Click Here for more information on Windows 7.
 

Bing . . . What is that?

So much more than a search engine . . .

Bing is a new search experience and consumer brand, outlining a new approach to helping customers use search to make better decisions. This “Decision Engine” approach focuses initially on four key user tasks and related areas: making a purchase, planning a trip, researching a health condition or finding a local business.

http://www.bing.com/

DiscoverBing.com/mobile page
 

Technology Tips

New Wi-Fi Standard,
802.11n

The latest version of the Wi-Fi standard 802.11n is close to final ratification.

802.11n is much faster and of higher bandwidth than its predecessor, 802.11g. Last Friday, the 802.11 working group — a subset of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) — held its final approval vote on the standard, according to Trapeze Networks' Matthew Gast, a member of the working group.

Visit the ZDNet website for more info

Welcome to our July edition of the Progressive E-News. We hope everyone is having a wonderful summer so far and hopefully enjoying more time with family, friends, and kids with the warm weather and school out. As promised in our last newsletter, we are covering virtualization and the new wireless standard with this edition of our newsletter.

Virtualization is definitely a huge “buzz word” in our industry right now, so we hope that the information we have included will help you understand both the concept of virtualization and also whether or not your business can directly benefit from considering virtualization. One of the biggest advantages of virtualizing your environment is that it makes disaster recovery much easier in the event of a major problem with your network. Over the last couple of years, a lot of progress has been made with virtualization products and virtualization is quickly becoming a standard in today’s server and desktop environments. In the event that you are interested in learning more about virtualization, please feel free to give us a call and we will be happy to help you assess whether or not virtualization is right for your environment.

In addition, we have also included some information about Windows 7 because the October 22, 2009 release date is fast approaching. Based on the initial review of Windows 7, this product looks sound and it will most likely be widely accepted by the industry as the replacement for Windows XP. In the next 2-3 months, we will be happy to work with you to develop your strategy for Windows 7 including checking to see if your desktops are upgradeable and if your applications are compatible. As a general rule of thumb, most desktops purchased in the last couple of years should be upgradeable, but there may be issues with upgrading your desktops if they are older than two years old.

In closing, we appreciate the opportunity to work with you and we’re here to help you! As always, we welcome your feedback and suggestions for this newsletter, so please feel free to email llambert@pc-net.com. 

Thank you,
Mark Michal and Lisa Mitchell
 

by Jane Cage, COO, HTS

We live in a world that constantly forces us to “do more with less”. Employees are expected to be more efficient. Multi-function devices are becoming the standard on many desktops. We multi-task by answering email, talking on the phone and reviewing a spreadsheet – all at the same time.

We shouldn’t be surprised then that IT departments are asking the same of their fileservers. When server utilization gets measured, we find that many servers have much more capacity than they actually use for the majority of the time. With so much excess capacity – why not run more than one server on a single machine? That’s what virtualization is all about -- one physical machine running more than one server operating system.

Virtualization is a “hot” technology right now and here are some of the reasons why:

• Cost Savings – virtualization may allow you to consolidate multiple servers down to one. Not every server is a candidate to be virtualized but many can make the move successfully.

• Ease of Deployment – An IT person can build a “standard” server in a virtual environment. Any time a new server is needed, a copy of the standard server can be deployed in minutes rather than hours.

• Test Bench – If you are not sure if your existing software will run in a new operating system, why not use a virtual server for testing?

• Disaster Recovery – When the unthinkable happens, recovery of a virtual machine may speed your time back to operations.

VMWare has been the leader in virtualization technology. Last year, Microsoft introduced Server 2008, which offers a wealth of virtualization features that will raise the bar. You’re sure to hear more about this exploding technology in the months to come. For more information about virtualization, visit www.vmware.com
 

Are your current printing solutions just not cutting it anymore? As your business grows, so does the list of requirements for your printing solutions. The new HP Trade-in & Save Program makes it easy and affordable to get your hands on the latest in printing technology and reliability from HP. Better yet, the HP Trade-in & Save program lets you receive up to $1,000 cash back when purchase a new HP printer and you trade in your old printer. It's as easy as following a few steps:

• Purchase a new eligible HP printer from the list below between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009
• Submit your claim for trade-in
• Pack up your old desktop laser or inkjet printer and ship to HP for recycling for free (a $30 to $50 value). Any brand of laser or ink printer is acceptable for trade-in.
• Receive up to $1,000 cash back. And while supplies last we'll include a FREE HP Total Care Access Card (a $49.99 value). Terms and conditions apply*.

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