Hurricane Katrina and now Hurricane Harvey are natural disasters that disable everything around them and have caused the nation to shake. They cause the communities to come together and truly shine, especially through the powers of the small businesses that link up for a greater cause. We have constantly found ourselves in shock and in a state of sadness when he view the aftermaths of natural disasters, and it sets up our nation for the vision of how technology can better help us in preventing the actions of natural disasters. It also puts into play how businesses rebound from catastrophes, such as Hurricane Harvey, in terms of resetting up their business and IT services. Can IT really help companies recover and help resolve the community? It has the ability to do that and much more. 

Source: https://www.britannica.com/event/Hurricane-Katrina

Information Technology has always been the tool used to advance our society. We depend on both information and technology as a source of national separation, competing with other countries on who has the most advanced set of technological tools to innovate. In times of natural disasters, we need to take a step back to the fundamentals of IT to figure out how small businesses recover from natural disasters, or in this case, Hurricane Harvey. Now in most scenarios, if not all, there is a lot of support going into the communities, commonly raising money for business’, for people to get their homes back and lives to return back to normal and what not. An IT department is great for businesses making a recovery from any situation, and sometimes it is even important to make sure you have disaster occurrence insurance, especially if the location you are in is common for these disasters. You should always make sure, with or without your IT services, that your information is secured, backed up and saved so that re-launch is not the most dreadful part of recovering from an event. Of course on top of the IT costs you have to worry about physical building costs and interior and what not, part of your personal expenses and government/city expenses as both will take part in recovery of your business. So try your best to minimize these costs. Recovering information when it is not backed up is very costly and a hard task at that, trying to work around damage is not an easy task when it comes to data which is why layers of fail-safes are important to any business. Put yourself in a situation where you can depend on IT and not have to be a small business looking for IT services last minute. Consult with us today so that we can better prepare your business for situations such as these.

-

Source: https://goo.gl/h3Laz6

Our thoughts are with the people whom have been affected by hurricane Harvey. To donate, please visit the American Red Cross or simply click here

Most devices now-a-days utilize the wonderful IPv4 protocol. IPv4 stands for Internet Protocol Version 4 and simply allows our devices to connect to the internet. Essentially IPv4 technology works whenever your device, whether it is your computer, phone, tablet or TV, uses it’s unique IP address, it sends to and from the internet. The Physical IP address sticks to the product as a “unique identifier” and allows it to be labeled and located by the internet. Now, there are other types of Internet Protocol Addresses such as a Sticky Dynamic IP Address, which is a form of assignment, and IPv6, and the list goes on. The Internet Protocol space, almost like a realty home management, is managed globally by IANA or Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, which are divided by 5 RIR’s or Regional Internet Registries.

Now we got the details out, lets continue on with you leveling up. IPv4 has been the most common and reliable protocol that our devices use. Through time, and usage IPv4 has shown to have a lot of issues that haven’t been fixed, for a while now, since 1983, to be exact. IPv4 carries a hefty 32-bit number, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but holds up to 4,294,967,296 or (232) IP addresses. If you thought that was a lot, IPv6, the newer, improved and smarter version of IPv4 carries a hefty 3.403×1038 (approximately) of IP address which scales heavily. The issue with IPv6 is that we simply didn’t need it yet, well at least until now. IPv6 shows us security in the use of internet, knowing that we won’t be flooded with IP addresses, insufficient to the universe as the growing number of technology use seems to shock us on a day to day basis. Think about it, how many devices do you use that connect to the internet? Most users carry at least two (laptop & mobile phone).

The issues revolving IPv6 seem to grow, mainly being…

·        Not all devices and ISP’s (Internet Service Providers) support IPv6 yet;

·        Routers seldom support IPv6, and if they do it is hard finding one on the lower end      budget that meets the intensity of a heavy internet user.

But the good out-weighs the bad…

·        IPv6 obviously outnumbers IPv4 in available IP sectors;

·        IPv4 uses fragmentation, in packeting, where IPv6 no longer needs to fragment, which slows down a router so IPv6 essential is faster in terms of network speed;

·        IPv6 also carries more bits, 128-bit number, where IPv4 is 32-bit number;

·        Security is no longer an issue for IPv6, as it is a part and integrated within the IP Sector, where IPv4 struggles in security.

Now very rare, and in some cases expensive, IPv6 is available to some, and a lot of people are starting to take advantage of it’s many features. Businesses are beginning to implement the technology more and more, and some believe that it will fully replace IPv4 in the future as our internet-of-things seems to grow on a day to day basis, while others think IPv6 is not necessary in replacing IPv4. Have you leveled up to IPv6? Are you reaping the benefits? Let us know on social media by tagging our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/2econdWindTechnology

Are you already using IPv6? Find out by visiting (http://testmyipv6.com) which tests your IP address.

The danger of having an unsecured IT set-up is not worth the struggle, especially if you are a Chicago-based firm doing it yourself. The procedures that ensure a secure database are often overlooked by either employees or firms managing your database. It is with the highest importance that your services and information are managed with the most secure set up, no client wants the business that they are working with to have an unsecure database. As a matter of fact, clients find it most comfortable if a company where to display how secure their database is to their clients. Who doesn't value safe business relations?

When taking into consideration the security of a database, Chicago IT firms and all other firms should ensure that there are layers of security to be implemented. The layers of support and strength are what define how secure your database is. There are a list of checks and balances that must be accomplished, some taken more seriously than others depending on the size of your database. The basic list is labeled as access control, auditing, threat prevention and backup.

Access control or authentication is the simple, who can access your database, from where, and what times. A simple "username and password" can go a long way and it is best to keep this controlled, monitored, and ensuring the ability to adjust this at your need can be done at a times notice. For example, you do not want a fired employee to enter your database and delete everything, ensure that his access is revoked at the time of dismissal. With a Chicago-based IT support that has 24/7 response time, we ensure that 2econd Wind has this under control.

Auditing is a process of ensuring no bad patterns of bad things are happening in your system by routinely checking logs, files, and data to ensure nothing bad is in there, or to make sure no one is accessing files they shouldn't be! Imagine a detective with a magnifying glass examining everything for something that just doesn't belong in your database. This step is essential in ensuring that no one is tampering and using your files incorrectly as well as its ability to prevent a numerous of other issues.

Threat prevention, or encryption, is the foundation of a secure IT database. Small Business IT Support struggles with implementing a sophisticated and reliable encryption, which should never happen. 2eond Wind IT has the essentials and go-to needs for encryption, and everyone struggles with this. Whether it is implementing security to prevent all sorts of hacking such as white hat, DOS, phishing, ransomware, or sniffing, you want to ensure that your database can prevent these and many more. This can be prevented in many ways, but ensuring you have a solid and secure system is the best way to go about this. If you struggle with this, we urge you to contact us on our home page so that we can prevent anything from happening to your company.

Backups are the "you saved my ass" of information. What happens if your files are gone forever? Well, we just said it, they are gone forever. With a backup, you can ensure that you have a "2econd Wind" in your company life. See what we did there? Backups are often forgotten about, but desired most when files disappear. Don't put yourself in that situation, and allow us to back up your files for you in case of an emergency. This is a standard in all databases, and if you do not have it, you are missing out on a foundation of security.