Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) - The Pros and Cons

Pros
• Reduced cost in purchasing desktop computers because thin clients often last 2-3 times longer than a desktop.

• Central management of all your desktops and control of what is being used and installed on them.

• Rapid client deployment.

• Reductions in desktop support costs.

• Reduction in electricity costs because thin client computers use only a fraction of the energy that a desktop does.

• Follows compliance with HIPAA regulations and Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

• Fewer application compatibility problems.

• Simple OS migrations.

• Greater portability and versatility- VDI allows access from almost any modern personal computing device, such as a smartphone, tablet or laptop.
Cons
• Can be hard to maintain hardware peripherals such as printers, faxes, and modems.

• PDA sync not supported.

• Bi-directional audio and scanning are not natively supported.

• Display protocols aren’t suitable for graphic design.

Android Is Now The Most Attacked Mobile OS

According to McAfee’s latest threat report, Google’s Android operating system is currently the most targeted mobile platform for malware. Last quarter the amount of malware targeted at Android jumped to 76%. An increase in these devices popularity may be to blame. Reports show that 48% of smartphones purchased in this past quarter were Android-based mobile phones. Industry analysts are curious to see when this attack will be targeted towards Apple products. They feel that it isn’t a matter of if they will but rather when they will be.

So how can you protect your Android OS based mobile device? Here are a few pointers….

• Password Protection: incredibly simple to do and it will prevent people from accessing your phone. Passwords are formatted in a numeric form.

• Application Protection: allows protection for individual apps that you choose.

• Exchange for Android: this will encrypt sensitive exchange data that is stored on the Android device.

• Website Passwords: secure your passwords with an app like LastPass or FireFox Mobile with the Password Manager add-in.

iPad 3 Buzz

Several industry analysts have been making different predictions about when the iPad 3 will hit the market, what it will look like, and most importantly what will make it better than the iPad 2. One of the biggest selling points is believed to be its quad-core A6 processor. This will bring more performance to Apple users while preserving the battery life. Other changes being predicted are the type of screen that Apple will decide to go with- Retina Display? High Definition? Or maybe even 3D? All will be revealed when it gets released in….yes the date is yet another prediction needing to be made. Some think it will come as early as October 2011, while others think that Apple will stick to their tradition of a yearly release date which would put the iPad 3 release date in March of 2012. What do you think?

Upcoming JSO Power Breakfasts!

Join JSO Technology for our upcoming Power Breakfast! Come to learn more about this great vendor and the services they can offer you and your company while enjoying coffee, juice, and assorted breakfast snacks.

Up and Running On-Site Printer Services

Date: Tuesday, October 11th from 8:30-10am

Place: Technology Innovation Center- 10437 Innovation Drive, Wauwatosa WI in Room 114

Which is the Best Way to Keep Your HP Workgroup Printers Up & Running?
Printing is a universal task for every organization, and is a universal headache for IT groups. Keeping your printing resources Up and Running can be simple and affordable with an effective support program. Which support program is right for you? Compare different programs ranging from Time and Materials to complete Managed Print Services at this event.

To register for this free event visit our website at www.jsopowerbreakfast.com or contact us at bgiorgi@jsotechnology.com

Turn Your iPod Touch, iPad, or iPhone Into a Remote Magic Trackpad

The built-in multi-touch trackpad on Macintosh laptops is one of Apple’s better implementations, as it simply allows for easier and more convenient navigation in general. Aside from this, Apple’s Magic Trackpad is a popular way to add multi-touch gestures for Mac desktop users and even allow for remote, distanced trackpad control on Mac laptops (Magic Trackpad works wirelessly with Apple notebooks).
 
However, if you already have an iPhone or iPod Touch, you can enable some remote trackpad features by downloading an app called "Remote Mouse (Mobile/Trackpad) Free" by Zeng Rong.  This app will allow you to do many of the same things that Magic Trackpad does, for free. There is also a small application that will need to be installed on your Mac or PC.

Nimble Storage

We have started working with a new iSCSI storage platform from Nimble Storage. This product is unique because of its’ Cache Accelerated Sequential Layout (CASL) architecture. This architecture includes inline compression, optimized data layout, integrated backups, intelligent indexing and highly efficient offsite replication.


The most unique feature of this product is the size of the underlying block for the storage system. Most iSCSI vendors set the underlying file system block at a very large size (larger than10Mbytes in most cases). Nimble has designed their storage system to allow the creation of LUNs with different block sizes which can be customized to match the optimal server block size.

For instance, if you were building an Exchange 2010 server you could create a LUN for the system drive which would be 4K, a second LUN for the Log file drive that would be 16K, and a third LUN for the Exchange database drive that would be 32K. This would allow all system drives to run at optimal size and speed. This design makes Nimble’s unit perform much faster than competitors when dealing with data that is 4K to 32K in size. The variable block sizes also make snapshots and backups much more efficient since you are copying blocks that are 4K to 32K in size verses copying blocks that are 10Mbytes or larger.

The compression that is built into this product is very good. On a recent test, we copied a 1 Tbyte volume to the SAN and we realized savings of about 300 Gbytes. Considering that this volume consisted of compressed images and documents the compression rate was impressive. The unit actually runs faster with compression turned on!

The system is designed to be a fully functioning backup solution as well as a fast iSCSI storage system. It is also very easy to install and configure. It took me about 1 hour from start to finish to hook it up to the network, configure LUNs and connect storage to it.

Office Live 365

Microsoft is preparing to release the replacement to its host Exchange system currently called BPOS. In preparing for this month’s power breakfast, I signed up for the beta version of this product.

Microsoft has really stepped up with this release adding some nice additions. The first feature that current does not exist is the ability to sync Active Directory Usernames and passwords. BPOS could only sync usernames and passwords did not sync.

They are also including Lync, which is the web meeting and chat software.

The other nice feature is they are included an Office Professional license as a subscription service. Microsoft gives you the ability to run this license on up to 5 different devices.

The usability of this solution on different operating systems and devices is truly in creditable. Not only will this run on windows, but you can edit documents using SharePoint on Linux operating systems, Droid phones, Apple IPADS. It truly gives the ability to be operating system and browser independent.

Finally, they have an Enterprise version that gives you the ability to contact support 24x7. That is something that did not exist in the current product line.

I truly believe this is going to be a product that numerous businesses are going to migrate to. You should really start reviewing it today.