Backing Up Your Data

A large corporation to a small business realizes the importance of backing up their data. However, there are still some hold-outs that delay backing up their data. Surprisingly, they assume that their company is immune to the type of disasters that strike thousands of companies daily. The growing concern is that cyber attacks are skyrocketing across the Internet. This data loss could easily destroy a company. For example, a company might lose their data, money, and customers too. All due to their inability to prepare or defend their company against a loss of data. Here is more on the subject.

Data Backup Facts

First, let’s take a close look at data backup. What exactly is data backup? Data backup is basically copying important files and saving the files to folders. The information is used to restore data loss. Data loss might occur because of a wide variety of circumstances. Generally, the data loss might have occurred because the company was vulnerable to attack by an outside source. However, some data loss occurs because of a massive system failure, hardware crashes, a virus, or corrupted files. Natural disasters might cause a data loss too. For example, a fire, flood, or even an earthquake.

Biggest Offenders

Of course, there are a wide variety of ways that data loss occurs. However, the biggest offenders remain cyber attacks, hackers, and malicious software that is innocently downloaded and used. It is interesting to note that sooner or later, just about every business is going to become a victim of a cyber attack, hackers, or malicious software. It’s just a fact of life for any business that is on the Internet. However, there are a few simple steps that every business should take. Those steps include keeping anti-virus software and anti-malware software updated. However, a business is still vulnerable to a physical or natural disaster.

Protecting Your Data

Thanks to modern technology and advances in viable methods to backup data, storing copies of your company data is a very easy process. Certainly, keeping copies of all a company’s essential files is more important than many companies imagine. A loss of data is loss of time, money, and customers too. Data backup does not have to be a complicated process. Data backup could simply consist of storing the data to an external hard drive, flash drive, disc, or even the cloud. Experts agree that using all the methods available is a good idea. For example, backing up to a hard drive, flash drive, and disc is great. However, a natural or physical disaster might destroy those files. Backing up to the cloud is a way to ensure that the files are readily available to replace data loss. The fact is that cloud backups are quickly replacing all the former backup sources.

The information provided here is only a starting point for finding effective ways to backup important company data. Remember, a good data backup plan is the best data protection plan for any business on the Internet today.

Taking Advantage of Quickbooks For Your Business

,In our last article, we went briefly over the history of storage, situations where you may not want to store things online, the option of an external hard drive, and Degoo.com, which offers 100GB free.

Google Drive: a Great Fremium Option

Many companies and people can benefit from using Google Drive if they are looking to share or store a medium amount of files. Google Drive is also great for sharing files, but only offers a moderate amount of storage space for personal users, 15GB. This can easily be upgraded for corporate users, however. $1.99/month for 100GB, $9.99 for 1TB, and $99 for 10TB. These prices have been recently reduced, so now is not a bad time to get a premium account. Google Drive also has a “sync” feature, in that any changes made to the files from any computer with access, shares those changes with all other computers with access. You can also download these files with the Google Drive program, so that any changes made online will automatically update on your computer. Perfect for offline access.

Dropbox: Better Deals for Large Storage

Dropbox is also similar in function, but offers less free storage and maxes out after a certain number of people have viewed your file. This would mainly be useful for smaller companies. But the reality is that you can buy 1TB for the price you would pay on Dropbox for 100GB. Dropbox does however have a feature similar to Google Drive’s program, making it decent for locally storing information. This also will distribute across your phone, iPad and computer, but the space makes it difficult for actually backing up information. It normally is fine for storing small amounts of corporate or school files, but there are better options for backups.

Mega: Distributing Large Files

If you are looking to distribute your files, the best way to go about it will depend on several factors. If you are looking to share them among a small group of people, Dropbox will work. But for mass sharing Mega.co.nz is best for large files of any kind, and github is best for any computer application sharing. Github does not offer a large amount of storage space, however. Beyond that, Google Drive is also decent for sharing with a large number of people, just not as good as Mega in many cases.

Mega offers 50GB free, making it one of the larger backup services. It does not have any kind of “sharing” features though, it is either public or private. This makes Mega great for backups and distribution, but not sharing them among a company. Many times in corporate situations, one will need to share certain files with everyone, making Mega not the best option. But for backing up, it is among the best in terms of space, and having no limits on allowing others to download what you upload. One noted disadvantage is that they throttle your bandwidth commonly.

Hopefully this starts you off on where to begin looking for places online to backup or store your files online.

Only slightly more than 10 years ago, if you wanted to send a file that was over a gigabyte, even over 25mb really, you simply could not do it over the internet without waiting more than a day. You would have to mail a hard drive or a CD. 20 years ago, you would need to send a floppy disc or CD through the mail to share any file over a few megabytes long distance. And before the internet, in the 1970s, they would have to walk from room to room with floppies in the computer science labs and corporate offices that had them. They called it the “sneakernet” because you had to wear sneakers to walk that much to share files.

Information Overload

Commonly today, many people still have trouble sharing and backing up their files online. If you want to send something over email, most have a limit of 25MB. There are plenty of sites that are great for providing huge amounts of space for backing up files, but do not really allow those files to be shared. There are some that provide space and allow you to share, but max out on sharing after a certain amount of time. Some provide a moderate amount of space and allow unlimited sharing, but do not give the same features to large files as they do to small files. And finally, some are great for storing and sharing, with no cap at all on how many people can download.

Self-Hosting on a Local Server

For certain businesses who need to securely share and store files site-to-site, and are dealing with sensitive information like insurance companies, lawyers, online retailers, hospitals and more, you may need to go with a server you host yourself locally. Sometimes this is even required legally. Note though, that we are not lawyers. If you need advice on meeting the restrictions, please contact one.

Even so, that is a very common option for those who need security above all and that is something we can absolutely help with. Something to keep in mind is that for those who decide to go this route, they will need to purchase their own servers and also set up an environment on them to run. There is also the option of just buying a 1TB external hard-drive, but this is an article about online backup and storage.

Free Storage Through Degoo.com

If you are a person or company just looking to backup and store your files, Degoo.com provides up to 100GB free. However, this service is purely for storage, and does not have an option to share files with another user. But, 100GB is a huge amount of space to get for free. So even though Degoo is light on features, you are getting a serious amount of space. For companies, you need to keep in mind that you will need to be all on the same account, because you can’t share files with other accounts.

Our next article continues the series, and goes over other online sites that will hopefully meet your needs.

Google Drive is a cloud-based storage gem, and an online office suite, and the epicenter where other Google services converge. It is loved for its simplicity and ease of use. However, it also contains tremendous power. With the right combination of tools and settings, it can become a lean, mean, productivity monster; one which saves you time and satisfies your specific needs.

1. Google Drive Offline

Google Drive allows you to view and edit your documents without internet access. It requires Google’s Chrome browser. But after installing the official Drive app, you access the drive online and click the “More” option in the left-hand menu, and select “Offline.” Clicking the button enables offline access from your computer.

2. A GOOGLE Drive on your HARD Drive

In order to access, on your local machine, any files stored in a Google Drive account and easily drag and drop these files between the Drive and your computer, you can enable Drive-to-PC syncing. To achieve this, you obtain the Google Drive sync download, and after installing it, it will allow you to select a local folder which will serve as a two-way sync location between the Drive and the computer.

3. Use Gmail to send large files from Google Drive

You can send files as large as 15GB with the help of Gmail, by inserting the file from your Google Drive. Simply click the Google Drive icon at the bottom of the email window and browse for the file. Gmail also allows you to convert a file into a Google Doc, Sheet, Slide, or Microsoft Office files. This allows you to work easily and efficiently, while offering the same convenience to external parties.

4. Insert Images

During the edition of a Google Docs document, you can drag an image from your computer into the document. You can then move or resize it as your needs require.

5. History Revision

To look back at a detailed list of edits made to any Google Docs document and, if you so wish, revert back to an older version of the file, you can open Docs’ Revision History feature. It can be accessed by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Shift-G.

6. Order & Organization

Google Drive allows you to create folders and nested folders; but it also allows you to color-code them for better organization. Right-click on a folder in the Drive and click on the “Change color” option.

7. Shortcuts To Get There Faster

You can navigate faster through your Google Drive by using a series of shortcuts that can be viewed by pressing “Shift” and “?” simultaneously. Some of the essential shortcuts include: share selected item: . (dot); hide or show the activity pane: i; hide or show the details pane: d; create new Doc: Shift + t; create new Presentation: Shift + p; create new Spreadsheet: Shift + s; and create new Folder: Shift + f.

8. Share The Love

Google Drive allows you to share your content and invite others to work on a document along with you. This will permit them to make edits and comments, as well as permit you to email a document or file directly from Docs in whatever format you would like. Both of these options can be accessed with a right-click on any file in Google Drive or in the File menu, while the document is being edited.

9. Make Documents Searchable

A very useful feature of Google Drive is its capability to scan certain file types, such as images or PDFs, for text. The feature is called Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and makes the files searchable as well.

10. Easier Saving

An easier way to save Web-based content to your Google Drive account, is by way of a free Chrome extension called Save to Google Drive. It adds right-click “Save to Drive” commands to the browser in order to allow you to download a diversity of documents and file types, straight into Google Drive.

So effective is it at organizing and optimizing one’s school or work life, that soon, upon searching for the meaning of efficiency in a dictionary, the resulting meaning will be: “Google Drive”.

In the course of our Managed IT Services business, we get asked a lot about the different types of switches that are available out there. Our customers like to know why we make certain choices in certain situations. Here’s a quick little guide to some of the switches that we recommend.  

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What is a Network Switch?

A network switch is a device that is responsible for sending communication from one port to the next. It sends signals to various computers over the network. Part of what the switch does is to keep computers connected to each other. The network switch makes it possible for multiple computers to get connected and communicate with each other. The process gets done over one single network using Ethernet connections.

It is a usually a metallic box with several ports allowing connections with Ethernet cables. The ports can range from 4 to 48 (and more!)  depending on the needs of the customer. As needs change, you can increase the number of connections by using network extensions. Think of a surge protector or an extension cord with various outlets. The idea is the same.

Types of Network Switches

There are three types of network switches: Unmanaged Switch, Partially Managed, and Fully Managed. The three types of switches are listed below:

Unmanaged Switch

This kind of switch is inexpensive. Most individuals with small to medium sized offices use this sort of device. It does not require much setting up. They come delivered with the programs already built-in. They are referred to as Plug and Play. Once you remove it from the package, all that needs to get done is to plug the device into an outlet and turn it on.

The next step is to connect your computer to the device and type in the necessary password that comes with the equipment. Before setting up, the user should decide the location of the box. It should not be in an area that gets blocked by other devices. There should be enough space to plug in the various cables with ease. Additionally, it should be near an electrical outlet to avoid tripping over wires.

Partially Managed Switch

This type of switch allows limited control over customizing the network. It is slightly more expensive than the unmanaged switch. You should be able to regulate the port bandwidth. With this device, you get a little bit more control over your network. You can create workgroups such as Quality of Service (QoS) and VLANs (Virtual Area Network). Communication gets enabled as if they were attached to the same cable. This set up works well with VoIP-enabled phones. The ordinary consumer can still find this useful if he or she wants a bit more control over the configurations.

Fully Managed Switch

This type of switch is the most expensive device. Most larger businesses use them. Proper set-up takes some effort, and may require IT consulting in Austin Texas (think tekRESCUE) to properly configure everything. The set up takes time, and the person has to be knowledgeable about the system. The device has port security, access control, and VLAN capability. Individuals normally don’t purchase this type for personal use due to the expense and labor involved.

In conclusion, network switches vary. People buy based on their needs. There are three types of network switches, with the unmanaged switch being the least expensive. They are best to purchase them for home use. Partially Managed also gets purchased by individuals as well as small businesses. The user has a little bit more control over its configuration than the Unmanaged, though it costs a bit more. Fully managed switches are best suited for mid-to-large-sized business, and may require in-house or contracted IT technicians to ensure proper configuration.

Over time, we’ve noticed how users habits and needs change as the volume and types of data change and grow. The Internet has exploded with content that requires more data to send. There are more pixels for standard videos and for pictures. Those videos are an excellent format for introducing yourself to your customers, but smartphones may not have enough storage space to accommodate those videos. Customers can use smartphones for short marketing messages such as hashtag Twitter messages. The problems from storage space on devices has prompted some business managers to use cloud computing.

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is a practical option for more storage space, but you can only access those files with an Internet connection. Files should also be saved on discs, flash drives and on a backup hard drive. Technicians can help you with your files if the files are stored on your computer. Many technicians can use remote access to correct problems. There may be a firewall that is blocking the connection to your cloud storage provider.

File Sync Software

Many users want to access files with different devices such as computers, tablets and smartphones. The size and format of the files could restrict the use of the files on those devices. The files that have been stored on a cloud may be too large to open with a smartphone. Those different devices have been designed with similar technology but use different software. There are also different formats for websites, such as mobile and desktop versions, that have been designed to be compatible with different devices.

Download Speeds

A high-speed Internet connection is useful because a slow connection can cause the connection to the server to time-out. Your computer may generate a time-out error message from a slow connection before you have been connected to websites. Some users have the option to switch from a slower 4G connection to a faster 3G connection with a Wi-Fi signal. There is also a hazard with a high-speed Internet connection because you will need to act quickly if you want to avoid using gigabytes for automatic updates for your computer software.

Pixels

Pixels are units for display for images. There are usually fewer pixels required for a picture that has a grainy display. When you use a zoom feature to enlarge a picture, you may not actually be able to see more details because the picture may only become more blurred and distorted. The improvements in the standards for excellence for marketing videos and for pictures have also caused a higher demand on data usage for high-definition displays. Your meet-and-greet video may not be suitable for a smartphone.

Content

Many visitors to websites may become discouraged by webpages that have several paragraphs of information. You can control the size of your webpages, which will help the visitors who use smartphones. A person could use the entire limit on his or her monthly data usage before the information on your website has been displayed. The size of a webpage is very important to a visitor who is paying a monthly fee for data usage.

http://bgr.com/2013/03/20/iphone-android-data-usage-study-387882/

From Lifehacker: How to Use Multiple Dropbox Accounts on One Computer – https://lifehacker.com/5971204/run-multiple-dropbox-accounts-on-one-computer