Cloud computing and virtualization are similar but not interchangeable. Both have their own benefits, so it’s worth learning how each technology works. With this knowledge, you can make the most out of your technology investment.

Virtualization

Imagine a company with five servers, each assigned a single task such as storage, email, etc. If one day there were a spike in email traffic, the email server might become overwhelmed, causing it to slow down. Adding another server would remedy the issue, but it would be expensive and inefficient on days with less traffic.

With virtualization software, you can combine the resources of all five of the servers in our example. So if the email server got bogged down, it could borrow resources from any of the other servers with extra capacity. The process is not as simple as it sounds, and businesses often turn to an experienced IT service provider to set up a virtualized environment.

Because virtualization software can be installed on a server in your office, it is totally independent of cloud technology. Sometimes, people misunderstand the difference because the vast majority of cloud solutions use virtualization to improve their services.

Cloud Computing

With cloud computing, users can edit documents, save files, and interact with apps that aren't actually on their computer. Instead, they access these items by connecting to a server via a network or internet connection. If your organization can get the information you need when you need it, you already gain a competitive edge.

To carry out its purpose, a cloud platform sometimes uses several virtualized servers to provide users with a simple system that appears to be all their own, even though it's actually shared with several other users and servers. There's no need to purchase additional servers, and you can also save valuable office space by not having to deploy bulky equipment in-house.

Obviously, scalability is critical in today’s ever-changing business conditions. What cloud computing does is make it easier to manage business tasks to maximize productivity. What's more, it helps streamline operations as more cloud services are integrated. Businesses don't have to worry about infrastructure maintenance because it is covered by the cloud service provider.

Virtualization and cloud computing are both economical technologies that small businesses should take advantage of. If you want to see what they can do for you, give our team of experts a call today!

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Google's major conference has come and gone. Its keynote speech gives consumers a sneak peek at Google Assistant and the next version of Android. This will help developers get their integrations, services and apps ready before the search engine giant releases its new stuff. What is Google planning for 2018 and beyond? Read on to find out.

What happened at Google I/O 2018?

While the primary focus of the Google I/O conference was on the developers, every tech enthusiast in the audience had the opportunity to see what the future holds for their favorite Google products and the upcoming Android P. This year's developer conference focused on software and new mobile technologies that will be released later in the year.

Machine learning and artificial intelligence

The keynote was kicked off by CEO Sundar Pichai, who talked about Google's mission and how it is linked to AI. He stated that AI will help industries like healthcare predict certain events.

Pichai also stated that machine learning will play a major role in enhancing closed captioning's ability to figure out who is talking when there are multiple people speaking on-screen.

However, tech enthusiasts were extremely excited when the Google CEO announced the following features and upgrades:

• Google Assistant will soon get 6 new voices, including one from singer and songwriter John Legend. Users will only need to say "Hey Google" to start a conversation with the product, instead of each time it is addressed. Google Assistant can now process more than one request at a time, and it can make phone calls to book reservations and appointments for the user with a feature called 'Duplex.’
• Google Maps can now suggest restaurants and other noteworthy locations for the user, differentiate between car and motorbike routes, and add businesses to the map by combining satellite images and AI. Augmented reality will be integrated into Street View so that users can easily track the direction they are facing or heading toward.
• Google News will display its top five stories as soon as the app opens. Advanced AI will push stories that it thinks are relevant to the user.
• Google Photos will have the Suggested Actions feature which offers to add color to images that are black and white, convert documents to PDF, tweak the brightness on underexposed photos, and instantly share images with the people who are in the picture.
• Gmail will get the Smart Compose feature that will utilize machine learning to suggest phrases when writing an email.

Public beta of Android P

The test version of Android P is currently available on Oppo, Sony, Mi, OnePlus, Essential Phone and Google Pixel handsets. The search engine giant announced that they will release the first retail version around summer this year.

Beta testers enjoyed the refreshing look of Android P, where most interactions such as switching between apps were done by gestures. A new Dashboard feature shows how long the user has been on the device, including the number of notifications received, how many times the phone was unlocked, and the time spent in a particular app. Users will also be able to set a time limit if they want to stop themselves from habitually staring at their phones.

Availability of Google Lens

In last year's event, Google announced AI-powered technology called Google Lens which uses a mix of machine learning and the smartphone's camera to detect a specific object, know what the object is, and provide results based on what it knows about the object.

At the time, this feature was available only in Google Pixel phones, but the search engine giant announced that more smartphones will soon have this feature built in.

Google continues to innovate and improve on its products, and we are here to help you make sense of all the tech so you can adapt it to your lifestyle. Get in touch with us today so we can discuss this tech and how you can benefit from it.

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Due to Android’s widespread popularity, it gets plenty of unwanted attention from cybercriminals. Recently, Android has suffered a string of security incidents that would make any user consider switching to a different operating system. Despite what the reports say, Android can be incredibly secure if you use the following features.

Find my device
If you lose your Android phone, anyone who picks it up -- could be a harmless passerby, could be a hacker -- can see what’s inside. Fortunately, Android has a “Find my device” feature that allows you to track, lock, and wipe data from your lost or stolen device.

Unless you’ve accidentally disabled Find my device, it should be running on your Android by default. To use it in the event that you’ve misplaced your Android device, make sure it’s registered. Then go to www.google.com/android/find, where you will be prompted to log into your Google account. From there, you can locate your phone and, if you think it has fallen into the wrong hands, wipe it remotely.

App permissions
One feature that’s often overlooked, but which you should pay close attention to, is the app permission settings located in the App & Notifications menu. In this window, you’ll be able to see which apps have permission to access different phone functions.

Pay extra attention to apps that have access to your microphone, camera, and biometric sensors, as these can be used to monitor your daily activities and private information. And given the recent Facebook privacy fiasco, it’s a good idea to closely watch what permissions your social media apps have.

Safe browsing
With “Safe Browsing” mode, Google Chrome users are given warnings before they enter a suspicious site. There are robust threat monitoring features that scan ahead to prevent you from falling for online scams, and much like “Find my device” this feature is enabled by default -- just make sure you’ve updated your Android and Chrome to the most recent versions.

Lock screen preferences
In the “Security” menu of your device, there are various settings for managing your lock screen. App notifications, for instance, still make their way onto your lock screen, which means people can still see important messages, even if your phone is locked. To fix this, you can simply limit how much is shown on your lock screen.

Another important setting is Smart Lock, a feature that allows you to automatically lock a device based on its location. For example, if you’re carrying your phone, it can let you automatically keep your phone unlocked; but as soon as it leaves your hand, it locks itself immediately.

Multi-factor authentication
Last but not least, you must enable multi-factor authentication. Aside from accessing your device and apps with just a passcode, multi-factor authentication forces users to provide another set of identification like an SMS code, fingerprint, or facial recognition scan. Although this adds another step to your sign-in process, it does make it much more difficult for anyone to hijack your accounts. This feature can be found in the “Sign-in & security” options of your system’s settings.

Once you’ve enabled these settings, you’re well on your way to keeping the wide variety of cyberattacks at bay. But before you go off on your own, you should consider strengthening your Android device’s security even further with the help of a highly experienced managed IT services provider. Call us today to see what we can do for you!

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Keep in mind that virtualization is one of the most effective ways to significantly reduce IT expenses, while simultaneously increasing efficiency and flexibility. But are issues hindering you from enjoying virtualization on your PC? Here are detailed answers for you to fix these problems.

#1 Enable Virtualization in Your BIOS

In most cases, virtualization won’t work because it’s disabled in your computer’s Basic Input/Output System (BIOS). Though most modern computers support the feature, it’s often disabled by default. Thus, you should take a look to make sure it is enabled on your computer.

#2 If You Don’t See It - Update Your BIOS

If you don’t see an option for virtualization in your BIOS, there’s a chance the manufacturer has provided an update that includes it. This may not be the case for all machines, but it doesn’t hurt to check.

To find a BIOS update, you can use the manufacturer app included with your PC or manually search the internet for it.

#3 Disable Hyper-V

Professional editions of Windows include a Microsoft program called Hyper-V. This is Microsoft’s own virtualization software, like Oracle’s VirtualBox or Dell’s VMware. Unfortunately, Hyper-V can hijack your computer’s virtualization privileges, blocking you from using other virtualization apps.

You don’t need Hyper-V unless you really want to use it, so removing it from your computer will let your virtualization app of choice work properly.

#4 Confirm Your PC Supports Virtualization

If you’ve tried all the above steps and virtualization still won’t work, chances are your machine doesn’t support it. It’s worth confirming this before you give up, though.

If you have an Intel CPU, download the Intel Processor Identification Utility. It’s a handy tool that helps you know features, package, intended frequencies and actual operating frequencies of your Intel processor. Those with AMD processors should download the equivalent AMD tool instead.

#5 I’ve Enabled Virtualization, but…

Maybe you’ve gotten virtualization to work after following the advice above, but still have issues with performance or getting a virtual machine (VM) started. Here are some other things to try:

1. Make sure you download the right version of the operating system you want to run in a VM to avoid compatibility issues.
2. Make sure you have enough free disk space, or your host computer could run low on space. This can cause performance problems.
3. Ensure you have enough RAM to dedicate to the VM.

Virtualization is important, easy-to-implement technology that companies of any size can take advantage of. And if you feel overwhelmed with anything related to this topic, just call us today for a quick chat with one of our certified virtualization technicians who might help you out.

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