Keyboards come with different options, from joint-friendly ergonomic models to those built for typing efficiency. Considering the myriad of products out on the market, you might have difficulty choosing the best keyboard for you. While personal preferences will always be a factor in what you decide, the ideal keyboard must have the following qualities.

Connectivity

If your computer mouse can go wireless, why can’t your keyboard too? But it will depend on what exactly you use the keyboard for. Keyboards are normally plug-and-play devices that don’t require additional software installation (excluding certain gaming models).; Wired models draw power from a USB connection, eliminating the use of batteries. Gamers tend to prefer wired over wireless because they won’t have to deal with lag and interference issues.

If you want to declutter, then wireless is the way to go. With this type of  keyboard, data is transmitted to your PC either through a radio frequency connection to a USB receiver or via Bluetooth. Wireless models have their pros and cons, but they  reduce the number of cables on your desk and give you more flexibility. You can lie on the couch and type from across the room. Also, most models connect to the PC via a 2.4-GHz wireless dongle that can also be used for cordless phones and Wi-Fi, providing connectivity to multiple devices at once.

The right type of key switches

This aspect of keyboard design is widely mentioned in reviews, yet many people overlook the importance of the type of switches used for individual keys. Although the intricate mechanisms that hide beneath the keys may not excite you, the difference you feel from each type will. 

The three main types of key switches include silicone dome, scissor, and mechanical switches. Keyboards that come with a new desktop PC generally use silicone-dome switches, whereby two dimpled layers of silicone membrane form a grid of rubber bubbles that acts as the switch for each key. This  requires you to press the key hard to type a letter, gradually diminishing its springiness and responsiveness over time.

The newer laptops and ultrabooks use scissor switches which have a mechanical stabilizer for uniformity. Moreover, under each keycap is a plunger that allows for shorter key travel. This causes scissor switch keyboards to have a shallow typing feel, making them more durable than silicone dome switches.

What keyboard enthusiasts can’t get enough of are mechanical switch keyboards. Their advantages lies in the spring-loaded sliding keypost beneath each key. Several variations are available with slightly different sensations or sounds. Mechanical switches generally provide enhanced tactile feedback and have a  clicking sound. Thanks to their sturdy switch mechanisms and durable springs, these keyboards last longer and can easily be repaired.. Furthermore, each keystroke registers quickly, making them ideal for touch typists.

Ergonomics

To keep carpal tunnel syndrome and repetitive stress injury at bay, keyboards are designed to keep your hands  in a neutral position while typing. Not only do ergonomic keyboards provide greater comfort, but they also reduce joint and tendon stress. This prevents inflammation and  pricey surgical procedures. Ergonomic features range from simple padded wrist-rests to elaborate curved and sloped keyboards.

It won’t take long to examine your current keyboard and see how well it works.  Do not settle for anything but the best. If you need help finding the right keyboard,  email or drop us a line. We’re more than happy to hear from you.

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Virtualization addresses many challenges that businesses face when upgrading their hardware and network. That’s because deploying virtualized systems offers an affordable and flexible solution to a typically arduous problem. But before you invest in a virtualized infrastructure, consider the following costs and benefits.

The advantages

One of the most significant advantages of virtualization is that it eliminates the need to buy more hardware to supplement your company’s requirements. Because it consolidates your physical servers, there’s no need to maintain and update unnecessary hardware. This means less time and money spent on maintaining and running your servers and managing desk side support.

Moreover, virtual machines have made backing up your entire data center a lot less demanding. That’s because virtual machines take up-to-date snapshots of your servers and redeploy them seamlessly to another device. Unlike physical servers that require you to create backups of your server and current data, virtual backups cut the waiting time for server reboots.

Virtualization also eliminates the risk of accidentally losing files. Should disaster strike your physical servers, you can easily migrate your virtual machines to another device and keep working as if the incident never happened.

Additionally, opting for virtualization allows your company to have a higher degree of technological versatility because virtual machines have the added flexibility to run on different platforms, servers, and hardware. This means you won’t be tied down to a single IT provider. What’s more, your company has the freedom to upgrade hardware without long server downtimes.

Finally, utilizing virtualization solutions puts your business in a good position to easily migrate to a prolific cloud environment.

Factors to consider

With no apparent disadvantages to virtualization, you’re probably getting ready to set up some virtual machines. But before you start virtualizing your business, consider the following factors first:

• Initial costs to set up your network’s hardware and software still exist, so thoroughly check the services and devices that your company needs before moving forward.
• Note that virtualization is an effective solution when you start with 5–7 servers running at your workplace. Usually, 10–15 is the optimal number of servers when you’ll start seeing a return on your investment. If you have fewer servers than the ones suggested above, then it’s probably best to opt for a different IT solution.
• It’s important to consider your staff’s skills and experience with technology before switching to virtualized systems. Do they need training? How can you help them transition quickly to the proposed infrastructure?
• Will your business have enough storage capacity? As a general rule, you should set aside 30–40 GB per user.
• Think about setting up failovers to ensure the security of your virtual system.
• Some applications are not compatible with virtualization such as mobile, media-rich, and certain security apps. So if your employees tend to use these types of software, it would probably be best to deploy a smaller-scale virtualization solution.
• Pay attention to the conditions of your software license. Installing some applications on several computers could lead to increased costs.

Overall, the increased flexibility and reduced cost that a virtualized system offers are well worth the effort. While there are initial challenges to implementing virtual machines, many small businesses believe that the benefits outweigh the costs. To find out if virtualization solutions are for you, contact us today.

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Servers need to be replaced and/or upgraded at some point. The older the servers are, the harder they become to maintain because finding replacement parts become more time-consuming and costly. What's more, you could be missing out on new features that could benefit your business if you don't upgrade your servers. To help you decide if it's time to replace your server, here are some guide questions.

When do my servers need to be replaced?

This is a difficult question, but there are two factors you will want to consider — age and performance. The useful life of a server is around three years. While it’s not unheard of for servers to function properly beyond year three, relying on them beyond this point can be risky as hardware problems occur more often. This means you will have to deal with costly repairs and possible unpredictable downtime.

Performance is another factor to consider. Even if your servers are only a year old, it doesn’t make sense to keep them around until year three if they are slow and too costly to maintain. It’s important to do a cost-benefit analysis in these situations and look at how much money you will lose in repairs and downtime and then compare it to the cost of buying new hardware.

Do I have an alternative to buying new servers?

Believe it or not, the answer to your server problems might not necessarily be purchasing more physical hardware. One way to avoid this is by embracing virtualization. This process allows your servers to be stored and maintained off-site with everything being delivered to your office via the internet. 

There are two notable benefits of virtualizing your servers. First, you don’t have to spend a ton of money on new equipment. Second, virtualization is a scalable technology, meaning you only pay for the data capacity you use. For instance, if you only need two and a half servers, you can do that. This is in contrast to having physical equipment which would require your business to either make do with two servers or splurge and buy the third one even if you didn’t need all of that space.

Of course there are a few things you need to consider before making the switch to server virtualization. One of the biggest issues is security. Ask yourself if you feel comfortable keeping all of your data off-site. While this isn’t a concern for some companies, others may not see this as palatable. There are several workarounds to this issue, including the hybrid option where you keep sensitive data on-site and everything else off-site.

Can I do anything to prevent a full-scale server replacement?

Yes. It’s certainly possible for you to buy some time and give your current servers additional life, but these are short-term fixes, not long-term solutions. Server upgrades are a good place to start if your servers are less than three years old but are degrading in performance. Installing additional CPUs or memory may increase server performance at a fraction of the cost of buying new servers.

You can also utilize old servers for non-critical workloads. It’s possible to extend the life of servers that may have four or five years of wear-and-tear on them via repurposing. Instead of swapping out all of your servers, use the old ones for non-critical processes and purchase new ones to handle critical workloads. This will help you get a better ROI on your technology while avoiding a wholesale hardware purchase which could cripple your budget.

If you have any questions about your servers and how you can increase their performance, get in touch with us today. We can help you procure new hardware or show you the benefits of virtualization.

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For a successful virtualization project, it’s important to understand software licensing and support policies for virtualized and cloud environments. Today, many enterprises invest in software to track licensing compliance and vendor support policies because policies could differ substantially among vendors. For most, licensing concerns focused on deploying server applications to server virtualization infrastructures. Here are some things you need to know before you make a decision.

Why are licenses an issue?

Virtualization is a complex topic, but here’s a quick overview of how it works and why licensing is almost always an issue. Most people are starting to work the concept of cloud storage into their everyday lives. Think of virtualization as a cloud where your server(s) store their hardware capabilities and your network computers can pull from that cloud as needed.

In this scenario, let’s assume employee A and employee B have two identical desktop computers with barebones hardware. Employee A needs to perform some basic text editing while employee B needs an in-depth scan of your client database. With the right infrastructure management, both employees will connect to your business’s server for the necessary physical processing power and server-hosted software. That means employee A will request the appropriate amount of processing power to edit text (which is likely very little) from the server, while employee B requests a much larger chunk of RAM, processing, and hard drive space for scanning the database.

It gets really tricky when we start asking how many licenses are required for the server-hosted software. Licensing models were originally based on the number of physical hard drives with installed copies. However, in a virtualized environment, that’s not an accurate reflection of usage. Using the most recent platforms, administrators can divide their CPU into as many virtual machines as the SMB requires.

What do current virtualized licensing models look like?

Sadly, virtualization and software industries are still deciding on the best way to move forward. The very vendors that sell the software required to manage the creation of virtual machines and segmentation of your server disagree about which model to use.

The company behind the popular VMware software has switched to a per-virtual-machine model after a huge response from customers, while other powerhouse vendors like Oracle and Microsoft have stuck with the per-CPU-core model that is based on server hardware capacity.

In any software selection process there is almost always the option of open source software. Under the open source model there are no licenses and usage is free, and just last month, AT&T committed to virtualizing 75 percent of its office under the OpenStack cloud computing platform by 2020.

What should I do?

In the end, software license considerations and total cost of ownership calculations should be a huge factor in how you plan to virtualize your SMB. When discussing the possibility of an infrastructure migration with your IT services provider, make sure to ask about the advantages and disadvantages of different virtualization platforms compared with their licensing models. You may find that paying more for hardware-based models is worth it, or that open source platforms provide you with everything you need.

No matter which platform you choose, remember to list every piece of licensed software in your office. Find out which licenses you can keep, which ones you’ll need to update, and most importantly, what the license migration will cost you in the short and long run.

The process of virtualizing your SMB alone is a real pain. Get in touch with us now to avoid the headache entirely and we’ll walk you through all of the steps necessary to guide your organization through this next step in modernizing your business model.

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