On April 8, 2013 Hewlett-Packard took a fairly dramatic departure from traditional server designs with the release of the Moonshot Server.

Moonshot uses low-power smartphone style processors to optimize data center servers.  Although, Moonshot looks traditional, the Moonshot 1500 Chassis contains shared power, cooling, networking, storage and 45 pluggable servers.  There are several chipsets available.

Instead of putting together another server that requires intense power and cooling, HP reconstructed the server design.  Moonshot provides a vast amount of resources such as scalability while reducing the use of physical space, cooling and power.

Many companies partnered with HP on the Moonshot Project including:  AMD, Intel, ARM, Citrix, Cloudera, Redhat, SUSE and many others.

Disadvantages for the Moonshot server could range from an unenthusiastic entrance to the risk of a minimal hardware component failure that could bring down 45 critical servers because an entire rack of servers are set in one box.

If you are looking to purchase new equipment please contact us at (856) 745-9990.

Takeaway:  Understanding Cloud Computing for technological infrastructures.

Cloud computing is the delivery of computing resources as a service over the Internet.  The varieties of services offered are Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS) Desktop as a Service (DaaS) and Network as a Service (NaaS).

Scalability, fast provisioning and agility help all organizations, big and small, reach monetary growth.  

There are a few major misunderstandings associated with joining the Cloud Computing revolution, such as:

It’s A Trend:

Cloud computing is a credible and efficient tool with longevity.  If you use social media, eBay, Gmail or Online Banking, you are already using Cloud Computing.

It’s not as Secure:

Cloud computing is a significantly safe way to store, share and secure your data.  Client’s are highly recommended to use the Cloud’s host-based firewall.  Also available are host-based intrusion protection programs specialized for virtual machines and Cloud Clients

(Example –  Trend Micro Deep Security or Symantec O3). 

It’s Costly:

Even with the move to the cloud and monthly costs, organizations could save money long term on IT Management Services.

It’s Complicated:

There are many different types of Cloud Computing to choose from that should make executing hassle-free.

It’s only for Large Organizations:

The Cloud is not reserved for Large Organizations only.  Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (SaaS or DaaS) can be a cost-effective solution for organizations of any size. 

Changes are not strategic:

Plans are setup to acquire full benefits offered by Cloud Computing by integrating corporate strategy and technology with the advantage of using internal resources.

Cloud is inoperable if the Internet goes down:

Having another provider with a secondary connection is a logical setup for all companies.  Most organizations already operate with a connectivity “safety net”.

To migrate your business to Cloud Computing, please visit BigBeagle.com

The ten most popular Microsoft Office tips

Takeaway:  Susan Harkins lists ten most popular Office tips published in the Windows and Office Blog, and the now inactive Office Blog.

When considering tips to share, think about ease-of-use and efficiency. A few naturally rise to the top as your favorites. For your commemoration, here are 10 of 2012’s most popular posts from both the Office Blog, which was deactivated in mid-2012, and the current Windows and Office Blog. Thank you for reading, and thank you for sharing your thoughts and enhancements with one another throughout the year.

1: A quick Word trick for typing text into a scanned document

The response to this limited technique surprised me. It’s something only a few will use, but if you’re one of those few, it can be a big help! I was pleasantly surprised at the positive response it received and the way readers enhanced the technique.

2: Use Word macros to save your place in a document

These two short macros make quick work of bookmarking work areas in a Word document. When the built-in navigation techniques just don’t get the job done for you, consider these macros or one of the alternative methods that readers shared.

3: A quick and dirty way to compare columns of Excel data

This quick Go To comparison solution is great for a one-time task. Comparing Excel data is a common task, and I receive frequent questions for solutions. This solution is a great one to add to your bag of tricks.

4: Demystify Excel’s PivotTable feature with this simple method

Sometimes a great tip doesn’t offer a specific solution, but rather guides you to using a feature more efficiently and effectively. Users tend to ignore Excel’s pivot table feature because they don’t really understand it – hence this blog post offers some quick insight into how to use this feature without mind-bending tricks.

5: Create a dynamic Excel chart and make your own dashboard

This blog post is one of my favorites. I enjoyed sharing the technique, but more than that, I loved the way the readers jumped in to help one another with a step I accidentally omitted in the instructions. TechRepublic readers rock!

6: A quick Excel keyboard trick for selecting large ranges

This technique uses Go To ([F5]) in an unusual way – to anchor two cells, creating a range. The ensuing conversation shared a number of great selection tips!

7: Three tips for rounding Excel time values

Using the right function can help you round up your rounding woes. Excel offers three rounding functions and knowing them all will round out your skills nicely. (Okay, I promise to stop that.)

8: Three things you must do when you inherit an Excel workbook

I review a lot of workbooks, so this blog was one of my favorites to write. In my experience, performing these three quick tasks when inheriting a workbook can speed up your troubleshooting time. Fortunately, it sparked some insightful conversation into what others do.

9: Launch Word with the most recently used document

Reader response sometimes surprises me, as it did for this easy technique. I hadn’t expected so many great alternatives from the readers.

10: Run a list of rolling credits at the end of your PowerPoint presentation

I’m glad a PowerPoint technique made the top list, but it wasn’t because the readers loved my technique. Mostly, the conversation centered on the typo I missed, and then my lack of proper contrition for said typo. It was fun while it lasted.

Takeaway:  Risks with staying with Windows XP after April 8, 2014.

Since being release worldwide on October 25, 2001, Windows XP has become one of the most popular versions of Windows.  OEM and retail sales of Windows XP ended in June 2008, while smaller OEMs continued to sell the Operating System until January of 2009.

On April 10, 2012, Microsoft officially announced that as of April 8, 2014 they will end extended support for Windows XP and Office 2003, after which no new bug fixes or patches will be issued.

Organizations may be taking a spontaneous risk and assume that Window’s XP’s prolonged life means major vulnerabilities have been acknowledged and dealt with.  If XP were secure, there still might be application-level vulnerabilities.  Even the ranges of security breaches are inadequate to persuade some organizations that are still using Windows XP to upgrade.  The dynamics that have safeguarded XP’s success are now working against the organizations that stuck by the operating system.

A major aspect attackers assess during their investigation is the operating system and the applications used within an organization.  With Microsoft ending their support, the vendors for applications running on it will most likely end support.

On the other hand, those preparing to continue using XP after the cut-off date, are going to be in a unpleasant situation trying to protect their intellectual property, but can take certain steps to limit exposure to risk.  There are specific technologies you could deploy that will permit you to remain using legacy systems.  Mitigating technologies like Host-Based Intrusion Protection will be able to identify that a vulnerability exists and make that vulnerability difficult/impossible to exploit by applying a virtual patch to those non-supported environments.

However, XP’s acceptance is down to the technology itself and an operating system format that people are content with.  The significant changes with Windows Vista, Windows 7 and especially Windows 8 are the reason people are resistant to change.

To protect and upgrade your home or business

 please contact us 856-745-9990

Takeaway:  Alternative options for mail client’s that are not as costly as Outlook but offer the same features.

Outlook is one of the most widely used email clients in the business world.  For smaller companies, there are email clients that provide cost-effective solutions.  Other email clients offer a variety of features that are comparable to Outlook.  The most significant means of communication in the office is email; communication will suffer if the email client does not work well with the organizations requirements. 

Opera Mail

Opera Mail is free and offered for Windows, Mac and Linux.  This e-mail client supports POP, IMAP (no Exchange support), newsgroups, RSS, and Atom feed.  Opera mail has a fast and simple user interface, thread views, spam protection and allows you to browse websites.

Dreammail

Dreammail is free and offered for Windows XP/Vista/7.  This e-mail client supports POP3, RSS, and ESMTP/Google/Yahoo.  Dreammail has multiple accounts and multiple-users setup, templates, signature options, anti-spam, address book, message filtering and a web-mail tool.

iScribe

iScribe is free and offered for Windows and Linux.  This e-mail client supports POP3 and IMAP, as well as international standards.  iScribe has built-in baysian span filter, frequent updates and can be used from a portable drive.

Postbox

Postbox is $9.95 per license and offered for Windows and Mac.  This e-mail client is best for Gmail but it also supports POP and IMAP.  Postbox has native Gmail label support, fast access to your favorite accounts, social networking integration and you can add Dropbox services.

Evolution Mail

Evolution is free and offered for Linux (open source).  This e-mail client supports POP, IMAP and Exchange.  Evolution has calendar, tasks, contacts, memos, LDAP compatibility, folder search, encryption, multiple accounts, server support, default plugins, as well as, additional plugins.

The innovative plan for Windows 8 was to connect the mature personal computer generation with the prospering one of smartphones and tablets.

Many users are finding difficulty with adapting to the new Operating System.  Two major requests for Windows 8.1 (code-named “Blue”) is to bring back the Start button and boot-to-desktop feature.  Currently, the Start button is located in “Charms” which is a secondary taskbar set on the right-side of the screen.  The initial boot screen has much larger icons with live tiles.  Live tiles are software widgets that present dynamic content.

Microsoft is considering allowing users to restore the Start button and initially boot to the traditional desktop with Windows 8.1 (code-named “Blue”).

If Microsoft decides to add the Start button or boot-to-desktop feature to Blue, it will not be the first time a Windows Operating System has changed the user interface backwards to satisfy the users.

Microsoft has still not announced a release date for Windows Blue.  Likely, more information will arise from the Microsoft Build Developer Conference on June 26 – 28, 2013.

Takeaway:  Specifications break down of the top four prominent smartphones.

In the United States the top four smartphones are Samsung Galaxy SIII, iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy Note II and Motorola Razr Maxx HD.  The chart compares mobile carriers, platform, hardware, networks/ Wi-Fi, display, camera and battery for all four leading phones.

If you’re thinking about buying a new smartphone, the chart below will be a quick guide with the necessary feature-to-feature comparisons to make a worthy choice.