Top 10 Box.net Features that Businesses Love

Business today is different. Partners work in remote locations, teammates telecommute, and frequent flyers rely on mobile phones. Shouldn’t the tools we use be different, too? That’s where Box comes in. Box has what you need for file sharing, collaboration, online workspace, file system, group discussion, team collaboration and an FTP replacement solution.

Online Workspaces:  Create shared workspaces and easily invite team members to upload files, start discussions and collaborate online.

File Sharing:  Easily share large files both within your company and with external partners replacing FTP software and email attachments. You can even see when your files are downloaded!

Folder Layers:  Create and organize multiple layers of folders replacing your file server with an online company-wide file system.

Mobile Access:  View your files on any browser-enabled mobile device and use Box’s apps on the iPhone and Blackberry.

File Commenting, Group Discussions and Online Documents:  Leave comments attached to a specific document, start a group discussion, or create and share a simple document.

Updates:  Like a newsfeed for your shared workspace, keep up with all activity via the Updates tab in Box and through email.

Version History:  View previous versions of your files even after changes are made and new versions are uploaded. (Business only)

User Management:  Manage users easily, control data access and review reports on content usage and activity using the Admin Console. *Business only

Security Controls:  Set various levels of view and edit permission, set up a time to auto-delete a file or deactivate a link, and password protect sensitive folders or files (Business only)

Easy-to-Use:  Minimize user training and support costs, eliminate software or hardware maintenance, and get started in just minutes.

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10% OFF Barracuda Web Filter

The Barracuda Web Filter is an integrated content filtering, application blocking and malware protection solution that is powerful, easy to use and affordable for businesses of all sizes. It enforces Internet usage policies by blocking access to Web sites and Internet applications that are not related to business, and it easily and completely eliminates spyware and other forms of malware from your organization. No more productivity loss trying to repair computers or make computers usable again.

• Blocks access to Web sites based on domain, URL pattern, or content category
• Blocks downloads based on file type
• Blocks applications that access the Internet, including IM, music services, and software update utilities
• Integrates with “safe search” filters built into popular images search engines
• Provides integrated gateway and desktop spyware protection

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The Barracuda Web Filter combines preventative, reactive, and proactive measures to form a complete Web filtering solution. Designed for the enterprise, the Barracuda Web Filter enables you to set up custom policies for particular user and groups across customizable time ranges. The Barracuda Web Filter integrates with popular LDAP directory servers, such as Microsoft Active Directory, for both authentication and group membership information on which to apply custom policies. Sample uses of group policies include:

• Restricting access to job board Web sites to only the Human Resources group
• Defining separate policies for teachers and students at a school
• Enabling compliance officers unrestricted access to the Web for investigation
• Providing external instant messaging (e.g., AIM) access only to specific users or groups
• Restricting personal Web browsing to non-working hours

For organizations that do not utilize directory servers, policies can be defined for unauthenticated users as a whole, locally defined users and groups, or network IP address ranges.

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10% OFF Barracuda Spam & Virus Firewall

The Barracuda Spam & Virus Firewall is an integrated hardware and software solution for complete protection of your email server. It provides a powerful, easy-to-use and affordable solution to eliminating spam and viruses from your organization’s email by providing the following protection:

• Anti-spam
• Anti-virus
• Anti-spoofing
• Anti-phishing
• Anti-spyware (Attachments)
• Denial of Service

The Barracuda Spam & Virus Firewall is compatible with all email servers and can fit into nearly any corporate or small business environment. It is used by small organizations with as few as 10 employees and large organizations with as many as 200,000 employees. A single Barracuda Spam & Virus Firewall handles up to 100,000 active email users. Multiple units can be clustered together for even greater capacity and high availability.

The Barracuda Spam & Virus Firewall protects your email server with twelve defense layers:

1. Network Denial of Service Protection
2. Rate Control
3. IP Reputation Analysis
4. Sender Authentication
5. Recipient Verification
6. Virus Scanning
7. Policy (User-specified rules)
8. Spam Fingerprint Check
9. Intent Analysis
10. Image Analysis
11. Bayesian Analysis
12. Rule-based Scoring

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Top 10 IT Pro Tasks Made Easier with Windows Server 2008 R2

Do more with less. This has been the server manager’s mantra for several years but never more than now. Fortunately, Windows Server 2008 R2 has got your back with numerous and varied features designed specifically to address IT’s current challenges while making day-to-day life a little easier.

1. Migrating VMs without Service Interruption

Windows Server 2008’s Quick Migration was an adequate feature, allowing administrators to move VMs between physical hosts with only short downtime. Trouble is, even that delay was long enough to drop any currently connected users or applications and that tends to arouse help desk ire. Windows Server 2008 R2 meets this challenge with Live Migration.

Live Migration leverages Windows Clustering Services and the Cluster Shared Volumes technology to transfer VMs in milliseconds. That means no dropped connections and a much more dynamic data center management environment. We’ve also added Live Migration features to System Center Virtual Machine Manager, including the ability to perform migrations based on policy. It’s a brave new virtual world.

2. Branch File Access Performance Up; WAN Costs Down

Branch offices can be the bane of both server and desktop administrators. Remote workers can’t find files due to lack of access or can’t get them fast enough because of bandwidth constraints. Enter another key Windows Server 2008 R2 feature: BranchCache™.

Administrators can use BranchCache to track file access requests at the branch office, and the files can be cached there. Files can be retrieved from other branch office client PCs (a peer-to-peer caching model, known as distributed mode) or from a dedicated BranchCache™ server at the remote site (also called hosted mode). A central BranchCache™ server keeps track of both existing file requests and file updates to ensure all requests receive only the most current content.

The result is an easy-to-configure and easy-to-maintain caching solution that speeds the servicing of remote client requests and lowers WAN bandwidth utilization at the same time.

3. Self-Adjusting Server and Data Center Power Management

Green IT may be the single hottest mandate from upper-level business management to IT in 2008, and the trend is likely to continue in 2009. To help harried IT managers go green quickly and easily, Microsoft is doing its part with new power management updates in Windows Server 2008 R2.

First, there’s an exciting new feature called Core Parking. When this feature is enabled, Windows Server 2008 R2 will constantly monitor the various workloads running across multi-core server systems. If certain processor cores are under-utilized or unnecessary, Core Parking can set just those cores into sleep mode, thus saving significant power. If workloads suddenly increase, R2 can spin up dormant cores in a matter of milliseconds. So a server with 64 logical cores can drop to just a 4-core machine during low-utilization times and rev back up to full CPU power as soon as workloads increase.

In addition, Windows Server 2008 R2 enables administrators to design active power policies that can cause servers to ‘throttle-down’ during off-hours by using DMTF-compliant remote management interfaces.

4. Remote Server Management

Doing more with less includes traveling. Managing servers effectively no matter where they are physically located is always a problem. Windows Server 2008 R2 addresses this challenge with a Server Manager that can be installed on workstations and pointed at servers from afar. In addition, Server Manager has new management consoles devoted specifically to remote management tasks across all server roles.

5. Squeeze the Most from Your Hardware

Virtualization might be a major boon when it comes to server consolidation, but the other half of that equation is squeezing every last drop of performance out of your virtualization hosts. Windows Server 2008 R2 has several new features designed to take full advantage of all any hardware config.

First, because it takes advantage of the last two years of 64-bit server CPU manufacturing, Windows Server 2008 R2 is the first Microsoft server operating system to take only the 64-bit road. Your 32-bit applications will continue to run flawlessly on R2, but the 64-bit operating system is much better designed to take advantage of those high-end server CPUs from AMD and Intel.

And more of them, too—with Windows Server 2008 R2 scaling up to address as many as 256 logical processors in a single server, and Hyper-V in R2 is able to utilize up to 64 logical processors. That’s four times the CPU support of Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 RTM! R2 can also take advantage of advanced CPU features, including Second Level Translation for much-improved memory management. It all adds up to more server muscle for your data center dollar. When combined with the consolidation power of Hyper-V, it means R2 can make a significant dent in your annual IT spend.

6. Do Better at Managing Virtual Data Centers

Data centers have gone virtual with a speed that’s surprised even the experts. But although the technology’s potential is easily realized, tools to effectively manage large pools of virtualized resources have been slower to emerge. Windows Server 2008 R2 helps fill that void with a slick update to Hyper-V™.

The new Hyper-V™ sports numerous improvements over the old, including support for both 32- and 64-bit VMs, larger memory support (up to 64GB per VM), pass through disk access, and new hardware sharing architectures for resources like disk, networking, and video. But Hyper-V™ hasn’t left managers out in the cold—it includes new consoles for Live Migration and high-availability clusters, support for WMI management extensibility, and day-to-day tools to make life easier such as Virtual Machine snapshots. And last (but definitely not least), Hyper-V™ also sports a host of new support from PowerShell 2.0 with a slew of new dedicated cmdlets.

7. Create Customized and Automated Management Tools

Canned management tools are great, but in large scenarios and especially vertical environments, being able to build your own management tool box is critical. Microsoft took an exciting step in this direction with the release of PowerShell 1.0 with Windows Server 2008. With Windows Server 2008 R2, we’ve reacted to the hugely positive customer feedback around this feature with a revamped and updated PowerShell version 2.0.

PowerShell v2 carries improvements across the board with improved remote management via WS-Management, better security with features like constrained runspaces, extended scripting functionality, and even improved script portability via XML. You’ll find a new Graphical PowerShell that adds pro developer-class IDE features, including colored syntaxing and better debugging tools for building your own cmdlets. And lets not forget about the over 240 new cmdlets that ship with R2 right out of the box.

8. Use Virtualization to Ease Desktop Management

The Hyper-V™ server virtualization feature is only half of the virtualization message in Windows Server 2008 R2. Desktop and application management has always been a troublesome task because of the distributed nature of its targets. With R2, however, Microsoft presents a centralized solution to many of these difficulties via presentation virtualization.

The new Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) in Windows Server 2008 R2 figures largely in this vision, and builds on the solid presentation virtualization foundation we built into Windows Server 2008’s Terminal Services. With the advent of Window Server 2008 R2, this is now called Remote Desktop Services under which VDI encompases a centralized desktop delivery architecture that allows customers to centralize the storage, execution, and management of a Windows® desktop or application in the data center. This capability gives desktop and application administrators a whole new toolkit for better enablement of flexible work scenarios, including work-from-home and hot-desking as well as increased data security, compliance, and more efficient management of the desktop operating system and applications.

9. Broaden Remote Access Adoption while Making it Easier to Manage

Green IT, skyrocketing gas prices, a slow economy, and a need to get the job done no matter where it might be—all these factors combine to make remote computing one of the most important and difficult IT management tasks at the moment. Windows Server 2008 R2 addresses this with an exciting new feature that seeks to turn your clunky VPN into something as easy to manage and reliable as a dial tone.

DirectAccess (DA) is a comprehensive anywhere access solution that enables organizations to provide always-on, secure connectivity to on-premise and remote users alike. It improves security and lowers total cost of ownership (TCO). DA eliminates the need to connect explicitly with the corporate network while roaming and provides organizations with the next generation of policy-based, secure connectivity. To end users, the concept of remote computing goes away because DA and Windows 7 combine to present them with an always-on connection to their corporate network whether they’re attached to a local, remote or even public network.

DA uses technologies already included with Windows Server 2008, including IPsec and IPv6, but combines these with an easy wizard-style configuration and management toolkit that enables administrators to build and maintain DA. To maintain reliability and security, DA also takes advantage of many of the innovations found in other Microsoft products and services such as Network Access Protection, Server and Domain Isolation, and Forefront™ Client Security. In addition, the Microsoft Forefront Intelligent Application Gateway (IAG) can enhance deployment and management.

10. Take Your Web and Application Serving to the Next Level

Windows Server 2008 R2 includes many enhancements that make it the best Windows Server for Web applications and services yet, most notable of these: Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.5.

Overworked server administrators will appreciate the updated Web server, which includes features that streamline management by extending the functionality of IIS Manager to include new configuration modules, by implementing a new Windows PowerShell Provider and task-based cmdlets for IIS, and by offering support for .NET on Server Core—that means not just more application flexibility with ASP.NET now available on Server Core, but remote administration through IIS Manager and Server Manager as well. IIS 7.5 also integrates new support and troubleshooting features, including configuration logging and a dedicated Best Practice Analyzer, and integrates many of the more popular extensions for IIS, including updated versions of Secure FTP and WebDAV.

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Top 10 Reasons to Upgrade to Windows Server 2008 R2

1. Powerful Hardware and Scaling Features

Windows Server 2008 R2 was designed to perform as well or better for the same hardware base as Windows Server 2008. In addition, R2 is the first Windows Server operating system to move solely to a 64-bit architecture.

Windows Server 2008 R2 also has several CPU-specific enhancements. First, this version expands CPU support to enable customers to run with up to 256 logical processors. R2 also supports Second Level Translation (SLAT), which enables R2 to take advantage of the Enhanced Page Tables feature found in the latest AMD CPUs as well as the similar Nested Page Tables feature found in Intel’s latest processors. The combination enables R2 servers to run with much improved memory management.

Components of Windows Server 2008 R2 have received hardware boosts as well. Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2 can now access up to 64 logical CPUs on host computers—twice Hyper-V’s initial number of supported CPUs. This capability not only takes advantage of new multicore systems, it also means greater virtual machine consolidation ratios per physical host.

2. Reduced Power Consumption

Windows Server 2008 introduced a ‘balanced’ power policy, which monitors the utilization level of the processors on the server and dynamically adjusts the processor performance states to limit power to the needs of the workload. Windows Server 2008 R2 enhances this power saving feature by adding Core Parking and expanding on power-oriented Group Policy settings.

Active Directory® Domain Services Group Policy in Windows Server 2008 already gave administrators a certain amount of control over power management on client PCs. These capabilities are enhanced in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows® 7 to provide even more precise control in more deployment scenarios for even greater potential savings.

3. Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2

Windows Server 2008 R2 also holds the much-anticipated update to Microsoft’s virtualization technology, Hyper-V™. The new Hyper-V™ was designed to augment both existing virtual machine management as well as to address specific IT challenges, especially around server migration.

Hyper-V™ is an enabling technology for one of Windows Server 2008 R2’s marquee features, Live Migration. With Hyper-V version 1.0, Windows Server 2008 was capable of Quick Migration, which could move VMs between physical hosts with only a few seconds of down-time. Still, those few seconds were enough to cause difficulties in certain scenarios, especially those including client connections to VM-hosted servers. With Live Migration, moves between physical targets happen in milliseconds, which means migration operations become invisible to connected users.

Customers employing System Center Virtual Machine Manager for Hyper-V will also enjoy additional management and orchestration scenarios, including a new VM-oriented Performance and Resource Optimization feature and updated support for managing failover clusters.

The new Hyper-V™ also has core performance enhancements, including the previously mentioned ability to take advantage of up to 64 logical processors and to beef up that CPU performance with host support for Second Level Translation (SLAT). Finally, VMs can also add and remove storage without requiring a reboot and also boot from VHD as well.

4. Reduced Desktop Costs with VDI

Much of the interest in virtualization solutions is in the server world. However, equally exciting advances are being made in presentation virtualization, where processing happens on a server optimized for capacity and availability while graphics, keyboard, mouse, and other user I/O functions are handled at the user’s desktop.

Windows Server 2008 R2 contains enhanced Virtual Desktop Integration (VDI) technology, which extends the functionality of Terminal Services to deliver certain business programs to their employee’s remote desktops. With VDI,  programs that Remote Desktop Services sends to a computer are now available on the Start menu right alongside programs that are locally installed. This approach provides improved desktop virtualization and better application virtualization.

Desktop virtualization will benefit from features including improved personalization management, a near-invisible integration of virtualized desktops and applications in Windows 7, better audio and graphics performance, a seriously cool Web access update and more. VDI provides more efficient use of virtualized resources and better integration with local peripheral hardware as well as powerful new virtual management features.

5. Easier and More Efficient Server Management

Although increasing the capabilities of your server operating system is always a good thing, the perceived downside has always been additional complexity and workload for day-to-day server managers. Windows Server 2008 R2 specifically addresses this problem with lots of work evident across all of its management-oriented consoles. Features in these tools include:

Improved data center power consumption and management, as evidenced earlier

Improved remote administration, including a remotely-installable Server Manager

Improved identity management features via the updated and simplified Active Directory Domain Services and Active Directory Federated Services

Windows Server 2008 R2 also improves on the popular PowerShell feature introduced in Windows Server 2008. PowerShell 2.0 significantly enhances the earlier version with the inclusion of more than 240 new pre-built cmdlets as well as a new graphical user interface (GUI) that adds professional-level development features for creating new cmdlets. The new GUI includes colored syntaxing, new production script debugging capabilities, and new testing tools.

6. Managing Data Not just Managing Storage

Managing storage isn’t just about managing disks. Storage volume is increasing at a 51% compounded annual growth rate between 2008 and 2012 according to IDC. To keep pace and stay competitive, organizations must begin managing data, not just disks. Windows Server 2008 R2 gives IT administrators the tools for precisely this kind of initiative with the new File Classification Infrastructure (FCI). This new features builds an extensible and automated classification mechanism on top of existing shared file architectures; this enables IT administrators to direct specific actions for specific files based on entirely customizable classification. FCI is also extensible to partners, which means Windows Server 2008 R2 users can expect to see additional capabilities around FCI being delivered by ISVs in the near future.

7. Ubiquitous Remote Access

Today’s mobile workforce is increasing the demand on IT to provide remote access to corporate resources. However, managing remote computers is an ongoing challenge, with low wide are network (WAN) bandwidth and sporadic connection and re-connection processes interfering with lengthier desktop management tasks such as Group Policy changes and up-to-date patching.

Windows Server 2008 R2 introduces a new type of connectivity called DirectAccess—a powerful way for remote users to seamlessly access corporate resources without requiring a traditional VPN connection and client software. Using technologies that shipped in Windows Server 2008, Microsoft has added simple management wizards that enable administrators to configure SSTP and IPv6 across both R2 and Windows 7 clients to enable the basic DirectAccess connection, and then augment that connection with additional R2 management and security tools, including management policies and NAP.

With DirectAccess, every user is considered remote all of the time. Users are no longer required to distinguish between local and remote connections. DirectAccess handles all of these distinctions in the background. IT professionals retain precise access control and full perimeter security, helping to ease both desktop security and management headaches on both sides of the connection.

8. Improved Branch Office Performance and Management

Many branch office IT architectures have relatively low bandwidth. Slow WAN links impact the productivity of branch office employees waiting to access content from the main office, and costs for branch office bandwidth allocation can amount to as much as 33 % of overall corporate IT spending. To address this challenge, Windows Server 2008 R2 introduces a feature called BranchCache™, which reduces WAN utilization and improves the responsiveness of network applications.

With BranchCache™, clients who request access to data on the organization’s network are sent directions to the file on the local (branch office) network if the file has ever been requested there before. If the file is stored locally, those clients get immediate high-speed access. Such files can be stored either on a local BranchCache™ server for larger branch offices or simply on local Windows 7 PCs.

9. Simplified Management for SMBs

With Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsoft is focusing more attention at the SMB and mid-market customer. This new focus provides these customers with a rich landscape of Microsoft product offerings, from Small Business Server up to Windows Essential Business Server and now Windows Server 2008 Standard. All SKUs are being outfitted with new management tools to make SMB IT Pro life easier.

Active Directory’s new Active Directory Administration Center is one example—all those disparate management GUIs now hosted in a single interface and all based on PowerShell. Additionally, there are the Best Practice Analyzers, which Microsoft has extended to every server role to keep all your server configs in sync with the latest know-how.

And last but not least, there’s the new Windows Server Backup utility. Long a second-class citizen, this updated, in-the-box backup app has been significantly upgraded to include more granular support for designing backup jobs, including support for system state operations; and, it’s been optimized to run both faster and to use less disk space.

10. The Strongest Web and Application Server to Date

Windows Server 2008 R2 includes many updates that make it the best Windows Server application platform yet, but one of the most important is the new Internet Information Services 7.5 (IIS 7.5).

The updated Web server includes features that streamline management by extending IIS Manager, implementing the IIS PowerShell Provider and taking advantage of .NET on Server Core. IIS 7.5 also integrates new support and troubleshooting features, including configuration logging and a dedicated Best Practice Analyzer. Last, we’ve integrated several of the most popular optional extensions associated with Windows Server 2008, including URLScan 3.0 (now known as the Request Filter Module).

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Cyber criminals targeting small businesses

Original article By Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Cyber criminals are increasingly targeting small and medium-sized businesses that don’t have the resources to keep updating their computer security, according to federal authorities.

Many of the attacks are being waged by organized cyber groups that are based abroad, and they are able to steal not only credit card numbers, but personal information — including Social Security numbers — of the card holders, said Michael Merritt, assistant director of the U.S. Secret Service’s office of investigations.

Merritt, in testimony prepared for the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, said that as larger companies have taken on more sophisticated computer network protections, cyber criminals have adapted and gone after the smaller businesses who do not have such high-level security.

Phil Reitinger, the deputy under secretary at the Department of Homeland Security said there are many simple steps that businesses can take to protect themselves.

“Securing the entrances of one’s factory or store is second nature to any business owner and so cyber security protections must become,” he said in his testimony to the panel. He added that a recent study suggested that as many as 87 percent of data breaches could be avoided by installing simple to intermediate preventative measures.

Reitinger and Merritt said government agencies are working to coordinate more both with each other and with the private sector to improve cyber security.

But lawmakers working on cyber security legislation in several committees across Capitol Hill are pressing for the administration to do more.

“Security cannot be achieved by the government alone,” said Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, I-Conn. and chairman of the homeland security panel. “Public-private partnership is essential. Together, business, government, law enforcement, and our foreign allies must partner to mitigate these attacks and bring these criminals to justice.”

Welcome to Single Point of Contact’s Blog!

As of today, Single Point of Contact is proud to announce the launch of our new blog. This site will bring you the latest news from Single Point of Contact, including new services, product offerings, and success stories. We will also be featuring important news from top technology companies, keeping you in the know about the latest tech trends.

Stay tuned for lots of great things from Single Point of Contact.