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Horse Sense #61
In this issue:
Trends
The New Internet: New Browsers, New Java
There has been a sea change
in Internet software circles in the last month.
Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7.0 (IE7) is out
as is Media Player 11 (MP11) <http://www.microsoft.com/downloads>.
IE7 is faster and safer than IE6, but not 100%
compatible with IE6. While it is safer than
IE6, it still is not as safe, as fast, or as
compatible with Internet standards as the new
(Iron Horse recommended) Firefox 2.0 <http://www.getfirefox.com>.
As IE7 is closely tied to the operating system,
upgrading can improve your security, and we
recommend installing it. If you have been
keeping up with your automatic downloads on
Windows XP, IE7 will automatically download for
you. IE7 and MP11 will not install on anything
but an XP Service Pack 2 workstation or better
(64 bit and Windows 2003 servers are OK, too).
Firefox and other browsers work fine with older
Windows operating systems. MP11 is even more
restrictive as it works only on 32 bit versions
of XP. In addition, both IE7 and MP11 require
extra “validation” steps to counter piracy that
are very visible and slow the installations
significantly. Microsoft’s antipiracy software
slows up the computer, takes up memory, and can
cause stability and licensing issues. Windows
Vista will use similar technologies to validate
your software over the Internet. We dislike
technologies that burden legal users in an often
futile attempt to catch wrongdoers. Like older
versions of IE, you cannot remove IE7 like you
can any other program. We have never been in
favor of Microsoft making an application so
integral to the operating system that its
removal is (almost) impossible.
Complementing the new
browsers is the new Java Runtime Environment 5.0
update 9 <http://www.java.com>.
You will want to download this update to enhance
your security and compatibility. The new Java
version will not replace older versions. As a
Java installation is over 100 megabytes, you can
save a lot of space on your hard disk by
removing older versions. You can perform this
task under Windows by opening Control Panel,
choosing Add/Remove Programs, and picking the
Java versions that you want to delete. While
you are there, remove old programs which you no
longer use.
Symantec Revamps its Products, Licenses, Support and Part Numbers
Symantec upgraded their
market share leading Backup Exec to version
11d. Among other things, this new version
allows for continuous data protection of
Microsoft Exchange e mail boxes. This feature
will allow you to recover an individual Exchange
mailbox to any point in time. In other words,
it will now be much easier than before to
recover a critical message that you erased.
Enhancements were also made to Microsoft Active
Directory and SQL backups. Encryption of the
backups has been added to the base product with
no increase in cost. There is also a new Small
Business Server product that costs less than the
old Backup Exec product it replaces. See more
at <http://www.symantec.com/smb/products/overview.jsp?pcid=bu_rec&pvid=bewin_svr>
Symantec has “simplified”
their licensing. Now, the part numbers from
Veritas, Symantec and the way products are
licensed in general are more consistent. But
this also means that hundreds of thousands of
part numbers have changed, and the procedures
are very different. This licensing change will
have an effect on an enormous number of end
users.
Perhaps the most interesting
change is that Symantec has made it easier to
buy 24x7x365 support for all of their products
and the cost is very reasonable. Previously,
this support was extremely expensive and only
the largest organizations could afford it. More
and more manufacturers are offering 24x7x365
support and we are recommending this support to
our customers, even for 9 to 5 businesses. As
networks become more critical business tools,
the hardware and software they need to operate
become more critical too. A manufacturer's
product may not "break" between business hours,
and it may not be possible to fix it during
business hours, so 24x7x365 agreements are
becoming a necessity for businesses of all
sizes.
How Printing is Changing
The paperless office is NOT
here. Now that documents can be printed on
demand, people are printing more than ever.
The Gartner Group did a
study: 1-3% of all the money spent by a typical
organization goes towards printing costs.
40-60% of all help desk calls are printer
related. 10-30% of those costs can be saved
with better management techniques. Furthermore,
Giga Information Group estimates that paper
output is growing at 21% per year. IDC
estimates that 7.5 billion documents will be
printed this year, amounting to 4.5 trillion
pages.
Multi-Function Printers (MFPs)
are rapidly replacing standalone printers for a
number of reasons. They meet the need to:
(1) produce paper documents
as well as the need to convert paper documents
into digital form.
(2) save space, power, and
costs relative to single function devices.
(3) reduce training and
support costs relative to single function
devices.
New MFPs are so feature-rich
that they are competitive with the standalone
products. They are often much more capable than
the equipment that they are replacing.
There are some dramatic
shifts in the business printing market. MFPs,
especially laser MFPs, are replacing standard
printers for the above reasons. Color lasers are
replacing black and white ones. Besides
producing more dramatic, visually interesting,
and useful output, color lasers have dropped
dramatically in purchase price and operating
costs. Even if you mostly print in black and
white, a color laser's extra capability easily
offsets the price difference. Color lasers are
also replacing color ink jet printers because
they are faster, can handle more complex
documents, and are easier to maintain. The
printing computer's performance is taxed less
with a laser. Lasers also have better output
for business use, cost less per print, and their
purchase price has dropped dramatically over the
last couple of years.
Printers are getting
smarter. Take the new Xerox WorkCentre 4150 MFP
(available at Iron Horse, but we’re sure you
guessed that already). Xerox builds upon strong
printing features. The 4150 has a separate
toner and drum which tends to lower printing
costs. Its 20,000 page toners last up to 10
times as long as small laser toners.
Long-lasting toners lower the cost per print and
require less user maintenance, purchasing
effort, and storage space. Its 55,000 page drum
does not have to be replaced when a toner
cartridge runs out, lowering the cost per page
further. This tough printer can print 200,000
pages a month at 45 pages per minute. It can
print on very thick paper (53lbs/200gsm), use
four 500 sheet input trays, print on both sides
of the page, collate, and staple through a 50
page document. Xerox backs it up with a one
year on-site service warranty.
As a new generation laser,
the 4150 is extremely powerful and smart. In
fact, it may have more memory, processor power,
and RAM than other computers on your network.
The 4150, like many of the Xerox business
printers, comes with a memory card that carries
its configuration. If a printer fails, you can
take this card, plug it into a like unit, and
all the configuration settings will transfer.
Your network will think the same printer came
back on line. You can almost eliminate critical
printer downtime with another 4150 with which to
swap cards.
Xerox printer drivers are
some of the best in the business. You can
securely manage individual printers through a
web browser. You can have them send an alert if
they are out of paper, have a jam, or need
toner. You can even use software to arrange for
different departments to be billed for their
printer usage.
The 4150 has some new
features that can be real work savers. Many
organizations need copies of both sides of an ID
card. On the 4150, you merely tell it that you
want to copy an ID card, press copy, flip the
card, and press copy again. Only then will the
printer print. Both sides of the ID will show
on one side of the same printed page. Another
feature allows you to “print around” another
job. A typical printer performs jobs in order
in which they were received. Most existing MFPs
stop copying, faxing, and scanning until the
previous print job completes. Not the 4150. If
you tried to print on non-existent legal sized
paper, the job is put on hold while other jobs
process. Later, when you put in the correct
paper stock, it will print. You can also scan
while printing or copy while faxing. Sensitive
print jobs will not print until you enter a
security code. In very secure environments, you
can instruct the printer to overwrite a job that
has been completed, ensuring that no one can
retrieve the information from the printer.
The 4150 has powerful fax
functions. Received faxes can be sent to any
email address you wish. Anyone on the network
can “print” to the fax portion of the printer,
causing it to send out a black and white or
color fax. Scanned black and white or color
documents can be emailed or stored on a network
hard drive. They can also be processed through
optical character recognition engines and
imported into document management systems.
Avoiding Costly Computing
Errors
When working with your IT
providers, use these tips that I have learned
from over 20 years as a computer consultant to
save money, time, and headaches. If you have a
favorite tip or story, please write us about it!
Get Help! No one is an expert in everything. And, even if you CAN do it yourself, it is often better not to. I drive a car and know where to find many of its parts. I have read books and articles on car repair. However, I do not work on my own car when it breaks down. Yet, many people think that they should fix their IT problems themselves.
Hiring someone to help you,
especially with unfamiliar or one-time tasks,
can save a lot of grief and money. Investing in
training, preventive maintenance, support
contracts, design, and other tasks outside your
expertise is a good idea too.
Case in point: Almost 20
years ago, a major US intelligence agency wanted
the largest, fastest hard drive available for a
server at $1000. We offered to install and
configure the drive for $25. And, if we did it,
we would take care of any warranty issues with
the drive and provide a rapid replacement. If
not, they would have to deal with the
manufacturer who would take at least 4 weeks to
send a new drive. They declined our offer,
saying that they could handle it themselves.
Two days later they walked in the door with a
drive that had burn marks on it. When we asked
what had happened, they told us that they
hammered on the connections, started it, and it
blew up! They wanted a replacement for the
defective drive. My technician and I were
stunned. They had managed to force a connector
that is keyed to go in one way backwards onto
the drive. When they turned on the drive,
applying power to circuitry that was not
expecting it, it blew up. We declined to
replace the drive, citing our policy and
conversations, and told them to take up the
issue with the manufacturer (who was sure not to
replace it).
The lesson? Get the help you
need. A running back without blockers isn’t
going to get very far. Do what you do best and
have someone else help you with the rest.
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