by Sangeetha | Dec 18, 2021 | IT infrastructure services
Ransomware these days is the business sector for criminals. Thus, we tend to see additional gangdom and nation-state actors obtaining concerns. These days, the threat landscape is more significant than ever, with offer chain attacks targeting major vendors and pushing compromised computer code updates as seen within the 2021 SolarWinds incident or shipping conglomerate Maersk in 2017. We hear news of a widely known organization or utility falling victim to ransom demands before information gets destroyed or sensitive info leaked. With the proliferation of untraceable cryptocurrencies reaching record financial highs and ever additional refined encoding ways – the profit potential is beyond ever.
Experts say the most effective defense against ransomware may be an intelligent backup; however, what if your backups get encrypted and command for ransom? What’s the price of not having a reliable backup?
Backups are the literal last effort of defense against falling victim to ransomware. Now not ought to we tend to contemplate backups associate degree afterthought just in case of a deleted file or sick a previous version of a file overwritten accidentally. Winning backup restoration is the single purpose of failure between paying a ransom and winning restoration of encrypted files. Backups, therefore, ought to be protected in the slightest degree prices.
Modern-day ransomware nearly constantly scans for and targets the native backups 1st throughout the initial phases of infection. It can be seen in compromised Exchange Servers exploited from the March 2021 Hf attack.
Suppose the ransomware will code the backups or delete backups before the protected computers get encrypted, the upper the probabilities of assembling the ransom to recover the files. It makes protective the backups ever additional vital because it has become the definitive line within the sand between paying a ransom and sickening the files or losing everything.
Can we have a tendency to trust a criminal to carry their finish of the discount once paying a ransom? Paying a ransom additionally lets the unknown wrongdoer place a price on this information and will increase the probability of reoccurrence. WHO is to mention they’re going not to attempt again? It makes off-site backups that way more vital.
One of the most effective and sometimes established backup methods is duplicating off-site or air-gapped backups. An air-gapped backup is an offline draft of the info, and much less possible to fall victim to ransomware from a compromised network. It will increase the probabilities of recovery and minimize the likelihood of paying an actual ransom. A cloud-based backup is a process purpose between a business losing all its information and paying a ransom. A few companies having off-site backups are currently obtaining asked from cyber insurance firms and are changing into a demand for coverage.
However, simply storing information off-site isn’t enough; the period from ransomware is vital, starting from days to weeks of lost revenue. It could be improbably prejudicial to a business’s bottom line. The time for recovery entirely depends on the strategy used for off-site backups.
One of the most efficient ways to dramatically reduce the uptime in case of a happening is an activity a cloud-based spin-up. Cloud-based spin-up permits business-critical servers to return online in a very protected cloud setting, whereas recovery and redress occur at the initial location. The replicated backups are physically air-gapped, and with a valid retention policy in situ, we will restore the info to a degree in time before the ransomware encoding. It permits workers and businesses to endure a happening in a much shorter time frame than restoring from backups to a compromised system. A cloud-based spin-up additionally allows IT workers to research and remedy a current infection and endure the attack and keep the business working at constant time.
However, a business’s ability to recover is just pretty much as good as their last tested backup. Simply replicating backed-up information to the cloud isn’t enough. It’s now not associate degree “if” for a business to be compromised, however additional of a when? Thus, it’s imperative often to schedule testing of the backed-up information to the cloud.
All we’d like to try is imagine the situation of sorting out the backed-up information that isn’t intelligent and what implications it’ll have. Because it is commonly aforesaid, an os of hindrance is price a pound of cure. Protective backups from ransomware are currently additional vital than ever. It will mean life or death for a business.
Fortunately, Navigator Systems contains various services that meet these desires, below our StorTrust whole. The key advantages include:
• It may be a IT managed service. Navigator Systems operates the recovery. Thus, you’ll consider different problems you will have at intervals in the business.
• The service includes an Annual Maintenance at. Thus you’ll make sure your recovery can work.
• We will offer air-gapped solutions as a part of our service for the final word protection.
• We embrace the power to run your systems in our cloud for up to thirty days for no further price. It provides you and your workers time to wash your systems or order new ones.
by Sangeetha | Dec 16, 2021 | Uncategorized
A boom in Information Technology in the last few years has resulted in an unprecedented growth in the use of the Internet across several users. Everyone depends on the Internet for their day-to-day operations, be it households or business organizations. It is a storehouse of information and is used by one and all. In addition, organizations remain connected to their clients and other third party stakeholders through the Internet. So it is quite natural for them to desire a smoothly running website and server so that it helps them in their work.
Importance of server
A server is a vital piece of equipment that acts as the support system of an organization. It stores all important information relating to the organization, its employees, clients, and customers. In addition, it helps the organization stay connected with the rest of the world by way of the Internet. Besides this, important functions like communication, website hosting, website maintenance, etc., are also performed by the server system of an organization.
Server uptime
Server uptime is the duration of time for which the server system can be left unattended without causing a disruption in the functioning of the organization. It is a measure of the reliability and stability of the server and helps the system administrators to know for how long the server will function without crashing.
Downtimes are very common and can happen to any computer system. Technical failures, faulty software, network problems, all these factors contribute to downtime or outages in the server system. These lead to disruptions in running a website or a server, causing losses to the company and inconvenience to the customers.
Monitor server health for server uptime maximization
Every organization desires a server that runs spontaneously. Hence, the target of every IT department should be to maximize server uptime to ensure that the server functions for the maximum time without suffering from downtime. Server uptime monitoring is aimed at server uptime maximization. In addition, it keeps a vigil on the server’s stability as to how long it can run without getting crashed.
Server health has to be monitored from time to time so that server uptime is maximized. In addition, server monitoring should be done regularly so that system administrators are alerted in case of any existing or upcoming problems and can fix them in time.
Hardware problems, lack of routine maintenance, network issues, improper designing by engineers, etc., can lead to server downtime. These have to be checked in advance to take necessary action to resolve these.
A server functioning without disruptions will ensure that the server can be left unattended for a more extended period. However, not in all cases is longer server uptime desirable. For example, there are some software or applications in which regular updates have to be done, and server uptime is reduced.
By ensuring a healthy server system, the organization can serve its clients better and see that the server is readily available for use by them. Monitoring your server’s health to ensure maximized uptime becomes a prime objective of any company.
by Sangeetha | Dec 6, 2021 | Storage
Most IT CEOs are no longer hesitant to maneuver their maintenance agreements from instrumentation makers to third-party hardware maintenance suppliers.
OVERVIEW:
Switching service contracts from instrumentation makers to third-party storage maintenance (TPM) suppliers enables organizations to not simply scale back the prices but conjointly increase the service’s standard. It conjointly ensures a more significant level of responsibleness and acts as one purpose of contact for all IT service needs.
Navigator Systems could be a leading third-party service supplier in the Republic of India with over thirty-five years of expertise and over 20k IT systems underneath contract nationally. It conjointly has the NO.1 multivendor hardware stock in India with over thirty forward stocking locations.
Navigator Systems ensures insurance to essential IT systems globally by providing bespoke SLA and high-quality support at a fraction of the prices. Navigator Systems is ready to supply higher service than instrumentation makers in specific regions because of its massive footprints. what is more, additionally to price savings, and superior IT support services TPMs provide advantages that include:
• an on the spot international support model
• Inventory management services
• versatile service-level agreements
Third-party maintainers give technicians and components to keep up IT merchandise from servers and networking to mainframes and storage. Leading international third-party maintenance supplier Navigator Systems began its operations by providing end-of-service-life support for IT hardware that area unit subjected to “planned obsolescence” or providing spares to its hardware that makers did not support.
Later they began to expand their capabilities into providing international multivendor support to essential IT hardware by deploying stocks domestically and creating them on the market for crucial interventions. NavigatorSystems, through its years of expertise, provides end-of-service-life support services globally and has over thirty-five years of expertise in delivering multivendor spares and, therefore, the technical capabilities to keep them up even once they are well beyond the manufacturer’s warranty and support for a few devices.
According to a report, several instrumentation makers providing outsourced services admit TPMs to extend their internal service supplier capabilities to support instrumentation factory-made by others.
OPPORTUNITY:
There area unit ample opportunities ranging from a superior support model to optimizing the ROI:
1. As per the analysis, third-party services are a competitive threat to the service suppliers. In several cases, the service suppliers area unit reluctant to scale back their maintenance fees at pledge expiration and renewal. Many reports recommend that almost all hardware stay stable when the initial bug fixes between one and a couple of years. And since the hardware is durable, it might be higher to use constant hardware rather than finance during a new infrastructure once more.
2. Competitively bespoke SLA. We can conjointly scale back prices by providing an extraordinarily competitive & customized SLA at contract renewal.
3. Worldwide Coverage. With over thirty-four offices worldwide and network coverage in over 340 locations worldwide, no service request is taken into account too laborious.
4. Elimination of maintenance contracts wherever attainable. In some instances, the number of hardware failures on sure instrumentation may be low enough to require extended warranties. Within the case of network instrumentation, having spare devices existing will eliminate the requirement for maintenance support.
by Sangeetha | Nov 16, 2021 | Dell Server
IT managers must maximize each penny within the budget. So, why are you administering most for Dell Compellent SC4020 support? Positive, you’re already on the far side of the hardware’s official finish of life. However, that’s no reason to pay quite you must.
Of course, you may worry that going with a 3rd party maintenance (TPM) supplier instead of paying dell for 1st party maintenance can mean sacrificing access to knowledgeable engineers, reliable elements, or encountering different hurdles. Whereas there are pitfalls to avoid, the reality is that there’s no reason for you to air the hook for those exorbitant prices. During this post, we’ll explore the truth behind today’s unnaturally accelerated hardware life cycle and the price offered by operating with the proper TPM.
THE HARDWARE LIFECYCLE NOWADAYS
IT hardware includes a pretty outlined lifecycle. However, it’s not what makers need you to assume it’s. per OEMs, this is often what the lifecycle ought to look like:
• The device is meant and so factory-made.
• Manufacturing lasts for 2 to 3 years.
• The manufacturer stops manufacturing the device however continues to produce support for a brief time (called finish of life, or EOL).
• Within some years, the manufacturer stops providing any support, and you want to upgrade to a replacement system (called finish of service life, or EOSL).
Now, that lifecycle appearance is excellent from the OEM’s perspective. Why? as a result of it permits them to stay a gentle stream of profit flowing into the company’s coffers.
Dell and different OEMs don’t significantly create cash by serving to you retain your IT hardware in bright operating condition. That’s as a result of, once correctly maintained, a primary storage array will have a life that extends across decades. Where’s the come back for shareholders in that?
To combat that drawback, makers often retire existing hardware and introduce replacement choices that are usually very little quite iteratively higher than the systems quit. In some cases, the enhancements are additional cosmetic than something.
In short, you finish up paying heaps of cash to retire dead innovative hardware and upgrade to new, costlier instrumentation. It doesn’t need to be that manner, though. However, with the looming EOSL for your holler Compellent SC4020 (January thirty, 2023), it’s necessary to create a call shortly.
THE BENEFITS OF THIRD-PARTY SUPPORT FOR YOUR DELL Compellent SC4020
The chances are bright that you have some questions on Dell Compellent SC4020 AMC and third-party support for Compellent SC4020. Can you sacrifice quality, service, or speed in the name of saving money? However, will a TPM give access to quality engineers? What regarding elements delivery?
Let’s explore answers to those queries, still because of the advantages offered by third-party support.
ENGINEERS
We’ll begin with a discussion of access to trained, knowledgeable engineers. At Navigator Systems, we tend to rent our engineers from endless talent pools as a dell. We tend to specialize in the mistreatment of native talent conjointly. Thus it’s probably that the engineers you’re employed with at Navigator Systems would be constant engineers received through Dell’s break/fix services, minus the hefty markup on costs from the OEM.
REPLACEMENT elements
Another advantage of third-party support for your Dell Compellent SC4020 is that you have access to the proper replacement elements way quicker than even Dell can give. With Dell(and most different TPMs, to be honest), it will take days or maybe weeks for elements to be shipped to your location.
WARRANTY COVERAGE
What are the quality elements warranted through Dell? Thirty days? 60? 90? With Navigator Systems, you get a full year of protection on any details we tend to replace. However, our warranty covers the value of labor, too; that isn’t the case with most different TPMs or Dell.
ACCESS TO ASSIST
One major hurdle with any support agreement is finding access to the assistance you would like in the 1st place. We tend to create that easy – telephony, or a quick email is all that’s necessary. Our support portal conjointly permits you to open a price ticket, and there’s ne’er a desire to intensify or troubleshoot before speaking with an engineer.
USEFUL LIFE
Dell would love nothing quite for you to exchange your hardware and upgrade straight away. However, that may mean going a fantastic quantity of cash on the table. As a result of the reality is your hardware has years of use left. By operating with Navigator Systems, you’ll be able to extend the useful lifetime of your Dell Compellent SC4020 array into 2028!
FLEXIBLE SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS
Finally, you would like to contemplate the service level agreement (SLA) on providing. Dell locks you into a costly extended warranty with no customization. At Navigator Systems, we tend to believe in giving choices to our purchasers. We’ve four different SLAs that permit you to dial within the level of coverage and repair you would like, from 24/7/4hr solutions to merely the fundamentals. We conjointly help you customize your SLA to induce good work at the true worth and coverage amount.
NOW’S THE TIME TO DETERMINE
With your Dell Compellent SC4020 end of service life quickly approaching on 01/30/2023 and also the value of Dell-provided support on the increase, it’s time for a more robust possibility. With Navigator Systems, you like access to knowledgeable engineers, dramatically lower coverage costs, and the customization you merit.
by Sangeetha | Oct 11, 2021 | IBM hardware maintenance
In 2019, IBM sent businesses looking for a better plan for Power7 End of Service Life (ESL) support. Further, they announced that IBM Power8 would stop being marketed, and you can no longer order or get licensed upgrades. Businesses have the option to upgrade to IBM Power9, regardless of whether they are required. The reality is that IBM Power8, Power7, and older generation server systems are highly reliable and have a long useful life expectancy. I&O leaders looking to extend the lifecycle of these machines and reduce server maintenance costs should look at all available IBM server maintenance options.
Here are some questions we have compiled. server maintenance providers to help you evaluate support options available for IBM Power8 or earlier generation equipment
Are you able to offer significant cost savings over IBM’s maintenance rates on IBM Power Systems?
Make sure your maintenance costs are lower than OEM support by IBM. It is often the main reason why companies switch to third-party maintenance providers. Look to see if the independent Third-Party Maintenance (TPM) provider can provide at least 50% cost savings on IBM Power Server Maintenance.
Ask about discounts on hardware maintenance as well as software/operating-system maintenance. Software maintenance may offer savings when the hardware is at its End of Life. The operating system might also be EoL. You may be able to drop your software maintenance agreement or receive some support but not pay the high IBM cost for Operating System Updates. This type of service and consultation is available from potential TPM providers.
1.Are you able to use a dedicated IBM Power Systems Lab?
Each server family should have its own dedicated IBM Power Series Lab. It will allow the maintenance provider to conduct research, develop new technologies, and learn about the IBM hardware. It should cover all servers that the TPM provider supports, including Power8, Power7, Power6, Power5, Power4, and the RS6000/AS/400.
2.Have your engineers received hands-on training with IBM Power Systems?
Another reason maintenance providers should have a lab is to ensure that their engineers are trained in the real world. Before you sign up to support such an essential component of your infrastructure, ask your provider about the training they provide.
Ask if the maintenance of your IBM Power8 or below servers has Level 3 support by trained engineers. This infrastructure shouldn’t be left to anyone remotely or via dial-a tech support.
3.Are you able to provide a secure and tested remote monitoring system for IBM Power?
Verify that remote monitoring capabilities are available to the provider. The monitoring system must be tested and secured. Navigator Systems Remote Enterprise Monitoring (REM) offering gives clients an equivalent level of monitoring and triage to what they received from the OEM for remote hardware monitoring.
4. Are your contract terms flexible
It would help if you customized your service level agreements (SLAs) based on your business criticality and for each location. You should also be able to consolidate your maintenance on one contract with multiple OEMs. It means you can bundle maintenance for other brands like IBM, Dell EMC, and HPE.
5.Is it possible to extend the life cycle of IBM Power servers?
IBM and other manufacturers often declare older products ESL, meaning they will no longer support them. It is done to encourage customers to purchase the latest product. These products, especially the IBM Power Systems, are highly reliable and can be supported by trained and qualified engineers at TPM providers. The TPM provider you select should be able to help IBM Power8 as well as all previous generations. They must also demonstrate that they still support Power7, Power6, Power5, Power4/RS6000, and AS/400. Businesses are still using these older models, and the maintenance provider must show that they can significantly extend asset life.
6.Is there support and parts worldwide?
Access to parts is vital, especially when you are maintaining IBM Power Systems, which are ESL. Your maintenance provider will always have enough features available for your servers. Before each component is shipped to the client, it should be tested. These parts should be of the same quality that IBM would use and should be available globally within 2 hours of a customer site and ideally delivered from wholly-owned parts depots at regional and local levels.
