We offer break-fix IT support in addition to managed services in Greenville / Upstate SC!

More and more, IT support businesses are pushing managed services, and with good reason; many issues can be resolved before they happen, and the relationship is about maintaining an operational network instead of operating in a continual crisis mode.

While we would love to move each client into a managed services agreement, it might not be right for everyone. That is why Homeland Secure IT wants to offer the best of both worlds, so we happily maintain an on-call, break-fix computer and network support relationship with many clients here in the Upstate.

If your server goes down and you do not have a service agreement with an IT support or service provider, you can call on us and we will be there, whether it is for a single desktop with a virus, a malfunctioning network switch, failed firewall, or your Microsoft Exchange Server has crashed, we can help! Call us at 864.990.4748 with your emergency needs.

Break-fix still works for small businesses and home users, so we don’t turn our nose up at it, but for those who are serious about reducing downtime and want to be able to budget for computer services, use our contact link above, or call us for information about scheduled maintenance and managed services.

 

Servosity bare metal recovery could help your IT support provider get a dead server back online fast! #BackTheStuffUp

Our cloud backup partner, Servosity, has included a bare metal restore capability in the most recent releases of their backup client software.

What IS “bare metal recovery”? It is part of the Servosity Disaster Recovery solution which allows an IT service provider or your IT support department to restore a crashed machine in a matter of minutes, even to dissimilar physical hardware or even virtual machines (VMware or Microsoft Hyper-V).

Servosity has two different versions, one is DR Server, for server environments and the other is DR Desktop, for, you guessed it, desktop and laptop computers. Both work by backing up a working system image to external media such as a USB hard drive. Then, in your time of need, a completely dead system can be recovered to a brand new machine, even if that machine has a different processor or hardware configuration.

Features of Servosity DR:

  • – Bare Metal Recovery to Dissimilar hardware, VMWare, Hyper-V, and VirtualBox
  • – Local, Network, and Cloud Backup and Disaster Recovery
  • – Purpose built for MSPs and IT Resellers
  • – No Hardware Required
  • – Geographically Redundant SAS-70 Type II Cloud
  • – Recover a server, desktop, or laptop in just minutes
  • – Disaster Recovery with snapshots to the Network and Cloud every 15 minutes

As I write this, one of our non-profit clients has suffered a catastrophic event that caused the loss of their only server, which is responsible for handling multiple organizations under their umbrella. Functions such as data / file storage, Microsoft Exchange email hosting for both local and remote users, domain functions and security, anti-virus protection solution and printing are all offline. Yes, they have backups, including Servosity cloud storage and data on redundant hard drive array (RAID), however, the OS is completely destroyed and will need to be reinstalled from scratch.

Had this client utilized the Servosity DR function that permits bare metal recovery, we could have had them back online already.

This heartbreaking event has caused us to pause to reflect on how we can help our other clients.

Many businesses and individuals claim to be unable to backup due to expense, however, the old adage is true in every respect – “The most costly backup is the one you don’t perform”. So, to help make backups more affordable, we are now offering a “BACK THE STUFF UP!” special!

BACK THE STUFF UP!

To our current Servosity subscribers, we will provide you with an external USB hard drive of the appropriate size for your machines at cost, or use your provided USB drive and configure the Disaster Recovery at no cost for the labor to do so.

Don’t have Servosity? Not a problem! If you are willing to commit to a year of online backup, we will create a Servosity account for you, go to your Upstate location  (or you can bring your desktop or laptop to our office), download, install and configure the backup and the Disaster Recovery for you. You pay only for the Servosity backup storage and the USB hard drive which we will provide at our cost, or you can provide your own. The labor is on us.

Want to handle this yourself, have a large number of servers / workstations or maybe you’re not in the Upstate / Greenville area? We can ship a drive to your US location (you pay shipping and our cost) or you can provide your own, then we will talk you through the install and configuration or work on it from remote.

Don’t let another minute go by without backing up!

This solution supports Microsoft XP, Vista, and 7, Server 2003, Server 2008, Small Business Server 2011, Microsoft SQL Server 2000, 2005, 2008, Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, 2007, 2010, Microsoft SharePoint 2003, 2007, 2010 and more!

For more details, please call us TODAY at 864.990.4748 or use that contact link in the navigation bar. If Homeland Secure IT is not your IT support provider, consider us for all your Greenville / Anderson / Spartanburg computer and server support needs!

Computer hard drive prices predicted to remain high throughout 2012 and 2013

Seagate HarddriveHard drive prices have remained consistently high throughout 2012, but analysts predict they will do so through 2014.

This is due to the 2011 typhoon season and related flooding in Thailand that took major hard drive manufacturers offline and damaged factory facilities. Unfortunately, PC manufacturers saw the impending crisis and locked in contracts to insure they would be provided an adequate supply of drives, causing an across-the-board spike in prices at the register and outright shortages of supply.

Back in November 2011, I wrote an article that shows a visualization hard drive price inflation from before the flooding and after the flooding in Thailand. If you look again today, you will see that about this time last year (July through September) hard drives were 30 to 60 dollars cheaper than they are today, depending upon size.

There was a drop in prices in May of 2012, but still, the pricing remains consistently higher.

Bottom line: Spinning disk hard drives will likely continue to add costs to all computer equipment you purchase, whether it is a desktop, laptop, server, VoIP or video surveillance system for at least a year.

Obviously, machines such as NAS or SAN which have multiple hard drives may be many hundreds of dollars more expensive than they were a year ago too, but typical workstations and notebooks should only be 30 to 50 dollars higher. Again, the PC manufacturers have secured a lower unit price than end users will see if you are simply replacing a drive.

SSD (Solid State Drive) technology is dropping in price, and the lightning fast speeds may be exactly what it takes to motivate some of us into migrating towards them.

We can provide hard drives for your existing computers and replacement computers at competitive pricing for your business, so please do not hesitate to call us at 864.990.4748 with any questions you may have!

Symantec AV Update Responsible for Crashing Microsoft Windows computers

Symantec has issued an apology regarding the crashing of enterprise based Microsoft Windows XP computers last week.

Although the update was corrected quickly, it was not before many computers were affected. Hopefully your network was not one of those negatively impacted.

If you should find your business in the situation of computers blue screening, locking up or performing in a less than satisfactory manner, please call us as we provide quick response to remedy the situation anywhere in the Upstate (Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson, Clemson, etc) area.  864.990.4748.

Yahoo data breach exposes 400,000 user names and passwords

Last month it was LinkedIn who was making the news due to a data breach that exposed millions of user names and passwords, and this month it is Yahoo.

It seems as though 400,000 user accounts and passwords have been exposed in the recently discovered breach, though it may be a while before the severity is truly known.

Our suggestion is to change passwords everywhere you might have used the same one as you used on Yahoo. In fact, just update your passwords.

If you are having a hard time keeping up with multiple sites, accounts and passwords, consider a password keeper or vault. Something like LastPass might work well for you.

Should you have questions about business computer or network security in the Greenville or Upstate SC area, please call upon us. 864.990.4748 or use the handy contact link above.

You really want to update your Microsoft Windows machines with the July patches

The National Cyber Awareness System released an alert yesterday, July 10, 2012 which mentions multiple vulnerabilities of a critical nature.

It is advisable to update your Microsoft based systems immediately to protect against these vulnerabilities. Should you require assistance with that in the Greenville or Upstate South Carolina area, we can assist, please call us at 864.990.4748 or use our contact link above.

Here’s the CERT Alert:

National Cyber Awareness System

Technical Cyber Security Alert TA12-192A

Microsoft Updates for Multiple Vulnerabilities

Original release date: July 10, 2012
Last revised: —
Source: US-CERT

Systems Affected

* Microsoft Windows
* Microsoft Internet Explorer
* Microsoft Office
* Microsoft Developer Tools
* Microsoft Server Software

Overview

Select Microsoft software products contain multiple  vulnerabilities.  Microsoft has released updates to address these  vulnerabilities.

Description

The Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for July 2012 describes  multiple vulnerabilities in Microsoft software.  Microsoft has  released updates to address the vulnerabilities.

Impact

A remote, unauthenticated attacker could execute arbitrary code,  cause a denial of service, or gain unauthorized access to your  files or system.

Solution

Apply updates

Microsoft has provided updates for these vulnerabilities in the  Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for July 2012, which describes  any known issues related to the updates.  Administrators are  encouraged to note these issues and test for any potentially  adverse effects.  In addition, administrators should consider using  an automated update distribution system such as Windows Server  Update Services (WSUS).  Home users are encouraged to enable  automatic updates.

References

* Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for July 2012 –  <http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/security/bulletin/ms12-jul>

* Microsoft Windows Server Update Services –  <http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/wsus/default.aspx>

* Microsoft Update – <https://www.update.microsoft.com/>

* Microsoft Update Overview – <http://www.microsoft.com/security/updates/mu.aspx>

* Turn Automatic Updating On or Off –  <http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/Turn-automatic-updating-on-or-off>

Revision History

July 10, 2012: Initial release

Microsoft Windows 8 Release Dates and Pricing

Windows 8 A New Beginning LogoWindows 8 is coming!

Microsoft has set the date for the RTM (Release To Manufufacturing) for August 2012 and the general release will be the end of October 2012.

As if that is not exciting enough, hot on the tail of Microsoft Windows 8 will be Microsoft Office 15, and Server 2012, standby for more information on that.

It is important to note that you can purchase a new computer currently offered with Windows 7 today and upgrade to Windows 8 Professional when it is released for a fee of only $15!

Don’t worry, everyone else can upgrade for just $40, from XP onward, if your computer is compatible that is. This is an amazingly low price considering Microsoft’s previous update releases.

Want more information about Microsoft Windows, Office, Server, Exchange or any of their other products? We are your Microsoft Small Business Specialist in the Upstate, call us at 864.990.4748

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Microsoft has patchy goodness this coming Tuesday!

Here it is… Strap in for this coming Tuesday’s updates.

Looks like they will address a zero day vulnerability too, but I don’t see mention of it in this bulletin.

Please, update your computers and servers!

 

Critical Security Bulletins
============================

Bulletin 1

– Affected Software:
– Windows XP Service Pack 3
– Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2
– Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2
– Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2
– Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems
– Windows Vista Service Pack 2
– Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 2
– Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2
(Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation not affected)
– Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2
(Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation not affected)
– Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems Service Pack 2
– Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems and
Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 1
– Windows 7 for x64-based Systems and
Windows 7 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1
– Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems and
Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1
(Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core installation not affected)
– Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-based Systems and
Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-based Systems
Service Pack 1
– Impact: Remote Code Execution
– Version Number: 1.0

Bulletin 2

– Affected Software:
– Windows Vista Service Pack 2:
– Internet Explorer 9
– Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 2:
– Internet Explorer 9
– Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2:
– Internet Explorer 9
(Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation not affected)
– Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2:
– Internet Explorer 9
(Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation not affected)
– Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems and
Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 1:
– Internet Explorer 9
– Windows 7 for x64-based Systems and
Windows 7 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1:
– Internet Explorer 9
– Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems and
Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1:
– Internet Explorer 9
(Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core installation
not affected)
– Impact: Remote Code Execution
– Version Number: 1.0

Bulletin 3

– Affected Software:
– Windows XP Service Pack 3
– Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2
– Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2
– Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2
– Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems
– Windows Vista Service Pack 2
– Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 2
– Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2
(Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation not affected)
– Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2
(Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation not affected)
– Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems Service Pack 2
– Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems and
Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 1
– Windows 7 for x64-based Systems and
Windows 7 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1
– Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems and
Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1
(Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core installation not affected)
– Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-based Systems and
Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-based Systems
Service Pack 1
– Impact: Remote Code Execution
– Version Number: 1.0
Important Security Bulletins
============================

Bulletin 4

– Affected Software:
– Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 3
– Microsoft Office 2007 Service Pack 2
– Microsoft Office 2007 Service Pack 3
– Microsoft Office 2010 and Microsoft Office 2010
Service Pack 1 (32-bit editions)
– Microsoft Office 2010 and Microsoft Office 2010
Service Pack 1 (64-bit editions)
– Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications
– Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications SDK
– Impact: Remote Code Execution
– Version Number: 1.0

Bulletin 5

– Affected Software:
– Windows XP Service Pack 3
– Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2
– Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2
– Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2
– Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems
– Windows Vista Service Pack 2
– Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 2
– Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2
(Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation affected)
– Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2
(Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation affected)
– Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems Service Pack 2
– Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems and
Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 1
– Windows 7 for x64-based Systems and
Windows 7 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1
– Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems and
Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1
(Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core installation affected)
– Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-based Systems and
Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-based Systems
Service Pack 1
– Impact: Elevation of Privilege
– Version Number: 1.0

Bulletin 6

– Affected Software:
– Windows XP Service Pack 3
– Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2
– Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2
– Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2
– Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems
– Windows Vista Service Pack 2
– Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 2
– Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2
(Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation affected)
– Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2
(Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation affected)
– Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems Service Pack 2
– Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems and
Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 1
– Windows 7 for x64-based Systems and
Windows 7 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1
– Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems and
Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1
(Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core installation affected)
– Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-based Systems and
Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-based Systems
Service Pack 1
– Impact: Remote Code Execution
– Version Number: 1.0

Bulletin 7

– Affected Software:
– Windows XP Service Pack 3
– Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2
– Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2
– Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2
– Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems
– Windows Vista Service Pack 2
– Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 2
– Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2
(Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation affected)
– Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2
(Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation affected)
– Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems Service Pack 2
– Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems and
Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 1
– Windows 7 for x64-based Systems and
Windows 7 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1
– Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems and
Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1
(Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core installation affected)
– Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-based Systems and
Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-based Systems
Service Pack 1
– Impact: Information Disclosure
– Version Number: 1.0

Bulletin 8

– Affected Software:
– Microsoft InfoPath 2007 Service Pack 2 and Microsoft
InfoPath 2007 Service Pack 3
– Microsoft InfoPath 2010 (32-bit editions) and Microsoft
InfoPath 2010 Service Pack 1 (32-bit editions)
– Microsoft InfoPath 2010 (64-bit editions) and Microsoft
InfoPath 2010 Service Pack 1 (64-bit editions)
– Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Service Pack 2
(32-bit editions) and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server
2007 Service Pack 3 (32-bit editions)
– Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Service Pack 2
(64-bit editions) and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server
2007 Service Pack 3 (64-bit editions)
– Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 and Microsoft SharePoint
Server 2010 Service Pack 1
– Microsoft Groove Server 2010 and Microsoft Groove Server
2010 Service Pack 1
– Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Service Pack 2
(32-bit version)
– Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Service Pack 2
(64-bit version)
– Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010 and Microsoft
SharePoint Foundation 2010 Service Pack 1
– Microsoft Office Web Apps 2010 and
Microsoft Office Web Apps 2010 Service Pack 1
– Impact: Elevation of Privilege
– Version Number: 1.0

Bulletin 9

– Affected Software:
– Microsoft Office for Mac 2011
– Impact: Elevation of Privilege
– Version Number: 1.0

—

If you require assistance with these or any other updates or security issues in the Greenville or Upstate SC area, please call upon us at 864.990.4748 or use the contact link in the above navigation bar.

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Where’s Your Cloud?

Instagram Is Down

Amazon Web Services (AWS), considered by many to be the de facto standard in “cloud” solutions, experienced a wide-spread outage that took many services offline, including the popular Instagram, Pintrest and NetFlix sites over the weekend. Today, it appears that random issues are still affecting these sites. Initially the cause, estimated time of restored service and updates were quite vague, leaving people quite literally in the dark.

If you are entertaining a potential move from the physical to the virtual, be sure to consider what would happen if that connection were severed! Would you be out of business?

We took that into consideration when we were looking for an online backup solution provider for our own data and our clients and is one of the reasons we went with Servosity! With Servosity’s partner driven backup and disaster recovery SaaS, it is guaranteed that our clients’ data is stored in a geo-redundant fashion.  Their data centers provide the power/security redundancies you would expect from a SAS-70 Type II audited data center.

We would be happy to talk with your Upstate / Greenville based business about how cloud based solutions could help (or hinder) your business. Give us a call at 864.990.4748.