How Much Colocation Do I Need?

Many times, a business that has decided to colocate is not exactly sure how many rack spaces, or cabinets, they will require. Colocation “cabinets” are available in “U” sizes and are sold in increments that range from 1U up to multiple full racks / cabinets (42U ea.). Although it might seem obvious at first there are some variables to consider when searching for a colocation partner. These variables include:racksapce

  1. Number of rack spaces used by servers
  2. Rack spaces used by Ethernet switches, VPN devices, KVM devices, and other equipment
  3. Rack spaces used by power management (outlet switching) devices
  4. Rack spaces reserved for ongoing growth as more equipment is needed
  5. Secure racks, cages, or cabinets

Double U (2U)

A 2U is large enough to support a single 2U server such as a Dell R720 or a single 1U server such as a Dell R620 and a 1U switch or firewall such as the Cisco ASA 5510.

Quarter Rack (10U)

Quarter racks feature 10U’s of colocation space contained inside a shared, lockable cabinet. As with all colocation, bandwidth and power are sold a la carte and are customizable. Growing businesses typically use this option if they have more than 6U’s worth of equipment to colocate off-site.

Half Rack (21U)

A half rack of colocation is one of our most popular choices. There is sufficient room for multiple servers, SANs, and switches, which allows a customer to construct more complex platforms such as those required for small virtualization clusters or disaster recovery sites. Half rack colocation features 21U’s of colocation space located inside a shared cabinet.

Full Rack (42U)

Companies using full-rack solutions often need hosting for dozens of servers and large network equipment. Redundant Internet connections and higher bandwidth requirements are also common for customers with one or more cabinets of colocation. Common applications are large virtualization clusters, high capacity off-site storage, or those who are in need of private cabinet space. Full rack co-location features 42U’s of co-location space located inside a private, locking cabinet.

Power Source

The amount of power, or amperage, that businesses require to operate servers depends on the size and quantity of their equipment. It is recommended that quarter rack customers purchase 10 Amps of 110v power. On the other hand, equipment occupying a full cabinet commonly requires anywhere from 1 x 20 Amp 110v to 2 x 30 Amp 208v power.

Managed Colocation

Our experienced professionals can help you decide how much colocation space you need and what kind of management would best suit your business’s needs.

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Cloud

Net Neutrality and What This Means to You

Net-Neutrality-2015022652Net Neutrality and What This Means to You

The internet was originally organized to be open, this meant that all “lawful” content, devices and applications could be used and shared freely. This principle was also intended to prevent unreasonable discrimination in the handling of internet traffic. The ultimate goal of the open internet, also known as Net Neutrality, is to promote competition and provide a platform for innovation.

Net Neutrality has been challenged recently by Verizon with lobbying efforts through legislators to the FCC. Verizon’s goal is to transition the internet from an open lane highway to now granting exclusive rights to faster or slower internet access lanes with potential Internet content limitations. The ruling is significant because ISP’s will now be able to provide or change customers to various tiered bandwidth solutions. As a result, lower priced internet connections, such as FiOS, Time Warner or U-Verse, may have limited access to certain networks or be constrained by speed and content limitations. In the end, ISP’s will be allowed to control what information can be shared across their networks and consumers may be forced to pay more for upgraded access to information.

Resources:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_neutrality

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Dedicated Internet|How-To

How Much Colocation Space Will You Need?

If you are not exactly sure how much space, how many rack spaces, or cabinets, you will require; this information may be useful to help guide you. Co-location “cabinets” are available in “U” (Unit) sizes and are sold in increments that range from 1U up to multiple full racks / cabinets (42U ea.). Although it might seem obvious at first there are some variables to consider when searching for a co-location partner. These variables include:

  • Number of Unit, or cabinet spaces used by servers
  • Number of Rack or Unit spaces used by Ethernet switches, VPN devices, KVM devices and other equipment
  • Number of Rack or Unit spaces used by power management (outlet switching) devices
  • Space reserved for ongoing growth as more equipment is needed
  • Space reserved for testing, working space
  • Secure racks, cages or cabinets

Double U (2U)

A 2U is large enough to support a single 2U server such as a Dell R720 or a single 1U server such as a Dell R620 and a 1U switch or firewall such as the Cisco ASA 5510.

Quarter Rack (10U)

Quarter racks feature 10U’s of co-location space are typically contained inside a shared, lockable cabinet. As with all co-location, bandwidth and power are sold a-la-carte and are customizable. Growing businesses typically use this option if they have more than 6U’s worth of equipment to co-locate off-site.

Half Rack (21U)

A half rack of co-location is one of our most popular co-location choices. There is sufficient room for multiple servers, SANs, and switches, which allows a customer to construct more complex platforms such as those required for small virtualization clusters or disaster recovery sites. Half rack colocation features 21U’s of co-location space are typically located inside a shared cabinet.

Full Rack (42U)

Companies using full rack solutions often need hosting for many servers and networking equipment. Redundant Internet connections and higher bandwidth requirements are also common for customers with one or more cabinets of co-location. Common applications are large virtualization clusters, high capacity off-site storage, or those who are in need of private cabinet space. Full rack co-location features 42U’s of co-location space typically located inside a private, locking cabinet of on a Co-location rack.

Power Source

The amount of power, or amperage, that businesses require to operate servers depends on the size and quantity of their equipment. It is recommended that quarter rack customers purchase 10 Amps of 110v power. On the other hand, equipment occupying a full cabinet commonly requires anywhere from 1 x 20 Amp 110v to 2 x 30 Amp 208v power.

Managed Colocation

Managed colocation services allow you to focus on running your business, while knowing that a team of professionals is managing your servers or IT environment. Offered a la carte or all together as a managed colocation solution, our managed services compliment the strengths of your internal staff. By offering managed colocation as an “unbundled” package, you can turn over as much, or as little, of your business’s IT responsibility to our experienced staff, and take advantage of our IT resources.

Determining the space requirements for your colocation needs may seem like an overwhelming process and for some it can be. Contact us and one of our certified IT technicians will be glad to assist you in determining the right amount of colocation space your business or organization may require.

Cloud|How-To

Explained: Residential vs. Business Broadband

fastest_broadband_internet_connection_in_cambridge

Residential Internet Service Providers (ISP) compared to business Internet Service Provider connections. Here are some apparent differences:

Residential products:
1. Provision dynamic IP addresses (not static)
◾A dynamic IP means that the IP address will change without warning. Therefore you cannot efficiently and reliably use business features like monitoring, added security (VPN, Tunnels), RDP and public servers, etc.

2. Does not guarantee the speed of the connection, speeds are estimated. With cable, the aggregating connections are shared (not dedicated) between hundreds or thousands of customers in the same area. This results in when everyone is using the Internet and bandwidth usage spikes, everyone in your area is pulling bandwidth from the same aggregation pipe or port. You then begin to notice slower bandwidth speeds, latency and, or, packet loss during peak area times (morning, noon, evening)
◾In some cases; the residential Internet may see initial higher speeds than other residential areas. This is typical because there are fewer customers in that area at that time. However, as more customers become added and more people are using internet from the same connection aggregation link, expect the service level to be downgraded.

3.Does not offer SLA’s (Service level agreements)
◾Service Level Agreements are a providers guarantee that they will supply the service as stated. Otherwise, you have reason to leave or renegotiate terms, pricing.
* Residential ISP services, do not offer SLA’s because they cannot guarantee the connection will be reliable; it is best efforts

4. Use lower grade hardware; routers not designed to sustain higher bandwidth throughput and speeds. Lower grade equipment like routers can cause failure or require regular rebooting
5. Use bursting methods. When you initially test the speed is higher, i.e. 100Mbps for the first few seconds, however as you continue to use the Internet connection, the speed slows down closer to 1Mbps. This is called policing and the common practice of residential ISP’s
6. Slower sending speed (Up), faster download (Down). However, speeds do drop off as policing is engaged

Business products:
1. Use static IP addresses
2. Are dedicated (not shared) connections between your location and the Internet
◾This means, that a connection is dedicated to your business and carries a guaranteed speed commitment or SLA

3.SLA’s (Service level agreements) are typically standard, demonstrating uptime, latency and packet loss is at a minimum
◾Example of a dedicated ISP connection SLA 1.Core network uptime 100%
2.Latency, less than 65 milliseconds
3.Packet loss, less than 1%
4. Enterprise equipment; hardware costs more and is capable of sustaining more up time without rebooting
5. Is a guaranteed, consistent dedicated up/down speed or link to the Internet, only limited by equipment, hardware or technical configurations
6.Guaranteed sending/downloading (simultaneous) capacity

If you run a business or have a need for a reliable Internet connection, business grade products are the right fit for you. If you are at home or have a small business with few staff, residential Internet products may be a better fit for you.

Learn more about business ISP connections visit https://globalit.com/services/internet-services/internet-access/

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Dedicated Internet|Internet Cabling

Increase Your Ranking With Customer Reviews

fastest_broadband_internet_connection_in_cambridgeHow Customer Reviews Affect Your Organic Rankings
As a business, you want your online presence to stand out among the competition. One of the best ways to do so is by encouraging your audience to complete customer reviews online. As seen in Moz’s breakdown of local search ranking factors, there are a variety of things that contribute to your business’s visibility online. While it’s important to consider all of them, there are a few that stand out for business owners.

In addition to providing your business with valuable feedback, customer reviews will improve your ranking online. Businesses gain positive exposure online with consistent customer reviews while effectively boosting rankings through sites like Google+ and other online directories.

Google+
Reviews left on Google+ Local Pages help other potential customers in the area quickly refer to highly-rated businesses. With Google+, slow and steady is the key. Customer reviews that appear at a natural pace are less likely to be automatically removed and result in a higher organic ranking.

Third-party directories, like Yelp and TripAdvisor, are included in Google’s search for information about your business. Accumulating reviews in third-party directories will contribute to an increase in your organic ranking.

Top 5 Directories for Reviews
Among the vast number of directories available online, five, in particular, stand out as most beneficial when trying to improve your business’s organic ranking.

  1. Google+
    Google+ is being used by more businesses than ever to connect with their audience and stay a part of industry conversation. With over 540 million monthly active users, businesses can count on their interactions with customers on Google+ to improve organic rankings for their site.
  2. Yelp
    As one of the leading third-party review sites, Yelp reels in more than 47 million local reviews and 117 million unique visitors each quarter. Since it has become one of the leading review sites on the internet, businesses improve their chance of higher rankings when customer reviews are listed on Yelp.
  3. YellowPages
    Although their big yellow books are no longer a popular resource, YellowPages.com remains alive and well as a source of information online. Including your business listing in the YellowPages will make your information available to over 3 million visitors monthly.
  4. Superpages
    Averaging over 3.5 million page views per day, Superpages is another great listing option for businesses that want to improve organic search rankings. Since the website makes it easy for mobile users to peruse its pages, Superpages helps businesses reach more customers.
  5. Yahoo
    As one of Google’s strongest competitors, Yahoo is an attractive option for businesses that want to improve their rankings. Each week, Yahoo earns over 2.2 million visitors, nearly half of which are search-related.

Valid Reviews are Essential
In order to improve your business’ organic rankings with integrity, valid reviews are essential. The use of fake reviews in an online forum or directory will only serve to hurt your business’ image. Fake reviews are:

  • Easy to Spot
    Consumers these days are savvy. The increased amount of time spent online daily has increased general consumer awareness of red flags, allowing fake online content to be spotted easily. Some tell-tale signs of a fake review include a focus on only good qualities of a company or product, multiple raving reviews around a certain date, or a salesman-like tone to the review.
  • On Their Way Out
    With major search engines like Google and Yahoo taking a decided stance against black hat SEO practices, fake reviews continue to be a source of frustration provoking an active attempt to eliminate them. There will soon be (if not already) strict consequences in search results for businesses that publish fake reviews.
  • Caught By Directories
    As the computing world transforms to include better, more intuitive technology, it’s becoming easier for directories to effectively weed out fake reviews. Directories are better able to spot red flags, like reviews originating from the same IP address or an unnatural burst of reviews all at once, and respond accordingly. Businesses are at risk of everything from removed listings to complete bans from service.
  • Harmful to the Trust-Building Process
    Improving your business’ organic rankings is an important part of growing your company and must be treated with integrity. Publishing fake reviews about your services or products is bound to get uncovered at some point. When it does, what you’ve truly lost is the ability to keep your customers’ trust.

Earn Customer Reviews the Right Way
Receiving a steady flow of customer reviews is your business’s reward for providing unrivaled service. Instead of soliciting reviews with incentives, be consistent with your business listings and make reviews easy for your customers.

  • Make Reviews Easy
    It’s much easier to earn a customer’s review of your business when the process is simple, takes only a few seconds, and is outlined clearly. You’re more likely to gain a customer review if you send instructions in an email, list instructions on your website, or send a sample review that your customer can quickly edit and add to the listing of their choice.

When requesting a review, be sure to ask questions about your customer’s needs, how your business met their needs and their satisfaction level with your company.

  • Be Consistent
    To improve your organic rankings, maintain a professional online presence, and reduce confusion about your company. It’s essential to be consistent. When entering information into business listings online, first develop a master copy with your company’s contact, website, and profile information.

Use this information on each one of your business listings to prevent changes in capitalization or punctuation. Before a listing goes live, re-check your draft to ensure there are no typos and your site’s link is working properly. Inconsistency can damage your credibility with search engines.

Local Marketing Prevails
As far as Google is concerned, local marketing is a large part of the future of search. In fact, Google’s push for an emphasis on local marketing is allowing businesses the opportunity to reach out to the customer base right in their backyard. Google’s ongoing changes to its search algorithm continually favor local search and local businesses.

Reports indicated that as many as half of all searches on Google are made with the intent to find something local. Naturally, this number increases significantly for mobile users who are in need of information on the go. As a result, local marketing strategies are becoming more defined as businesses try to tap into their local audience.

Tips, Insights, and Trends for Local Marketing
Long before Google began to put emphasis on local search, local SEOs knew that the importance of the local search for businesses would bloom. One of the top tips for businesses includes building a complete and accurate listings presence.

Seasoned online marketing professionals are predicting increased use of location-based marketing platforms, such as Google Places and Google+ Local, and will place further emphasis on the importance of building the presence of a listing.

Statistics report that approximately 91% of adult mobile phone users keep their phone within arm’s reach. With apps like Google Wallet and PayPal, virtual commerce is becoming seamless, allowing consumers to make instant purchase decisions from the convenience of their mobile device.

Improving your business’s organic search ranking through customer reviews is a great way to increase your visibility online while expanding your reach to new customers. In order to be effective, your business’ marketing campaign needs to include a plan to obtain customer reviews online while maintaining the presence of a consistent listing. If you need help improving your organic search rankings, contact GLOBAL IT for more information at (877) 822-5565.

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Online Marketing|Webmaster

Global IT Webmail – User Access Instructions

1. First, open your favorite internet browser for this write up I will be using Fire Fox

2. Navigate to this page, https://globalit.com/web-mail and enter the e-mail address provided to you by the Global IT support team

3. Now you will see a page with a log in box like the one bellow

step-3

  • You will need to enter your username, this is the entire e-mail address provided to you by the Global IT support team

4. Next you will be prompted to select from three different web mail applications; Horde, RoundCube and SquirrelMail.

step-4

Horde, RoundCube and SquirrelMail

Horde, RoundCube and SquirrelMail are three webmail applications available to every Global IT client. Each has a different interface and set of features, but they all access the same mailbox.

  • Horde may have the most features: a mobile device interface; calendar and task organizer, custom filters; along with the ability to share content with others.
  • RoundCube and SquirrelMail are more streamlined with fewer features and both are easy to use as well.

We encourage our clients to experiment with each application and find that one that suits their needs.

After you have selected your webmail application you are ready to read and send e-mail from your webmail portal.

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Desktop Tips|How-To|Web Mail|Webmaster

Global IT IP KVM – User Access Instructions

1.    Open Internet Explorer, IE is required to be used for the IP KVM software.

2.    Enter the IP KVM URL provided to you by the Global IT support team.

3.    Click on “Continue to this website …” Twice

step_3

4.    Click on “Continue” on “Security Warning” pop-up window

step_4

5.    Check box next to “I accept the risk …” and click on “Run”

step_5

6.    You will see the Client open.

step_6

*If there is already a profile for the connection, skip to step 11

7.    To create a new profile, click on “Connection” and then “New Profile”

step_7

8.    You will see the “Add Connection” pop-up window

step_8

9.    Enter the following information: Description: IPKVM (Or name of your choosing); IP Address: IP KVM Address provided by Global IT Support and click on “OK”

step_9

10.    You will now see the newly create profile

step_10

11.    Right click on the profile and click “New Connection”

step_11

12.    Enter the provided Username and Password in the “New Connection” Pop-up window and click “OK”

step_12

13.    You will now see a list of connections under the profile.

step_13

14.    Right click the device you wish to access and click on “New Connection”

step_14

15.    After the connection has been established, you will now see the display to the connected device and you will be able to interact with it using your keyboard and mouse.

step_15

16.    When you are finished accessing your device, DO NOT just close the window. This will keep the connection locked and you will not be able to access it again.

17.    To close out the connection properly, right click on the selected device and click “Disconnect”

step_17

18.    To terminate your session properly, right click on the profile and click “Disconnect”

step_18

19.    Now close out the application by clicking on “Connection” in the top left and click on “Exit”

step_19

20.    Click “Yes” on the “Confirm action” pop-up window

step_20

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Cloud|IT Services|Webmaster

Financial Benefits of Outsourcing IT Services

Financial Benefits of Outsourcing IT Services
Financial Benefits of Outsourcing IT Services

Add This Infographic to Your Site

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IT Services

Selecting The Right Business Profile Picture

photoSelecting a personal image to be used for business purposes poses the question; business professional or business casual attire?

This question is generally industry specific, so if you are in a corporate environment where you regularly wear professional attire, we suggest a business professional picture. If you decide to go with business casual, think flattering and wear colors that make you look healthy, shapes (opencollar, v-necks, business jackets) that cut a professional figure, and make sure everything is ironed.

Here are some suggestions to consider.

1. Always use a photo that can be used multiple times, for example LinkedIn profiles with a photo are seven times more likely to be viewed than ones without a photo.

2. Use a recent photo of yourself. If people are surprised when they meet you in person because you look nothing like your picture, they may wonder why you posted such a misleading photo.

3. You should be the only subject in the photo. It’s your professional profile picture, so it should focus on you. This means no inanimate objects, group shots, or photos of you with your significant other, child, or pets.

4. Your face should be in focus. The background can be slightly out of focus, but your features need to be sharp, not blurred. If there are darker shadows in the background, make sure they aren’t obscuring your face.

5. Wear appropriate professional or business casual attire. Appear as you usually would in a business situation, this may also mean that you are freshly shaven or wearing [business appropriate] makeup and jewelry. Never post a photo of yourself at the beach, in a night club, or even running a marathon.

6. Keep your head straight and upright. Women, in particular, tend to tilt their heads in photos, which makes them look less self-assured. Again, this is your professional photo, so you need to look confident and capable in it.

7. Use a pleasant facial expression. You need to look like someone others will want to work with. This means looking pleasant and confident and not having a “too serious” look on your face. Photos should express confidence, edgy and full of life and not sad, angry, or a vacant stare. Also, stick to color rather than black and white shots.”

8. Don’t use your company’s product or logo as a photo. People want to connect with you as an individual, so avoid displaying your company’s logo — unless it’s your company’s page.

 

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Online Marketing|Webmaster

Protecting Against Common Computer Threats

computer-security-threat-in-code-shutterstock-510pxThere are two types of common threats most non technical staff will encounter.

  1. “Phishing” for information
  2. “Viruses” never friendly
  3. What to do

Phishing

Develop a healthy skepticism when reading any email that asks for sensitive information and take a couple of simple steps to protect you.

  • Familiar alarmist messages from ADP, Efax, eBay, Amazon, Facebook or email companies to enter and renew passwords, threats of account closures or documents to open
  • zip attachments or any type of attachment
  • Promises of money for little or no effort
  • Deals that sound too good to be true
  • Requests to donate to a charitable organization after a disaster that has been in the news
  • Bad grammar and misspellings

What does a phishing email message look like?

Here is an example of what a phishing scam in an email message might look like.

phishing_email_example

  • Beware of links in email. If you see a hyperlink in a suspicious email message, don’t click on it. Roll your mouse (BUT DO NOT CLICK) over the link to see if the address matches the link that was typed in the message. In the example below the link reveals the real web address, as shown in the box with the yellow background. The string of cryptic numbers looks nothing like the company’s web address; be watchful for incorrect domains or spelling for example the real domain is http://linkedin.com, however the hyperlink is linking to http://sign-into-linkedn.com (Notice the “linkedn.com” is incorrect and should be “linkedin.com”).

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  • If in doubt, retype the URL. When in doubt retype the URL and go to the known website. Phishers are very sophisticated in their use of design and technology to make their email lures look legitimate. The URL for the link in a phishing scam email usually appears to be a company’s valid Web address. If you click the link, you’re redirected to the phishers’ phony sites which look very much like the live site. However, if you type the displayed address into your browser rather than clicking the link, you can avoid being redirected.
  • Spelling and bad grammar. Cyber-criminals are not known for their grammar and spelling. Professional companies or organizations usually have a staff of copy editors that will not allow a mass email like this to go out to its users. If you notice mistakes in an email, it might be a scam.
  • Spoofing popular websites or companies. Scam artists use graphics in email that appear to be connected to legitimate websites but actually take you to phony scam sites or legitimate-looking pop-up windows.
  • When in doubt, throw it out. You can always get a file from someone on paper or on disk. Delete messages with suspect attachments as soon as you can.

Viruses

Viruses are commonly sent as zip attachments or are hyperlinks in emails or web pages.

  • If you receive but are not expecting an attachment from a known source delete it.
  • Virus attachments often come from Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Amazon, resumes, financial information, contact spreadsheet, American Express etc. Delete these messages immediately.
  • Viruses can also be linked and downloaded from hyperlinks offering free iPad’s or other gifts on untrusted websites.

i.      Be cautious of known viruses; like speed up your PC/computer or free antivirus and ad-ware removal tools.

ii.     In most cases once these viruses are in the system, they go into learning mode to watch and obtain your access information silently.

  • Viruses can also be sent as computer updates. Recently attackers have been using fake computer updates to install malicious software on PC.s

i.     Be sure to ask your administrator before installing any type of software or software update

What to do

  1. Delete the email threats immediately, never click on anything that is not certain.
  2. Make sure your antivirus is active and you are not using a free service downloaded from the web.
  3. Run a virus scan, and set up an automated weekly scan.
  4. If you do click on a virus you may not notice any immediate problems until the virus is fully embedded into your system.

i.      Press the escape key multiple times and disconnect your computer from the local network or shut it down.

ii.     Report it to your technical lead.

iii.    Catching and cleaning it early is much better than waiting for the virus to learn your username, password information and then wipe your files or infect other computers.

[authorsure_authors]

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Computer Security|Desktop Tips|Internet Security