ETC Computerland

Welcome to our monthly round-up of tech tips, news and web wisdom.
If you have any questions you’d like us to address, please contact us at web@etccomputerland.com.

Click here learn more about ETC ComputerLand March Events!

"Survival Techniques During an Economic Downturn"

Chris Simmons
Marketing Coordinator

Thank you to those who attended the Tri-State Development Summit Entrepreneurship Task Force “Survival Techniques During an Economic Downturn” networking event, on February 18th, sponsored by ETC ComputerLand.  Facilitators Melissa Griswold, PhD and Eric Thomas brought business owners together to discuss strategies for increasing efficiencies, decreasing costs, and riding out this economic storm.  We had a great turnout and a great discussion on all our experiences.  

ETCC donated an HP monitor and printer, funded by Hewlett Packard.  Celia Neff of Celia’s in Quincy was drawn for the color printer and Richard Heinie of Heinie Specialty Products was drawn for the monitor.  Mr. Heinie found so much value in the monitor that he made a purchase for an additional monitor.

Another session will be held later this year.  Please visit www.etccomputerland.com for details.

Winners of the Event

Celia Neff
Richard Heinie

Celia Neff
Celia's in Quincy

Richard Heinie
Heinie Specialty Products

Server Virtualization - How Small Is Too Small?

Matt Gower
AT Manager

We have heard stories for several years about how nearly all Fortune 500 companies have deployed server virtualization to save space, data center costs, energy, etc.  What we don’t hear about is how server virtualization can benefit small businesses as well.  There is no magic number to define when a business is large enough to consider server virtualization.  ETC ComputerLand has installed virtual server technology for some of our smallest clients, as well as some of our largest clients. 

The Fortune 500 companies are able to achieve cost savings by reducing the number of physical servers needed to run their organizations, reducing maintenance costs due to the reduction in hardware, reducing data center size, and reducing energy consumption.  Smaller companies can also benefit in the same ways.  While a small company with only a few servers may not see a large impact on their electric bill by eliminating a server, they will notice a huge impact when they can eliminate the need to purchase an additional server.  In many cases, application vendors recommend or require that their applications run on a dedicated server to reduce the risk of conflicts with other applications.  When deploying a new application into a virtualized environment, a new virtual server can simply be provisioned on the existing hardware.  The application vendor is satisfied because their application has its own server operating system and dedicated memory.  This allows their application to run as it was designed with no interference from other applications or services.  The benefits of this approach are cost savings on hardware and a quicker deployment by eliminating the lead time on hardware.

Server virtualization can be a strategic move for even the smallest business.  By planning ahead, the business can open up a wide range of possibilities that would not be possible or affordable with separate physical servers.  Your ETC ComputerLand account management team can work with you to discuss your needs and help decide if and when server virtualization may make sense for your business.  Give us a call today!

 

Have You Ever Wondered What Wireless WPA and WEP Are?

Rhonda Primm
Kirksville Branch Manager

WPA and WEP are encryption options you can use to secure your wireless connection.  Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is a standard IEEE 802.11 and was designed to provide the same level of security as a wired local area network.  The latest technology WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) adopted in 2003 is to help provide stronger wireless data encryption than the older WEP.  Wireless networks broadcast messages using radio waves thus being susceptible to eavesdropping.  Although these schemes have the same goal — to protect your wireless data against digital eavesdropping — they are not compatible with one another. All devices in your wireless network should use the same encryption standard and key in order to communicate.

Then comes WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 2) which most all wireless devices purchased today will support. WPA2 is the best wireless security available today. But chances are that your existing wireless broadband router or trusty old laptop will use WPA or WEP. In a case like this, you have two choices: Use the highest encryption standard that all devices will support or spend additional money and upgrade the older devices to WPA2.

Best practice is to use the best encryption possible using authentication methods with strong complex network keys.

 

Software Compliant - Are You?

Kim Brown
Client Liaison

What does software piracy mean to you?  We have all heard about copyright laws for movies and music, but are you aware that those same laws and other similar laws also apply to software, such as Microsoft and Adobe products?

Have you ever installed software and clicked Accept on the End User License Agreement (EULA) without reading the specific details of what that license permits or restricts?  Is the license “per user” or “per machine”?  Is the license for personal use only, therefore not legal in a business setting?  While the majority of EULA’s are full of legal jargon that the average consumer will not understand, there are sections that are important for us to review, comprehend and adhere to.  Otherwise, you and/or your organization are at risk of lengthy audits, court proceedings and hefty fines that would put many small businesses out of business.

You might ask “how would anyone know if we are compliant or not, we won’t get audited”?  My answer is “you would be surprised”.   Software vendors have their own anti-piracy departments, however many partner with watchdog groups such as the Business Software Alliance (BSA) due to the research for them. Not only do these organizations go looking for violators, but the majority of those caught have been turned in by current or past disgruntled employees.  The dangling of a reward for verifiable tips helps to encourage this behavior.  According to the BSA website, in 2008 they paid 42 individuals a total of $136,100 for those tips!

So what exactly is software piracy?  According to the BSA, the definition is “the unauthorized copying or distribution of copyrighted software”.  What does this really mean?  This can be copying, downloading, sharing, or selling copies, just to name a few.  When you purchase software, you are actually purchasing a license to use that software.  The software itself is still owned by the vendor.  Typically, each machine with the software installed needs a license purchased prior to installation. 

Understandably, you may not have knowingly pirated any software.  Can you prove that you are software compliant?  Do you manage your software licenses and installations? 

For more information on Software Compliance, contact ETC ComputerLand at 228-6180.

 

Congratulations United Way of Adair County!United Way of Adair County

As many of you may already know, GiFT is a monthly computer and technology giveaway sponsored by ETC ComputerLand to benefit local not-for-profit tax-exempt agencies who are in good standing with the state of Illinois and/or Missouri and whose principal offices are within 30 miles of Quincy, IL, and Kirksville, MO.

Click here for instructions on setting up a monthly reminder to sign up for GiFT.

REGISTER NOW!

March Features
"Survival Techniques During an Economic Downturn"
Server Virtualization - How Small is Too Small?
Have You Ever Wondered What Wireless WPA and WEP Are?
Software Compliant - Are You?
GiFT
Archived Newsletters
Presidium

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