the e-mail will be stored in the appropriate POP3 mailbox until you collect it. Your e-mail software has to actively connect to the your e-mail service provider's server to check if there is any e-mail and then download it. This must be done separately for each mailbox. Most e-mail clients can be configured to automatically check for new e-mail every few minutes.
E-mail service providers use a variety of charging schemes for SMTP and POP3 Mail. Some charge to provide SMTP mail, others charge for each POP3 mailbox. Some ISPs include a specific number of POP3 mailboxes for free as part of a package.
In general, businesses that use an e-mail server such as Exchange should use SMTP for incoming e-mail.
26 Jun 2009
Why you should have you backups off-site
It feels like I am always telling people to take their backups off site.
One of the reasons we love our Live Backup BDR (Backup and Disaster Recovery) service is that we know that our clients data is off site.
We got called to a company yesterday. Their office had been burnt to the ground by an electrical fire.
Their backups were in a fire proof safe in the office. Fire proof safes aren't as fireproof as you might think. All their data was burnt to a crisp.
We set them up with a loan PC and a router with a 3G connection to get them back on-line (all the phone lines had been burnt out), which is something. But they have lost all of their data. They seem a resilient enough lot that I hope they will survive, and fortunately no-one was hurt in the fire, but it is going to be a stressful time for them to get back up to speed.
If you are still backing up with tape or disk, are they going off-site? Is the member of staff in charge doing it?
Time to check!
One of the reasons we love our Live Backup BDR (Backup and Disaster Recovery) service is that we know that our clients data is off site.
We got called to a company yesterday. Their office had been burnt to the ground by an electrical fire.
Their backups were in a fire proof safe in the office. Fire proof safes aren't as fireproof as you might think. All their data was burnt to a crisp.
We set them up with a loan PC and a router with a 3G connection to get them back on-line (all the phone lines had been burnt out), which is something. But they have lost all of their data. They seem a resilient enough lot that I hope they will survive, and fortunately no-one was hurt in the fire, but it is going to be a stressful time for them to get back up to speed.
If you are still backing up with tape or disk, are they going off-site? Is the member of staff in charge doing it?
Time to check!
1 Jun 2009
Bing
Bing is the new search engine (sorry - Decision engine) from Microsoft.
I've been using it today. Better than Google? No.
But not to worry, apparently Microsoft are no longer trying to beat Google at the search engine game. They now have their sites firmly set on Yahoo! instead. Yahoo! only has about twice the market share of searches that Microsoft's engines have.
So if you are using Yahoo! as your default search engine take a look at www.bing.com. If you are using Google, have a look by all means, but don't expect to be blown away.
I've been using it today. Better than Google? No.
But not to worry, apparently Microsoft are no longer trying to beat Google at the search engine game. They now have their sites firmly set on Yahoo! instead. Yahoo! only has about twice the market share of searches that Microsoft's engines have.
So if you are using Yahoo! as your default search engine take a look at www.bing.com. If you are using Google, have a look by all means, but don't expect to be blown away.
27 May 2009
Employees own equipment
We don't recommend that companies allow their employees to use their own PCs and Laptops at work.
Many reasons why, but we had an example of one yesterday. An employee who was allowed to use their MacBook was leaving a client company, and we were asked to log on and remove all their data from the machine (they are particularly sensitive to data loss). In this case the employee was leaving through voluntary redundancy, and was completely compliant.
However if the employee had left under a cloud there would have been a bit of a sticky situation. The client company may well have owned the data on the Laptop, but would have no rights to seize it or remove it. I've no idea what the legal consequences would have been, but the simple solution is to supply all your employees IT. That way if someone leaves you simply remove it from them.
Many reasons why, but we had an example of one yesterday. An employee who was allowed to use their MacBook was leaving a client company, and we were asked to log on and remove all their data from the machine (they are particularly sensitive to data loss). In this case the employee was leaving through voluntary redundancy, and was completely compliant.
However if the employee had left under a cloud there would have been a bit of a sticky situation. The client company may well have owned the data on the Laptop, but would have no rights to seize it or remove it. I've no idea what the legal consequences would have been, but the simple solution is to supply all your employees IT. That way if someone leaves you simply remove it from them.
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