Dirtection Inc: episode 8

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

Application control with Windows Group Policy Preferences

Get total application control with Windows Group Policy Preferences.

Sharepoint Comes of Age

Giving your customers a computing environment that will do exactly what they want is one of the best ways to make them happy, and one of the most effective ways to achieve this is with a combination of Microsoft SharePoint and Office.

Skype and SIP

Many businesses are now using VOIP SIP connections to deliver IP telephony to user desktops or IP phones. However, until recently the popular low-cost Skype VOIP service hasn’t been compatible with SIP telephony, ?without using third-party tools like those from 3CX.

Managing Skype in business

Skype means free or cheap calls but it’s based on peer-to-peer file sharing principles. How can you tame consumer VoIP tools for use in a business network?

Setting rates: should you charge the same rates to all IT clients?

Managing and migrating firewalls

Firewalls can provide you with a host of information about what’s going on inside and outside your customer’s network. But that information isn’t necessarily easy to manage and analyse.

Secure Remote Access with SSL VPNs

What to look for when choosing an SSL VPN appliance for small business customers
Secure sockets layer (SSL) virtual private network (VPN) software has been around for a long time, but it is only relatively recently that is has been delivered on dedicated hardware appliances that specialise in hosting remote access, with many of those devices aimed squarely at the SMB market.

Solid State Hard Drives for database performance

Solid State Disks (SSDs) aren’t just for netbooks: they have the potential to transform server specification, especially for database systems. SSDs aren’t much in the business eye at present but we expect them to become a hot topic over the coming year.

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.