Tag Archives: network monitoring

Working WITH Your Managed Service Provider (MSP)

On site support with a managed service provider. Two business people and a laptop

Are you ready to make a change?

As a business owner or manager, you know how darn right frustrating it can be to get sidetracked with IT support issues, while trying to grow your business and keep employees happy. All too often, upper level professionals are asked to shoulder the responsibility of troubleshooting and solving network related computer issues, as well as problems that surface at the user/individual workstation level. You never want to walk away from the chance to improve your working environment or help out a peer, but the reality is: IT support should not be your job.

Breaking Free

There is no shame in knowing when enough is enough. All too often, the scenario is as follows: Your company’s internal IT policies are virtually non-existent, there is no clear understanding of who is accessing what applications and data from which device, and everyone is bogging you down with requests and cries for help.

Don’t get mad, get organized.

A good managed services provider will work with you to understand where and why problems exist within your organization. Once you can see the lay of the land and understand your technology infrastructure, you’ll begin to move forward in your mind with developing a strategy for freeing up your time, while adding additional technology resources to your toolbox, so that you are better enabled for success.

Change does not happen overnight, and you’ll need a trusted partner to guide you through the steps necessary for transforming your technology issues into opportunities for improvement. What do we mean?

Managed IT Support

Support is so much more than responding to issues. Being proactive and understanding what you need to accomplish with your tech as an organization, is a key step in moving forward with developing a good course of action. You need to understand where problems have existed in the past, and you need to know how you are going to prevent them from occurring in the future.

Opening up clear lines of communication with a managed IT support professional will help both the service provider and organization to benefit from the relationship. You must have a workflow in place that directs users to contact support when an issue comes up, so that it is documented and handled appropriately.

Your IT support staff should handle ALL issues related to the troubleshooting, maintenance, and IMPROVEMENT of your tech resources. Again, this means that management must work with the managed services provider to establish the proper procedures for resolving internal computer related issues and requests.

As a business owner or manager, you should find solace in knowing that your tech support can be seen as a trusted resource, specifically when you need advice and recommendations for streamlining technology, and meeting the needs of your users.

Where To Begin

Documenting what your network looks like, and how it used, is a key step in powering forward with a comprehensive plan for success. Your internal staff should know why they are accessing applications and data the way that they do, and you should act ONLY as a liaison between them and your tech team when making big changes or improvements to your infrastructure.

Managed IT support offers you more value than 24×7 monitoring of your network and tech assets. A good service provider listens to the feedback of all users within an organization, and makes the proper recommendations, while helping to establish a good strategy for growth.

Anyone using technology assets within an organization will be open to experiencing certain moments of hardship or confusion, and you should feel confident in your tech team’s ability to handle issues appropriately whenever they occur. The true value with any managed IT support team is knowing that as issues are resolved and documented, you are effectively building a plan for growth within your overall strategy.

Begin by listing all of the knowledge you have regarding internal IT support issues, so that it can be presented to, and reviewed with, your new managed services provider. Your support staff will have a better chance at efficiently resolving user related issues if they know where you are, and where you plan to go.

Moving Forward

Of course, preventing issues from occurring is top priority within the scope of IT support’s job responsibilities. The data collected from users and network monitoring tools must be consistently evaluated and considered. Your tech team needs to communicate potential problems with you, as well as help you to understand where your environment and users are within the ultimate goals of your technology plan.

Communication is VERY important when working with any vendor. Just as your IT support should be able to work with third-parties to troubleshoot and resolve application and hardware issues within your infrastructure, you too should be able to communicate easily with your support staff. This means that you should expect a careful ear when contacting IT support, as well as clear responses.

Once you have established solid procedures within your organization that enable IT related issues to be resolved in the proper manner, you’ll want to consider moving forward with improvements. Your support staff will have a good understanding of your wants and needs, and can make the proper recommendations.

Establishing a level of trust within all levels of the organization is a key factor in determining the success of your IT staff.

Speaking Of Wants And Needs

It is not selfish or irresponsible to think that your business can benefit from Managed IT Support. Your company’s most valuable assets are its employees, and freeing them from the matrix of confusion and complexity when resolving computer issues, will better enable everyone to work at the peak of their performance. Contact Us to take the next step.

Website Acting Sluggish? Server Monitoring Will Tell You Why (Part 2)

Businessman troubleshooting computer with server monitoring

Server monitoring is key to network performance

Welcome back to the second half of our fantastic two-part article on how to diagnose and repair website slowness with the help of a managed monitoring system. Last time talked about the importance of a snappy website and the difficulty in speeding up the website without clues. Let’s pick back up at clue gathering.

Troubleshooting with Server Monitoring

Server monitoring is a simple phrase with a big list of applications. There are all sorts of reasons to implement server monitoring from testing your own hand-written programs to watching for malware activity. The reason it’s so diversely useful is because with server monitoring, you can watch absolutely everything about the state of your server and what it’s up to. At the most basic level, it can tell you the temperature of the CPU and going over about 85 F on a regular basis can definitely slow you down (that’s what the cleaning was for).

Beyond that, server monitoring will track things like your CPU, memory, and disk usage which are all ways to tell how many resources are available to run your website and deliver it to viewers. CPU percentage indicates how many tasks your server can do at once, memory or “RAM” is like your computer’s immediate thinking power, and Disk usage will show you how full your hard drive is (if it’s full, things stop working). If any of these seem overtaxed or approach capacity during high-traffic times, your website is likely to slow down for all users as the server struggles to serve the data they’re requesting. Server monitoring not only shows you these stats, it can keep an eye on them as your traffic fluctuates and send you an alert if any go over a designated percentage.

Tracking Your Processes

With the basics covered, server monitoring can also take an in-depth look at the processes your server is running. If you want your website to have access to 100% of the server’s resources (you do), then it’s best to remove all unnecessary programs from the computer and stop all extraneous processes. Server monitoring can show you which processes you’re running and how much of your computer’s resources they’re eating with each cycle. Not only can you discover unnecessary resource-hungry processes you can close, it may also reveal certain processes from your site that might be consuming more than their fair share of resources. This could be a clue that it’s time to update your plugins or remove features you don’t need anymore.

Identifying Bandwidth Problems

There’s also the possibility that your sluggish website is a symptom of your bandwidth rather than the performance of the server itself. With a little monitoring, if you determine that there are more than enough resources and the server is plenty responsive with non-network tasks, the issue may lie with your internet provider, cables, or network configuration instead. First, check your network settings to be sure you’re not artificially bottle-necking yourself by accident. If that’s not the case and your server is a local machine, ISPs have been known to throttle bandwidth of high-demand users, like those hosting a popular website, and you may need to buy a larger monthly package. For a cloud-hosted server, talk to your hosting provider about how you can increase your allotment of bandwidth, which will probably also result in buying a larger monthly package.

Server Monitoring as a Service

Finally, server monitoring is a wonderful tool, or rather set of tools, that allows you to keep an incredibly detailed eye on the performance of your website and the server it runs on, but it’s also incredibly complex. If you’re not personally excited by the idea of constantly checking on your computer’s temperature, resource usage, and networking speed but still want to keep your website optimized, consider hiring a professional service to monitor your server for you. They will help you determine where to set up alert points (ex: when the computer heats up over 90 F or uses over 80% of its resources) and can even help you optimize for better performance based on the information the monitoring provides.

No matter what kind of website you’re running or how many users you handle every day, you deserve the snappy page loading that only a well-optimized server can bring. With server monitoring and professional IT support, you should be able to quickly troubleshoot whether your sluggish page load is due to heat, unnecessary processes, or old platform plugins that could be updated and replaced. Whatever the cause, server monitoring will help you identify, optimize, and get your site up to speed in no time. For more great website and managed IT tips, contact us today!

The Importance of Proactive Monitoring

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Proactive monitoring combined with proactive planning can ensure your network is protected before, during, and after a cyber attack.

Even for those who are just starting their own business, most newcomers know about business security, and the threats that lurk on the Internet. Not to mention that most of it is common knowledge. As an example, many computer viruses can be found on unsuspecting websites, not to mention suspicious looking emails as well. For the former, it’s always important to make sure the websites you and your employees visit, are business oriented.

For the latter, always check to see if suspicious looking emails are valid, and be sure to confirm with the supposed sender as well. While there’s no doubt many companies take their business security seriously, however, many of them take a reactive approach to their security. In other words, they wait until a threat appears before taking action. What most businesses should be shifting to, instead, is a proactive approach. That is, preparing for any event. Here are some tips for being more proactive in the workplace.

Know What Threats Are On The Internet

In order to take a proactive approach to your business security, you first need to know what threats lurk on the Internet. As I mentioned before, some of them are common knowledge, such as computer viruses found on suspicious websites. Other programs, however, you might not know are out there until it’s too late. Not only are there computer viruses which can bypass anti-virus software, but many downloads that seem trustworthy are anything but. Most of all, you need to know how to deal with ransomware, a malicious piece of software that completely hijacks your device. Not only does the hacker demand a ransom, but your files will be deleted if it isn’t paid. Having knowledge of this ahead of time, however, can save you a lot of trouble in the long run. While ransomware if often very difficult to get rid of once your device is infected, there are numerous ways to avoid it.

Set Contingency Plans

Now that you’re more familiar with the threats that lurk on the Internet, it’s time to have a backup plan. That way, if an incident does occur, you still have everything under control. First of all, anti-virus software is a must. Aside from doing the obvious and protecting your businesses from threats, it also assists you while you’re surfing the web. For example, Kaspersky and McAfee both have a “safe search” feature of sorts. When you’re surfing the web, the search results give you an indication as to which sites are safe, and which carry potential threats. As for another contingency plan, be sure to back up your data on a regular basis. The biggest threat about viruses like ransomware, isn’t that it locks your computer, but that your sensitive data is threatened with deletion. If all your files were stored via cloud or even a USB flash drive, however, your data could still be accessed from any other device.

As you can see, these are some major pointers for shifting your business from reactive to proactive.

One reason the former strategy might not be that effective, is because when a virus gets detected on your computer, it might be too late to remove it. With a proactive approach, on the other hand, you’re always thinking ahead. Not only that, but when an incident does occur in the workplace, it doesn’t take you by surprise.

For more information about proactive solutions for your business, feel free to contact us today at SystemsNet. Between Live Answer Help Desks, Managed Service Providers, and keeping the workplace secure, we look forward to hearing from you, and assisting you in the best way possible.

Proactive Monitoring of Network Infrastructure: Lessons from an October 2016 DDoS Attack

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The October DDoS attack on Dyn showed the world how truly vulnerable and fragile our network infrastructures can be.

“It can’t happen here.” These are some of the most dangerous words business owners utter when it comes to their company’s IT system.

CSO Online highlighted this point in a recent article that urged people to anticipate new IT dangers and prepare for them even when they still seem remote. Along with malicious cyber attacks, companies face the danger of other emergencies, such as malfunctioning devices and massive network failures.

One example: The October 2016 DDoS attack

The article mentions a cyber attack that led to a massive Internet outage this past October, denying consistent access to major sites such as Twitter, Amazon, and Netflix.

The attack, which came in waves over a span of close to 12 hours, hit an Internet services company. It was a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack that used millions of Internet-connected devices, including security cameras, to send unsustainable amounts of traffic to the targeted company’s servers.

What are some of the lessons we can take from this attack?

  • Scant protection for Internet-connected devices can cause serious problems. Cyber criminals used a malware program to infect the devices and control them, allowing the DDoS attack to launch in a massive way from numerous systems. These devices generally had deficient protection against malware. For example, they may not have had strong passwords or firewalls, and they may have remained completely open to the public Internet. If a device is left with poor defenses, it can get exploited for nefarious purposes. That’s why it’s critical to choose the best devices, configure them properly, and monitor their activity. Understand the vulnerabilities of each device, and introduce it to your network only as needed.
  • Attacks can come from anywhere and for many reasons. There’s a misconception that cyber attacks get carried out only by computer experts. The reality is that even people without much training can use relatively simple programs or buy services from a shady entity to perpetrate cyber crimes. In this recent DDoS attack, the malware program that infected the Internet-connected devices was straightforward to use; it didn’t demand a high level of skill. Another point to consider is that attacks may stem from a range of motives. The usual ones involve stealing sensitive data for financial purposes. But there are potentially other reasons as well, including vengeance and political protests. It won’t always be clear why you’re under attack or what the cyber criminals want.
  • Monitoring for unusual network activity is critical. It isn’t possible to anticipate or fully block every single attack that may come your way. However, the proactive monitoring of network infrastructure and activity can still give you a warning that something is wrong. The sooner you detect a problem, the more likely you are to either thwart it completely or mitigate its effects. You’re less likely to get blindsided and have to scramble unprepared for a solution. Even if an attack gets launched on a massive scale, like the DDoS attack in October, proactive monitoring and organized defenses may still curb some of the worst effects. You’ll be able to regroup more quickly and reduce the amount of downtime you experience.

Protecting your network can seem like a daunting task, and in many ways it is. Unfortunately there isn’t any one protection that works 100% of the time. However, there are still effective measures for preventing or limiting cyber crimes and other IT emergencies. Monitoring your network round-the-clock is one of the best decisions you can make to protect your company.

Don’t hesitate to contact us to further discuss our network monitoring services. Unlike a purely reactive attitude, which results in a costly lack of preparedness, a proactive approach for your IT activities will save you money and unnecessary frustration. It will decrease the chances that you’ll suffer from protracted downtime and suffer serious damage to your system.