Online or in-house servers?

Technology is changing at a growing rate. For many years companies have been deploying in-house servers that take care of their file storage, email delivery and to control the users that log in to their machines.

With the growth of the Internet and the fact that most of the population have a form of 'always on' access. Whether it be on their mobile phone, home computer, hotel, office - pretty much anywhere gives a much wider range of options.

Cloud-based organisations are inventing online versions such as Software as a Service which involve a subcription paid per user. The great thing about this that compared to a typical office where only one server controls most of their daily items we have an internet based cluster of many servers controlling everyday items. Whether a company has 1 user of 1,000s it means that the system can scale and grow with them. No more updates, IT technical training, just a simple, standard per user fee.

This also opens up avenues from working pretty much anywhere. Having all of your office documents online means that as long as you have access to any computer with a live internet connection, those documents can be accessed immediately.

Another strong pro for 'going cloud' is that collaboration becomes very simple. Instead playing 'email ping pong' with your all important documents to send to others for review and comment you simply email your collaborators an online link whereby they can view (and edit if required) the one online document. No more confusion over file versions and say hello to be able to the ability of tracking changes by the user and reverting back to previous editions if required.

Firbanks IT recently became Google Apps authorised resellers and can talk through the pros and cons of 'going cloud' and can manage any transfer process required by importing the necessary emails, calendar, contacts, files and more. If you require any further information on either server set up then please do not hesitate to contact us by visiting our website http://www.firbanks.com

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Firbanks IT are now official google apps resellers

December 2009 marks another milestone for Firbanks IT. We have been experimenting with the onling google apps services for a good few months. Reliable email delivery, online apps and calendar managment, video and web building sevices ideal for company intranets. As of today, Firbanks IT have officially been accepted as a Google Apps authorised reseller.

This is a big step forward for us. We can now provide reliable email services with a fair deal of redundancy and backup to customers of all sizes. One man bands or thousands of users, this service is so flexible that it will cope with the needs at both end of the scale.

Turn it off and on again!

You often hear an IT helpdesk ask 'have you tried turning it off an on again?' A comedy show named 'The IT Crowd' use this line many times and always get a giggle but never has this been so true! I attend a breakfast meeting on a Monday morning and one of our members had brought along with him a projector to assist him with his presentation. Only to find in panic the the projector was not switching on. No noise, it was dead! So the basic things come to mind. Initially switch the thing off and on - no difference. Next, check it's plugged in - yes it is. Ok so let's unplug the thing and then reconnect it and voila - the projector kicked in to action! The mains cable was not attached fully to the projector so it made a crackle and everything appeared on the wall. Much to our relief everyone sat down and watched the presentation.

Some times things are this easy. It could have been a blown bulb, dodgy switch, dead extension lead or many other reasons that could have caused this fault but never forget to check the obvious things first! It can save time and a lot of money!

Working in the cloud

The term 'the cloud' has been popping up every now and again but what does it actually mean? The cloud is like a virtual environment where you can store your emails, documents, videos and web sites. The cloud is a huge cluster of servers all linked together with your documents stored on. It's a great concept and ideal for the small business that wishes to utilise the features of an office server but without the upfront cost. Google Apps have a service that allows such a thing and they offer enterprise level of support with Google Apps Premier. Just imaging, working from anywhere, no office costs, email always available whereever you are without being subjected to power cuts. Ideal for people collaborating and many remote places. Many of the Firbanks features also run on the cloud so drop us a line if you wish to know more!

The use of a Netbook and how they can go wrong!

Over the previous 2 months Netbooks have been making their way in to the computer scene. They are small, lightweight (often < 1.4Kg) and powerful enough to run Windows XP, built-in wireless, bluetooth and the one I purchased especially has a built-in 3G card.

As a new gadget on the scene I want to evaluate one to see what it could do. I visited the local PC World store and found a Netbook with a built-in 3G modem so that I could simply plug in the Vodafone sim and be online. I purchased 2 of them. Unfortunately I couldn't obtain discount on the product but only for the (highly marked up) 'extras' that they try to bundle with it such as carry bases, USB keys, extended warranties, etc.

I'm very impressed with the unit. The screens are small giving a display of 1024 wide by 800 high. It's great for email on the move and general web surfing. It'll run BBC's iplayer with no problems. The built-in processor consumes such little power that the battery life is superb. Given the size of the laptop, a 3 hr standard battery life is brilliant for being out and about. They are great however until things go wrong!

Unfortunately for me, after 7 days of use, the built-in 3G modem developed fault whereby it was constantly being detected/undetected making the noises similar to that of plugging in a USB device and then unplugging it again. As I had already customised the Netbook I choose to call the 0844 support number to get it repaired rather than swapping the laptop over as everything had just been customized to my taste - Big mistake!

The support rep on the phone, after 34 minutes of turning off and on, removing the battery, etc decided to book it in for a courier collection the following day. All looking good so far...

A week later it is received back at my home address. After collecting it I noticed scratches to the glossy screen cover that were not there before (remember, it's new!). I switch it on when arriving at work and within 10 minutes, the same problem arises. After this, I check out the notes on the service sheet with big letters N F F (no fault found).

I immediately ring the tech support again to be told that the laptop must be wiped to basics and reinstalled before they will re-look at this. (You must remember that the laptop was new, had Microsoft Office installed and Skype). I explained that the fault was occuring on one of the two purchased laptops that had been installed identically. I also mentioned the scratches on the screen. What was my reply? 'I can't help you further until you wipe your machine and restore from the disks'. I re-enphasised that it was a 7 day old laptop that has come back from repair in worse cosmetic condition than before it was collected to only receive a reply, 'we don't do cosmetic damage would you like me to talk you through the wipe and reinstall?' At this point I closed the conversation with the frustrated conclusion of taking the laptop back to the local PC World store!

Good work!

The end of another absolutely manic week. I had a brilliant day today. We had to move IT equipment from one building to another and I was amazed at the speed in which the transition occured. Even if there was some little confusion and hurdles with the removal people thinking that the IT equipment didn't need to be moved? Now seriously?! Who would move offices and leave their old equipment across the road!

I had a phone conversation on the way back from working in Yeovil this evening with another customer. He mentioned that a customer had a computer system fault and that he had recommended us for the work. But bizarrely the person replied and said 'did you know that you were the second person to recommend these people for the work?' and that surprised him as the other person who had recommended us he didn't even know! Now that's networking and keeping our customers smiling!

Another thing that chuffed me on the way home from Yeovil is that during this 100 mile journey, I had an urgent call from a customer who's server had gone down. Being a Friday evening I found it difficult to locate a technician that was still answering their phone in Southampton. I pulled over in a layby, turned on my laptop, plugged in the datacard and from the middle of no where - logged in to their machine and set up a temporary method to get the customer on their way to print some important documents. Unfortunately this means an early Saturday morning visit for me tomorrow but the plus side is that the customer completed the urgent task before their deadline this evening and that I can resolve things properly tomorrow.

If you look after the customer, they will recommend you to others and continue to use your services.