System monitoring is a critical, but often overlooked component of IT. Proper monitoring can alert when issues arise, preemptively alert before an issue becomes critical, and record historical performance and change data for reference. With monitoring and alerting, you'll know when storage is running out before your users tell you they can't save files! You'll know when server memory is getting low, and maybe that's why it's being super slow today. You'll know when your inter

For years IT professionals have been using a common baseline for determining how to implement password and authentication standards in their networks. This document, NIST 800-63 [1], suggested using passwords with enforced complexity rules (such as: at least one letter, one number, one symbol, etc.), frequent changes, minimum length, and so on. In June, NIST released a major revision of this document. [2] Re-thinking all previous guidance based on currently available research

Cyberattacks against small businesses are on the rise. Symantec reports that 43% of all spear phishing attacks in 2015 targeted SMBs, versus just 18% in 2011. Ransomware attacks quadrupled in 2016 and are expected to double again this year. How do you protect your valuable business data against this? There are plenty of security products today that every small business should be using, but the most fundamental security measures for any organization come from your employees an

Virtualization has become a linchpin of IT. It's a foundational technology that caused a seismic shift in how networks are designed and deployed. It's a force multiplier for business that brings great flexibility and power into your computer system. Virtualization, at its core, is the ability to run multiple independent servers on a single physical system. These servers (virtual machines, or VMs) can have differing computing requirements, running services, and even operating