How Hot is Too Hot: Safe Computer Temperatures

Overheating greatly reduces the life of electronics. To protect your computer from overheating the manufacturer will add safeguards that will shutdown the system if it reaches a critical temperature. Prevent unintended shutdowns by running at safe computer temperatures.

A maximum safe operating range is often 60-70 degrees Celsius (140-158 degrees Fahrenheit) depending upon the components. You can purchase higher-temperature tolerant devices which are often called hardened or military-grade, but they cost more.

To keep computers at safe temperatures, the case design will have cooling systems. These cooling systems usually consist of a series of fans strategically placed but may also include liquid circulation systems. Removing the cover or side panels can disrupt the desired airflow and actually increase the temperature of critical components. Dust build-up can also impede air-flow and cause overheating. It is important to minimize the amount of dust, dirt, lint and hair in your computer’s environment. Ventilation and filtration systems are needed for computer health. If you have a computer in a dusty area, you have to keep a close eye on it and clean as needed.

Humidity is also a hazard for electronics. It worsens in dusty environments which is why carpet is not recommended for server rooms. The relative humidity should be between 40-60%. If the humidity is too low, static electricity can shock you and your computers. If humidity is too high, condensation can cause hardware corrosion.

The room or ambient temperature is a big factor of the temperature of the internal components. Server rooms can be uncomfortably cold for humans but toasty for electronics. For the average server room, temperatures from 16-24 degrees Celsius (60-75 degrees Fahrenheit) are common, but even lower temperatures may be necessary depending upon the number and location of servers.

With the summer coming be sure that you have adequate cooling to monitor and keep your computer at safe temperatures. Computers should be in a cool, dry, dust-free (or minimized) environment to maximize useful life. If your computer overheats, you have to cool it to prevent damage. If the fans are not working or if there is too much dust to get airflow the computer will shutdown – temporarily or permanently.

Requiem for the Blackberry

Last week’s Blackberry outage has caused lots of withdrawal pains. The blogs and message boards are filled with comments defending and vilifying Research in Motion (RIM) Blackberry’s creator. Network interruptions are inevitable as we have seen with Sony, Google, Microsoft and Netflix. Someday we may have uninterruptable networks, but the departure or threatened departure from Blackberry seems to be more about the availability of multimedia, cooler mobile devices than a network disruption.

 
For years Blackberry has been the choice in mobile devices for corporations. You can argue that this is because they are more secure because of how RIM handles encryption or the limitation of online features. Certainly iPhone and Android users can be more social online because their devices support many more apps. They can access Facebook, Tweet, Farmville and Angry Birds from anywhere that they have a signal. The available apps make it easy to stay connected. But with the convenience of being online all the time, some sacrifices are made in being secure. If you want a real scare, google “mobile device hacking” and read some of the recent hacking successes and access your vulnerability.

It really comes down to which device you are most comfortable with and how easily you can change. Corporations like Blackberry for many reasons including solid systems and the ability to regulate users. Often corporations don’t change their infrastructure because of the expense of installing new equipment and training employees to use and support the new system. Rationale always states the benefits of one technology over the other to support the choice, but equal arguments can be made for practically any technology choice.

As interesting and amusing as it is to read the comments from the technology aficionados, but it is as important to balance the arguments with facts. Facts may not change the product choices we make – that’s a subject for another blog – some products will win and others will lose based completely on preference and little on the superior technology. Blackberry once led the pack but is now struggling for market share in a sea of products that offer more. The loyal followers of Apple and Google are happy to share their opinions on why their choice is the best and the features that make mobility fun and efficient.

Weathering Storms in the Cloud

Twice over the past few weeks Microsoft’s Office 365 suffered interruptions. The first occurred on August 17th and was reported as a network interruption. Several blogs reported the cause as faulty Cisco equipment, but that fact was not verified by Microsoft. The interruption lasted for three hours and Microsoft has offered a 25% discount to Office 365 customers for the trouble. The second interruption was on September 9th and seems to be tied to the widespread Western US power outage. Any discount has yet to be announced for the second occurrence.

Microsoft is not the only Cloud service to see outages. Clouds, networks, communications and power that make up the Internet have all been down either briefly or for extended periods. Although it is frustrating, it is part of the risk we all accept in using and being dependent on technology.

Power and phone outages have always been disruptive to business. If the power and phones are out, often you have not choice except to close the store or the office. Only in rare cases are backup generators used and then only to keep essential systems like emergency lights and security systems on until the building can be cleared. Hospitals, data centers and essential services are the exception, but even hospitals have limited backup power. Our modern power system is extremely reliable, but it is not faultless. That’s why we keep candles and flashlights in the kitchen.

Cloud Computing relies on centralized servers and the Internet to receive and deliver data to the users. If the servers or the Internet are down, the users experience an interruption. Just like you have a power out kit in your kitchen, you need a Cloud out kit for your office. Your Cloud power out kit should consist of a computer or mobile device so you can continue to work offline locally and save your work until the system is back on.

When email is down, you just have to wait whether you are using a Cloud service or your own email server. If the server didn’t confirm receipt of the email message, the sending server will usually try again for a couple of days before giving up. That means that for short outages, it will be delayed but you’ll get your email. It is always surprising that people perceive email as more reliable than FedEx and as verifiable as Certified Mail – it is not. Email is a great tool and 99.44% of our email gets through but you have to allow for the .56 % that gets lost. Certainly, the email that you can’t miss will be in the later. Use delivery and read receipts to make email verifiable. (The Ivory soap reference to 99.44% is a bit of humor.)

During an interruption, if you still have access to your computer or mobile device, you can compose messages but will have to wait for the system before you can transmit them. With Microsoft Office 365, you can use your Office products offline and transmit to the Cloud when available. For other Cloud products, you have similar options to work offline and locally.

Using Cloud Computing gives you economy of scale and the benefit of redundant systems that you probably don’t have in your home or business. Most problems with power or communications will still be on the user side so be sure you have the ability to work offline locally to prevent disappointment and loss of productivity.

A Giant Leap for Quantum Computing

Today’s computers are the product of a digital revolution. When we talk about computing, we talk about an environment of ones and zeroes that add up to all the programs, graphics and communications that we use. Often we tease, it’s just ones and zeroes but that small concept has enormous implications.

In the early days of computers, there was a competition between analog and digital computing for a practical, supportable, calculating machine. Actually, analog computers go back to ancient times and were used to calculate the position of stars and planets. Probably the most familiar example of an analog computer is a slide rule. But as analog slide rules were replaced by digital calculators so were analog computers replaced by its digital competitor. Analog computers are powerful because they have multiple states and are not constrained by just ones and zeroes. They can solve very complex equations. But in that power is a complicated framework not easy to mass produce. Transistors and later solid state and integrated circuit technology made the digital computer ubiquitous.

The digital computer has a new competitor in the quantum computer. Quantum computing is not really new, the concept has been around since the 1970s, but it is a complicated structure based on quantum mechanics. Most of the work in quantum computing has been theoretical because the technology was not available to take the idea from a dream to reality.

The recent announcement that Lockheed Martin will purchase a quantum computer from D-Wave Systems is a giant leap for this emerging technology. Experts are already speculating on the quantum gains in computing speed as exponential and tens of thousands of times as fast as the fastest digital computer. It is an exciting time to be a technology aficionado. It is a time when anything is possible and the universe has no limits.

It's a jungle out there - be smart online

Recently, I posted a job on craigslist for a senior systems and network engineer. Although craigslist is a popular site, I have never used it and had some concerns about posting on a site that has received so much bad press. After researching, I decided to post our job and have been very happy with the response. But it's a jungle out there and I knew to expect some scam artists to use the ad to try an attack.
Then today, I received an email from updates-craigslist: Updates!New Terms - Accept: June 29, 2011 with the following message:

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craigslist
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Dear Customer,
We need your help resolving an issue with your account. To give us time to work together on this, we've temporarily limited what you can do with your account until the issue is resolved.
We noticed some unusual activity .
How you can help?
You must reverify your account and take the time to accept and read our terms: log in here
It's usually pretty easy to take care of things like this.
Ad: # 318-277-551-175
We understand it may be frustrating not to have full access to your account. We want to work with you to get your account back to normal as quickly as possible.
Thanks,
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Copyright ©2011 Inc. All rights reserved. CL #73445897433\

It's a scam and has all the characteristics (without typos) of a phishing attempt. It tries to get you to login with their fake link and get you to input your account information. Once your username/password was obtained, the phishers would take over your account and get as much information as they could about you. They can't do much on craigslist except make some inappropriate postings under your name, but they could use the username/password to break into other accounts like Twitter, Facebook or bank accounts.

So as a reminder, don't fall for email scams. When in doubt - don't click, reply or forward. Use strong passwords and make sure you have a good spam filter and malware protection.

Why does China want your gmail account?

Google is certain that the latest hacking attempt comes from Jinan, China as a phishing scam to obtain gmail passwords. This type of attack happens all the time, but since senior level US government officials, military personnel and political activists were targeted the intent seems much more sinister. The attacks were common phishing schemes that are not very sophisticated opening speculation that this was testing the water and that the information may be used for broader attacks.


If someone has your username and password, they can hijack your account. Not only will they have access to your email, but they can change account settings, forward email and send email as you. If you are unaware that your account has been compromised, the hacker can play havoc with your information and identity.

Certainly, you have heard these warnings: create a strong password, don't divulge username and password information especially from email requests, use a good anti-virus, have malware protection and keep a good backup. This cannot be stressed enough - create a strong password for your important accounts. Next, use a two-step verification or authentication whenever possible. This is another way to prove it is you. Google uses a strategy where they will send a unique code to your phone that is required to sign in. The problem with this security measure is that it is not convenient as it takes another step and more time. Often users choose convenience over security.

When you use more than one email address and if you send to a mobile device, be sure that you use security measures that adequately protect your information. The more valuable the information, the more protection is needed. and just like physical security, use barriers as deterrents. In the digital and virtual world, barriers are passwords, tokens, PINs and other information that only you will know.

To learn more about the Google 2-step verification, go to:
http://www.google.com/support/a/bin/answer.py?answer=175197

Social Media Tactics: Part 2

By Katie Sewell, TAG and Mary Hester, LAN Systems

The second part of our tactics for social media includes LinkedIn and blogging. LinkedIn is widely used by business professionals to promote their business and to job search. It’s easy to set up a personal and/or business LinkedIn page and you can keep it current using built in tools that won’t take too much of your time.

Upon creation of your LinkedIn profile, be sure to craft a flattering position summary for your company to promote.

Deciding how you will accept connections is important, as well. LION (LinkedIn Open Network) members connect to almost anyone that requests whether they know them or not. More conservative members only link to people they personally know. This is your choice and you can adjust your settings to share or hide your connections. There are many security settings that control how much or how little of your information is shared. If you are concerned about sharing information, start with very secure settings and adjust as needed.

On to business promotion:

LinkedIn - Create a company page with your logo, overview, specialties and statistics. Make sure current employees link to the page and that you have included your website.

Look for groups to join that are of interest to your customers. There are many groups on LinkedIn that you can easily reach the 50 limit set by LinkedIn. Of course, you can join groups that are of personal interest, but if you are promoting your company the best groups will be those of interest to your customers.

Create a group based on your subject matter expertise and promote to your contacts. It is best to approve new members rather than have an open access.

Start group discussions and keep the conversation going. Some groups will be very active and others will need prodding. Be sure to monitor messages for appropriate content and spam. You can remove abusers.

Look at the open Q&A discussions. Even if you choose not to participate, take a glance at the types of questions and answers that are being posted. You may want to experiment in this open forum before starting your own group. If you are (or want to be) a subject matter expert for your company, search this forum for questions to answer.

Blogging – Choose the type of blog and your voice. Try to be consistent in your post frequency and blog personality. Remember what’s said on the Internet stays on the Internet!

If you’re not ready to start your own blog, contribute to others. This is an easy way to get started and test if you really want to be a blogger.

Pick a schedule and try to stick with it. If you have lots of demands on your time that are not blog-related, you may want to start with a monthly or weekly blog. Entries can be informal or traditional depending upon your style and your business.

Use your blog to point readers to your web site, Facebook or Twitter account.

Try to engage your readers in a dialogue by encouraging comments and feedback. Respond to comments and questions quickly. Many readers will not post comments, but will correspond with you privately. If it starts as a private conversation, keep it that way unless both parties want to go public.

Hope that you have enjoyed our short series on Social Media. Please share your experiences, ideas and comments!