February 23, 2012

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Running Your Business Made Easier

Picture of Samsung Moment cell phone with scre...

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As your business expands and you move your customer communication out of the office and into the mobile world, you’ll need to make sure you have the right mobile device to conduct transactions and communication in a safe and secure environment. Virtual Private Networks are a must to insure that the information you exchange from your mobile devices stays safe and secure.  Actually, VPNs are not new to mobile technology. As soon as people were able to send and receive email via their cell phones, mobile networks had to be secure.

Is Your Cell Phone Compatible?

Before you invest in a new smartphone, there are a few things you should consider.

  • Will the VPN Client you’re using install and run properly on the mobile phone you’re considering?
  • Does your cell phone have enough memory to download large files?
  • What type of information will you need to transmit over a private network?
  • How secure is your cell phone’s operating system?
  • What anti-virus programs work best?

Should You Choose the Phone or the VPN?

One way to experiment with various VPNs and cell phone compatibilities is to purchase prepaid plans for the phone. Certain hardware and technology may reveal itself to be the best fit for your business.

The other thing to consider is whether you need to choose the right phone or the right virtual private network. Many experts would suggest testing the VPN with the cell phone and not the other way around.  This is likely good advice, so if it seems a little foreign, find the cell phone that feels best for you, and then seek expert advice on the best way to make the networks secure.

Filed Under: Internet, Local Networks Tagged With: , ,

Limitations of a Virtual Private Networking System

Setting up a virtual private network is a very popular way for businesses allow their employees to telecommute to work and use the system or network from a home computer. There is no need to have to be in one physical location or hardwired to a company computer. Even though this system sounds like an ideal situation there are some limitations that come from setting up a virtual private network. Here is a look at the limitations that come with a virtual private network.

The biggest limitation that comes from using a virtual private network is that the information can at times be very very slow. This is due to the process that the virtual private network uses to decode and encrypt files. When a person sends information over the virtual private network the information is encrypted and the system will decode it on the system’s end. This causes the information to move very slow because of all the encrypting and decoding that is going on.

The limitations of decoding and encrypting is only made worse when the computer user’s Internet speed is taken into account. Most internet providers are faster when it comes to downloading stuff than uploading stuff. This means that because the information needs to be uploaded it can slow down the speed of information that goes through the private virtual network.

Another limitation of the virtual private network is that when a computer is on one all the information that the computer user sends through the system goes through the encryption system. This means that blogs, emails and documents that might not need to be encrypted are being coded and decoded by the system. This can cause a virtual private network system to become overwhelmed and work at incredibly slow speeds.

When considering using a virtual private networking system one must take into account these various limitations and problems that you could experience with using it.

Filed Under: Local Networks, Private Networks Tagged With: ,

Is a Local Area Network (LAN) as safe as you think?

TCP/IP stack operating on two hosts connected ...
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It’s one of the most asked questions when it comes to transporting data, especially through the internet. It’s not really that expensive to construct a LAN, but connecting to another LAN, in a safe and private manner is time consuming and expensive. So, how can a individual, business, or corporation, create these connections to another LAN without leasing (public) internet lines?

Bridges are built to connect LAN’s to each other. It is like using a “leased” line, but with much more security and is certainly more dependable and reliable. Now, if two businesses need to connect over a large distance, the cost could be too great to generate this length of secured line.

But let’s discuss the value of using a VPN with-in a smaller geographical network connection. This VPN is a secure, dependable, fast, and able to expand as your business grows. Each remote office or location is able to send or receive data back and forth and know that it’s a safe path. The name for the growth is ”Scalability”. If a VPN is properly configured, some of the technology and terms recognized would be: Encryption, Firewall, AAA Server, and IP Sec. Let’s talk about each one for a brief moment.

“Encryption”is where all of the data sent from one computer to another or vice versa, is encoded into a manner that is only readable by the other computer.

“Firewall” is your safeguard barrier or a wall between your private network and the Internet. They can be configured to restrict ports, what types of data are allowed to pass through the Firewall.

“AAA Server”stands for Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting. Basically, the AAA Server checks who you are, what you’re  allowed to do, and what you actually can do. This is perfect for auditing the use of the PC on the network and provides a greater secure entry into the VPN.

The IP Sec is the Internet Protocol Security gives an enhanced level of security to provide a better encrypted algorithm and more detailed authentication.

VPN’s are a smart, safe, and more secure way of connecting people, PC’s, and businesses together.

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Filed Under: Local Networks, Networks Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Basics of a Virtual Private Network

BUENA PARK, CA - MARCH 25: Overheated homeowne...
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More and more companies today are looking into allowing their employees to work from home. Because of this, virtual private networks, or vpn’s, have become more popular as well. A virtual private network allows a company to give their employees secure access to the company network from their home computer. Depending on the company, or even the industry that you work for, you may already deal with a virtual private network if you work from home. A virtual private network will make sure that all data that is transferred is encrypted. Because of this added security feature, many companies that require confidentiality will require the use of a virtual private network.

If your company has set up a virtual private network, it may make it easier to get them to allow you to work from home, at least part time. Just make sure that while you’re using the vpn network from your home office, you don’t do non-work things like surfing the Internet or investigating top affiliate programs unless you know that it’s acceptable. Keep your private computer use and your work separate and only connect to the vpn if and when you’re working for the company. In fact, in most cases you’ll have to access the vpn with specific log-in information given by the company for work use only — and which allows them to track your use of the system.

There are even options for a mobile virtual private network. If you do most of your work on a laptop or and travel frequently while working, your company may decide that this is the best way to go. Even if you don’t travel for work on work related business all the time, a mobile virtual private network may be beneficial for those times that you do have to be out of your home office and can help make your work hours more productive.

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Filed Under: Hardware, Local Networks, Private Networks, Software Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Using Free Software Download Backup Programs

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Possibly the most important and useful software utility you need for your computer is a software backup program. Regardless of the operating system (Windows, Linux, or Mac) or the network you operate on (public or private), there are plenty of free software backup programs you can choose from. These backup systems and utilities also offer many features and benefits that fit your computing needs perfectly. If you’ve been thinking about finding free backup software for download, now is the time.

There are many features and benefits benefits of free software backup programs. They handle special files. Some files exist on your hard drive, but they’re hard to find. As a result, there are several backup programs on the Internet that will handle these types of files on your computer. For example, some backup programs will handle books. They exist as files on your hard drive but do you don’t really know where they are.

The filter your files. Most backup software programs come equipped with a file filtering system that allows you to include specific types of files when you do a backup. For example, you could backup all of your Microsoft Word files in your C: directory, or backup everything on your H: drive except graphics files.

They allow for disc spanning. Many computer users have a lot of data to back up that won’t fit on a single CD or blank disk. If you have a lot of data to backup, it probably isn’t going to fit on a single blank disc. Several software backup programs are designed to separate your data into smaller chunks, and then save it onto multiple disks and/or drives.

They help in case of disaster. Everyone needs a backup system that allows him or her to prepare for situations when the computer breaks down or you simply can’t boot up. Many backup packages let you to prepare for these types of situations.

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Filed Under: Hardware, Local Networks, Networks, Private Networks Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

What Should be Considered When Buying a Computer?

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When a customer thinks of buying a computer, the most common question that comes to mind is “what factors should be considered?”. The most important fact that should be considered is the “purpose” of buying the computer. The configuration of the computer depends largely on the type of task that is going to be done by the computer. For example, in order to play high profile games the computer must be configured in such a way that will be able to deliver the quality performance without interruption and have the ability to update drivers when they become available. Newer versions of computers are being invented everyday. One has to choose the components which fulfill his requirements within the budget.

The CPU is known as the brain of the computer as it contains all the components that carry out the tasks of the computer. It is usually the most expensive part of a computer. The quality of a computer totally depends on the quality of the CPU. Frequency, brand, cores, and cache are some of the basic factors that should be considered before buying a CPU. Frequency is the speed of the computer which is generally expressed by the terms like “2.2 GHZ”. Another feature that determines the performance of a computer is the core. For example, a computer can be a dual-core, quad-core, etc. In case of brand, Intel and AMD are currently the best and most popular computer manufacturers. Cache is the feature which assists the CPU to lessen the average time required for the information processing. Buying a good processor ensures the better function of cache. Other things which need to be considered are hard drives, RAM and graphics card.

The monitor is another thing to consider. Different types of monitors are now available, such as LCD monitors, LED monitors, etc. The user should choose the size and type depending on the use. The size of the monitor is expressed in inches which is the size of the diagonal of the screen. The price of the monitor depends on its size.

Many factors are considered before buying a computer and for advanced users additional features should be considered as well.

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Filed Under: Hardware, Local Networks, Networks, Private Networks, Software Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Poker Tables and Your Company’s Data

The poker tables in the Trump Taj Mahal
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Are you a road warrior by nature? Do you just feel the need to be away from all of that stifling office nonsense? Aren’t you glad that this is the 21st century, and you can do pretty much anything out on the road that you could if you were chained down in some POW camp that jokingly refers to itself as an office? The fact is, you are a very lucky individual, because it was not that long ago that the networks that allow you to keep up a secure connection with corporate HQ would not have allowed you to be out and about with the level of freedom you can enjoy now.

Isn’t it great to be in Atlantic City, and just steal away to the poker tables for a little while between calls? Isn’t it just as great to get in some golfing in Florida, knowing that the boss can reach you on Skype through a secure wireless network? While you probably never think about the technology that lets you tee off without teeing off the people you work for, it never sleeps. Using the regular, vanilla internet still lets you say (and hear) everything that needs to get said. And it lets you do your job without a hitch.

So go on and feel a little bit like James Bond (or an equally tough female version of him). No matter where you go, you can send and receive information on the virtual private network your employer maintains, without having to do anything special or be a tech nerd. And hopefully you have some sympathy for all of those poor cubicle mice who are still trapped in the office while you’re out enjoying the fun and the sun.

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Filed Under: Local Networks, Networks, Private Networks Tagged With: , ,