FIVE REASONS FOR YOUR OWN PRIVATE CLOUD

WHY CLOUD BACKUP?

5 NO-BRAINER REASONS TO USE THE CLOUD FOR YOUR BUSINESS

With the rise of ransomware, cyber crime and just basic disasterous situations, having a reliable backup is essential to maintaining and protecting your company data. As if you needed more than one simple reason (losing ALL of your data if it's not backed up), we have listed five really good reasons why you should use a Cloud Backup. 

1.     Cloud Standup

In the event of total failure, our solution offers the ability to activate aka "standup" your servers in the Cloud giving you time to address hardware/software failures.

2.     Multisite Replication

Multisite refers to the three or more data storage locations to which the Cloud Backups replicate. This gives you peace of mind knowing that your data is safe three-times-over and recoverable no matter the cause. 

3.     Ease of Scalability

Being able to scale your business when the time comes easily is important. Here, you can grow your backup without worrying about server sprawl; utilization rates or unnecessary lead time to add new equipment.

4.     Speedy Recovery

Things happen unexpectedly so being able to restore backup drives from any location provides fast recovery when you need it the most.

5.     Offsite Access

Offside access couples with speedy recovery, so being able to access your data from any location makes Cloud Backup hassle-free.

What questions do you have about private cloud hosting?

Maybe your business has already decided that it needs cloud backup and data protection? How do you do it? RealTime IT can walk you through the process and get your business setup with your own private cloud. Email us now to get started.

Chrome’s Ad Blocker Went Live This Week. Here's the info...

Last week on February 15, 2018

Chrome launched a built-in ad blocker in conjunction with Google last week. Chrome will block ads deemed unacceptable (such as pop-ups, auto-playing video ads, etc) and will not show ads, including Googles, on websites not in compliance with the Better Ads Standards.

So, what does this mean?

Considering that Google serves more online ads than any company on Earth, this is huge news. Chrome has approximately 60% of the desktop browser market share (and growing), sites will likely have no choice than to follow the guidelines. Interested in what the guidelines are for Better Standards? Take a look for yourself: https://www.betterads.org/standards/

Here's what "intrusive advertising” changes will look like for consumers:

1. Pop-up ads – initiated by user actions, such as a mouse click or a mouse-over , a window containing an offer for some product or service appears in the foreground of the visual interface.
2. Prestitial ads – appears on a mobile page before content has loaded, blocking the user from continuing on to the content.
3. Ad density over 30% – when an ad takes up more than 30% of the vertical height of the main page, the result is a disruptive ad experience.
4. Flashing animated ads – rapidly changing background and colors are highly aggravating for consumers, and serve to create a severe distraction
5. Videos set to auto play – if there is audio in the video, users must have the option to play the video or not to
6. Poststitial countdown ads – appears after the user follows a link and it then forces the user to wait a number of seconds before the ad can be dismissed
7. Full screen scroll-over ads – forces the user to scroll through an ad that appears on top of content
8. Large sticky ads – ads that attach to the sideline of a page and often times block content, regardless of a user’s efforts to scroll

www.wikipedia.com, www.google.com, www.androidpolice.com, www.betterads.org, www.chartec.net 

Smishing...

What is Smishing?

SMishing is any type of phishing attempt that involves text messaging. As consumers, we tend to be more trusting on our cell phones, but this is very dangerous. Cyber criminals are able to mimic sms (text) messages making it look like it's from someone you know and asking you to click on a link.  If for some reason you do this, ransomware could possibly be downloaded on your device and could compromise your sensitive information like credit card, social security and account numbers. 

Almost everyone has encountered phishing scams that arrive via spam emails. Someone might claim to be from your bank or pretend like they’re from your phone company looking for personal information like passwords.

Basically, Smishing is the SMS (“SMS” stands for “short message service” and is the technical term for the text messages you receive on your phone) version of phishing scams. Instead of a spammy email, you get a text message on your smartphone.

Now, a lot of people are receiving text messages claiming to be from FedEx or other delivery serviceswith a tracking code and a link to “set delivery preferences.”

Don’t click the link!

If you tap that link on your phone, you’ll end up on a fake site (a phishing site) with a fraudulent “free reward.”

Watch our latest IT Shorts on SMishing now. 

Tips to Ensure your Business Can Weather Any Storm E-Book

Fires, floods, hurricanes, tornados - Any one of these natural disasters can impose serious damage to the livelihood of a business. Depending on your business type and location, the risk attached to these natural disasters can vary. Here’s a quick Disaster Survival reference guide to ensure your business can weather any storm. Download today.

In this guide you will learn:

·       About various naturals disasters & risk levels

·       The potential impacts of each disaster

·       How disaster recovery planning can keep businesses running

·       And more!

Download your free Natural Disaster Survival Guide for Businesses by clicking on the image above. 

January is Clean Up Your Computer Month

Computers – we have all had to deal with them one way or another. From video games to social media, these technological creations also come with an important note. If we want to keep our computers running at optimum capacity, we have to keep them clean. Both the components and the internal memory have to be cleaned regularly if we want our machines to operate properly. So, on that note, let us look into the ideals of Clean Up Your Computer Month!

The History of Clean Up Your Computer Month

Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer (ENIAC)
Photo: http://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/birth-of-the-computer/4/78

The first substantial computer was the giant ENIAC machine, created by John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert at the University of Pennsylvania. ENIAC (Electrical Numerical Integrator and Calculator) used a word of 10 decimal digits instead of binary ones like previous calculators/computers. ENIAC was also the first machine to use more than 2,000 vacuum tubes, using nearly 18,000 vacuum tubes instead. Storage in those vacuum tubes require the machinery to keep cool, taking up over 167 square meters (1800 square feet) of floor space. Nonetheless, it had punched-card input and output. It also arithmetically had 1 multiplier, 1 divider-square rooter, and 20 adders employing decimal “ring counters,” which served as adders and quick-access (0.0002 seconds) read-write register storage. ENIAC was productively used from 1946 to 1955. The 1960’s saw large mainframe computers become more common in large industries, the US military, and space program. IBM became the unquestioned market leader in selling these large, expensive, error-prone, and very hard to use machines.

Steve Jobs. Photo: bio.com

A veritable explosion of personal computers occurred in the early 1970s, starting with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak exhibiting the first Apple II at the first West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco. The Apple II boasted built-in BASIC programming language, color graphics, and a 4,100 character memory for only $1,298. Programs and data could be stored on an everyday audio-cassette recorder. Before the end of the fair, Wozniak and Jobs had secured 300 orders for the Apple II and from there Apple took off.

A stack of floppy disks used for publishing medium for distribution of software was invented in the late 1970s. 

Also introduced in 1977 was the TRS-80. This was a home computer manufactured by Tandy Radio Shack. In its second incarnation, the TRS-80 Model II, came complete with a 64,000 character memory and a disk drive to store programs and data on. At this time, only Apple and TRS had machines with disk drives. With the introduction of the disk drive, personal computer applications took off as a floppy disk was a most convenient publishing medium for distribution of software.

IBM, which up to this time had been producing mainframes and minicomputers for medium to large-sized businesses, decided that it had to get into the act and started working on the Acorn, which would later be called the IBM PC. The PC was the first computer designed for the home market which would feature modular design so that pieces could easily be added to the architecture. Most of the components surprisingly came from outside of IBM, since building it with IBM parts would have cost too much for the home computer market. When it was introduced, the PC came with a 16,000 character memory, keyboard from an IBM electric typewriter, and a connection for tape cassette player for $1,265.

IBM ANTNIK 286
Photo: https://antnik.wordpress.com/gallery-2/gallery/

By 1984, Apple and IBM had come out with new models. Apple released the first generation Macintosh, which was the first computer to come with a graphical user interface(GUI) and a mouse. The GUI made the machine much more attractive to home computer users because it was easy to use. Sales of the Macintosh soared like nothing ever seen before. IBM was hot on Apple’s tail and released the 286-AT, which with applications like Lotus 1-2-3, a spreadsheet, and Microsoft Word, quickly became the favorite of business concerns.

That brings us up to about ten years ago. Now people have their own personal graphics workstations and powerful home computers. The average computer a person might have in their home is more powerful by several orders of magnitude than a machine like ENIAC.

The computer revolution has been the fastest growing technology in man’s history.

How to celebrate Clean Up Your Computer Month

To celebrate, all we have to do is turn off our computers and makes sure that the inside is clean and free from dust. Afterwards we need to reactivates our computers and clear up any space on the hard drives that we possibly can, and let’s not forget to close up our computers after cleaning out the interior.

*Article compliments of https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/clean-up-your-computer-month/