Cisco SPA509 phones ready for deployment

Q: Why is it that just about every corporation you walk into has Cisco phones on their desks?

A: Because they have become the standard by which almost every other VoIP solution is measured.

People in business have grown to expect a certain level of quality. From feel of the handset and how heavy it is and whether it fits their hand nicely, to the responsiveness of buttons, and without a doubt, the audio quality of the handset and the speakerphone. Other important aspects of the user experience are the bells and whistles, such ringer selection, headset interfaces and the display.

Almost every VoIP manufacturer tries to mimic the look and feel of Cisco because it is familiar to so many already.

We have a small business, can we afford a Cisco system?

That’s a pretty common question… The answer is “YES!”. In addition to making their world-class enterprise phone systems, they also make a line of affordable products designed specifically for small and medium businesses.

The entry level UC500 series (UC = Unified Communications) offering is the UC540 which comes with support for up to 24 phones but can expand to 32 phones. This system can use inexpensive SIP trunking to save you money on the monthly phone bill, and be perfect for most small law firms, doctors offices, dentist offices, realtors and churches. The Cisco UC540′s feature list is vast! Automated Attendant, Voice Mail to Email, Caller ID, SIP, paging, multi-site support, full support of just about any Cisco handset you could possibly want to use, including the affordable and feature packed SPA series.

Though I cannot give you a price in this blog post as there are a number of factors to consider, suffice it to say, the UC540 and a dozen phones competes nicely against any brand of VoIP, key or PBX offering.

When it comes down to providing a quality solution, it will be hard to beat the Cisco.

Homeland Secure IT is a Cisco Select Small Business certified vendor /partner in Greenville, SC. We would love to talk with you and determine if this is the solution for you!  Give us a call at 864-990-4748 or use the contact form on our website.

When you hear the term “video surveillance”, you might have visions of high tech government agencies watching the masses, or you might think about a prime time TV show set in a Las Vegas casino with a whole team watching as the “eye in the sky”, or it could be the large department store chain that has cameras hanging from the ceiling.

While those are all amazing uses of video security technology, lets focus on a smaller, but equally important scale – the small and medium business.

What are the basic essentials required in order to provide a secure environment and to protect the assets of your small or medium business?

• For one, you have to secure your premise with locks so that when you are not present, people cannot access your facility and carry anything out the door they wish.
• You should have a burglar alarm for intrusion detection should someone breach the door locks and gain access.
• A clear line of site to your building and bright outside lighting could deter someone from snooping about after hours.
• Having good communication with alert business neighbors might let you know when someone is lurking around
• Personnel trained to lock doors properly and arm the security system is a must

Those are the steps most of us take in securing our property.

But what about having eyes on your property when you are not there? It could be the cheapest insurance you might ever buy.

What would a basic video surveillance system look like?

In the most simplistic form, you might have a camera on the front parking lot, one on the main entrance to your building, one on the outside looking at the rear entrance, and potentially a camera in a common area inside your building. This would provide views of most of the areas where people come and go and could protect you in the following situation:

• Someone breaks into a car in the parking lot – you might see the people who did it and have a good description.
• A courier could back into a vehicle and leave and upon reviewing the recorded video, you could find out which courier it was.
• Slip and fall type accidents could be reviewed and footage used in court to show what really happened.

As a bonus, you also know when your employees arrive and leave, so if you have suspicions of “buddy punching” where an employee leaves early and gets a coworker to clock them out on time, you can quickly pinpoint that.

If employees are horsing around behind the building, you also can easily determine that and footage can be used so they cannot say you terminated them wrongfully.

Rear entrances can remain locked, and a buzzer installed – a receptionist could see who was outside the door before heading to unlock it (or hitting the release button).

If you are an absentee business owner, where you find yourself away, you can use a mobile app or a web browser to watch your cameras in real-time. A camera can be configured to email you a snapshot whenever anyone walks into a specific area it can see.

A camera on a back entrance could also potentially catch an air conditioner thief, as they back their vehicle right up to the unit to steal it, you might get their license.

More elaborate systems might employ 8, 16, or more cameras, and watch specific assets, such as a vending machine, cash register or HVAC system.

If you are interested in this type of technology, it is more affordable than ever! Homeland Secure IT is happy to offer the biggest names in video surveillance! Our most recent partnership is with AXIS, the originator of IP camera systems.

Obviously, it is easy to see that having a video surveillance solution in place is not only a deterrent to would-be criminals and employees who might be tempted in your absence, but it also may protect your legally, assist in the apprehension of criminals after the fact, and most importantly, give you peace of mind while you are away!

We offer both sales and installation, as well as consultation.  Please call us at 864-990-4748 or use our contact form on our website for additional information!

Want to see some footage from a video security system used at a remote location? Check THIS LINK…   And watch for the follow up, as the people featured will surely be caught soon now that the video has been released.

We don’t often have prices that beat most of the online retailers, but today, we do!

If you are in need of an Android tablet that was designed with business use in mind, then this might be for you….

Fujitsu Stylistic M532 Built Tough Tablet PC is MIL-STD-810 tested and ready!

The Fujitsu M532 is a worthy candidate to consider for business users on a budget. It’s Built Tough – MIL-STD-810G tested rating definitely qualifies it as durable enough for business users.

The Core Features of the Fujitsu Stylistic M532:

• Powered by NVIDIA ® Tegra® 3 T30S, Quad-core ARM Cortex A9 processor
• Android™ 4.0 Operating System
• Attractive, slim design with light weight
• TFT (IPS-type) display for wide viewing
• Rugged glass protects the display
• Built-Tough: MIL-STD-810G tested
• Only $399 (plus tax) you pick up at our location in Greenville, SC

If you would like one, act NOW, call us at 864-990-4748 x201 or use our contact form at www.HomelandSecureIT.com.

Supplies are extremely limited….

We’re happy to announce that Homeland Secure IT has renewed our Microsoft Education Reseller status and are good for another year.

What does that mean?  Besides having to demonstrate that we know what we are doing through taking an exam, we have to actually have a clue about the sales of Microsoft products specifically available to the academic organizations we serve.

By maintaining our relationship as an AER (Authorized Education Reseller), we can offer Academic Volume Licensing which is not only convenient, but more affordable than retail, or standard open licensing.

It is available in as subscription model or even perpetual licenses.

If you are interested in this type of product, give us a call at 864-990-4748 in the Upstate / Greenville SC area.  We not only offer the sales, but also consultation, installation and maintenance of Microsoft software!

If you have purchased, or plan to purchase, a new computer with the OEM version of Microsoft Office 2013 on it, please understand that the installation of that Office 2013 can only be done on the computer it was first installed on.

In other words, let’s assume you buy a new computer from Homeland Secure IT along with Microsoft Office 2013 OEM / PKC, and 2 years later, you replace the computer. Previous versions of Microsoft Office would permit you to reinstall the OEM office that you originally purchased on a new computer, but, 2013 will NOT.

This is not anything new, as OEM / PKC versions of Microsoft Office have always been licensed for use with a new computer only. The license agreement expressly forbid you from installing it again on another computer.  Just like the OEM version of the Microsoft Windows Operating System. It was meant for one computer only. Without question, people have purchased the OEM version and then (against the license agreement) installed it on their next new computer too.

What IS new is that the RETAIL version of Microsoft Office will only allow you to load it on the first computer you install it on, then it is forever locked to that computer. That’s not just part of the EULA, it is apparently part of the registration mechanism.

Computer World and other computer news outlets have been obtaining more information, but it appears that this is true for the OEM, Academic, and the retail Home & Business versions.

You can read the Microsoft EULAs here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/legal/intellectualproperty/UseTerms/default.aspx

Homeland Secure IT is an authorized Microsoft reseller and partner… Offering the complete line of Microsoft products for sale in the Greenville / Upstate area. We can provide Office, Office 356 or Windows for one computer or one thousand.

Please call us if you have any questions or would like to purchase a Microsoft product. 864-990-4748

Every once in a while, something comes along that can make your life easier, while being affordable. The Jabra SPEAK 510 series bluetooth wireless conferencing system is exactly that.

Not so long ago, a business would have a conference take place in an actual conference room. However, these days, people might crowd around a computer in an office, or a speakerphone in the break room, and some might even be using Skype on an iPad on a business retreat. Usually with poor audio quality on both ends.

Jabra has taken notice and created the new SPEAK 510 and 510+ conferencing systems for use in just about any scenario!

These are portable devices that can wander up to 300 feet away and turn any room into a conference room!

You can use it wirelessly with ANY bluetooth phone, tablet or PC, or optionally tether it.

Using one could not be more simple thanks to very easy to understand controls.

If a Jabra conferencing system could be of use to your business, please contact us as we are your Greenville and Upstate SC Jabra dealer!  864-990-4748 for more information.

Eaton Power Products

As an Eaton partner, Homeland Secure IT offers Greenville and the Upstate of SC the full line of Eaton power protection products, from surge protectors to full UPS or Uninterruptable Power Supplies to keep your computers, servers, network and phone systems online even when the power is off.

Safely shut down during a power outage and never lose the document you are working on by using an UPS.

There is an Eaton product that is right for every installation senario you may have. From home, home office, to small business and even data centers.

For more information or a sales quote, please call us at 864.990.4748 or use our handy CONTACT form!

The popular site, iFixit claims that the machine is right up there with MacBook Pro in the level of difficulty in repairing it. Previously, they stated that the MacBook Pro was “the least repairable laptop we’ve taken apart”. In fact, they both received a score of 3 out of 10 for that.

If upgrades are unimportant to you, then this information may not apply, but if you are like me, you might prefer the ability to easily (within reason at least) repair a computer, and it is looking like that is going to be an issue for many over time as they develop problems and need support.

Head over to iFixit and read their-tear down and related notes… It’s an i(Mac) opener. (See what I did there? That was cute, wasn’t it?

I would suggest comparing the iMacs to other computers, such as the Lenovo IdeaCentre A720, which sports a massive 27 inch touch screen before purchasing. You might find a different set of features, and a different mindset on repairs.

If you would like more information about any of the Lenovo computer products, please let us know. We are a Lenovo dealer offering sales, consultation and support here in the Greenville SC area.   864-990-4748

Homeland Secure IT wants you to be protected… So much so that we are giving away *FIVE* free 1 year Trend Micro Internet Security packages to random people subscribed to this blog.  We’ll do it on Friday, November 23rd. This product retails at $49.95….

To be eligible, you must be able to pick up the product at our office here in Greenville, SC during normal operating hours.

If you are not selected, that’s okay, we’re going to offer our stock of Trend Micro Internet Security for sale at only 14.95.   Since we are not actually open on Friday, we will extend this deal from Monday the 26th, until Friday the 30th of 2012!

We are partners with Trend Micro and can provide you or your company with a single seat, or a thousand. Small and Medium businesses may be interested in the Trend Micro Worry-Free line of products, which can protect all the computers on your network, whether in the office or in the field, and monitor the updates from a central location.  The anti-spam and mail protection for Microsoft Exchange Servers is outstanding.

Not only do we offer sales of Trend Micro, but we also perform installation, support and maintenance!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lenovo IdeaPad S400

Here’s a lovely little laptop for you to consider…

The Lenovo IdeaPad S400 14″ LED Notebook with Intel Core i3 dual core processor, 500GB HD and 4 GB of RAM.

Webcam, USB 3.0, HDMI output, Microsoft Windows 8 and 1 year Lenovo warranty.

There’s not much else to say!  Thin, lightweight, and brisk performance…  Rated at 5 hours battery life.

We’ve got it for $529.99, so if you want one, give us a call at 864-990-4748 or use our contact form!

Homeland Secure IT is a Lenovo Partner and we offer sales to individuals and businesses in the Greenville, Anderson and Spartanburg SC area as well as support, for the entire line of Lenovo desktop, notebook and server products! We can migrate all your data to your new S400 and if you have never used Windows 8 before, we can teach you the basics!

You can find the original post at this link HERE….

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Our security predictions for 2012 forecasted that the class of targeted attacks known at APTs – advanced persistent threats – would trickle down, and begin to affect smaller organizations.

And while it might not make the headlines like the recent story about the data breach at Coca-Cola in 2009 that is still affecting the company three years later, a successful attack can be devastating regardless of the size of the organization or the motive for the attack.

Historically, APT attacks have been created by sophisticated hackers using advanced attack techniques and blended threat malware, but it is only a matter of time before “normal” malware criminals learn from these sophisticated hacks and the evolution of the APT speeds up, making organizations of every size a target.

So let’s revisit this prediction and figure out how to make your organization the smallest target possible with the tools you already have at your disposal.

What’s in an Acronym: APT?

• Advanced - APTs use the most advanced malware and attack techniques available. By the nature of the name, they often leverage techniques such as encrypted communication channels, kernel-level rootkits, and sophisticated evasion capabilities to get past a network’s defenses. More importantly, they often leverage zero-day vulnerabilities – flaws which software vendors haven’t yet discovered or fixed – to gain access to our systems. In short, APTs are Q-level, James Bond malware.
• Persistent – This malware is designed to stick around. It carefully hides its communications, using techniques like stenography. It “lives” in a victim’s network for as long as possible, often cleaning up after itself (deleting logs, using strong encryption, and only reporting back to its controller in small, obfuscated bursts of communication).
• Threat- APTs are extremely blended threats, much like botnets, and very targeted. APT attackers are groups of highly skilled, motivated, and financially-backed attackers with very specific targets and goals in mind. Typically, the often nation-state sponsored attackers have targeted Fortune 500 companies, government-related infrastructure, or the industrial sector – and we anticipate this broadening to organizations of all sizes.

No network security provider can block every APT attack, no matter what they claim. According to Gartner, an estimated $60 billion is invested by corporations and governments in network security systems, yet hackers are still finding ways to sneak past them. By definition, APTs often leverage new techniques, which may not even have a defense yet. However, there are defense strategies that can significantly mitigate the chance of an advanced and persistent infection. WatchGuard supports a variety of reporting and monitoring functions that provide smart and strategic defense against these blended threats.

We’ve outlined a variety of best practices for mitigating risk and monitoring unusual activity across a network that may better detect or stop the next APT, including:

• Multiple layers of security controls – WatchGuard “defense-in-depth”

A multi-layered approach to network security is the best protection. When combined together, firewalls, intrusion prevention services, proactive anti-virus (AV) solutions, anti-spam and anti-phishing protection, and cloud-based reputation defenses maximize the chance that one or more security controls will catch part of an APT attack.

• Signature-less malware protection – WatchGuard Proactive Malware Detection

Similar to zero-day attacks, APTs often use malware that has not already been found by AV protection and therefore no signature exists. The only way to catch this kind of APT is to use proactive, non-signature techniques. WatchGuard partners with best-in-class anti-malware and anti-virus service providers such as Kaspersky and AVG Technologies, which both have the capability to detect malware without signatures. Our partners specialize in code emulation, behavior analysis, and sandboxing to determine what a file does and if it may be malware. These techniques can often catch malicious files without actually having reactive signatures for them.

• An evolving defense framework – WatchGuard XTM (eXtensible Threat Management)

APTs are just further proof that hackers and attacks on the Internet are constantly evolving, so naturally, the only way to really protect against evolving threats is to have a defensive platform that can change along with them. WatchGuard’s strategic XTM hardware and platform design lend to a modular framework that is easily adaptable to adding new security layers to WatchGuard appliances – as new technologies are released, we can better protect against APTs as we integrate them into the platform. This allows WatchGuard to incorporate new defense technologies, such as cloud reputation and the use of heuristics to detect malware, much more quickly than other network security providers.

• Better manageability through visibility – WatchGuard Firebox System Manager (FSM) and HostWatch

Often, security practitioners focus on prevention and forget about discovery and response. Tools that help quickly identify anomalies or problems in a network and real-time visibility tools such as HostWatch and FSM help find malware through unique monitors, network traffic reports and administrator access to approved or denied external sites. Some network security companies require the purchase of additional reporting tools or appliances in order to have this important insight into a network. WatchGuard believes that customers should not have to pay for the proof (reporting) that indicates a system is providing internal network protection. Visibility tools like FSM and HostWatch are key for APT defense and these WatchGuard tools come free with the WatchGuard XTM appliance.

• Enforcing Standards – Protocol Anomaly Detection (PAD)

For the most common and important Internet services, such as Web traffic (HTTP), e-mail traffic (SMTP), domain name traffic (DNS), and file transfers (FTP), WatchGuard deploys proxies, or deep application-layer content inspection services. Among other things, these proxy services include our Protocol Anomaly Detection (PAD) feature, which can tell the difference between bad and good traffic by enforcing RFC (request for comment) standards for that particular service. For instance, if the SMTP RFC states that the maximum line length for an email is 1000 bytes; our proxies enforce that standard, and by extension protect you from any attacks (like buffer overflows) that try to leverage overly-long email lines… and that’s just one example. These are “signature-less” protections that can even block zero-day attacks, if they break protocol standards.

• Reputation Services – WatchGuard Reputation Enabled Defense (RED)

WatchGuard RED is a cloud-based reputation authority that aggregates many sources of security intelligence to provide our appliances with a dynamic, real-time view of the internet threat landscape. It proactively monitors and stores the IPs and URLs of known sources of malware, drive-by download sites, and phishing and spam email. It gets its intelligence from aggregating many known lists of malware distributors and mixing that with real-time feedback from the thousands of appliances we have protecting customers’ sites. This real-time feedback gives RED a very accurate and dynamic view of the quickly changing threat landscape

Because APTs are continually evolving and getting more elusive by the day, no network security solution will be able to anticipate or block every attack. Our advice: Always assume that a network is already breached and then build a security vault using the tools and services noted here. We strongly suggest the utilization of more than just preventative tools – strong visibility tools will help recognize threats and ensure that IT administrators are talking all necessary action to help mitigate them. — Corey Nachreiner, CISSP (@SecAdept)

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For those of you not already in the know…. WatchGuard is a leading manufacturer of network security Firewall appliances. While a home user can use their products, and we have sold a number of them for home and small home office use, you mostly find them in small, medium and enterprise businesses. We are happy to sell and support WatchGuard firewalls in Greenville, Spartanburg and Anderson (The Upstate) as an authorized partner. Our prices are reasonable and our service is unparalleled, so please, consider a quality WatchGuard product to protect your business network, and consider Homeland Secure IT as your dealer!

Call 864-990-4748 or use the contact link for more information!

Finally, something to be thankful for… A lightweight powerhouse notebook that will not break the bank!

This 4lb Ultrabook features:

• Intel i3-3217U processor
• 14 inch LED display
• 4 GB DDR RAM
• 30GB mSATA drive for cache
• 320GB 7200RPM 16MB SATA3 HD
• Intel WiFI Link 6230 802.11/a/b/g/n & Bluetooth
• Ports: 2 x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0, HDMI, Audio, RJ45
• Web cam, 4-in-1 card reader
• 1 year depot warranty
• Genuine Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 x64
• 13.5 x .7 x 9.25 – 4lbs with battery

We are your Nexlink dealer in Upstate / Greenville, SC with years of satisfied clients - Call us at 864-990-4748 to order one today or inquire about quantity discounts!

When we visit a client location, we generally find one of the following configurations.

• Absolutely NO firewall – just the router provided by the ISP
• A Linksys, TrendNet, Netgear, D-Link wireless router designed for home use
• An actual firewall such as a Cisco, WatchGuard, SonicWALL, but out of date – old, discontinued hardware, not up to date firmware
• A quality firewall that is up to date hardware-wise but out of date with their firmware
• A quality firewall that is both up to date and supported, and has the latest software

Unfortunately, these are listed above in the order of popularity…

That’s right, the majority of businesses have no firewall in place at all, or potentially a router designed for home use is pressed into service, and then of course, a few places purchased a firewall from a reputable business manufacturer, such as Cisco, but have either failed to keep it up to date, or that was 6 years ago and the unit is no longer supported and cannot even handle the latest security software loads.

Only a small number of businesses have done everything they can to insure their network is protected with a reputable business class firewall that is currently supported and up to date. A VERY SMALL percentage in fact.

Why the emphasis on your firewall situation? Because hackers know how to circumvent home routers and many ISP provided routers without much difficulty at all. And old, outdated firewalls are just as bad. There are kits available that hackers can download and simply run through options in an attempt to exploit known holes in inadequate and insecure firewalls. They don’t even have to flex their muscles to do this, just start the script / program and wait for the results.

If you are in the Upstate / Greenville South Carolina area and you would like to discuss firewalls for your business, please give us a call at 864-990-4748 and we will arrange a free consultation.

We are your Upstate dealer for Cisco, WatchGuard, SonicWALL and a host of other quality firewall appliances. We partner with these companies to offer sales and support for businesses just like yours!

The release of Microsoft Windows 8 is now just a few days away!

When you buy a desktop or notebook computer from us with Windows 8 on it, why not add Microsoft Office 2010?

Not only will you have the latest and greatest software and operating system, customers who purchase any qualifying version of Microsoft Office product between now and April 30, 2013 can download the next version of Office as soon as it is available!

Want more information about the new Windows 8 and the upcoming Microsoft Office release? Call us at 864-990-4748 or use our contact form on the website.

We are your Microsoft Small Business Specialist in Greenville / Upstate SC, offering sales and support of computers & servers from most manufacturers, powered by Microsoft!

Here are a couple of common complains we hear, maybe one of these applies to you:

You have a wireless tablet (iPad, Android, Windows, etc), notebook / laptop, point of sale system, Voice over IP phone system, etc, and as you move around your business, you lose your wireless connection, momentarily bringing whatever you were doing to a complete stop until you connect again. Even the notifications about the loss of connection and connecting status drives you bonkers.

Your business is in a large complex, and has a number of wireless access points throughout the facility, but as you roam through the building or campus, your connection is momentarily lost and your device has to reconnect. During this reconnection or reassociation time, your phone call on a wireless VoIP phone is lost, or your connection from your iPad back to a hosted application is severed.

There is great coverage in certain areas of your building, but very poor in others, causing you to have to stand in just the right spot to keep your connection active. You might even have mental notes telling you not to walk into the break room while on the phone or you will lose your call.

The wireless network at your company is comprised of several access points, potentially from different manufacturers, each with different SSIDs and encryption keys, maybe one for each area of a campus, causing you to have several configurations in your wireless device and switch between them when you are in different areas.

Sometimes the problems are not as severe as outlined above, and sometimes there are not even considered a “problem”, because you are used to working around them, but if this sounds like something that affects you, causing you frustration in addition to lost productivity, then you will be happy to know, we can help with that situation!

We can put an end to lost and dropped wireless connections. No more delays as your device is handed off between one access point to the other.

We can consolidate your wireless network into one easy to manage unit, where configurations between access points are instantly updated (no need to log into 2, 3, or a dozen individual access points just to change a password).

We can increase your security by segmenting your work network from a GUEST network, allowing your visitors to have access to the internet, but not to your company files, keeping your data isolated, and you in compliance!

Wide area coverage? NO problem, we have a system  that is perfect for your business, larger corporation, hospital or health care facility and even school / college / university campus solutions!

We are partners with the biggest wireless equipment manufacturers in the business, including Aruba & Cisco!

Call us today at 864.990.4748 and put an end to your wireless troubles!

If you are like most people, when everything is running well, you get comfortable and begin to do the job you were hired to do, so if you are the accounts manager and pull double duty as company IT administrator, chances are, you get back to doing what you do best – taking care of the accounts.  That is, until something comes along and throws a wrench in the works and your networking is not working.

But what about all those updates? Do you back-burner those until there is a good time to reboot the server? After all, rebooting the server takes everyone down, and causes your phone to light up with questions like, “When will I be able to access the X drive again?”.

During the time between updates, your server and other systems are vulnerable. It honestly may not be a matter of IF your network is compromised, but rather, WHEN.

Many non-dedicated IT admins will apply the updates but not reboot the server, or will wait until there are so many updates it may take 2 or three reboots to get everything applied. This is a very bad practice. Especially for servers facing the internet (Mail, SQL, Web).

What about backups?  You ARE backing up, and it does work properly, right?

Don’t get caught with your pants down.  Bring in an IT support company who can help you determine where you stand. Are you overworked and just unable to do it all? Consider an IT company who will provide you with a statement to that affect which you can provide to your manager or superior to document that there is additional work to be done.  Sure, you’ve told them time and time again, but maybe, just maybe, they might listen to an outside source.

Let Homeland Secure IT be that source of information. We’ll come in and take a look at the state of your network, provide suggested course of action, and can even quote the labor or upgrade of components (if required). Simply don’t have time to maintain all this gear and want to source it to someone who will be on top of it?  Then we’re on IT! Give us a call at 864-990-4748 or use the contact link above.

We provide complete IT service, sales and consultation to the entire Upstate of South Carolina. We’re your Microsoft, Cisco, Symantec, Trend Micro, Lenovo, HP partner, specializing in small and medium businesses (SMBs) just like yours!

Seneca Data 2000UP Ultrabook computer

Been looking for a powerful, yet compact notebook? Seneca Data has introduced the new 2000UP Ultrabook computer and it looks like a winner!

Why go with Seneca Data’s product over another brand? Let me give you one good reason – SUPPORT! In the last week we have had two computers with issues that required a massive amount of time communicating with the manufacturer. One was from HP and one from Lenovo. When I say “massive”, I mean just that. Over half an hour was spent with HP in order for them to determine that we (we’re some tech savvy IT dudes) knew how to plug it in, before they determined it needed replacing. Same story with Lenovo, but even worse, as they had the warranty information wrong, and we were bounced from person to person.

With Seneca Data, when we call them, we are treated with respect, and we don’t get bounced from person to person. The technician we speak with is able to determine that what we are telling them is indeed a problem, and they arrange for the replacement parts to be sent to us right then and there. No delays.

They also have awesome warranties! Most of our desktops and servers are now sold with a minimum of 3 year warranty, and many with FIVE YEARS for just a few dollars extra.

Here’s some information about the Seneca 2000UP Ultrabook computer:

Seneca Data 2000UP Ultrabook

Ultra responsive, Ultra sleek, Ultrabook.  Inspired by Intel.

Business-class performance comes in the Nexlink® 2000UP Series Ultrabook™ with the 3rd generation Intel® Core™ processor.

Discover the new business-class device that gives you the best of everything  you want for your company. The ultra responsive, ultra sleek Nexlink® 2000UP  Series Ultrabook™ is less than an inch thick, wakes up in a flash, and runs for hours.

Get the power your business demands, effortless multitasking, and incredible performance that adapts to your needs with this solution. With performance like this, the only thing more amazing than a new Nexlink 2000UP
Series Ultrabook™ is what you will do with it.

Processor:
3rd generation Intel® Core™ i5 Processor
3rd generation Intel® Core™ i3 Processor

Operating System: Genuine Windows® 7 Professional 64- or 32-bit option*

Chipset: Intel® HM77

Memory: Support for up to 8GB

Storage:
Up to 256GB Solid State Drive or
Up to 500GB SATA3 Hard Disk Drive

Graphics: Intel® HD 4000

Communications:
10/100/1000 LAN
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi
Bluetooth® 3.0

Expandability:
2 x USB 3.0
1 x USB 2.0
1 x RJ45
1 x Audio Jacks
1 x HDMI
1 x DC in

Devices:
Integrated 1.3/HD Web Camera
4-in-1 Card Reader

LCD Display: 14.1″ LED Backlit; 1920 x 1080 Resolution

Battery: 6-Cell Li-Ion

Special Features:
Intel® Anti-Theft Technology Support
Kensington® Lock Supported

Dimensions: (w x h x d) 13.5 x .7 x 9.25 inches / 344 x 17.9 x 235 millimeters
Weight: 4lbs. / 1.8kg with battery

* 32-bit operating system will not use beyond 4GB of memory

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If you need mobile computing without the weight or the wait associated with some compact computers, then this Ultrabook is for you….  Call 864-990-4748 and let us tell you more about why Seneca Data computers are perfect for your home or business. We offer sales of single units or multiples. We can deploy them at your Greenville, Anderson, Simpsonville, Spartanburg SC area business and we can also provide leasing!

HP Envy Pro Ultrabook – Thin is in…

To quote Stevie Wonder, “Isn’t she lovely?”…

This is the HP Envy Pro Ultrabook, and it’s about as thin as you could possibly want. Any thinner is like typing on an iPad and certainly uncomfortable for extended periods of data entry, a complaint we sometimes hear from tablet and Macbook Air owners.

The particular one above is the 14″ version, and here are the features:

• 14″ LED backlit large screen Ultrabook
• HP Beats Audio
• Up to 8 hours of battery life
• Soft-touch base
• Intel Core i5 1.70 dual core processor
• 4 GB RAM
• 320 GB HD
• Gigabit ethernet
• Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n
• Bluetooth 4.0
• Built-in webcam
• HDMI output
• Genuine Microsoft Windows 7 Professional x64
• .8″ x 13.4″ x 9.3″ at only 3.98 lbs

HP Envy Pro Ultrabook w/ i5

Get this notebook and enjoy a portable, yet powerful system that feels good in your hands!

Record your Xbox or PS3 video game play to your PC, in HD!

HD PVR is the world’s first High Definition video recorder for making real-time H.264 compressed recordings from your Xbox or PS3 game play. HD PVR records Component Video (YCrCb) is recorded at resolutions up to 1080i, while audio is recorded using optical audio with Dolby AC3 or two channel stereo audio.

Record your Xbox 360 or PS3 game play on your PC in 1080i HD! Share you best games with your friends in HD!

As said on GeekTonic:

“Now I think anyone watching me play videogames is a sure-fire way to put them to sleep – or at least laugh at my videogame performance. But I know there is a very large number of videogamers using the HD PVR to record their video gameplay.

New features for the HD PVR Gaming Edition

The HD PVR Gaming Edition is specially designed for the dedicated Xbox360 or PS3 gamer. The Gaming Edition includes a new jet black case plus a universal Component Video cable, so you can bring 1080i video from your game console into the HD PVR. Also, we include Arcsoft ShowBiz, which allows you to record your game play in HD and upload directly to YouTube.

Product Type:   Video Recorder

Technical Information

Functions:   Video Recording
Video System:   PAL
Video System:   NTSC

Interfaces/Ports

Host Interface:   USB 2.0
USB:   Yes
Audio Line In:   Yes
Audio Line Out:   Yes
Component Video:   Yes
S-Video:   Yes
Composite Video:   Yes
Digital Audio:   Yes

Physical Characteristics

Form Factor:   External
Height:   2.8″
Width:   7.8″
Depth:   6.8″
Weight (Approximate):   3.00 oz

Miscellaneous

Package Contents: 

• HD PVR Gaming Edition, with English manual
• Jet Black Case
• Component Video Cable Set, for use with Xbox360, PS3 and Wii
• Component Video Cable Set to connect to your HD TV Set
• Stereo Audio Cable Set
• CD
• USB Cable
• 5v Power Supply, 110/220v

Warranty

Limited Warranty:   2 Year

If you want one of these bad boys, let us know! We offer all kinds of cool gadgets like this for sale.  864-990-4748 or use the contact form

Look no further than Homeland Secure IT in Greenville South Carolina! We offer sales, service and support both home and business computers, servers and network components. We repair computers whether we sold them to you or not!

If you want to save money, bring your computer to us! People from as far away as Georgia and Knoxville, TN travel to our location for us to repair their desktop, notebook or other components. We have had computers shipped to us from the coast, and from the North East too!

By bringing your computer to us, we are able to reduce our rates to an unheard of 75.oo per hour. With FREE estimates.  Why so cheap? Because we do not have to dispatch a technician to your location to perform the service. However, if you are in the Upstate and need service, we will happily go to you.

Save some money, call us and arrange a time to come in.  We suggest you do not just stop by, because sometimes everyone is in the field performing service.

Call us at 864-990-4748 or use the contact form in the menu above.

We are partners with and offer for sale many different lines of computers too!  A few brands we sell and work with regularly are HP, Lenovo, Toshiba, Dell, Nexlink, Samsung, Acer, Asus, Sony, Microsoft, Cisco, Symantec, Trend Micro and a long line of others!

A few cities in the Upstate that people come from and we offer service to are Easley, Simpsonville, Six Mile, Clemson, Seneca, Duncan, Spartanburg, Anderson, Liberty, Taylors, Greer, Mauldin, Berea, Boiling Springs and anywhere within about an hour’s drive from Greenville.

It was time to renew our training with Symantec so we can continue to offer Symantec Backup Exec 2012 sales and support as a partner, so we did it up right. Everyone here at Homeland Secure IT took the training and the assessments required.   Greg, Wes and I (John) are all up to date on these product offerings.

If you are still using an older version of Backup Exec, let’s talk about how Backup Exec 2012 can help provide the ultimate in onsite backup, recovery and disaster recovery for your Microsoft Server, Microsoft Small Business Server, Microsoft Exchange, MS SQL, Linux and even Mac business environment.

There are so many new features in BE 2012 that an entire blog post could be devoted to that, and probably will be.

Homeland Secure IT offers sales, installation, configuration and support Symantec Backup Exec 2012 in the Greenville, Anderson and Spartanburg South Carolina area. Use the contact link in the menu bar above or call us at 864.990.4748 for more information.

Yes, we can get any part the next business morning at no additional charge, but sometimes, you need something TODAY and therefore, I am making a plug for our friends over at Computer Direct Outlet here in Greenville, SC.

CDO stocks hard drives, RAM, power supplies, various input output (I/O) cards, cables, cases, motherboards, processors and just about everything you could want or need, and they sell to the public. They’ve been around for years and seem to have a very happy following. We have made purchases from them ourselves! Sure beats the big places that charge too much and have a limited selection.

Computer Direct Outlet / CDO can be found here:

2382-A Laurens Rd - Greenville, SC 29607

864-288-8680

Tell them that Homeland Secure IT sent you. No, they won’t give you a discount, but it will let them know that we’ve go their back!

Nexlink – Made in America FOR America

Sure, we offer all the big names in workstation, desktop, notebook and netbook computers and server such as HP, Lenovo, Toshiba, Acer, Asus, Dell and the like, but there’s one brand that sticks out when we review the service calls and warranty repairs.  Seneca Data and their Nexlink desktops have proven to be an outstanding value for our customers.

The Nexlink computers are well made, with quality parts, and we generally sell them with a 3 year warranty.  These machines mean business! We get very few service calls on them, and in the event that we do, what parts we do not stock are shipped to us and generally arrive the next business day. Furthermore, their tech support department speaks English and are based right here in America, so it is always a pleasure to talk with them in the rare event we actually have to. Their help desk does not put us through unnecessary steps to diagnose a problem and reducing the time on the phone considerably.

I really can’t say enough good things about these machines!

Seneca Data realized just how high the quality of the machines are recently from their own data regarding repair and warranty claims and decided that going forward, the same machine that we have been selling with a 3 year warranty will be upgraded to a FIVE YEAR warranty at no additional charge to us, and we pass that savings on to you.

Desktops are generally replaced every 3 to 5 years, so essentially, the five year warranty could be considered a lifetime warranty for most businesses and individuals.

In all the years I have worked with computers, I have not seen computer manufacturers up their warranty!  This says that Seneca Data is willing to put their money where their mouth is with Nexlink computers!

If your business is looking to purchase new computers or servers, whether it is one or one thousand, please call us at 864.990.4748 or use the CONTACT link in the navigation bar and let’s see if we can provide you with what I think is the best computer for the money! If you want to try out just one computer before upgrading your entire company, we can arrange that. Likewise, if you would like to use a true business class computer at your home or in your home office, we have just the computer for you!

We provide Greenville & the Upstate of SC with complete computer, server & network sales, service and support…

That’s right….   NO SALES TAX on any computer (workstation, netbook, laptop, notebook, tablet) or computer equipment that is to be used by a student!

Homeland Secure IT in Greenville, SC wants to help you make the most of the weekend even though our doors are closed on Saturday and Sunday. In order to do so, you can call or email us, or use the contact form from our navigation bar and we will happily help determine the perfect computer for your student. Or, you can contact us with an exact model number.

We will then give you a quote and prepare an invoice for you over the weekend, during the sales tax holiday, and you can pay us with a credit card. So the sale will take place on the weekend, but we can order the computer for you on Friday and have it here bright and early on Monday morning.

We are authorized partners with and resellers of the biggest names in computers, including HP, Dell, Lenovo, Seneca Data / Nexlink, Toshiba, Asus, Acer, Samsung, Sony and others.

In most cases, we can match the price from local and national stores, and sometimes even beat them, all the while providing you with complete service and free consultation.

Let us know how we can serve you!

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!