How do you get numerous promising new technologies into the hands of early adopters quickly and efficiently so that the most promising ones can be identified and fast-tracked? That’s the conundrum that IBM’s Technology Adoption Program (TAP) faced. To TAP leaders, the answer was obvious: cloud computing.

TAP’s role is to prototype and deploy new IBM technologies with 100,000 early adopters who will test-drive and provide feedback on new applications. Based on their feedback, IBM decides which of the myriad new technology applications to move into production.

Getting 120 projects into the hands of as many as 100,000 early adopters, however, is neither an easy nor an inexpensive task. In the standard data center environment, deploying new IT technologies is labor-intensive, requiring months of scheduling to procure and build infrastructures. The typical IBM pilot team requires as long as three months to do so. With 120 projects a year to support, the IBM TAP program would have been required to purchase 488 additional servers to meet its goals. Not only would that have a required a major capital outlay, but the challenges of manual infrastructure deployment would have been prohibitive.

Cloud computing offered TAP as a means to dramatically reduce the time required to provision physical and virtual servers, use only those IT resources when they were required and reduce the hardware and labor necessary to do the job. Moreover, cloud computing represents a major leap in IBM’s vision for the newly emerging dynamic IT infrastructure and a smarter planet. With cloud computing, TAP could rely on automated provisioning, monitoring and virtualization to increase the flexibility of the infrastructure and consolidate to a smaller number of more fully utilized physical servers. Installation and configuration time for TAP solutions shrank by 75 percent with cloud computing.

Once implemented, cloud computing delivered on its promise of dramatic efficiencies. For instance, with cloud computing the TAP team reduced the amount of time required to procure and build an infrastructure from weeks to hours, greatly increasing productivity and enabling IBM to move promising applications to production sooner. Cloud also made a considerable, positive impact on TAP’s budget. Instead of 488 new servers that manual deployment would have required, TAP only needed to procure 55 new servers to support its plan. That translated into annual hardware savings of $1.3 million and power savings of more than $69,600.

The cloud computing savings associated with administration costs were even more significant. In the cloud computing environment, the number of administrators required shrank from 15 to two, yielding estimated annual savings of $1.9 million. Just as important, the labor savings associated with cloud computing enabled IBM to deploy those valuable personnel for work on other high-value projects.

Indeed, when IBM tells customers that cloud computing can improve efficiency and flexibility of your data center and significantly slash operating costs, IBM is speaking from first-hand experience.

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New Windows 7 Feature Called Libraries

GET ORGANIZED

Introducing libraries, a new cure for file clutter Tired of playing hide-and-seek with your PC?

If you’ve ever wasted time hunting for a misplaced picture, song, or spreadsheet, take heart: Windows 7 makes your stuff easier to find and organize.

How libraries work.
It starts with libraries, a new Windows 7 feature that lets you group files into collections, no matter where they are or what they're called.

If you’ve used Windows before, you might not immediately notice anything different about libraries. Click the Start menu or open Windows Explorer, and you’ll see what looks like the familiar lineup of personal folders—Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos.

Where's my music?
While they might seem like plain old folders, libraries are far more powerful. That's because they don’t actually store files. Instead, libraries point to where files are stored.

Imagine you've got music files sprinkled all over your PC. It happens. iTunes sticks songs one place, Windows Media Player puts them somewhere else. Maybe you've even ripped some CDs to an external hard drive.

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HP ProCurve Delivers Converged Networking Solutions for Enterprise Customers

HP ProCurve today announced new converged wired and wireless networking solutions that allow customers to drastically simplify delivery of multiple IP-based services by combining centralized network operations with a discrete in-wall access device.

The HP ProCurve MSM317 Access Device integrates an 802.11b/g wireless access point and a four-port wired Ethernet switch. It is designed to be installed in a standard wall electrical outlet and centrally managed by any HP ProCurve MultiService Mobility controller.

Two new HP ProCurve MultiService Mobility controllers give enterprise customers centralized control and management of a network of MSM317 devices or any HP ProCurve wireless access points. The controllers deliver consistent services anywhere on the network, allowing customers to implement security, roaming and quality of service policies.

“Property owners and network operators can deliver multiple high-value voice, video and data services to guests and other occupants with these new solutions,” said Roger Sands, director, Worldwide Mobility Solutions, HP ProCurve. “These converged network offerings extend HP ProCurve’s product portfolio into a new category of innovative network edge products that help customers reduce the complexity of installing and managing their wired and wireless network services.”

Perfect for the hospitality industry, the HP ProCurve MSM317 connects multiple IP-based devices such as VoIP telephones, televisions and other hotel room equipment while reducing power sourcing equipment through integrated Power over Ethernet (PoE) support. The integrated access point provides wireless services to hotels, hospitals, dormitories and apartments, extending the range of mobile devices such as laptops and smartphones.

HP ProCurve wireless controllers
This expansion of the HP ProCurve mobility product portfolio introduces two new HP ProCurve MultiService Mobility controllers, giving customers greater flexibility for centrally managing their wired and wireless networks.  The new HP ProCurve MSM765 controller physically integrates into HP ProCurve 5400 and 8200 Series switches, while the HP ProCurve MSM760 is a stand-alone appliance. Both controllers scale from small to large network deployments with new software licensing capabilities.

HP ProCurve also introduced an auto-update capability for HP ProCurve Mobility Manager 3.0, which greatly simplifies network configuration by automatically detecting and configuring all wireless access points and controllers on the network.

The HP ProCurve Manager Plus 3.0 management platform – which includes HP ProCurve Mobility Manager 3.0 – enables customers to map, configure and monitor wired and wireless networks. The platform offers a single-pane view of an entire network, allowing customers to securely add, customize and restrict network access.

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VODA Tip

CCleaner

Although it lacks a few of the bells and whistles found in other PC-cleaning applications, this free program offers more than enough features to make it a worthy download. CCleaner's interface is logically designed and makes it easy to wipe away your tracks from Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, and Google Chrome from various Windows system areas, and from some third-party applications. For more info or to download click the following.

http://download.cnet.com/ccleaner/

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Quote of the Month

Well-timed silence hath more eloquence than speech.

— Martin Fraguhar Tupper

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Product of the Month

Asus VG236H

Immerse Yourself in Ultra-smooth and Vivid 3D Action

An Immersive 3D Experience

Get into 3D Action with NVIDIA® 3D Vision™

Enter an immersive 3-dimensional Full HD 1080p world of games and movies with the VG236H. Through the use of market-leading 3D technology and active shutter glasses, it instantly takes you into another dimension—transforming your gaming experience to 3D*. There are hundreds of popular PC game titles** currently compatible with the NVIDIA® 3D Vision™ kit.

Gear-up of Multimedia Capability

Supporting embedded HDMI and YPbPr inputs, VG236H is capable to provide a variety of multimedia entertainment such as Blu-ray Disc players and gaming consoles.

Driven to Perform

120Hz Double-speed Refresh Rate

VG236H is able to double the refresh rate to 120Hz frames per second, which is twice faster than generic LCD monitors, delivering ultra-smooth 3D visuals.

Ultra-vivid Colors with Color Shine

Color Shine Technology improves image clarity and enriches color density and saturation. Together with 400 nits ultra-brightness, the VG236H produces clearer and more vibrant images in stereoscopic 3D effect

Versatile Comfort with Ergonomic Design

The ergonomically-designed VG236H 3D monitor comes with swivel, tilt, and height adjustments for an ideal viewing position.

Splendid™ Video Intelligence Technology

The exclusive Splendid Video Intelligence Technology optimizes video performance and image fidelity by enhancing color, brightness, contrast, and sharpness. 5 preset video modes (Scenery, Theater, Game, Night View, and Standard) can be selected via a hotkey.

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Ask the VODA Expert

Q: What is the best way to protect my PC from viruses and malware?

A: There are many ways to protect and/or clean your PC from various threats caused by viruses, spyware, malware, etc.  Many of these threats can be avoided by following of few simple rules and having a good antivirus software.  Below are some of the best tips for worry-free computing.

1.    Antivirus Software
Ensure that you have a current antivirus software with an updated subscription.  There are many packages out there and many do an excellent job at protecting your PC but a lot of them are also resource hungry meaning that they tend to consume a lot of your PC memory when they are running.  We recommend ESET Smart Security from NOD32 to all of our clients.  It provides excellent antivirus, antispyware, firewall and antispam protection in a very small package.

2.    Hardware Firewall/Router
Most people who have a high-speed internet connection also have some form of router which usually also acts as a firewall to assist in protecting your PC / network.  If you do not have one you may be opening the door to many types of malicious attacks on your PC/network. At the minimum, your PC should be protected by having an a third party software firewall package.  If you are unsure of what you have give our service team a call and we would be more than happy to assist you.

3.    Operating System and Application Updates
Microsoft and other software providers provide updates for their software.  Some of these updates are to patch what are called “exploits” in their software – meaning a piece of code that can be compromised by a hacker trying to break into your system.  The best line of defense is to ensure your operating system and other important software packages are updated either automatically or manually at least on a weekly or monthly

4.    Web Browsing / Downloading Files
Smart web browsing and downloading of files can save you from many PC related headaches.  As a rule of thumb stay away from sites with many different links that looks questionable such as “you won a million dollars” or others similar.  Also remember after via email, most viruses are distributed through “File-Sharing” sites.

5.    Using legal software
People who create viruses and malware love to post their work on different sites and name it something to is similar to software package that you would need to pay for.  Many copies of “Windows 7 Pro” can be found on the internet but in reality they are only viruses disguised to look like something you can trust.  Always purchase your software directly from the vendor or from your PC provider.

6.    Cleaning up suspected Malware or Viruses
If you suspect that your PC contains some sort of malware, virus or other item use the following software tools to assist in cleaning it out.  It is a good idea to run these tools at least once a month to keep your PC running smoothly.

a)    Malwarebytes Anti-malware
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php
This software package assists in cleaning up many forms of viruses, spyware, etc.  There is a free version available.

b)    ESET Online Scanner
http://www.eset.com/online-scanner If you do not have ESET Smart Security or ESET Antivirus installed try out this free online scanner if you suspect that your system is infected with some sort of malware or virus.

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Latest Virus Threats

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