System Architects Inc.

At System Architects, most clients are migrating their company’s Exchange to Office 365. It is much easier to manage, eliminates the capital cost associated with running the Server edition and the management overhead associated with it. Below are the steps needed to perform a cutover migration and remember you can always look to a managed it services provider to help with your migration just make sure they are a Microsoft Certified Partner.

To perform a cutover migration, it is very important to use one account that has full control access to all mailboxes you need to migrate.

You need to verify your email domain on the Office 365 portal and configure it as an accepted domain. During this process you have to add a TXT record to your registrar's DNS. Wait 15 to 30 minutes for changes to take effect on the internet then go back to the Office 365 portal and verify you email domain.

Create a migration endpoint when performing a cutover migration. When you create a migration batch, the information in the migration endpoint is used to connect to the on-premises Exchange server. The migration endpoint also defines the number of mailboxes to migrate simultaneously.

Start the cutover migration batch in the EAC. To do so navigate to recipients, open the migration dashboard and start the batch. Make sure the migration batch status is syncing on the migration dashboard.

Delete the batch when its status is completed, convert on-premises mailboxes to mail-enabled users, activate and install the Microsoft Online Services DirSync, apply licenses to Office 365 users and finally connect outlook to Office 365 to all users.

You need to verify that all e-mails are being routed directly to the cloud mailboxes. In that case you can uninstall Exchange from servers in your on-premises Exchange organization.

You should perform a cutover email migration to Office 365 if your company’s current on premise Exchange Server is Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013 or if your company’s on premise Exchange Server has fewer than 2000 mailboxes.

Written by:

Rabih Nassif

Outsourcing is an all too familiar word, this was not the case 20 years ago when this way of conducting business was new. Businesses realised they were able to cut cost by outsourcing the non-vital services to other countries where the income wage is cheaper. This is known as Offshore Outsourcing. A company could employ a lot more people for a lot less. A good software programmer could cost a fraction of the price when outsourced. There are also additional benefits with structured timelines, better documentation and long term maintenance. With such incentives for getting the same quality of work for a lot less, going with Offshore Outsourcing seemed the smarter business move. Hence the controversial side of Outsourced IT. The local employees are the ones who suffer as they are no longer needed. That’s the viewpoint of IT Outsourcing the jobs are literally moving overseas. Outsourced IT is much more than moving your support overseas, companies still require onsite support and hybrid solutions that provide local outsourcing as well as offshore outsourcing can be leveraged to reduce your company’s IT budget.

It should be noted in its infancy IT Outsourcing was done by large companies but now the trend is more too small to medium size businesses, instead the large companies would outsource smaller IT jobs to particular markets. There are specific niche markets to choose from, it’s no longer one big generalization. As IT Outsourcing can be broken down into specific services and customized to a client’s needs. The growing trend has come to favour the Managed IT companies whose job is to lessen the load with a client’s day to day IT needs. One could argue against it for the usual reasons, such as job loss, it alienates the company from the person who is assisting the client, which might be the case but from a finical point of view, it saves them money. You would have to factor in the cost of having an in-house IT support staff compared to an Outsourced one and compare the time an issue arises versus when the services are working fine. From a financial stand point, when everything is working fine, the company will still be paying for their in-house IT support staff where as Outsourced IT staff is only there when you need them and the cost of them being there is quite significantly lower than employing someone full time.

With that said some companies have a hybrid setup to reduce the load on in-house support and incorporate Outsourced IT. The Outsourced IT is there to deal with the rudimentary day-day IT task that in-house would pass over, in a way they form a symbiosis where the lesser tasks would be pushed over to the Outsource IT team and the more complex time consuming projects will be handled by in-house IT staff. It can also work in reverse where more complicated tasks are handled but your Outsourced IT provider and the day to day help desk support can be handled with your internal IT staff. In today’s market, it’s not a question of when you might consider Outsourcing but what services you might want to outsource. In the last couple of years there has been an increase in what companies can do, not only is it cheaper to offshore the work but its advantageous in that the work is being done by those skilled in modern technologies, and not necessary dependant on out dated machinery that can only be supported by a hand full of people.

Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)

IaaS is a service where the equipment is not in the same location as the company and in some instances not even the same country. It’s considered as an all cloud based solution. In this case, the client will pay a vendor to provide them with storage space, server etc. Its consider cost effect to pay a monthly fee than to spend the resources to purchase the actual equipment and then pay for skilled employees to take care and maintain the infrastructure. Hosted servers still need management and it is usually a lot cheaper to outsource this portion as well.

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)

SaaS are application services that are typically in the cloud. This is an on-demand service where the client pays on a pay-per use. The advantage and reason for its popularity is it allows a company to reduce their IT support costs by outsourcing the software and in some cases hardware maintenance to the SaaS provider. An example of SaaS would be customer relationship management such as a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). Building any of these internally takes a very long time and can be very expensive.

Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)

PaaS allows the client to developed custom applications without the need to invest on the infrastructure that might be required to developed and launch the application. An example of PaaS would be Windows Azure and Google Apps.

The adaptation of technology has not only reduced the commutation distances between friends, and family but has changed the how people do business and expanded company’s IT with the advent of outsourcing.  The improvement of internet based technologies and communications has made it easy for clients to contact and gather information about the outsourcing providers. As some concerns with prospective clients when picking a Managed Service Provider is trying to determine if they are up for the challenge and technology allows the client to have access to user reviews and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to get unbiased opinions.

IT Outsourcing in the beginning had some mixed reviews and still might have but like any new idea that is brought to the forefront, it is usually met with apprehension at first. It’s starting to move away from the negative connotations of long ago. Instead in most cases it had slowly grown in popularity as one example that was mention earlier in this article, a company can better use their time and energy to focus on their business critical aspects knowing that their IT backend is being taken care of. When outsourcing your IT environment to a Managed Service Provider they have the added knowledge of being kept up-to-date on the latest trends in technology that can ensure your company is flexible and efficient. MSPs deal with various clients with various needs and issues. Your company can utilize the knowledge and experience that comes with this type of experience which can mean they are readily equipped to diagnose an issue a lot faster and be more proactive going forward to prevent it across the client base. Outsourced IT has its advantages and is proving to be quite competitive and any company that wants to be flexible and increase their ability to grow will from the vast amount of Outsourcing services that can be leveraged to make your business successful.

Written by:

Martin Rumisha

VMware is a leader in server virtualization. The competition has grown over the years but VMware is still the leader.

Here are some of the features and improvements in vSphere 6.

Long Distance vMotion: In vSphere 6 the network is extended and vMotion is completed over 100MS latency links or less requiring 250MB of bandwidth per vMotion. VMs can be vMotioned between vCenter servers and vMotion is completed without shared storage. ESXi 6 hypervisor can handle up to 64 physical hosts per cluster and support up to 480 CPUs, 12TB RAMs and 1000 VMs. Each VM can be run with up to 128 CPUs.

vSphere Web Client: The first version of the vSphere Web Client was very slow. They made some improvements in vSphere 5.5 to the Web client but it was not enough. In vSphere 6 there are more improvements to the Web client. One of these improvements is the client integration tools that allow to access VM console. They are now available for more platforms like Mac OS. Another improvement is the context menus when right click. They are better now.

vCenter Server Improvements: In previous versions you can run Linux vCenter server appliance and manage ESXi hosts but some advanced features are not available. In vSphere 6 the appliance handle all tasks that windows installation can so if you prefer not to manage windows server you can run vCenter.

Virtual Volumes: vSphere 6 has a new storage integration concept called Virtual Volumes. They are designed to offload storage operations to     compatible arrays. Policies can be created and applied to VMs through vCenter. VMware now includes vSphere Data Protection with vSphere Essentials. In previous versions this was known as vSphere Data Protection. vSphere Data Protection (VDP) is a backup and recovery solution based on the EMC Avamar deduplication backup and recovery software. VDP is deployed as a virtual appliance and managed using vSphere Web Client. VDP can back up and restore entire virtual machines. There is no need to install and manage a backup agent for every virtual machine as VDP utilizes vSphere APIs for Data Protection (VADP). VDP can also perform file level restores using a web browser. Backup data storage consumption is minimized using the same variable length segment deduplication algorithm found in Avamar.

To learn more about virtualizing your company’s server environment or are looking for Managed IT Services in Toronto make sure you contact VMware Partners like System Architects.

Written by:

Rabih Nassif

Microsoft Active Directory is a staple of the commercial business world, and is crucial that it be setup properly for security, and expandability reasons. Active Directory is a computer and user management system that helps manage computer access and file level access on a company's network. This software is used to setup a company with standardized computer access and file access from a file server. The proper setup of your company’s AD allows for easy expandability and the company’s overall growth.

Microsoft has designed best practices around the setup and maintenance of your AD. These include having two servers that are running currently supported Windows Server software running Active Directory Domain Services. Also needed is the proper licensing of each server as well as Client Access Licenses for each of the users and devices that will be in your business networks. With these in place, you have the foundations of a properly running Active Directory business network.

The benefits of having two Active Directory servers (called Domain Controllers) is for the redundancy of the company’s AD. If you are to have one server go down, whether it be for maintenance or hardware failure, you can ensure user’s downtime is negligible. If you are to leave your business with one Domain Controller, you leave your business open to production loss when users start experiencing issues with logging into their computers, or authenticating against services inside your network (VPN connections tied to your Active Directory credentials is an example of this).

Key components to a properly running Active Directory environment are having DNS entries correctly configured, both in DNS manager, and the Domain Controller servers own network interfaces. Having any of these two setups done incorrectly, can lead to many issues with regards to Active Directory properly working. Results of improper setup can show up in replication of one Domain Controllers Active Directory environment to the other Domain Controllers Active Directory environment. These issues can often lead to greater problems, and if not caught in time, can lead to costly down time. If you are currently experiencing issues with your Active Directory Environment, contact an IT Consulting firm which can assist in resolving your IT issues.

Another key component of Active Directory is Group Policy. This tool allows administrators the ability to deploy rules to multiple users, anything from setting the home page of Internet Explorer, to user’s documents being redirected from the file server. Having this component allows simpler management of internal policies and mass deployment of rules throughout the network. Having Group Policy working properly in your network environment can help increase user productivity, as well as keep IT staff focused on more important issues. If you require assistance setting up or configuring your Active Directory there are IT Consulting Services that can provide the expertise needed to properly configure your AD.

Microsoft Active Directory is a great user management tool that is the backbone for any company’s productivity and security. Having a poorly installed and configured Active Directory can be detrimental to a business. Having an improperly configured AD may work initially but as your company grows it can hinder growth and be difficult to manage.

Written by:

Joe Archer

Living in the new era of technology where you have now what’s called “the Internet of Things” brings to front what always has been the biggest issue in technology today, and that’s security. In this new age of technology, more and more businesses are having to place their once disconnected networks together, so that they can compete in the technology leading business world. In order to bring these once offline networks online, you must have the proper security in place before doing so.

That’s where Sophos UTM firewall can come in. UTM stands for Unified Threat Management. This means that this unit can handle all types of threats that can attack small to medium business. With features like SPAM blocker, and endpoint protection, you can count on these features to better protect your company and its data, from all sorts of harm.

Sophos offers two ways of having an UTM inside your network, to achieve the protection that you will need when handling data with the internet of things. You can purchase an UTM device that is preconfigured right out of the box, and will fit in place of an ordinary switch or firewall. You can also download an ISO of the UTM software that can then be placed onto any hardware that fits the requirements of the Sophos UTM system. You can attain a trial of this software from Sophos in ISO format, or have your Managed IT services provider help your business setup the appliance as a trial or production use.

The Sophos UTM software installed on any available hardware, can bring down the costs, but keeping the level of protection high, bringing you comfort in knowing that your business is safe. The minimum requirements for installing the Sophos UTM is the following:

Minimum 20GB hard disk drive.

2GB of RAM or more.

Intel Core 2 Duo or better CPU.

2 network ports available.

If you have an available physical or virtual machine for installation, you will need to download the ISO from Sophos, and either burn the ISO to a disc, or copy the ISO onto a USB thumb drive for installation. Once the installation media has been created install the UTM and start the process.

There is a warning. Be sure that the hard disk drive that you are installing the UTM onto does not contain any important data that you would like to keep, as this install will format and delete all data currently on the disc.

The installer will walk you through the UTM’s installation, asking questions on where to install the system, with regards to the hard disk drive, as well as what network port will be used for the web administration of the device.

Once the installation is complete, the system will reboot, and you will be able to access the Sophos UTM firewall from the supplied IP address that is placed on the console of the UTM. You will need a secondary computer, hooked up to the same network with a web browser, to gain access to the Sophos UTM.

If you would like to try the Sophos UTM system, or need help in building a Sophos UTM machine (whether it’s a virtual machine, or physical machine) and you are in the GTA, contact a Toronto IT Support services company today.

Written by:

Joe Archer

Having Offsite Backup for your business is just as important as having a backups on premise. A bunch of things you would look into when deciding to have this feature setup in your business.

It goes without saying, your business should already have an on premise backup running, but if something were to happen where the primary backup was damaged, and then all of your information would be lost. Veeam and StoreGrid (Vembu) are two types of backup software that you may want to consider when deciding on an offsite backup solution. They both are robust and offer an easy to use interface. The next step is to determine where the backup will be stored, picking a company that will proved you with the architecture to house your sensitive information.  There are number of offsite backup providers in Toronto so be ready to do some investigation to ensure that your data will remain secure and confidential. The sensitivity of the information will also play a part in where it can be stores. Confidential information like medical records, legal records may have compliance restrictions preventing the data from leaving Canada. These are some of the things you will need to take into consideration when looking to have off-site backups.

Picking a suitable backup application

A typical office network will have on average at least two servers. The first would be the Domain Controller, running Active Directory, the other can be an email server, file server, database or an app server etc. The local backup will likely be run off the file server as this will be the central hub containing crucial data. If you have a virtual server, Veeam will likely be the best choice, if your servers are not virtualized then StoreGrid (Vembu). The setup of an Offsite Backup solution will be very similar to the way the local backup are configured. The only difference will probably be how often the offsite back runs. Typically it is done at night to prevent any slowdowns within your network. When setting up a backup offsite, a seed (data copy) is first taken from your location using a shuttle drive. This is then taken to the secure data centre offsite. The initial seed is done to prevent any bottle necks moving all the data initially offsite. The connection between client and backup server is then established and typically only the changes made are backed up this maximizes the offsite storage.

The Size of Backup

The size of your backups are the main factor in the monthly cost of your Offsite Backup Solution. . Depending on your company’s data retention policy, backups can be configured to meet your needs. The more recovery points you have the more data storage. Best practice is to have at least seven days of backups, this allows to have multiple points to recover from in case a file is corrupted or in cases of viruses.

Network Connectivity

The first step in moving data offsite is to ensure that there is a high enough bandwidth throughput. For day to day business needs, upload speeds should be at least 1Mbps. This is for a typical work environment which mainly deal with average size files. To ensure your data integrity is kept, a stable internet connection is needed. If your network speed is below the minimum requirements, this being 1Mbps upload. You may find that the backups take a lot longer than what is expected, this may cause unsuccessful backups.

Secure Offsite Location

Data Centres are typically secure buildings that are designed to withstand a combination of issues, such as power failure, fire, and natural disasters like floods. These locations have redundancy systems setup in the unlikely event any of the mentioned incidents were to occur. The offsite data should be monitored to ensure the backups are running successful. In summation when choosing a third party company in supporting you with offsite backup services it’s always a good idea to go with one that is a Microsoft certified partner, as well as partners with Veeam and StoreGrid, this ensures that your data backups are monitored and managed by professionals.

Written by:

Martin Rumisha

You probably have heard the term ‘Big Data’ and never fully understood what it entails. Big Data’s meaning ranges from complex calculations and supercomputing to the Main Street meaning of databases and cloud solutions. Whatever it means to you, it is here to stay and adjustments on how we do business and think about technology has to be changed to keep up with the times.

Current Technology

The best part of current technology is that is has become so much more affordable that ‘Big Data’ is not only for large enterprises anymore. It has become cheap and available for small and midsize businesses and allows these businesses to afford and compete with big business.

Cloud Computing and Web Based Applications

Cloud computing and web based applications means ‘Big Data’ is available to businesses with little CapEx budgets and OpEx costs are affordable and within reach. No need for large on premise servers and storage arrays which takes large amounts of power and increased insurance premiums. Companies can reduce the reliance of enterprise on premise hardware and actual in many instances increase the redundancy and also introduce a high availability solution that your business probably couldn’t afford in an on premise solution.

IT Budgets

The main reason businesses move some or all of their IT environment and support to a third party provider is the bottom line. Trimming the fat off ballooning IT budgets is a major concern for businesses large and small, and transitioning some if not all their IT releases the constraints and allows for better IT planning.

Flexibility

Moving your IT infrastructure to a private cloud hosting facility in Toronto, gives your business the peace of mind and security that your data doesn’t leave Canada. By making this move your business also in turn becomes flexible, agile and dynamic as a company. In 2015, companies need to be able to have the flexibility not possible in years before to be successful.

Scalability

Most start-ups don’t fully plan or implement their IT for scalability. By not making the decision early can cause bottlenecks as your company grows and also cost you money. A simple example is your company’s email, Exchange is probably the best option for emails, the problem in the past it was extremely expensive. Microsoft has may it simple and cost effective for start-ups to get Exchange without buying some large server and licenses, with Exchange Online doesn’t matter if you are company of one or one thousand, you can Exchange services without breaking the bank. It is hard for any business to make the effort in investing for expansion but with Outsourced IT Support the cost can be minimal and the long term benefits are substantial. Experienced MSPs can point you in the right direction and also implement the policies and procedures that will allow for easy scalability.

Priorities

Moving your company to a Managed IT Support model allows your business to focus on growing your business and not spending time on dealing with issues that can sidetrack. Also, MSP companies like System Architects a Managed IT Support based in Toronto, have been providing IT support to their clients for almost two decades. Assisting start-ups, developing software or developing a business continuity plan, clients look to their trusted MSPs.  MSPs core business is supporting clients IT needs but also more importantly they are used as trusted advisors and can provide recommendations for clients to plan for the future.

Written by:

Justin Roopnarine

On October 21, 2015 we celebrated ‘Back to the Future Day’. It’s the day Marty McFly and the ‘Doc’ visited in Back to the Future II film. It was all the rage in the media especially since the Chicago Cubs were in the playoffs and looked destine to reach the World Series just like the in the movie. The Cubs had beaten the Miami Gators to win 2015 World Series in the movie. The Cubs ended up losing their playoff series against the New York Mets. The movie was made in 1989 and may have gotten some things wrong but let’s see what the movie did end up getting right.

Flat Screens Monitors and TVs are probably the first technology that was in the movie that went mainstream. Flat screens are so old now that there are generations of people that probably don’t even know anything else. The technology has far surpassed just being a flat screen, we now have Smart TVs, HDTV, Large Displays, 3D TV and Curved TVs. All these technologies are now available and they have become so affordable most consumers own at least one.

Video Calling Video calling is such a common occurrence in 2015 that almost everyone has if not used it, has seen it being used. Microsoft Skype and Apple FaceTime are so popular and are so common, these applications are available not only on most computers but also the billion smartphones sold just in 2015. Video calling are used by two year olds as well as grandparents alike. It is become a staple in business and personal life. With video meetings being a big part of the globalization, Cisco WebEx, Citrix GoToMeeting and Skype for Business has made telecommuting so much easier and a big part of business in 2015.

Tablet Computers Just a few years ago tablet computers were far and few in-between. How a few years can change things, iPad, Android Tablet and Microsoft’s Surface Pro have changed the mobile market. With the advancements in miniaturization of computer hardware, tablets are capable of replacing what was considered not too long ago the most powerful computers.

Biometrics Fingerprint readers were only seen in sci-fi films or something you would read in an Asimov book. For a long time the only places fingerprints were used were in criminal databases. Today, however if you are planning to buy a new smartphone, it probably not only has a fingerprint reader for unlocking your phone it also probably uses it for mobile payments.

Wearables In the movie, Marty McFly’s kid is sitting at the kitchen table wearing a headset display. The display can make and receive calls and he can even watch TV. In 2015, this technology hasn’t reach the popularity as depicted in the movie, but wearable technology is fast becoming the next stage in mobile technology. Google Glasses, Microsoft HoloLens, Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR are just making head way in the market and it will probably still be a few years before they become more of a household item. The technology has a lot of real world applications, from architecture to medicine, wearable technology seems to be something that is here to stay.

Unmanned Drones Drones were typically used in military applications, a couple years ago it started to become a trend for hobby enthusiasts. Last year, Amazon made a splash and said they are testing drones to delivery products. This year, regulators have allowed companies to test their delivery drones. It is a race to the top with companies like Alphabet, Amazon, Walmart and other companies testing their drones. Not too long ago someone had flown an unmanned drone into The White House compound. In the United States it is reaching a point where the FAA will probably start establishing rules for personal and commercial use of drones.