Checkout Proactive-IT.us March 26, 2012
Posted by Dan in : General , add a commentI’ve moved my tech blogging to a new URL: www.proactive-it.us
Thank you for your comments and suggestions!
- Dan
Free, open source PDF creator, and more… September 7, 2011
Posted by Dan in : General , add a commentScribus touts itself as open source desktop publishing software for Windows, OS/X (Mac), Linux and more!
LAShares for donating old tech gear July 19, 2011
Posted by Dan in : General , add a commentRecently I helped a client post photos and descriptions of PCs they no longer needed to the website for LA Shares, a non-profit materials reuse program, 
which takes donations from the local business community of reusable goods and materials and redistributes these items FREE OF CHARGE to non-profit agencies and schools throughout Los Angeles. I found the process straightforward and effective. They were able to connect with worthy recipients and transfer the items to them quickly and efficiently!
Data backups alone are not enough! July 14, 2011
Posted by Dan in : General , add a commentHere’s a letter from a reputable internet hosting provider for one of my clients They found out the hard (and expensive) way that backing-up files and data is critical, but its not enough. They did not have a way to quickly restore the server operating system itself, leaving the server down for days!
If you’d like to add this critical backup capacity for your server and PCs, please let me know.
Thank you.
Dear web hosting service client,
I’m writing to you regarding the issues with your web server, web133. First let me say that I’m very sorry about the long outage. The news regarding the hardware failure is not great, but we have a couple options you can consider. I want to talk about those first, then I’ll discuss what happened to cause this problem in the first place.
Currently we are doing what is called a “bare metal” restore of the server from our nightly backups. Unfortunately, the R1Soft backup software we use is proving to be extremely slow. We have never had to restore a complete server from the backup volumes, so we were unprepared for how slowly it is proceeding. We are working with R1Soft technicians to see if they can determine why the restoration is slow, but at the moment they don’t have any information for us, so they have escalated the case to their senior staff.
The restoration is working – it’s just working very slowly. So the first option that you have is to let the restoration run its course and your site will be back up and current with our backups made on July 9th. The drawback is I can’t tell you when that restoration will be complete. We may be able to make an estimate if we can get some kind of speed increase out of the backup restoration system, but I can’t in good faith tell you when that might be.
If you cannot afford to wait an indeterminate amount of time for your site to be restored, we can set up a new site for you on another IIS6 server. We cannot, however, restore your site files to the new site, so this is only an option if you have current backups and are comfortable reconfiguring most of the account customization that can be done in Control Panel (IIS settings, application pools type, default documents, directory browsing, additional users, raw log access, FrontPage enabling, etc.). Also, if you manage your own DNS, that will need to be updated with the new server IP, assuming you do not use a unique IP. Moving to a new site will also start your SmarterStats site statistics from scratch. We will take care of moving unique IP addresses and SSL certificates for those who have them, and if we manage your DNS, we will of course update that as well.
I understand that neither of these options are a perfect solution, but this is what we can offer you right now.
What happened?
Web133 was one of our older servers, a discreet hardware server as opposed to a newer virtual server. The older servers are top of the line hardware, but being hardware-based systems, they are susceptible to mechanical failure. Honestly, hard drive failures are not uncommon, but the systems all run RAID 10 arrays, so most of the time a hard drive failure is not something you would even notice. There’s no disruption, not data loss.
If you understand how RAID 10 works you probably already suspect what happened. If you’re not sure exactly how RAID 10 works, put simply, in a RAID 10 array there are two sets of drives, one set writes data across multiple drives by splitting it into chunks and another set of drives mirror a copy of that data for redundancy. Spreading data across a number of physical drives like that is called “striping.” It’s done to increase the speed of file reading and writing.
The strength of striping is also its weakness, however. because the file system is spread across multiple disks, if you have a failure of more than one drive in the striping set the data rapidly becomes corrupt and irretrievable. Unfortunately, web133 experienced two drive failures within an hour of each other on one set of the striped volumes, which started an irreversible chain of data loss and eventually took the server down.
As I mentioned, drive failures are not an unusual occurrence, and we replace failed drives in the arrays very quickly. But the failure of two drives in the same “stripe” is very unusual, and while we had an administrator on route to the data center on Sunday to do maintenance and replace the first failed drive, the second failed before he arrived, and the data was lost.
Now what?
Again, I apologize for the length of this outage, but we are running into a bottleneck caused by the R1Soft system. We want to give everyone on web133 an account credit to try to offset this extended downtime. When we have an idea of how long this is going to actually take we’ll decide on a credit and apply it to your account.
Director of Communications
Looking to add staff and grow my business March 15, 2011
Posted by Dan in : General , add a commentWanted: PC and Network Support Technician/Consultant
Days/Hours: Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm, 10-20 hours weekly to start; full-time potential
Pay: Commensurate With Experience & Abilities
Overview: Small IT consulting firm seeks one qualified technician/consultant for on-going support of business networks and PCs in clients’ offices. We do not pursue business from most home users, though we sometimes make an exception if it is related to support of systems in a business office. Most clients are in LA and the Westside (Downtown - Culver City – Santa Monica. Candidates must live within 20 miles.
Required Experience – Must meet all these criteria to be considered:
- Install OSs, move client files to new or rebuilt PCs, troubleshoot hardware
- Image disks, configure backups, restore files or images; cleanup Malware
- Tweak XP/Vista/7 (especially Pro & Business) advanced troubleshooting of desktops
- Configure/troubleshoot POP/IMAP email client software
- Setup/manage routers – understand IPv4, DSL/cable modem connectivity; Wi-Fi
- D O C U M E N T A T I O N !! – Maintain centralized notes on resolutions & changes
- Help end-users understand basic software functionality
- Ability to balance self-sufficiency with teamwork.
Experience Strongly Desired:
- Windows Server 2003 & 2008 Std./SBS, Active Directory, WHS, Linux, scripting
- SonicWall, Cisco/Linksys, Netgear or other firewall
- Configure and troubleshoot smartphones, mobile mail, (Android, BB, iPhone)
- Use of systems for remote monitoring and software for trouble tickets
- Listen, observe and assess new opportunities with existing clients for adding services.
A typical day and responsibilities include dealing with hardware, software, communications and user questions and requests maintained in an online support ticket system. The status of most client systems can be viewed via a monitoring system. Many issues will be addressed remotely. Issues requiring work on-site are usually scheduled in advance, though sometimes same-day response is required. Tech is expected to keep clients informed (system documentation, time reporting, etc.), and get their approval for the scope and schedule of some tasks because it is critical to maintaining an on-going relationship.
Note: Please submit a cover letter telling us more about you as a complete person, what’s important to you in and out of work. Also, please tell us about a challenge you faced with a support issue, or with a project, what you did to come to a solution and what you’re really proud of.
Google & Verizon to end net neutrality for wireless August 16, 2010
Posted by Dan in : General , add a commentThere’s been a lot of ink spilt in the ten days since the announcement by these two business behemoths of their plans to begin dismantling net neutrality in favor of commercial censorship, starting with web access to cell phones and related wireless devices. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has a review that covers the main points. Check out wikipedia for background on Net Neutrality. .
Not-for-profits save 50% on phones and internet in California! June 14, 2010
Posted by Dan in : General , add a commentEducational, library, healthcare and community-based organizations can qualify for significant reductions in phone and internet costs. Check-out the link on the right, or contact your telecom provider to begin the application process.
See the link “CA Telecom Fund” in Blog Roll, to the right.
Saying goodbye to Exchange on-site May 13, 2010
Posted by Dan in : General , add a commentMicrosoft Small Business Server 2003 was a great product for small organizations because of its relatively inexpensive requirements and the inclusion on both Exchange email server, and Outlook PC software for users.
But times have changed dramatically. SBS2008 requires a much more expensive server and costs a lot more too.
Clients that had not yet opted for SBS2003 have found alternatives they really like: Hosted Exchange, Google Apps, hMailServer and others. And cost was not the only motivator. Virus and spam control, continuity of service, archiving, etc., are not trivial challenges with Exchange. The best alternatives make it much easier for clients to access email, contacts and calendars on handhelds and a variety of other computing devices that don’t or can’t run Outlook.
A client thanked me for Hosted Exchange for Outlook February 24, 2010
Posted by Dan in : General , add a commentOne of my long-time clients called today to thank me for helping setup Outlook at her firm with with Hosted Exchange accounts at Sherweb. She called to report that since starting with them about two years ago, they’ve always answered the phone, even on weekends, and helped her resolve any issue quickly in a friendly way. So I’m even more confident in recommending Sherweb to help your team work productively with Outlook, Blackberry and more.
Off-site backups to disks YOU control! February 20, 2010
Posted by Dan in : General , add a commentThe biggest problem with web-based backup offerings is that your files are saved on their disks. While the encryption offered seems reasonable for keeping your files from being read, waiting days to recover them is another matter entirely!
A better solution is to use the web to help PCs you control (e.g. office and home) communicate with each other. One novel and free 
solution is from Cucku which uses Skype to link your PCs so you can copy directly from one to the other. If you backup to a portable disk attached to your home PC, you can bring that disk to the office if you ever need to restore files en masse. Let me know if you’re interested in setting this up with your server(s). A similar offering is Gbridge, which uses GMail accounts for authentication.