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January/February 2009 
IT Trends for 2009!
 
Greetings! 

As we searched through this year's predictions for the top technology trends, we looked for real solutions that would be of interest and benefit to you.  Two items of note as you glance through the list, (1) the success of green IT initiatives is dependent upon the health of the economy and (2) the predictions, like horoscopes, are general in nature and are for entertainment purposes only.
 
Cloud Computing
Colocation
Electronic Document Management
Green IT Initiatives
Mobility
SaaS (Software as a Service)
Unified Communications
Virtualization
Web 2.0
 
In each newsletter, we will feature IT Trends from the list and welcome your suggestions.
 
From all of us at LAN Systems, a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year to you and yours.
Demystifying Virtualization
 
Computer virtualization is a concept that describes dividing computing resources into smaller or "virtual" parts. The computing resources can be hardware or software based. The earliest examples of virtualization can be found in partitioning mainframes in the 1960's where multi-programming shared resources and users didn't have to wait for peripherals. 

 

Moore' Law is often used to explain why virtualization is so resourceful.  The informal definition of Moore's Law is that computing performance doubles every eighteen months. This means that today's computer has performance to spare and virtualization divides the machine into multiple machines without sacrificing speed.

 

Computer virtualization has many flavors and becomes quite technical. In this summary, we will give an overview of the most common type of virtualization in use - server virtualization.

 

Server virtualization - There are basically two types of server virtualization.  The first is where different operating systems are run on the same hardware.  For instance, you could run a Microsoft Windows OS and a Linux OS on the same hardware. The different OS installations would run their own applications and even share data.  

 

The second type is running multiple copies of the same OS like Microsoft Server.  This allows you to run several less demanding application servers on the same hardware without stressing resources. This type of virtualization is only recommended for low-medium demand and is not recommended for high-performance applications. For instance, you could use Server Consolidation to run two or more Windows Servers that run specific applications on a single server. 

 

Additionally, multiple servers combined into one or two servers and high availability systems mirrored over multiple physical nodes for failover are great ways to enter virtualization and realize immediate benefits.
 

7 ways to organize your e-mail

 

With meetings and the general chaos of a normal work day, your e-mail Inbox can quickly get cluttered. An unorganized mailbox can make it difficult to find the e-mail you need and know where to get started. This messy situation can be remedied. Microsoft Office Outlook offers great tools that help you organize your messages in meaningful, easy-to-control ways. Whether you're already using Outlook 2007 or still using Outlook 2003, you'll be able to stay on top of your mail.

 

Below is a summary of some tools in Outlook that you can use to manage your e-mail. You can use one of these tools-or a combination of tools-to help shrink your Inbox and make it easier to find the information you need.

  1. Group similar messages in folders
  2. Create Search Folders to find messages fast
  3. Sort messages quickly
  4. Route mail efficiently using mailbox rules
  5. Reduce unwanted e-mails with junk filters
  6. Lay on the color
  7. Flag for follow up 

 

For tough malware infections 
 
We often use ComboFix for chronic and persistent malware infections. Although ComboFix is effective, it is only recommended for experienced users. It is a powerful tool and improper use can damage your system. It has some side effects, like changing the date/time format, that are easily fixed.  
 
If you have a chronic infection that requires help or just have questions, contact the LAN Systems Helpdesk at 770 662-0312.  Just call - we'll be there!
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In This Issue
Demystifying Virtualization
7 Ways to organize your email
For tough malware infections
Network group

Solutions and Services to help you grow your business

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Plan for growth
 
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Define objectives 
Recommend upgrades
 
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0% Financing on Servers and Storage
 
Hewlett Packard Financial Services is offering 0% lease rate with a $1 end-of-term purchase option on HP Business Technology Optimization (BTO) and Information Management (IM) software solutions.
 
 
Conserve capital in uncertain economic times
 
Offer details:
0% lease rate is for qualified customer for 36 months on transactions with a minimum of $3,000 USD total transaction.
Available in the United States only.
Offer good through January 31, 2009.
 
Other conditions may apply.  Please call us at 770 662-0312 for more details.