Server virtualization and Its Importance

Server virtualization is hardly a new technology. The practice became popular half a century ago with companies such as IBM and GE as the rapid evolution of applications began requiring time-sharing computers. From this technology, virtualization was quickly born.

What is Server Virtualization?

Server virtualization is the process of restructuring a single server into multiple small, isolated virtual servers. This process does not require new or additional servers; instead, virtualization software or hardware takes the existing server and partitions it into several isolated virtual servers. Each of these servers is capable of running independently.

Servers are the technology that hosts files and applications, providing functionality for other programs. This device processes requests and delivers data to other computers in a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN). Servers are often very powerful, processing complex tasks with ease.

A single server can only use one operating system (OS) and is usually dedicated to a single application or task. This is because most applications do not function effectively together on a single server. Because of this, much of a server’s processing capabilities go unused. However, when a server is virtualized it is transformed into multiple virtual servers which can each run different operating systems and applications in an isolated environment. This means less wasted processing power.

Servers take up space and require maintenance, as well as needing to be housed in an environment that is cool and dust-free. Between hardware costs, maintenance costs, and cooling costs, this can often become a significant cost to organizations.

In most cases, server virtualization is the best way to manage a data center’s server needs.

Why is Server Virtualization Important?

Server virtualization is important because it is significantly more efficient than using individual servers for each application or task. Not only does server virtualization reduce the number of physical servers needed, but it also simplifies the management of those servers, reduces costs associated with housing and maintaining servers, and results in significantly less wasted resources.

Minimize Costs

Server virtualization minimizes costs by increasing the utilization of existing resources. This cuts down on the number of physical servers needed, minimizes management costs for those servers, as well as reducing the energy requirements needed to run the servers and provide cooling for the servers.

Faster Server Provisioning & Deployment

Because most new applications require a new server, having a one-server-per-application setup usually means purchasing and installing a new physical server. This can be time-consuming, often taking weeks. However, with virtual servers, server provisioning and deployment is simple and fast as it requires no new server or installation.

Energy Savings

Virtualizing servers is inherently “green.” Not only do servers require energy to power them, but they also require energy for cooling. Because server virtualization significantly reduces the number of servers needed, this results in decreased energy costs.

Improved Disaster Recovery

Server virtualization makes it easier to implement an effective disaster recovery plan. This is because you have the capability to move data or applications quickly from one server to another. A single server can host a large number of virtual machines (VMs). Because of this, it can be simple and effective to create a replication site. Most virtualization software also allows you to test disaster recovery failovers—a protocol that is almost impossible with a large number of physical servers.

What are the First Steps?

Is your company interested in learning more about server virtualization? Reach out to a Network Coverage expert today to discuss how virtualization can increase productivity and reduce technology costs in your company.

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Is your company considering moving some of your infrastructure to the cloud? If so, you’re not alone. According to Gartner Inc., cloud infrastructure spending increased in 2018 by 31.3% over 2017.

But why are so many companies making the shift from traditional in-house computing? Below we explore 10 benefits of cloud computing.

10 Benefits of Cloud Computing

Not only does cloud computing help to save time and money in infrastructure building and management, but it also typically yields improved platforms and service.

1. Reduces IT Costs

One of the main advantages of choosing cloud computing over internally-hosted infrastructure solutions is the reduction in IT costs. This comes from being able to pay for only what your company needs in infrastructure at any given time. In addition, internal computing can be costly when you consider the hard costs of purchasing equipment as well as housing the equipment and investing IT time to manage and maintain the equipment.

2. Managed by Experts

With the trend toward cloud computing, fewer and fewer IT experts are experienced in maintaining modern servers or other integral infrastructure. In addition, the fast-developing technology means best practices and protocols are constantly changing. When you choose cloud computing, you’re putting day-to-day management in the hands of experts whose primary position necessitates staying on top of the latest technology.

In addition, you’re likely benefiting from a team of experts who manage and maintain your systems giving you the benefit of collective knowledge.

3. Secure Environment

Cloud computing also typically results in more secure computing. While on the surface in-house computing can mean less room for network breach, it also means increased opportunity for error. With in-house computing, your data is stored in a single location instead of multiple locations. This means in case of natural disaster or theft data and systems are more likely to be permanently lost. It also means decreased monitoring, updating, and management.

In cloud computing, not only are your data, infrastructure, and services more likely to be spread over multiple servers in different locations, but they also undergo rigorous updates, compliance modifications, and security protocols. Also, a company specializing in cloud computing typically offers round-the-clock monitoring to prevent and rectify issues more diligently than is available from an on-site team.

4. 24/7 Monitoring

Another benefit of cloud computing is that in most cases this means your systems are being monitored 24/7. This is usually difficult to replicate on-site at a company since traditional employees typically require days off, vacation time, sick days, and aren’t available 24 hours a day. Cloud computing companies often have round-the-clock teams and management to oversee infrastructure and systems.

5. Less Downtime

Many systems take updating or maintenance to maintain proper operation. In traditional infrastructure and system management, this often means temporary downtime. However, with cloud computing, a benefit is that the system is typically managed on multiple systems meaning the need for full-system downtime is decreased or eliminated.

6. Improved Speed & Bandwidth

While the on-site location of a server can often mean faster processing, this is only true as long as you have the storage and bandwidth necessary to complete the tasks without overloading the network. With cloud computing, you experience the most up-to-date technology and have access to as much—or as little—bandwidth as you need to support your business.

7. Improved Time to Market

If you are a technology-based company, you understand the importance of having the proper infrastructure and platforms to build, manage, and deploy your services. Using cloud computing means you’re piggy-backing off existing platforms, helping decrease the time to market by an average of 20.66% according to Vanson Bourne.

8. Better In-House IT Management

In addition, transferring your computing to a cloud-based platform means your in-house IT team has less day-to-day management and maintenance of systems and infrastructure. This means your team has more time to make improvements and advancements, help facilitate company growth, help with in-house technology challenges, and more.

9. Scalable/Elastic Services

Another large reason businesses switch to cloud computing is that the services are incredibly scalable and elastic. This means you can upgrade or downgrade your services, storage, bandwidth, etc. quickly and seamlessly. This is especially true for fast-growing companies, seasonal companies, or companies otherwise experiencing fluctuating computing needs.

10. Accessible from Anywhere

Finally, the last important benefit of cloud computing is that it is accessible from nearly anywhere. More and more employees are working virtually, taking data with them on sales appointments or other offsite needs, and more. While leaving the office used to mean having limited or outdated access to data or systems, cloud computing opens up access anywhere with internet access. Since these networks are secure, you can manage access at the discretion of your company.

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Would you like to learn more about cloud computing services offered by Network Coverage? Send us a message or give us a call.

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The Difference Between Cloud and Hosted Services

The difference between cloud and hosted services is the location of the servers running the service. “Hosted services” is the general term for technology services using infrastructure located outside the service receiver’s physical location. This can be at the vendor’s physical location or can be hosted on the cloud. “Cloud services” refers to a specific subset of hosted services that utilize a “cloud” vendor.

What are Hosted Services?

“Hosted services” is the general term for technology services with infrastructure located outside the recipient’s physical location. The servers facilitating this service may be on-site at the vendor’s physical location—these are considered “traditional” hosted services—or maybe on the cloud. Cloud-hosted solutions mean the infrastructure is located at a cloud vendor’s data center.

A traditional hosted services provider owns and operates the infrastructure at a private location. These hosted services are accessed by the customer through a direct network connection, such as a virtual private network (VPN), remote desktop, etc.).

Hosted services can include anything from email to SaaS, storage, monitoring, and more. The infrastructure that supports hosted services includes software, network capacity, storage, hardware, servers, and networking components. This infrastructure is used to deliver services to offsite clients.

There is a wide range of hosted services available. Common examples of common hosted services include:

• Email
• Software (SaaS)
• Website hosting
• File hosting
• Security
• Virtual server hosting

What are Cloud Services?

Cloud services are a subset of hosted services specifically hosted on the cloud. This means the hardware, network, storage, and composite solutions are from a cloud vendor.

One important differentiator of this classification of hosted services is that these resources are distributed and delivered to multiple users simultaneously. A private server hosted by a vendor and accessed by a client via VPN, then, would not qualify as cloud hosting since the service itself is non-collaborative.

Examples of common cloud hosting services include:

• Cloud computing
• Software (SaaS)
• Cloud desktops
• Cloud storage

Benefits of Cloud Services

The biggest benefit of cloud services compared to traditional hosted services is the scalability of solutions while remaining relatively affordable. With cloud services, the expenses related to the equipment and maintenance of the data center is spread across hundreds, thousands, or even millions of other clients.

Cloud services are usually incredibly scalable since it doesn’t take the implementation of additional resources or servers for a cloud vendor to accommodate increasing data needs. It only takes allocating additional data to the client.

Cloud services are also more likely to be up-to-date in speed and security measures than traditional hosted solutions. Since cloud vendors rely on a large number of clients to drive revenue, they must take extra care to ensure the safety and security of their client’s information. This is often one of the best ways to ensure your technology is protected from potential threats.

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Would you like to learn more about how cloud services may speed up the speed and reliability of your hosted services, helping to increase your business productivity and security? Contact Network Coverage today for a free cloud assessment.

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How many times have you written that report or taken those amazing once in a lifetime pictures only to have your computer crash and then everything is lost forever? Starting all over with that report may be okay, but those pictures? Yikes!

Fortunately, most people now have phones that are able to save things to the cloud or on several devices to help avoid those emotional losses, but sometimes there is really nothing you can do but chalk it up to a lesson learned.

Let’s look at some ways that you can backup your data to prevent your emotions from going haywire!

External Hard Drive

A lot of students get used to carrying an external hard drive to and from school because they tend to use a school computer for all their assignments. Especially with videography or photography, storing information and programs such as the Adobe Creative Software makes it impossible to store if you don’t have those programs on your home computer.

This can save both time and money for student while they are using valuable resources for other purchases, such as tuition!

Personal users may want to free up some of the space on their computer as well with the memory being used for images. These can take up a lot of space, so sometimes having an external source can be prudent in saving money from having to buy more memory.

The down side to an external hard drive is that it can sometimes get lost or destroyed. It can also suffer from a crash causing a loss of most or sometimes all the data that is being stored. In cases of flood, fire or other disasters, it too can be destroyed or not readily taken with you when you have to flee your home suddenly.

Back Up Data on the Internet Itself

There are many internet programs or sites that allow up to a certain amount of free storage space for backing up data. Many charge a small monthly fee that can be upgraded as the data becomes larger.

Some of these services include:

• Backblaze
• Carbonite
• MozyHome

Since these are online, it protects against all types of data loss. Also there is no threat against natural disasters, theft or fire damage. However, they can start to add up financially as to the cost. As a personal user, this may not be something you want to invest your money, however as a business, this could be a good time to look into other options, such as cloud services to see what options work better.

It is best to stick with internet services that have stood the test of time, as they won’t disappear suddenly, taking all your stored data with them. There are new company’s starting up all the time, and it’s hard to say how long they will last without the monthly fees helping them survive.

Burn Onto CD, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, or USB Flash Drive

As with an external hard drive, these are also good options. They are a bit more affordable and are very portable. You could have different drives or CD’s for each topic making it easier to sort through.

Unfortunately, they are also easy to misplace or lose entirely. Flash drives can be just like those elusive socks put in the dryer that seem to always get separated from each other! Since they are small, it’s easy to leave in a pocket or on someone else’s computer.

They also don’t have a very high capacity to store a large amount of data. For larger files, this can be annoying at best when trying to work with files that are being used on more than one drive.

Back Up Storage Using the Cloud

There are many cloud programs or sites that allow up to a certain amount of free storage space for backing up data.

Some of these services include:

• iCloud – this service includes 5GB of free storage and syncs with other Apple products.
• Google Drive – associated more closely to Android products and includes 15GB free storage.
• OneDrive – accessible through Windows 10’s file explorer and includes 5GB free storage.
• Dropbox – offering personal and business subscriptions. The personal account includes 2GB free storage for data.

Find the Services Best for Your Company

With all the options available, it may be time to look over your company needs and determine which backup plan is best for you. As a personal user, your needs may be entirely different and so using a smaller, easier to use plan may be the best option.

At any time, our services are available to be discovered and utilized. Give us a call or contact us today!

 

 

 

 

Data loss is a real problem that can create legal liabilities and financial losses. Even something as simple and innocent as a hard-drive failure could cause your company to lose data. Human error can cause important data to be deleted in the blink of an eye with no way for it to ever be recovered again. Even weather-related issues like lightning and flooding can destroy data that hasn’t been saved properly.

Of course, there is an even bigger issue to worry about. Hackers are on a constant mission to access your files. You don’t have to be a big or obvious target to become the victim of a data breach. A hacker will simply choose your company at random and use ransomware to hold valuable files hostage. It doesn’t always have to be as dramatic as that. Sometimes a software virus can just delete the files that you are storing.

Choosing the Right Backup Solution for Your Company

The good news is that you don’t need to be intimated by the backup process if you own a business. Unfortunately, many people put off the task of coming up with a plan for backing up data and software because they think that the process has to be difficult, confusing, or expensive. It doesn’t. You can start to take control of the situation right now by discovering the backup methods that are available and deciding which one is right for your company.

Some Easy Options for Data and Software Backups

One of the simplest ways to back up important information is through an external hard drive. This process simply uses an external USB hard drive to connect to a machine’s built-in backup capabilities. Here are some fast and easy highlights to know:

• You can use the File History tab on Windows 10 and Windows 8 when initiating a backup.
• You can use the Windows Backup tab on Windows 7.
• Macs use the Time Machine tab.

What do you need to do if this is the right method for your company? You will want to connect the drive to your machine and activate the backup process at regular intervals to ensure that your data is backed up.

The big advantage of going with an external hard drive as a backup method is that it is easy and cheap. That means you’re likely to actually do it. However, there is always the possibility that a hard drive can be lost or stolen. Factors like flooding and fire can also cause a hard drive and all of the information contained within it to be destroyed.

Are you interested in next-level security and peace of mind? Another method is to use the Internet to back up your files. You will need to use a special backup service that automatically backs up your files if you go with this option. You might want help with setting up something like this if you’re intimidated by the idea of setting up and maintaining your own system.

The nice thing about using an Internet-based backup system is that you are getting solid, consistent protection. A backup program like this simply runs in the background and automatically backs up files. You will be able to access your files if they are lost for any reason. What’s more, you are protected in the case of hard-drive failure or theft.

Don’t forget about the cloud when it comes to backing up your important data. There are many cloud-based backup systems that will automatically sync, save, and store your files. This can be a very inexpensive and easy option if you have a small number of files to save. Keep in mind that you’ll need to pay extra for cloud storage if you have a large number of files.

However, peace of mind and easy access will certainly be worth it. Some of the options out there that you might want to consider are iCloud for Apple products, OneDrive for Windows users, Google Drive for Android users, and Dropbox for any device. There are also special programs that offer extra layers of customization and protection.

Of course, it is essential to make sure that these backup programs have been set up properly and that they are working in harmony with your system. Nothing is worse than having false peace of mind over the fact that your files are being saved when the reality is that things were set up improperly.

Find the Right Way to Preserve Your Data

It’s okay if the idea of keeping your data backed up and safe seems a little bit overwhelming. After all, you have a lot on your plate already. You shouldn’t have to spend hours being tied up with the business of safeguarding your business from breaches.

That’s why making a seamless plan that works with all your systems and applications automatically is the best option. This ensures that you won’t be trying to piece together backup strategies on your own and constantly worrying that there are huge holes in place. Here are the six signs of good backup protocol:

• Seamless integration.
• Scalable properties that make a backup system capable of growing with your company.
• A level of protection that works for your budget without requiring any safety sacrifices.
• An automatic action that happens around the clock or at designated intervals.
• Standards that meet the strictest security and compliance requirements.
• Efficiency ensures things are being backed up and systems are running smoothly without any clunky processes.

The bottom line is that a backup method won’t work unless it works for your company’s needs. That’s why customization is so important when it comes to exploring backup options for your applications.

There’s no reason to simply do things at half speed while keeping your sensitive and important data safe. Data is always in danger. It’s essential to go all the way to create and implement a plan that will ensure your systems are safe across the board.