Technical terms like Maximum Tolerable Period of Disruption (MTPOD), Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO) are often used, but what do they really mean? In practical terms, Recovery Time Objective (RTO) is the duration until a business can return to normal after the failure of a server or key computer site, and Recovery Point Objective (RPO) is the place in the transaction flow where the business resumes.

For business owners we would urge decision makers to consider the following three questions seriously:

• Recovery Time Objective (RTO) – How long can your business afford to be down?
• Recovery Point Objective (RPO) – How often do you backup? How much data can you business afford to lose in the event of a disaster?
• Level of Service (LOS) – What are the business’ critical servers and essential units that cannot be disrupted?

Implementing a disaster recovery plan includes documenting the process to bring a server or group of servers back online in the event of failure. An overlooked step in the process often flows from the assumption that an IT expert is always readily available. Due to the typical unpredictability of a disaster, in-house IT staff (if you have any atl all) may take time to find and start action. Ancar B can help develop a disaster recovery plan and, through an IT Support contract, support the recovery process so that systems and processes are restored as efficiently as possible.

How long can you afford to be down?

Ancar B consultants can help you in reviewing your disaster recovery and business continuity plan and define a realistic picture of expectations. We can provide clarity on what may be costly backup alternatives to cover aspects of daily operations that may not be critical and help you focus on the level of protection necessary to cover the RTO, RPO and LSO. In summary, defining the aspects of your company’s business that must stay operational.

For advice on business continuity and disaster recovery, please do not hesitate to call Ancar B on 0845 077 8883.

If you need to create a connection using 256 (8bit) colour mode, follow the instructions below:

1. Open the Remote Desktop icon
2. Create the connection with the required details, computer Name, Username etc
3. Click the options button so you can see the Save option
4. Click the Save as option and Save this to your desktop
5. Open Notepad and then drag and drop the RDP icon onto the newly opened notepad
6. You will now see loads of text, search through untill you see “session bpp:i:16” (the end number could say 8, 24 or 32)
7. Finally edit this so it says “session bpp:i:8” and save
8. now if you double click the saved RDP icon it will connect in 256 (8bit) colour mode!!

Well here you go!

Small Business Server 2003

• Post 25 – SMTP
• Port 80 – HTTP
• Port 443 – HTTPS
• Port 444 – CompanyWeb,
• Port 4125 – Remote Web Workplace, Remote desktop from RWW
• Port 1723 – VPN

Small Business Server 2008

• Port 25 – SMTP
• Port 80 – HTTP
• Port 443 – HTTPS
• Port 987 – CompanyWeb
• Port 1723 – VPN

This is caused by a little known issue in Vista where a certain key in the registry becomes corrupted, normally by a 3rd party registry cleaning program.

Anyway, don’t despair, the fix is below:

If your PC is part of a domain and has offline files setup follow Parts 1 & 2, if not head straight to Part 2.

Part 1 – Disable Offline Files:

1. Open the control panel
2. Click on the offline files icon
3. Click “disable offline files” (if it says “enable offline file” click this the click apply then click “disable offline files”)
4. If you get any UAC prompts click continue then click “OK”
5. Finally restart you PC

Part 2 – Amending the Registry

1. Determine your Vista version, 32 or 64bit – Click start, right click Computer, selected properties and check system type on the right
2. Download the “VistaFolderGlitch32.rar” or “VistaFolderGlitch64.rar ” file (depending Vista version)
3. Extract the contents of the RAR archive (use WinRar from www.rarlabs.com) to your desktop
4. Finally run the file, OK the security warning and any UAC messages.
5. Finally reboot the computer and all should be fine

Backwards compatibility prevented many companies from deploying Windows XP upon it’s release in 2002 as the NT Kernel changes meant that many applications were no longer compatible with the mainstream Operating Systems at the time.

By utilizing Virtualisation, Microsoft are have pretty much guaranteed that a correctly spec’d Windows 7 PC will still run your “Legacy” applications from Windows XP.

The Windows 7 “XP Mode” runs a Windows XP Virtual Machine on your Windows 7 desktop using Microsoft’s Virtual PC technology. When up and running, you can install your legacy applications inside your Windows XP knowing they will work. Once installed on your XP VM, you will find them conveniently located in your Windows 7 start menu and able to be run on your usual desktop.

I must also warn, that NOT ALL applications will be able to be run from your Windows 7 start menu, but they can still be operated from within your Windows XP Mode VM.

So, what’s required to be able to run the Windows XP Mode?

Hardware wise you need at least 2GB or RAM in your computer, and a Processor that supports Chip-Level Virtualisation. Does your CPU support Virtualisation? Use “Securable” to find out.

Additionally you will need to install the Windows XP Mode updates for your Windows 7 PC from Microsoft. There is a link for that here. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx

So, with a little forward planning and testing, deploying Windows 7 across your organisation need not be the headache usually associated with OS Upgrades. I would also suggest speaking with your IT Support company/department to ensure your network will accept Windows 7 clients before pushing to test it.

Please Note:- The XP Virtual Machine WILL require security to prevent the same threats as your desktop PC. i.e. Antivirus.

So we thought it was about time we started blogging to share our opinions and views of the industry. We have a group of people willing to talk to anyone that will listen and these members of the Ancar B team are going to put time into the blog in order to make it a success. Among these people will be Andrew Barnes (Managing Director), Rob Jennings (Services team manager), John Rider (Help Desk team manager) and myself Martin Riley, a technical consultant.

We’re hoping that you’ll appreciate our posts and that they will be of use to you. On our blog we’ll be mentioning company news, but we’ll be driving the blog as a discussion point for industry news as well as a little bit of a technical reference for customers. I can’t guarantee that some of us won’t get carried away and have the occasional debate about football. After all, some of our staff can get rather chatty when it comes to sport!