Rolling Blackouts in OC

Hello All,

Some of you may be aware that the power situation in southern California is tight this summer. So tight that the ISO (aka CalSO) is letting customers know that rolling blackouts are a possibility. The ISO says that it’s unlikely that it will come to rolling blackouts, but we maintain that most people can’t bet their business on it. Rolling blackouts and hard power cycles are potentially damaging to networking equipment and servers. The issue with rolling blackouts is that when the power is restored to a particular area, everything in that area begins catching up immediately. For example, when all the A/C units have been off in an area for a rolling blackout, it’s likely that they will all kick on almost immediately when they get power again, trying to catch up for the temperature increase during the blackout. The same applies for many servers, switches, UPS, routers, and user’s desktop machines. This sudden increased demand for power can cause power surges. BIG ones. Power surges can toast routers and switches and damage components in servers.

TH2 would like to help. One quick and cheap way of protecting yourself is to buy decent surge protectors for networking equipment in your office. Trip-Light has a great site to help you select appropriate devices, and they are a trusted manufacturer of network protection equipment. The switches, routers, modem, and servers you have should all be protected. Look for surge protectors with a high joule rating. This denotes how much power a surge protector can absorb without failing. Obviously, the higher the better!

All UPS have built in surge protectors and also provide battery power to devices for a short time in the event of a power outage. This can help protect networking equipment and also get your business back up and running in the event of a rolling blackout. The only issue with an UPS is getting the right size and making sure to balance loads across different devices. TH2 can help pick and install the proper UPS for your business.

Finally, sign up for Flex Alerts. Flex Alerts will send out messages when the grid is approaching capacity, allowing the users of that grid to take action before power companies are forced into rolling blackouts. The more people who are signed up for Flex Alerts the better! Get your friends and associates signed up too. When you receive a flex alert, the idea is for people to try hard to cut excess power usage by turning off lights and not running appliances for a while. Here is the Flex Alerts site: http://www.flexalert.org/

Naturally, we are more than willing to come in and do a power audit on your site for you. Ideally, we can replace old power hungry equipment with newer, more efficient hardware. Eventually power savings (along with long term cooling savings, maintenance, up-time, and the higher productivity afforded by newer hardware) can often times make up a portion or all of the upfront costs of new hardware and installation. 

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Should you have any questions regarding the services offered by TH2 Technologies please be sure to contact them for further information.

TH2 specializes in Orange County IT Support, Orange County IT Services and Orange County Computer Support.

Mobile Device Management Questions

After reading about mobile device implementation and considering it for their business, many business owners and managers are often left with more questions than answers. They also sometimes walk away from information with more trepidations and doubt. They do so only because most of the information out there pertaining to mobile device business implementation only talks about what it can do for their business and doesn't necessarily talk about costs, security, and the actual implementation itself.

Here at TH2 Technologies we aim to educate our clientele and answer any questions they may have regarding the implementation of mobile devices into their business. While implementation isn't overly difficult for us nor for business owners it is a complicated process that requires careful planning and a lot of thought before the process is ever started. An initial consultation with a computing firms such as us can give a business owner and/or a manager a really good idea of whether or not mobile implementation will work for them and whether or not it's worth the cost for their business.

There are also a lot of security concerns that need to be addressed during the consultation. Questions like "can employees use their own devices or do we assign them company devices?" and "how much access do we give employees?" all need to be addressed up front. The amount of security needed will vary from company to company and will depend largely on how much data and information employees and even management can access from mobile devices. Moreover the types of access a business owner/manager wants to allow will determine the type and amount of security that are implemented which can affect costs.

Mobile device implementation will carry different security requirements and financial costs for every company. In order to determine what it will cost for your business a consultation is recommended. Please be sure to contact us for a consultation and with any questions you may have about mobile device implementation.

TH2 Technologies specializes in:

Managed Mobile Services, Orange County Cloud Computing, Orange County Data Recovery, and Orange County Computer Services

Cloud Computing And Mobile Devices

When one thinks of managed networking services or even cloud services one rarely thinks of mobile devices like smart phones or tablets. In truth however smart mobile devices are everywhere and have become a major part of both our personal and professional lives. Businesses have already incorporated many different types of mobile devices into the network so that executives and even ground-level employees can access and transfer sensitive data between a business network and their mobile device.

While the incorporation of mobile devices into business is certainly exciting and convenient the IDC reports that 40% of IT decision makers allow their workers access to corporate information from employee owned personal devices and that 70% of employees indicate they access corporate networks through their devices regularly. The incorporation of mobile devices into business has become crucial to many companies which is why it's so very important to ensure that security risks are minimized and that productivity is maximized. The only way to ensure these things happen however is through a remote cloud service like the one we offer.

When you hire us to manage your networks and the mobile devices being used on them you will have the ability to:

• Remotely wipe lost or stolen devices
• Track device location via GPS
• Standardize configuration for fast and easy provisioning
• Enforce security protocols
• Track and report on mobile assets
• Manage device warranty
• ...and much more!

By allowing us to manage your mobile devices and your networks you will dramatically reduce your company's exposure to risks, enhance employee productivity, and increase profits as a result. Mobile devices are changing the way we do business and making things much more convenient and efficient than ever before. Businesses however must be cautious when incorporating mobile devices into their infrastructure and take the necessary steps to ensure that risks are minimized.

Should you have any questions regarding our cloud and mobile device services please be sure to contact us that we may be of assistance.

TH2 Technologies specializes in:

Orange County Cloud Computing, Orange Count Computer Services, and Orange County Network Support

Hosted Exchange Compliance for Enterprises

One of several questions enterprise or medical clients ask me often is if our Hosted Exchange solution meets a certain compliance standard. With the move to a new Hosted Platform, accompanied by the data centers those servers are in, we now comply with several standards.

• ISO27001
• Data Processing Agreement
• HIPAA Business Associate Agreement (HIPAA BAA)
• Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA)
• Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

The two we're questioned about the most are ISO27001 and HIPAA compliance. It's especially important to medical and credit-card processing organizations to comply to the standards set forth for businesses in those fields. We are always very excited to let potential customers know that we do, and if we host your email, compliance is something you no longer have to worry about.

A good follow up question for any email hosting organization you're considering hosting with is what assurances they can give that they will maintain their compliance standards. This is something often overlooked by someone looking into a hosting option. Because our solution is supported by Microsoft, we can offer more solid compliance assurances than most people. As long as Microsoft's solution maintains compliance, ours will as well. Because Microsoft is such a massive company with world wide deployments that require compliance standards, we are 100% confident in our compliance being maintained. This confidence is also yours to inherit when choosing TH2 as your hosted email provider.

We know every business is different, and with compliance being as complex and vast as it is, we are more than happy to address you specific needs as a business. Getting in touch with us is easy, just email exchange@th2tech.com to get to me, Ricky. I'll work with you to ensure your business meets or exceeds the requirements for security, integrity, and retention requirements to put your email worries behind you.

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Should you have any questions regarding the services offered by TH2 Technologies please be sure to contact them for further information.

TH2 specializes in Orange County IT Support, Orange County IT Services and Orange County Computer Support.

Keeping Your Business Data Safe

Of all the computer problems that can plague small and midsize businesses none are more dangerous nor detrimental than data loss. While it's true that not all data is of equal importance, when dealing in business any loss of data is also potentially a loss of productivity, profit, time, and customer relations. In some cases data loss can even result in lawsuits which are a bane to small and midsize businesses.

A business can protect this data in many different ways. Businesses operating on very modest and tight budgets may not back data up at all or may utilize simple flash drives are portable hard drives for backup. Other businesses with a bit more flexibility in their budgets may have their data backed up on site by way of servers but neither of these methods is a surefire way to protect data from disasters. The only way a business can be certain their data is safe is to have it stored off-site and in the cloud. Keeping data stored off-site ensures is that it can be restored should a fire, earthquake, flood, or other natural disaster strike. It even safeguards against in-house software and hardware problems that can cause data loss.

Should you be a business owner/manager interested in in securing your company's data in an off-site location we can help! Please be sure to contact us so that we may be of assistance.

TH2 specializes in Orange County Data Recovery, Orange County Data Protection, Orange County Cloud Computing, Orange County Computer Support, Orange County IT Support, Orange County IT Services and Orange County Computer Support.

New Services Continued

Last week, I posted about our new Hosted Exchange solution, and if you missed it, you can look HERE. To sum it up, we're offering a better solution that has higher availability than what we are able to offer on our own. In addition to that, I mentioned the flexibility of the service. No one has really asked what that means, but I figured I'd go ahead and talk about it anyway. It's a great question to ask, 'How can a hosted Exchange platform be flexible at all?' It's a good question because on it's own, hosted Exchange isn't any more or less flexible than an onsite implementation, or one hosted with someone else. Where the flexibility comes in is in regards to integration to other online services. The hosted Exchange accounts can and do integrate with several hosted offerings, these include SharePoint, Lync, Office Web Apps, Desktop Office Rights, and Project Online. There are some others that will be far less popular, like SQL database hosting, Azure, and Intune.

What this means to our customers is that if some of you want SharePoint later, we can integrate it into your current offering. That means one account, one console, one point of access, and one bill for all your collaboration and email services. What's more is we can add services on a per user basis. If you have 30 people, but only 10 will use SharePoint, we'll sign you up for 10 licences of SharePoint. The other users won't be presented with the option to access it or asked to upgrade. It's just business as usual for everyone else. The same goes for users that need additional mailbox space or advanced mailbox features like litigation hold or archiving. You can have a few users with these features and the rest of the office on the less expensive option. Finally, if you want to licence Office 2013 through us, we can offer that on a monthly basis as well! This allows your company a lot of flexibility in how to provide any and all services to whatever segments of your user base that you want, without having to deploy or maintain a SharePoint or Lync server for just a few users.

While these are great options, the truth is most of you probably won't really find a good reason to use them right away. That being said, why not sign up for a platform that is both cost competitive and offers these features on demand later down the line? These features aren't going anywhere, but your business is! When your growth finds your needs becoming more diverse, it's as easy as a call to us get that going.

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Should you have any questions regarding the services offered by TH2 Technologies please be sure to contact them for further information.

TH2 specializes in Orange County IT Support, Orange County IT Services and Orange County Computer Support.

Learning and Growing

Fun times at TH2 these past few weeks! We've partnered with Microsoft to offer an even better Hosted Exchange Solution, and we've moved most of our existing customers to the new solution. It's an exciting and affordable solution that offers better availability and compatibility with new features and even other services!

What's really interesting about cloud based Exchange servers is the price point is dropping so drastically it's often more cost effective to host even a small or medium business' mail in the cloud, even if the business already has an Exchange server on site! Let's take a quick look at why this is.

Costs and considerations of managing your own Exchange server:

• Basic Mailbox Management Costs (Time paid to techs to manage mail for your domain)
• Power and Cooling of servers
• Backups - even more costly if Off Site Backup is needed
• Troubleshooting Failures or Service Outages - Can sometimes include ticket costs to get Microsoft involved if the issue is severe enough.
• Yearly Certificate Costs - For secure Anywhere Access to your office Mail Server
• Spam and Virus Scanning and Filtering Service
• Hardware Updates and Maintenance - eventually hardware refresh
• Software Updates and Maintenance - This is Exchange updates and upgrades, including:
• Time to install service packs, updates, potential downtime for reboots
• Upgrading to latest version of Exchange when needed (Features, current system becoming unsupported, etc)
• Configuring and setting up new integrated services when your business grows
  

Costs and considerations of TH2's Hosted Exchange:

• Monthly Cost Per Mailbox
• Initial Project Cost of Migration (One-time fee)

As you can see, there are incredible benefits and potential for savings by letting TH2 manage your mail in the cloud for you. What is most appealing to many managers and CFO's when considering the service is the predictable cost of Hosted Exchange; because TH2 rolls the cost of everything into the monthly mailbox cost, there are no surprise fees or large bills due at renewal times.

So, think it over, and by all means, call us! Ask for Ricky (or email him, exchange@th2tech.com), he'd be happy to rant and rave about the stability and versatility of the service we're offering, and be candid with you about your business' needs and help you to see if Hosted Exchange with TH2 is the way to continue growing your business and bring enterprise class services to the small or medium business level!


Should you have any questions regarding the services offered by TH2 Technologies please be sure to contact them for further information.

TH2 specializes in Orange County IT Support, Orange County IT Services and Orange County Computer Support.

Modern Spyware

With a very few rare exceptions most computers and even networks have spyware lurking on them somewhere. Further creating a problem is the fact that most people, even professionals, maybe unaware that the spyware is there. This is because a lot of modern spyware now gets downloaded simply by visiting a website. Whereas it used to be that spyware could only be contracted by downloading a program loaded with it or opening a suspicious e-mail attachment, these days the unscrupulous individuals who devise these applications have found a way to work under the radar so to speak.

In many cases modern spyware is programmed into specific websites which when visited by an individual are downloaded silently in the background while the user browses through the website. Unbeknownst to the individual visiting an infected website not only does their computer become infected with spyware but if they are part of a large network the network can become infected as well.

Even more frustrating and frightening is that this type of spyware no longer functions as solely an executable file or file designed to coax an individual into opening it. Instead modern infections now mimic DLL files and infected them so that they begin functioning just as soon as a PC has been booted up. This can make removing them extremely difficult for even the most adept computer professional. Whereas in years past professionals and lay persons could boot their computers into safe mode to rid themselves of spyware infections modern spyware programs sometimes prevent that from happening as well.

While some individuals and business owners may not care how or why spyware functions the way it does they should take note of the dangers that these modern types of spyware pose. While individuals don't have as much at stake as business owners any private data or sensitive material can easily be viewed and/or copied by outsiders once certain types of spyware have been introduced to a computer or network. This type of scenario is a complete nightmare for businesses and can lead to loss of productivity, lawsuits, data loss, among other things.

In order for businesses and individuals to avoid the many problems that modern spyware carries with it its a good idea to work with some sort of professional networking or IT consulting firm. While there are certainly many tech savvy individuals and business persons out there, computer professionals have the experience and the tools necessary to rid individual computers and networks of not only the spyware but the secondary and tertiary problems/infections as well.

Even the most secure networks and computers running state-of-the-art firewalls and anti-spyware software are going to get infected at some point and on a fairly regular basis. To stay one step ahead of the game business owners, individuals and computer professionals need to work hard in order to understand how modern spyware works and what the consequences of becoming infected with it mean.

TH2 specializes in Orange County computer services, Orange County IT Consulting and Orange County virus removal.

Cloud Services: Saving Companies And Their Data

There's a lot at stake and a lot of potential loss when a company's network and even its individual computers go down or malfunction in some manner. The amount of data lost on an employee's computer is bad enough but when data is lost because hard drives crash on servers a business must begin making difficult and quick choices and they sometimes even go out of business as a result.

In response to business data loss, many computer firms have begun offering cloud services. No doubt you've heard of cloud computing at some point within the last couple of years though you may not know much about it. Essentially and in a nutshell cloud computing allows individuals and businesses to store data off-site on somebody else's servers in order to protect, backup, and restore data when it is needed. Some of the businesses that utilize cloud services for data storage may keep the same data on site as well but many who utilize such services reduce IT costs tremendously by hosting all data on off-site location and even reduce the number of servers that must be used and kept running in-house.

Should the unthinkable happen and a business experience computer/network issues, once those have been resolved, cloud services can be utilized to restore both company and employee data across the board in a relatively short period of time. In this way cloud services actually save businesses quite a bit of money as one stroke of bad luck can cost a business without cloud services an unimaginable sum of money to fix.

While cloud services have only recently become available to businesses, prices have continued to fall which has allowed businesses of the medium and smaller sizes to protect their data and even reduce IT operating costs. Furthermore the majority of companies offering such services usually allow their clientele to customize a service package that meets both the business and budgetary demands. If you own a business and have not yet taken advantage of some type of cloud service do so now.

TH2 specializes in Orange County IT Support, Orange County IT Services and Orange County Computer Support.