Kelowna System Backup - Strategies for Data Loss

Have you ever lost pictures, documents, downloaded music, or data? If so, you know all too well the frustration of data loss. To avoid this frustrating experience, one needs to consider a data backup strategy.

In June of 2006, the New York Times reported on a Microsoft research report stating that 9 out of 10 PC owners do not regularly back up their files. Statistically, it is not a matter of IF, but WHEN, your computer hard drive will fail. Therefore, unless losing your pictures, data, documents or music is of no consequence to you, computer backup is critical.

Imagine the overwhelming amount of time, effort and money it takes to recover a system from which files were destroyed by mechanical failure, a virus attack, or user error. Consider lost revenue simply because of downtime. When you commit to a backup, you avoid these unwelcome and frustrating expenses.

TYPES OF COMPUTER BACKUP

The traditional types of backup are as follows:

Full Backup‐ This form of backup will back up ALL the files on your hard drive and will mark each file as backed up.

Differential backup‐This form of backup will back up all the selected files that have changed since the most recent full or normal backup. If you DO frequently restore files to your system, a differential backup is the recommended option.

Incremental backup‐This form of backup will only backup files that have changed since your most recent backup. This is a much smaller and quicker backup than a full backup. For instance if you backup on a daily basis, a Wednesday backup will contain only those files that have changed since Tuesday.  Incremental backup is recommended if you do NOT frequently restore files to your system.

WHAT SHOULD I BACKUP?

Make your life simple! You most likely do not need to spend hours to back up your entire hard disk.

Most of what is on your hard drive may not need to be backed up anyway. Applications such as Windows, word processors, games and internet software can be reloaded from the original disks; so, there is no need to back them up! To truly make your life simple, why not store all your data in a common folder? I have one data folder with subdirectories for all of my documents, my wife's documents, my graphics files, emails and so on.

TYPES OF BACKUP

Backup to an external Hard Drive

One option is a backup to an external hard drive. External, portable USB 2.0 hard drives of 80 to 500 gigabytes or more are available. Some drives also come with Firewire connections for both PC and Macintosh to speed up data transfer. Portable drives can be quickly removed in an event of an emergency and can easily contain your entire business or home computing life.

For increased back up insurance, many users opt to keep a portable, external drive near the computer or server, and a second portable, external drive offsite. These portables drives can be rotated to keep them current. Market pricing for hard drives has drastically reduced to the point where owning two or even three external hard drives is affordable for most businesses and home computer owners.

At Northern Computer, we have a simple solution called “Click Free” that can do your backup to an external drive with the click of a mouse. Call or email us for more information.

Backup to DVD

Another option is to back up your hard drive to a DVD‐R/RW. Double layered DVD's can hold up to 8.5 gigabytes while single layer DVD can contain up to 4.7 gigabytes. For many small and home businesses, DVD‐RW's are all that is required, particularly when factoring in computer backup software compression.

To reiterate the benefit of the DVD option, one DVD‐R/RW may be able to back up everything on your hard drive for less than the cost of an external hard drive. DVD‐RW's can be marked for each day week (Monday, Tuesday and so forth) and rotated.

Offsite Backup Service

Is sending your data off to a company's hard drive backup service somewhere on the Internet a good option? Online backup solves the problem of offsite storage. Your data is safely stored elsewhere in the event that a fire, theft, flood, earthquake or other natural disaster should damage your office or home. Northern Computer offers an offsite service that starts as low as $25.00 a month.

BEST PRACTICES TO CONSIDER

A few things to consider when planning your backup include:

1. A copy of your important data/backups should be housed in at least in two separate geographical locations. The easiest way to minimize your risk is to create a full back up on an external USB hard disk and bring it to another place (e.g. your work/home, your parent’s house, a friend’s house…etc.).

2. Your data is only as safe as your latest backup. Perform backups frequently! It is recommended to use backup software to automate the backup process. The more convenient it is to create a backup, the more likely your backups will be up‐to‐date. Try to make the backup process as easy and painless as possible as the easier the process, the higher the probability that you will avoid the frustration of lost data.

3. Regularly check the integrity of your backup. When creating a backup for a longer time, be sure that the backups created can be restored. Don’t only create incremental backups. The more incremental steps you create, the higher the probability of compromising the integrity of the data. The recovery of an incremental backup needs every individual incremental step. If just one incremental file is damaged, the whole backup might be useless! A limited budget is no excuse for failing to back up your data; and when data loss occurs, you will wish you had at least used a USB drive as a minimum level of data safety.

I hope you find this article helpful when designing your individual backup strategy. Data safety always costs money. How much it costs, depends on your individual strategy and your tolerance for risk.

- Lauren G, Senior Account Manager

Northern Computer - Your Trusted Partner
#1 - 495 Banks Road Kelowna, BC V1X 6A2
Phone: 250.762.7753 Fax: 250.861.1861 Toll-Free: 1.877.257.2896
Email: sales@northerncomputer.ca or service@northerncomputer.ca
Web: http://www.northerncomputer.ca/

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Kelowna System Cleanup - Computer Maintanence

Do you ever notice that as time goes on, your fast new computer tends to slow down? You begin to notice that it is directly affecting your productivity which can be very frustrating. Many people feel as though the only solution is to either reformat or buy a new computer. However, there are other ways to get the speed and performance back to what it was without having to resort to drastic measures.

Below is a checklist you can use to help maintain optimal system performance. It also lists some best practice tips and preventative maintenance that can be done to help keep your system running healthy.

Computer Maintenance Checklist

At system setup

1. Install a surge suppressor/emergency shutdown power strip (UPS)
2. Register your software products
3. Schedule automatic updates
4. Read the maintenance section of your manual
5. Set up your email to auto-archive older messages
6. Install anti-virus and anti-malware software
7. Put your software drivers and applications install CDs in a safe place

Weekly

1. Back up your files to a remote location
2. Empty your recycle bin
3. Delete your Internet files
4. Clear your browsing history
5. Delete your cookies
6. Update your virus definitions
7. Run a full virus/malware scan
8. Reboot your PC (if you choose to leave it on regularly)

Monthly

1. Run a disk scan to check for hard drive issues
2. Run a defragmentation program
3. Run a disk cleanup to delete unneeded files
4. Try to ensure that the hard drive has 15% free space for successful defragmentation
5. If you can’t free up 15% of disk space, at least ensure that there’s a few GB left free otherwise there will be a major performance impact on the system
6. Check for updates (Windows and other applications if not scheduled)
7. Uninstall unnecessary or unused programs

Quarterly

1. Clean your keyboard
2. Clean your monitor
3. Clean your peripherals
4. Rebuild your desktop
5. Change all your passwords

Yearly

1. Renew your software update and anti-virus/anti-malware subscriptions
2. Review hardware specifications to ensure that it meets the demands of the Operating System and installed software (more RAM, bigger Hard Drive, etc.)

If you are a bit more tech savvy, you can use Windows Task Scheduler to automate some of these tasks. Click the following link to find out more about automating Windows tasks and PC maintenance:

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/setup/maintenance.aspx

Give us a call at our office or email us to request remote support.

- Kerry B, Network Support Technologist

Northern Computer - Your Trusted Partner
#1 - 495 Banks Road   Kelowna, BC   V1X 6A2
Phone: 250.762.7753 Fax: 250.861.1861 Toll-Free: 1.877.257.2896
Email: sales@northerncomputer.ca or service@northerncomputer.ca
Web: http://www.northerncomputer.ca/

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Kelowna Wireless Security – Lock Down Your Network

Have you ever used your neighbour’s wireless internet? Many wireless users rush to get their internet working as quickly as possible. If you have an unsecured wireless network, this leaves your internet open for any wireless enabled devices within range. Leaving your wireless open to the world can result in numerous security problems and a slower connection as you are now sharing it with someone else. They could be using your internet to watch or download movies or accessing your shared files on your computer. Internet providers will soon be billing their customers when they exceed their download and upload limits. Downloading could be anything from using Netflix, browsing the internet, downloading music or receiving emails. This could result in a higher bill than you have been accustomed to paying each month. Click here to read more from CBC on internet download limits: http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2011/01/31/technology-internet-usage-based-billing.html

Configuring today’s basic wireless networking products can be time-consuming and not as straight forward as you would like. With any business you want to make sure you are using the latest and most secure encryption. If you are setting up a home network you might not be as concerned about this, but should still have security set up.

Enabling your routers wireless encryption is one way to make it difficult for others to access your network. The exact steps may vary a bit, but will be found under security or admin for your specific router. To set this up you will have to go to the Login screen for your router. You must be plugged in or connected wirelessly to gain access. You will find the login information with your routers documentation. You will be prompted to enter a password. If you have not set up this password, it is easy to find by doing a basic Google search of the router model or seeing your instruction manual. Because it is easy to find, you should change it, otherwise it can be easy for anyone to access your router and change any settings. Once logged on, you will want to set up the encryption. You will have to choose your encryption settings from the following.

SSID Service Set Identifier- Is the name of a wireless local area network (WLAN). All wireless devices on a WLAN must employ the same SSID in order to communicate with each other. The default name is usually the name of your router and this should be changed while you are logged in so that it doesn’t identify the manufacturer of the device.

WEP Wireless Equivalency Privacy – A deprecated security algorithm for wireless networks. Intended to provide confidentiality comparable to that of a traditional wired network, but is susceptible to eavesdropping.

WPA and WPA2 Wi-Fi Protected Access – Is an advanced protocol designed to replace WEP because of WEPs security concerns. WPA2 is an improvement over WPA.

How does a person know which of these they can use? You can only use what your device supports. It will be listed on the device. WPA2 should be your first choice because it is currently the most secure method. Some older wireless routers do not support WPA2 and may only support WPA or WEP. If this is the case, a strong password (21 or more characters) with a WPA network can do very well against an attack. If your devices only support WEP, look for an update online or think about getting a device with WPA2 capabilities. WEP can be cracked within a couple minutes by any savvy person who knows how to use Google.

So now that you’ve made your selection, you will be prompted for a password. This is the password that will allow others to access your network, while blocking out any unwanted visitors. Try not to use your phone or fax number as the password because these are a some of the most common passwords.
If you don’t want to worry about your wireless network security, Northern Computer would gladly help secure your personal or business network.

- Benjamin M, Network Support Technician

Northern Computer - Your Trusted Partner #1 - 495 Banks Road Kelowna, BC V1X 6A2
Phone: 250.762.7753 Fax: 250.861.1861 Toll-Free: 1.877.257.2896
Email: sales@northerncomputer.ca or service@northerncomputer.ca
Web: http://www.northerncomputer.ca/

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Remote Access & Remote Support in Kelowna

Do you really need to go into work anymore? These days, with the right equipment, you can securely connect to your PC at work. You are provided with a desktop view of your PC. Only the screenshot images are transferred over the internet between your home and work. Speed is not a problem; you will virtually be in the office! In this article we will explain how this is possible and how we can securely accomplish this. We will also talk about the methods that we use to remotely access your networks and standalone PCs.

You can remotely access any resources in your office via a VPN (Virtual Private Network). There are two common types, remote-access and site-to-site access. This technology is secured with an encrypted tunnel over the internet. Which means you can use your existing broadband internet connection and not pay for pricey dedicated services. Northern Computer uses Cisco equipment most commonly to implement this secure, reliable tunnel.

A remote-access VPN is commonly used for home or mobile users. It uses the VPN software to connect into the office and access common resources such as files, databases, PCs and terminal servers. These resources can be accessed by logging in from any PC.

A site-to-site VPN is used if your business has multiple locations. It uses the VPN enabled router on each end of your business to create the virtual tunnel. This enables you to connect remote offices to the main site for server access.

Northern Computer also uses several different remote access tools to provide remote support to help our clients. Sometimes we can use this same VPN technology to remotely connect into your network over a secure, encrypted channel. Whether your issue is server or workstation related, we can use this VPN software to remotely connect into your network over a secure encrypted channel. This allows us to quickly fix various computer problems. If you don’t have a VPN, no problem! We have a software based product that allows us to dial into your machine. It is as easy as punching in a key code and giving us permission. At any time, you have full control to disconnect us from your computer, making this a secure method for you and your files.

Give us a call at our office or email us at service@northerncomputer.ca to request remote support. This is the most efficient way for us.

- Jeremy A, Network Support Technician

Northern Computer - Your Trusted Partner #1 - 495 Banks Road Kelowna, BC V1X 6A2
Phone: 250.762.7753 Fax: 250.861.1861 Toll-Free: 1.877.257.2896
Email: sales@northerncomputer.ca or service@northerncomputer.ca
Web: http://www.northerncomputer.ca/

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Recycle your computer - Kelowna

Recycle the easy way…

Computers sure are great when they are working. But what do you do with that computer, monitor, printer, switch, router that no longer works or is just too old? You do what millions of people and companies are doing and store them somewhere in the deepest darkest corner of your house or office. Or you recycle it.

In British Columbia, all new electronics are charged an environmental handling fee. This fee is collected to help offset the costs of recycling your old electronics. Recycle? Does this mean they take my old computer and give it to someone? No, all the electronics contain valuable metals like, copper and gold. Of course these are in small amounts, but still worth value on the market once you have collected it from thousands of electronics. In B.C. electronics are taken to Trail, where they are broken down, melted down and all the salvageable metals, plastics and such are separated and recycled.

What about the hard drive? We recommend that you never take a hard drive to be recycled until the piece is rendered useless and no data can be extracted in anyway. Sometimes formatting the hard drive is not enough. At Northern Computer, we physically take the hard drive apart and scratch the surface of the platters, or even bend and smash them with a hammer. This is the pretty much the only way to make sure you cannot get any data off.

Where do you take all this stuff? The regional district holds a once or twice a year collection, but if you can’t wait for that, you can drop off your electronics at Battery Doctor on Windsor Road in Kelowna. There is no fee to do this, you can contact them to make sure what you want to drop off is accepted as some larger printers or copiers may not be accepted by them.

You can also visit the Encorp website, they are the company responsible to collect all recyclables in B.C. go to http://www.encorp.ca/ for more information.

- Ken H, Account Manager

Northern Computer - Your Trusted Partner
 #1 - 495 Banks Road Kelowna, BC V1X 6A2
Phone: 250.762.7753 Fax: 250.861.1861 Toll-Free: 1.877.257.2896
Email: sales@northerncomputer.ca or service@northerncomputer.ca
Web: http://www.northerncomputer.ca/

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Office Ergonomics - Mouse Clicks

Computer Ergonomics is concerned with potential and sometimes persistent injuries that can be caused by a person who uses a computer for a large part of their working day. On the scale of human history, the personal computer is a relatively new ‘tool’ that humans have had to get used to using. Computer ergonomics becomes important when you consider fingers moving around keyboards, eyeballs focusing on screens and hands wrapped around mice.

So today let’s focus on the mouse. Did you know that a heavy computer user can click a mouse button over 6,500 times in a single day? Is it any wonder then that repetitive strain injuries are so common among office workers?

The mouse is one of the biggest culprits for injuries that physiotherapists treat. There are a few reasons for this – the amount of times that you click the mouse per day (i.e. the repetitious nature of using the mouse) and the position of the mouse. Often at the end of a long day when we are tired the mouse can tend to move further away from the keyboard. This can cause a huge amount of problems through the neck, shoulder and arm.

Similar to all other pieces of ergonomic furniture – there are a lot of mice on the market, trackballs, joystick mice, touchpad mice and just your standard looking mouse.

Choosing the right mouse for you is important and should be based on your hand size and the type of work that you are doing. The main thing is that your hand should not be in an awkward posture while using the mouse. Awkward postures as well as repetitive postures are what cause injuries such as RSI.

For myself I spend most of the day in front of the computer and so I use my mouse a lot. I was consistently getting carpal tunnel problems with wrist and finger pain. It got so bad I could only use my mouse for about 15 minutes at a time and quite often had to use my left hand on the mouse because my right hand hurt so much. Last year at a trade show I happened to be talking to the Microsoft rep about this problem. He showed me a new Microsoft “Natural’ mouse they had just introduced to the market.

This mouse is designed to conform to your hand in its most relaxed position. Breakthrough ergonomic design and the tilted, elevated hand position is designed to reduce pressure on the carpal tunnel and wrist. I instantly thought it was a great idea and purchased one as soon as I got home. The main idea behind the natural mouse is that when holding it your hand is rotated to a more natural position. So try this: Put your right hand flat on a desk. Do you feel a bit of pressure in your wrist? Now rotate your wrist about 30 degrees clockwise. Do you notice how much more natural that feels. This is the position that the Microsoft natural mouse uses. I found that it takes a few days to get used to the natural mouse as your normal mouse motions will cause the cursor to move sideways more. Stick with it though as it soon becomes natural to use. My carpal tunnel and wrist pain is totally gone and I can use the natural mouse all day long without any pain in my wrist.

MS Natural Wireless Mouse 6000
MSRP $89.95

So if you have wrist pain or carpel tunnel syndrome try the Microsoft Natural Wireless Mouse 6000. MSRP is $89.95

Some key points regarding a mouse:

•Ensure that the mouse stays close to the keyboard – don’t let it drift away throughout the day
•If you are not using the mouse, remove your hand from it, it’s not going anywhere!
•Minimize the amount of time you spend using the scroll button – using this a lot with the one finger can cause strain through that tendon
•It’s a good idea to be able to use your non – dominant hand, this will give your dominant hand a break

- Dave P, Senior Account Manager

Northern Computer - Your Trusted Partner #1 - 495 Banks Road Kelowna, BC V1X 6A2 Phone: 250.762.7753 Fax: 250.861.1861 Toll-Free: 1.877.257.2896 Email: sales@northerncomputer.ca
 or service@northerncomputer.ca or visit  http://www.northerncomputer.ca/

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Hey Kelowna - Backup – Disaster Recovery – Are you prepared?

We all know that we should back up our important data, but maybe we don't know what files we should back up on our systems or we don’t know how to back up. And of course we’re busy too.

In Information Technology, a backup or the process of backing up refers to making copies of data so that these additional copies may be used to restore the original after a data loss event.

Backups are useful primarily for two purposes. The first is to restore a state following a disaster (called disaster recovery). The second is to restore small numbers of files after they have been accidentally deleted or corrupted. Data loss is also very common. 67% of internet users have suffered from serious data loss.

67% of Internet Users have suffered from data loss

Since a backup system contains at least one copy of all data worth saving, the data storage requirements are considerable. Organizing this storage space and managing the backup process is a complicated undertaking. If you’re like most computer users, you know that a backup is a necessity, but like most, you also don’t have either the time or knowledge to perform one. In the modern era of computing there are many different types of data storage devices that are useful for making backups.

One of the options that we offer at Northern Computer is Offsite Online Backup. Your important information can be anything from your business files to the cherished photos of your family. Our online backup service is:

Safe - Your information is first stored in a secure data center. From there your data is replicated to a second secure datacenter in a different city.

Secure - The online backup data we send is safe from prying eyes. Your data is encrypted on YOUR computer...before it leaves. No one can access your files without a secure password.

Easy - We can be backing up your files just minutes from now with our simple yet powerful online backup software.

Other benefits of using an online backup service including:

• Never have to back up to CDs or DVDs or any other unreliable media
• Retrieve your files from anywhere via the Internet with a web browser
• File retention for changed and deleted files. You choose the retention period
• Perform "Point-in-time" restores (your spreadsheet from 5 days ago!)
• Set online backup schedules according to your network needs
• Data compression to enhance speed and to optimize online storage
• Back up files on Windows, Linux/Unix and Mac systems

• Enjoy peace of mind knowing your critical data files are encrypted and protected offsite in a secure data center
• Eliminate the cost of creating and managing offsite backup media
• Backup Exchange, MS SQL and Oracle Databases while they are in use.

We can back up individual work stations or your server machine. All that we require is remote access and a high speed connection. We will check on your data size and local storage space. You will then be quoted a price based on the size of your data backup. With your approval we will then install software, start initial backup, and once completed schedule the backup to run daily, or any other time that you might prefer.

- Janet F, Marketing Coordinator

Northern Computer - Your Trusted Partner #1 - 495 Banks Road Kelowna, BC V1X 6A2 Phone: 250.762.7753 Fax: 250.861.1861 Toll-Free: 1.877.257.2896 Email: sales@northerncomputer.ca or service@northerncomputer.ca or visit us at http://www.northerncomputer.ca/

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