QNAP 859 Pro+ Rack Mount

Hi folks! As you know I’m a big fan of QNAP, but I wanted to talk about one of their higher end products.

The QNAP 859 Pro+ is a storage device from QNAP that allows you to rack mount it’s storage. Why is this great? Well there are a lot of small businesses out there that use racks instead of normal desktop models.

The QNAP rack mounted version of the 859 Pro+ is very quick and it’s benchmark speeds beat most of it’s competitors. It’s a great device for virtualization in an SMB environment.

-RP

BlackBerry PlayBook

Hi folks! So with the anticipation of the PlayBook’s arrival, RIM is looking for developers! This goes back to my concerns about the device.

A long time ago I mentioned that their biggest problem is software support. This is a problem that Apple and Google just don’t have with their devices. RIM is trying hard to get developers to come to them so they are even offering a free PlayBook.

I don’t know how well this would work, time will tell. Read more about it here.

Firefox 4

Hi folks! So the latest version of Firefox is out!

If you’ve been following the IT news, everyone has new browsers out, IE, Chrome, and now finally Firefox! The version is Firefox 4 and it’s great! There are a lot of great new features in Firefox 4 such as app tabs and a reduced screen footprint so you have more browsing area.

It might take a little getting used to, but right now I’m loving it! You can read more about Firefox 4 features here.

-RP

Interviewed!

Hi folks! Recently i was interviewed by one our very own bloggers here at TechTarget, Shilpa. She does a great blog and does an interview series.

When asked to do the interview I was happy to participate. You can read the whole interview on her blog. Hopefully I don’t bore you too much!

You can see it here.

-RP

Veeam Backup!

Hi folks! So if you follow my blog you have probably read about Veeam before.

It’s one of my favourite backup solutions for VMware environments. Veeam has been steadily improving it’s product offering and has always been at the forefront of virtual machine backup solutions in my opinion. Now they have gone a step farther.

Veeam is offering an NFR copy of Veeam free to VCP’s! Now that’s the way a company should do it! This will do wonders for the VCP community and I applaud Veeam for helping all of us VCP’s out!

You can read more about it here to get your free NFR key.

-RP

Exchange 2010 SP1 prerequisites

Hi folks! So you know all those prereqs for Exchange 2010? What happens when you install SP1?

Well there are some changes but they are minor. Make sure you have the Office 2010 filter packs installed for example. There are also some hotfixes you need. You can get them here.

You can also read about general Exchange 2010 prereqs here. Remember, Exchange 2010 installation will go smoothly but only if you make sure you follow the rules and install those prereqs!

-RP

Kaseya Connect!

Hi folks! So for those of you that took my advice and started using Kaseya, good for you! The Kaseya conference is coming soon!

For those of you that haven’t, give Kaseya a spin and see how you like it, it’s a great product! The Kaseya conference is a great opportunity to look at all things Kaseya and see what the offerings are. You also have an opportunity to chat with the Kaseya staff and ask those questions you always wanted to.

You can register here.

-RP

Exchange 2010

Hi folks! So more and more I am seeing upgrades to Exchange 2010 these days. That’s a good thing!

Why is it a good thing? Well with Exchange 2010 you have DAG! I do see a few holdovers these days sticking to Exchange 2003, but people really should get with the times and move to 2010. Also now that SP1 is out, we are much farther down the supported path!

Reports are that Microsoft reduced IO requirements with Exchange 2010 as compared to 2003 so that’s just another reason yet to upgrade. You can read more about it here.

-RP

EPIC Technology Day

Hi folks! It’s getting to be that time of year again. EPIC Technology day is just around the corner!

This year it will be on April 12, 2011. We will have David Scott the former CEO of 3Par and now the HP Senior VP for StorageWorks as the keynote speaker. Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you know that 3Par was one of the larger acquisitions in the IT world this year.

Make sure you come down and hear what David Scott and all the other presenters have to say. You can register on the EPIC web site as per usual.

-RP

3 TB Drives

Hi folks! Now that 3 TB drives are available, it’s great news for the SMB! Why you ask?

Because with 3 TB sata drives you can greatly increase your capacity in an SMB NAS or SAN device. For example, the latest QNAP devices support 3 TB sata drives. In an 8 drive capacity QNAP, you have 24 TB of raw storage for a really cheap price point!

Sure, you don’t necessarily get the enterprise grade features, but when it comes to very small businesses, this is all they need. Whether you use the storage for backup or virtualization, you’ll have more than enough storage to last you a while. Especially at this price point you can double up and create an offsite replication as well.

-RP