In IT, we always talk about how important backups are, but how often do we really review and test our backup plans appropriately?  In 2013, we should resolve to do a better job in protecting the data that we depend on daily.  Here are some important questions to keep in mind when reviewing your policies…

• What needs to be backed up?
• How often does it need to be backed up?
• How much space is available to store backups?
• What is your retention policy?
• How many backups do you keep on hand for emergency situations?
• Do backups need to be stored offsite? If so, should they be stored in a different geographical location (East Coast vs West Coast)?
• How quickly can you recover and restore those backups?
• Have you tested your backup plan?
• Have you tested the restore process of those backups?

These are the basic questions you should be asking when coming up with a Disaster Recovery plan.  The answers will guide you to creating the disaster recovery plan that you need for your business.  It will also give you the peace of mind that your data is protected and will never be ‘lost’.

If you need assistance in creating, reviewing, implementing, or testing your Disaster Recovery plan then send us an email at sales@egroup-us.com and we will be happy to help!

I’ve been struggling for a few months to find the answers to all of life’s questions… err.. I mean how to integrate an RSA SecurID soft-token with the VMware View iPad Client.

Why?

• PCI Compliance requires multi-factor authentication for remote access to your cardholder data environment.  It’s also a good security practice if you use remote access.
• RSA SecurID is the most widely used form of multi-factor authentication, but there are certainly other options (Note: View only supports integration with RSA or RADIUS at this time).
• Users do not have to carry around a physical RSA keyfob.
• Users do not have to pull up the RSA app on their mobile device and remember the 8-digit token then fly over to the vmware view app and type in that code all within the 60- (or 30-) second window.  That’s a little much for some folks to handle.

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The latest July/August newsletter edition, “Optimizing Data Backup and Recovery,” is available online and via download.

By the way, our September/October newsletter will feature a new and exciting format, including more direct conversations with thought leaders, so don’t forget to sign up via email.

Please let us know if you have any suggestions at marketing_at_eGroup-us_dot_com. We welcome the feedback!

For years we’ve lacked a collaborative e-mail platform at my company and now we are full swing into Zimbra with only 20% of our staff left to be migrated over to the new platform.  During this time, we’ve used the Sharepoint calendars to allow staff to book rooms and have vacation calendars for each department.

It’s now time to move these calendars to Zimbra so that appointments can automatically book resources (rooms) and users can also collaborate directly in their e-mail platform instead of having to use another platform.  The problem?  How to get these calendar “lists” out of Sharepoint!

Since Sharepoint calendars can be shared in Outlook, that was my first step.  Secondly, I needed Outlook 2010 (I’m not sure if this is possible in 2007 or earlier).

Instructions ….

• Connect the sharepoint calendar to your outlook.  In the Sharepoint Calendar, click the Ribbon button for Calendar, and click “Connect To Outlook.”
• In Outlook, allow that calendar to populate.  I went ahead and repeated all of these steps first for all of my calendars.
• Next, in Outlook, go to the Calendars view and find the “email calendar” option on the Outlook ribbon under the Share section.  Click that.
• A dialog box opens and lets you select which Calendar to email.
• Then click your date range to export, like Whole Calendar.
• There are some limits, so if you hit them, it will tell you how to resolve the limit.
• In Detail, choose Full Details.
• Then click OK.
• A new email opens with the calendar attachment.
• No need to send that email — just right click on the .ics attachment and choose Save As.
• Now repeat steps 3-10 for every calendar you already shared with Outlook — just choose the different calendar in step 4.
• Once you have all the .ICS files saved, open Zimbra administration console and go to Resources.
• Right click on your first resource (or create your resource), like training room 1, and choose View Mail.
• This opens the Zimbra web front for this resource’s account.  Go to Preferences – Import/Export.
• Click Choose File – browse to the place where you saved the .ICS attachment for that resource.
• Click Import.  Then you’re done with that resource – click Log Out in the top right corner.
• Now log back into your personal Zimbra account and try to schedule an appointment. Type in that resource in the “location” box.
• Boom! You’re finished!

Flish Picks  – Top 10 Absolutely Free vSphere Applications and Utilities chosen by yours truly.

Number 6 – RV Tools by Rob de Veijo

RV tools is a very well written utility that gives you great insight into your vSphere environment.

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