Tag Archives: adelaide

How Not To Struggle With Data Storage

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Large data

Many businesses have already embraced the benefits of going fully digital and it has saved us time and eliminated the need for stacks of file cabinets in every office.

But the digital boom presents us with a brand new range of issues. By moving all our files into a digital space, the amount of storage we need to maintain has grown larger and larger.

As digital technology has improved, the resolution and thus the size of the digital files we create has exploded. Items such as photographs, which used to be printed on film are now digital files stored and transferred by computers. As a result of the increase in both the number of digital files we use and their ever-growing size, the size of the data we need to store and backup has exploded exponentially.

This blog lists a number of ways in which we can tackle our ever-growing storage problem.

A Local Server or Network Attached Storage (NAS) Device

A local server is a high end computer system machine designed to serve many files to multiple clients at one time from locally held storage.

The advantage that a local network server has is that all your vital data is available to all users in one central location. This means that all employees on the network can access all the resources made available.

These machines can serve files at the speed of the local network, transferring large projects, files, and documents from a central source within the network quickly and with ease.

A Network Attached Storage device (or NAS) has many of the same network properties but in a smaller more compact profile. These can be available in units small enough to fit in a cupboard nook and yet still provide staggering storage capacity on only a small amount of power.

Both of these units can often be expanded with more and more storage, so as an organization grows over time its storage requirements are met.

Cloud Storage

Sometimes the best option for storage is to move your ever-increasing data outside of the business and into the cloud. Offloading the costs of hardware and IT management can work out to be an intelligent business decision and one that provides freedom and flexibility for your data storage needs.

The real advantage of cloud storage comes from the ability to expand and contract your services as needed without the overhead of adding and maintaining new hardware.

By moving storage to the cloud, data can be accessed from anywhere in the world allowing limitless expansion to any number of devices, locations and offices. Being able to access data from many locations at a single time can often provide a valuable boost to productivity that can help to improve productivity.

Some drawbacks of cloud storage come from factors that may be outside of the control of the business. Not all businesses have access to internet connections that are fast enough to handle large amounts of data transfer to and from the cloud.

Local laws and security regulations can prove to be a barrier to enabling storage in the cloud too. Some regulations either prohibit the feature entirely or enable only certain specific types for use.

The Right Choice For You

Both cloud and local storage can provide further benefits to enhance your business. Audit logs, central backups, and version control can all be used to secure the way your firm handles data.

Whatever your situation, whether a small NAS, server or cloud, we can advise on the best choices for your business.

Contact us on 08 8326 4364 or support@dpcomputing.com.au to allow us to use our expertise to make the right choice for your data.

Businesses Top 5 IT Security Problems

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Security Problems

In today’s world, companies seem to be having security issues most weeks. These issues relate to 5 main problems. Is your company guilty of any of them?

1. No Backups

A shocking number of businesses do not back up their data properly. According to market research company Clutch, 60 percent of businesses who suffer a data loss shut down within six months.

Even with companies that think they are doing their backups correctly they never regularly test those backups. It is a step that businesses miss surprisingly often\ so don’t be that business that only finds out that their backup isn’t working when it is already too late.

2. Being Reactive and Not Proactive

Technology is changing on a daily basis. Attackers are always working on new ways to break into businesses, hardware is evolving faster than most of us can keep up and old systems fail due to wear and tear. A huge number of businesses wait until these issues impact them directly before they respond. This results in higher costs, longer downtime, and harder hitting impacts.

By responding to hardware warnings before it fails, fixing security holes before they’re exploited and upgrading systems before they are out of date: IT can be done right. Being proactive about your IT needs means systems do not have to break before they are fixed. This results in less downtime, fewer losses and lower IT costs for your business.

3. Poor Passwords

A surprising number of people will use weak passwords to secure their accounts. Even more will write down their passwords on a post-it note right next to the computer. In other cases many people have no passwords at all! Strong passwords act, not only as a barrier to prevent unwanted entry, but as a vital accountability tool too – when system changes are made it is essential to be able to trace back to the account that made that change.

With an weak or insecure password tracking the individual responsible for reports or accountability becomes impossible. This can result in both auditing disasters on top of technical ones.

4. Little or No Staff Training

People are commonly the weakest link when it comes to IT security. Implementing IT security can be a bit like having state-of-the-art locks on a door propped open with a milk crate when staff aren’t trained to use that lock.

Often businesses can justify spending big on security hardware and software but spend zero dollars on training staff to use them. In this instance, a little goes a long way. Security training can help staff to identify a threat, stop it at its entry point and avoid any issues that may have occurred if the staff member hadn’t had any training.

5. Weak Data Controls

Some companies take an ad-hoc, fast and loose approach to data storage. Often crucial  data is spread across many devices, copied needlessly and even left unsecured. Client data can be found regularly on employee laptops, mobile phones and tablet devices. These devices are prone to being misplaced or stolen along with any data they contain.

Most companies focus on the costs of devices and hardware purchased for the business. The reality is that the data held on those devices is always worth many times more than the device that holds it. For many firms, their approach to data hasn’t been changed since when the firm was first founded. Critical data is often held on single machines that hasn’t been updated because they hold that critical data. Such machines are clearly vulnerable, outdated and of course prone to failure.

Common problems with simple solutions

Each of these common issues have simple solutions to secure against IT failure. With a professional eye and expertise in the field, every business should be defended against IT issues that risk the firm.

If you are in South Australia and need help securing your IT system, give DP Computing a call on 08 8326 4364 or at support@dpcomputing.com.au.

Stay Ahead of Your Competitors & Budgets with an IT Lifecycle Plan

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IT Life Cycle

All electrical appliances have an effective lifespan and computers are no different. Computers can expectantly fail after years of service or they may become too slow to keep doing the job. Hardware failures and IT issues can cost big not just in physical costs but also in areas such as productivity losses and unintended downtime.

Improving productivity, avoiding unnecessary downtime and lowering costs are the driving factors in which many modern businesses now choose to adopt IT life cycles.

IT Life Cycle

The IT life cycle aims to make IT budgets predictable, manageable and reduce costs across the business.

The process starts with a thorough plan outlining the demands of the business. By looking at how and where equipment is deployed, we can make the most out of the resources throughout the business. One of the first steps is to reduce equipment duplication and under use within the firm.

With this approach, equipment can be scheduled for upgrade or replacement at predictable intervals based on usage and time frames. With a plan in place, the focus of the life cycle can shift to resource procurement. As equipment approaches the end of its lifespan it can be brought in for replacement, repair and recycling. Old hardware and components can often be reused and recycled in new roles as they are decommissioned from their initial role.

By maintaining as many usable parts as possible we help lower costs of keeping efficient hardware in the front line business environment. This approach helps a huge number of businesses keep modern and up to date hardware in crucial roles where it can serve the biggest impact for the business.

Make the most of resources

Computers in busy business environments will always need replacement over time. It is important to plan and prepare for this time to avoid unplanned downtime, unbudgeted costs and losses in productivity. Doing so, helps to plan a regular, predictable IT budget and you are also less prone to sudden financial spikes.

The IT life cycle additionally allows your business to stay on top of software licensing, upgrades and Operating System changes. By moving old and outdated systems from your network, potential security issues are dramatically reduced.

Additional financial security comes from the manufacturers hardware warranties for businesses that adopt the life cycle. As new equipment is purchased, manufacturer warranties provide guarantees about the handling of any hardware issues. Depending on the length of your life cycle this warranty may cover all, or most of the duration of the equipment’s intended life. The extra coverage provides an extra layer of financial protection from unpredictable IT issues.

In control with information

Tracking the life cycle of your own firm provides invaluable metrics about how equipment use and deployment within your own production environment occurs. Armed with this unique knowledge, better purchasing decisions can be made to equip your business with the best tools needed for your success.

Money can be better implemented by getting the important high-value resources to the places in the businesses that need it most – the ones where they will generate the most value for the firm.

A key factor in getting the most from your firm’s IT is making sure the resources put into the company do not sit idly on a shelf or are not used to their full potential. This insight gained from metrics related to the life cycle ensure that management stay fully informed.

A complete picture puts the business management team back in control of its IT by allowing them to choose the best, most efficient and cost-effective time to replace critical systems. Firms can plan replacements and servicing outside of busy periods so they can operate without interruption and know their IT is fully serviced when they need it most.

Future Planning

With a planned, fully prepared life cycle, IT budgets can be prepared in detail for years to come and everything from computer systems to printers can be upgraded on a tightly controlled schedule.

Businesses all over the world have adopted IT life cycles as a way to eliminate unwanted surprises, lessen productivity losses and make the most out of IT budgets. Implementing your own IT life cycle can greatly improve the way your business operates and provide an advantage over your competitors.

If you are in Adelaide, South Australia, talk to us about how you currently do IT planning and we will see if we can make the life cycle work for you. Give us a call on 08 8326 4364 or via email at support@dpcomputing.com.au.

Are “Speed Up Your Computer” Programs a Good Idea?

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Speed Up Your PC

You probably have been alerted by popup windows while surfing the web. These popups claim your computer has thousands of errors requiring urgent attention. The popups offer a “solution” to cure your computers so called problems.

These advertisements are often described as Speed Booster or Speed Up utilities Reg and will attempt to convince the user they will somehow clean or improve their computer. Within the IT industry these programs are known as “scareware”. They are adverts and software programs specifically designed to convince you that your computer has problems – which it might not have.

Are these popups and utilities trustworthy?

Almost all popups and advertisements that use adverts saying “Fix now for free” or “Speed up your computer” are not trustworthy at all. They are little more than a scam attempting to take your money and / or install malware on your computer. At best these programs claim to scan your computer and show a list of plausible sounding computer problems. Using this, they will ask for payment to “fix” these problems and “speed up” your PC.

Some may even attempt to use these fake warnings and scare tactics to trick you into installing malware on your computers. Once installed, the malware can go many things including stealing files, accounting information, usernames, passwords, emails, and credit card details. Sometimes the first sign a user has that something is wrong is when they check their bank account!

Can software actually speed up my computer?

During normal computer usage you install and uninstall a variety of computer programs and applications may leave temporary files around or entries within the registry. Despite the large amount of “scareware” and fraudulent computer cleanup utilities out there, legitimate applications do exist that are designed to clean your system. This can be something we cover and is often done as a part of a complete computer tune up. The large speed boosts many of the fake utilities to unlock by simply moving files around are almost always false.

Most computer can have a speed boost by more conventional means which include a combination of temporary file removal, registry cleanup, startup file optimization as well as hardware upgrades.

Hardware components such as memory and a SSD upgrades can often be added to boost the speed of even an older PC and give it a new lease of life. Upgrading the computers RAM can double the working memory available to the system. With extra memory, many programs can keep more information available to work with. This upgrade reduces loading times and increases the computers ability to run more programs at once.

Switching from an older style mechanical hard drive to a modern Solid State Disk (SSD) can significantly reduce startup and loading times of any PC as well as speeding up application loading times. Loading data from the hard drive is very often the slowest part of a computer, the bottleneck in an otherwise very fast system. Because an SSD does not use any mechanical components the time to access the disk is nearly instant when compared to older, mechanical hard disks.

These upgrades offer boosts in speed to rival a modern system at only a fraction of the cost originally paid for the new computer. Performing some basic house keeping functions along with upgrading the RAM and swapping to an SSD will provide an instant, dramatic, and safe improvement to the speed of your PC.

If your computer is running slow give us at a call on 08 8326 4364 or support@dpcomputing.com.au and arrange a real and professional cleanup of your computer systems.

How Losing a Mobile Device Can Put Your Business at Risk

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Lost device

Losing a mobile phone, tablet or laptop is something that everyone dreads. The expense and inconvenience of buying a new device is unpleasant, but the replacement costs only represents a fraction of the damage done when a device is misplaced. The cost of the data contained within every device can add up to many times more than the total value of the device itself.

Along with any data on the device you may use automatic login to your email and other online services. Each of these services is vulnerable to an attacker having possession of your device.

Saved Usernames and Passwords – Users often click on the link to save the passwords in their browser for sites they regularly visit. While this makes things simpler for the user it also makes it very easy for someone else with access to your device to login to your online accounts.

The problem can multiply where a single password or a combination of similar passwords have been used across several accounts. In these situations an attacker need only gain access to a single one and reuse the same credentials across many sites and services.

Email – Email accounts are a key target for attackers looking for access to your business and / or personal information. It is a service that we all take for granted, setting up the device and using automatic login every time afterwards.

It is a service that also unlocks a great deal more than just the email messages as with email access a malicious user can gain access to many of the most commonly used web services online. Using the “forgot my password” button on many websites triggers an email with a password reset link to the email address registered on file. An attacker may use this feature to reset account passwords. Doing this both grants themselves access to your account and denies you access to it.

Contacts – One of the best features of SMS’s and instant messaging is that your contacts know the message is coming from you. When a message is sent from your device to someone you know it displays along with your name, details and maybe even a photograph.  With contact information already programmed into a device an attacker has an opportunity to impersonate you. Using your identity, an attacker may attempt to steal yet more details about you and your contacts.

Social Media – Your social media accounts can often be the face of your brand and are a primary way to reach out and contact customers. They are also extremely vulnerable to being hijacked from a stolen device. Fraudulent social media access allows attackers to harvest both client and business data. Even without profiting directly, posting information on a social media account can cause irreversible damage to a business.

Protecting your business – Services, accounts, and entire businesses can be put in great danger by something as simple as misplacing an unsecured mobile phone or laptop computer. Remember to always put passwords and security measures on all devices.

We can help you to stay secure and remain in control even when losing a device. Give us a call at 08 8326 4364 or support@dpcomputing.com.au and let us help secure your business.

Does Your Office Need Business-Grade WiFi?

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Business grade WiFi

In today’s business world, having great WiFi isn’t a luxury – it is a necessity. For some small businesses, consumer grade WiFi may be sufficient (especially if it is not widely used), but with the explosion is usage of mobile devices many find that business-grade WiFi is more appropriate. As companies grow, there becomes a tipping point where business-grade is necessary. So how do you know if your business is ready for business-grade WiFi? Ask yourself the following questions to find out.

How many devices use your Wireless Network?

It used to be that a few laptops connected to your WiFi network, but that is no longer the case. With the rise of portable devices such as smartphones, tablets and other devices  each person may be connected to your wireless network from several devices. Consumer-grade hardware is designed for just a few people (ie the small amount that typically live in a single household) but can not manage larger amounts of users and all of their devices. This is especially true for sustained concurrent usage. Remember that your employees aren’t the only people who expect to be able to connect to your WiFi. One of the first things visitors and customers typically do is look for a WiFi network to connect their smartphones to.

What is the size and area of your workspace?

The number of access points you will need for your business is dependent on the amount of physical space that needs to be covered, the shape of the area, wall material and the number of users / devices. In smaller spaces, consumer-grade WiFi may be good enough. Larger, oddly shaped spaces benefit from business-grade. If your building’s walls are made of brick, cinder blocks, or cement, you likely need more access points than buildings made of other materials. Make sure you have a strong connection from all locations. It is annoying to only be connected to wireless in certain areas of a building and find yourself in a deadzone one step later.

Access points for business-grade WiFi tend to be more powerful and flexible. For example, some business WiFi systems can move Wi-Fi devices from a crowded access point to one that is less busy. By doing this, everyones access remains consistent. If you foresee your range needing to increase, such as renting out more space, it is much easier to add more access points to a business-grade network than consumer-grade one. Businesses that anticipate scaling up soon are better off with business-grade WiFi.

Do you want guests to have the same quality Wi-Fi as workers?

In households, where consumer-grade WiFi hardware is used, all users share the wireless network equally. In a home environment, if children are slowing down the internet with Netflix or video games, it is not a big problem. However, a choked business WiFi can cause a lot of problems. Business-grade WiFi allows you proper network management. You can assign a designated amount of bandwidth to different users so they are unable to clog the entire connection. You can also allow visitors internet access without giving them unlimited access to your local network.

How much does the internet affect your employees’ productivity?

For some companies, workers only use WiFi for a few quick tasks. With these types of businesses, if the internet is slow, it won’t have a big impact on how much work your employees get done and consumer-grade wireless might be a good choice. For other companies where there isn’t much people can do if the WiFi isn’t working well then a business grade connection is essential. WiFi troubles can also lead to frustrated and unhappy workers.

Strong WiFi is a necessity for all businesses. This is especially true for larger businesses that connect a lot of devices (from both an employees and visitors perspective) and have a large work area. Also for those where employee productivity depends on a strong connection. The goal is to keep your business-critical technology running smoothly. Consider carefully whether consumer-grade Wi-Fi or business-grade Wi-Fi is the best choice for your business. When you ask yourself the questions above, the answer should become clear.

If you are in Adelaide, South Australia and your business’s wireless network is struggling then give us a call on (08) 8326 4364 or via email at support@dpcomputing.com.au to discuss a solution.

Should You Repair, Upgrade or Replace Your Computer?

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Repair or Purchase New?

Like many things, new computers suffer from wear and tear over time. Our computers are particularly vulnerable as we have placed more and more demands on them every month. New machines are faster, quieter, more reliable and more capable over time. At the same time our own computers have begun to slow and sometimes even stop altogether.

There are many ways to address the problem of a slow PC. Whether frustratingly slow or no longer working; we are happy to take a look at your system. When you bring your computer to us we will diagnose the condition and find a solution that works for you. Often times the simplest solution is the best (and cheapest!). A complex problem may only needs a simple repair to get your computer up and running like new again. Whether a small replacement part, loose wire, or bad connection; we will find and fix the problem to give your current machine a new lease of life.

Many computers come to us running slowly, they take a long time to start up or are freezing when trying to load files. Often owners have reached their breaking point and become convinced that the machine is fit for only the dump. In many cases, the problem can be pinpointed to a bottleneck in the system. A single, seemingly trivial, part can be holding up the entire system and upgrading just that one component can make the whole machine run like new again.

Adding memory can provide extra space for programs to run faster. Adding an updated, faster hard drive (ie a SSD drive) can allow files to be retrieved in an instant. In both cases, a low-cost single component can provide a cost-effective solution that makes an old machine like new again.

Not all solutions are as simple though as your may have a fault. A failure of the motherboard (the backbone of the entire computer) may be impossible to fix. Typically, with the fast-paced and ever-changing nature of computing, a motherboard will only house computer parts that were manufactured around a similar time. A motherboard is almost certain to be incompatible with components built just a couple of years before or after its own design. Sometimes it may be possible to find a replacement board of the same generation that will work alongside existing components. This results in a cost-effective solution that keeps cost down by saving on replacement parts.

In cases where a replacement motherboard is not available, other parts of the computer may have to be replaced at the same time. Often replacement costs in these cases can  exceed the cost of buying a new machine.

We always give advice where it makes sense financially and practically to consider replacing an old machine. Think of the equivalent thing happening with your car. Sometimes a simple, non-expensive component such as the window wiper can fail. While a wiper is crucial to driving in the rain it is silly to suggest replacing the vehicle once it has worn out. A window wiper may be low-cost and simple to replace, but if the engine was to fail the solution may not be quite as simple. Attempting to make an old car as safe and reliable as a brand new model generally doesn’t make any financial or practical sense. Sometimes the best course of action to save money and avoid breakdowns is a new vehicle.

In computing, many of the same rules hold true. We always try to fine the best solution for your needs and requirements.

If you are located in South Australia give us a call us at (08) 8326 4364 or via email on support@dpcomputing.com.au to discuss your computer issues. We will diagnose your machine and advise on the best course of action to get you up and running as quickly as possible.

6 Ways to Extend Your Phone’s Battery Life

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Extend your battery life

Today we use our phones for everything – phone calls, text messages, emails, photos, browsing social media sites, watching videos, playing games and many other activities. Since our phones do so much, we are using them more and thus the battery isn’t lasting as long as we would like. In our busy lives, we are not always near a power outlet and even if we are we don’t always have a phone charger at hand. If our phones die, we risk missing out on important calls and notifications. So what things can we do to improve our battery’s life?

1. Check Apps’ Battery Usage

When it comes to battery usage, not all apps are created equal, with some using a lot more battery than others. For example, checking your email uses a small amount of power but any apps that use the GPS drain a significant amount of your phone’s battery –  this is because they are constantly talking to the GPS satellites. Check to see which of your apps are draining your battery most and limit their usage.

2. Turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

When you are not connected to wifi or your wifi signal is weak, it is good to turn off both Wi-Fi and bluetooth. They can drain a large amount of battery life searching for the Wi-Fi and / or bluetooth signals.

3. Lower your Phones Brightness

One of the easiest ways to save battery life is to reduce how bright your phone’s screen is. The brighter your screen is, the more power it is using. Most automatically phones adjust the brightness levels based on how light your surroundings are but you can override this and turn the level down to save battery. The more you dim the screen, the longer your battery will last.

4. Go on Power Saving Mode

When set your phone into Power Saving Mode, it stops it from automatically checking for new emails, powers off your display faster and reduces screen brightness. It also turns off other features and visual effects that use a lot of battery. On some phones it may make your apps run a little slower.

5. Buy a Case With an Inbuilt Batter

Some people need to use power-draining features often and have a very phone-heavy lifestyle. If this is you, it may still be a struggle to keep your battery lasting throughout the day. If the other options are not sufficient, you can often  buy a phone case with a built-in battery. This case can then charge your phone while using it and thus make it last longer throughout the day.

6. Buy a Spare Battery

If you phone has a easily removable battery then purchase a spare battery and keep it charged. Then when your battery is getting low you can easily swap the battery out and keep on using your phone.

Our phones are critical to our modern day lives, but they can’t do anything for us if they are flat. Even more importantly, we want our phones available in case of an emergency. Luckily, using the above methods will help keep our batteries alive throughout the day. Just remember to charge them when you are back int he office or at home.

Are You Struggling with Email Overload?

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Stop email overload

While email is a great business tool that has allowed near instantaneous communications with people around the world it can also lead to problems. Many people now receive dozens or even hundreds of emails in a day and at times it can seem like you are wasting your entire day dealing with all those incoming messages. You can quickly become overloaded with emails and the amount of emails also makes finding important messages harder.

So how can we deal with this overload? The first step is to reduce the number of emails you receive and there are a few ways to do this.

Restrict who you give you email address to: It is important to think carefully about who you give your email address to. For example, if you enter a lot of contests, this often automatically subscribes you to their email campaigns and / or adds you to a spam list. If you type your email into every popup box asking for it, these add up. Reduce who you give your email to.

Unsubscribe: If you haven’t opened one of those newsletter emails in months, go through and unsubscribe. Turn off notifications from social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. If you like emails from these networks, then adjust the settings so they email you the highlights once a day or week rather than allowing them to spam your inbox several times per day.

Do you need that notification? If you receive emails that contain information you can find elsewhere, switch those emails off. eg. you might run an e-commerce site that sends an email for every sale. If your website already has a record of this, you don’t need those notifications doubled up. If you really need that notification or email then create a rule to move it into a different folder and thus not clog up your general inbox.

Change your email habits: Change your own email sending habits. If a topic is complex and will require a lot of back and forth conversation, consider discussing it in person, over the phone or via one of the new online collaborative tools like MS Teams. Sending fewer emails will reduce how many you receive and remember that you don’t need to respond to every email you receive.

Resist sending unnecessary messages: Stop the urge to send messages with a single word like “Thanks!” or “Ok” and you will notice others will stop sending you similar, unnecessary messages. When sending group emails, you can also remind others not to use “reply all” unless the information is relevant to the entire group.

Start cleaning up: Start emptying out your inbox now and get rid of any old emails you don’t need to keep. Delete old calendar invites, advertisements or any emails where the problem has been resolved. Respond to any messages that can be answered as soon as you can. Move everything that is left until you have a completely empty inbox. Archive messages where you don’t need to take an action, but you think might be useful. You can search and find these later if necessary. Put other emails into folders based off of the type of email and the priority level.

From now on, try and automate things via rules. You can have receipts automatically go into a receipt folder, calendar invites into another, etc. A cluttered inbox can lead to your mind feeling just as cluttered.. Free up your inbox to free up your mind and create more time in your day-to-day life. Follow these steps and let email overload become a thing of the past.

If you need help with your emails, give us a call on 08 8326 4364 or via email at support@dpcomputing.com.au.

Is A Slow Network Hindering Your Business?

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Slow network?

Few things in life are as intensely frustrating as slow network speeds. Whether accessing shared files, a database or trying to print, waiting for things to happen seem to take an eternity. Worse still, this extra time can keep both clients and staff waiting and get in the way of business productivity.

Every time you save or retrieve files from another computer or network storage device, data is transferred across the network. Depending on your setup, data can fly over the network or trickle between machines. Poor network speeds are often the bottleneck that slows down the entire IT system. If a slow and unreliable network sounds like your office setup then there are many available solutions available where we can help.

Offices often maintain networking hardware that is as old as the premises they are in or the businesses themselves and have been left in place long after their suggested expiration date. If it is not broken then don’t fix it commonly rules as long as some working connection, however slow, still remains.

Even when the rest of the network is capable of ultra-high speeds, a single bad component or cable can bring the entire network to a slow crawl. Even peripheral devices throughout the network can cause traffic to slow. A badly installed device can send out an overwhelming number of messages that spoils other network traffic. Often just one or two small upgrades is all that is needed to unlock the full speed potential of the network.

Some users equate a slow network to slow internet. Moving to a fast Internet speed often can fix this issue.

For some businesses, installing a dedicated server is an ideal solution that can balance the IT workload. Access to shared resources on a single device often benefits the entire organization by eliminating redundancy. A network server is purpose built with efficiency and reliability in mind to keep your business running at full capacity. By pooling resources for everyone to use, work is evenly shared and centrally available to prevent bottlenecks in the system. Reduced network loads, improved efficiency, and faster transfer speeds mean that higher productivity becomes the new normal.

Moving resources to the cloud can work for many businesses too. Where high speed, low-cost internet services are available, moving your work online can be a highly cost-effective solution. Software packages such as Xero, Quickbooks and MYOB offer finance and accounting packages operating in the cloud. Suites such as Microsoft Office offers services for creating and sharing documents through cloud resources. Both packages eliminate the need for many of the network operations that we use every day.

For many applications such as Quickbooks huge databases sometimes gigabytes in size are required. It is these types of applications where the advantage of the cloud becomes clear. To use this locally, a super fast network and server are needed where as in the Cloud this is all handled by the software provider and only require a simple web page interface for each user. Instantly, looking up finances and editing documents becomes as simple as checking your email. With services moved to the cloud, purchase cost and maintenance of expensive local network hardware are reduced too.

A complete network solution that works to make the most out of all the available resources is unique to every business. Only a tailored solution to address your network needs will increase your productivity.

If you are located in Adelaide, South Australia and your IT is starting to get in the way of your business and your network is running too slow, give us call at 08 8326 4364 and we will see what we can do.