Failover, not fall over - how to keep running when the hardware fails

Failure is not an option in business and redundancy is the solution. You can offer customers systems that keep running when the hardware fails.

Server failure used to mean widespread panic and a scramble to find backup tapes and a spare server to restore onto. Inevitably this meant business interruption, user frustration and even data loss. Recovering from a backup can take hours; even planned maintenance can take the server down during business hours leaving users unable to work. Today there is no excuse for this situation.

Is Windows 7 Ready for Small Business

The Service Pack 1 rule is a good one for most operating systems, and not because a new version of Windows usually has as many bugs as benefits.

Dirtection Inc: episode 8

When boffins go bad. As one gruesome mystery ends, another begins.

Backup goes online and offsite

Remote backup services can offer the speed of disk, the security of tape, and the simplicity of a consumer service. But how do you ensure that remote backup services comply with your clients’ data policies and integrate with their existing IT set-ups?

Spacemonger - pinpoint what’s taking up the space on your hard drives

The best thing about Spacemonger (www.sixty-five.cc/sm, $24.95) isn’t that its intuitive display of how space is used on a hard drive allows you to pinpoint what’s taking up the space on your hard drives in a matter of seconds. The screen area shows a colour-coded and hierarchical treemap where the size of the box for each directory or file is in proportion to the space it takes on the drive. Hover the mouse over any element to see a popup with more detail, and scroll the mouse wheel to zoom down to level of individual files.

Rebuilding a NAS appliance RAID array

Disks fail, and RAID arrays need rebuilding. Be prepared for the worst – and keep your clients’ data safe.

Backing up Exchange

Like any other database, Exchange needs a little TLC if you want to recover from any downtime.

Sponsored feature - The Paperless Office – what’s stopping you?

Over the years, the phrase ‘Paperless Office’ has become something of a distant dream to many businesses.

How to spoof a MAC address (and why)

MAC spoofing is one of those odd tricks: it’s not very useful most of the time (and it can be extremely awkward in a well-managed environment) but sometimes it’s the only technique that will solve the problem.

Setting up SANmelody to create your own Storage Fabric

Setting up SANmelody to create your own storage fabric

When you install the operating system on the storage server do not format the disks you will use for storage, just initialise them. The storage software will take care of everything else.