How to find an affordable, updated machine that meets your needs

By: Chris Peters

In September 2007 Lasa’s Ian Runeckles started to notice that his personal Sony Vaio running Windows XP Home was taking longer and longer to boot up. After some serious investigation he decided it was time to bite the bullet, replace the hard drive and reinstall everything. This is how it went…

Source: http://lasa.org.uk/it/

By Lasa Information Systems Team

Courtesy of www.ictknowledgebase.org.uk/

Wireless network technology allows computers to communicate with each other via radio signals rather than cables. In its broadest meaning, wireless networking includes mobile and satellite phones, pagers, two-way radios, wireless Local Area Networks and modems. This article focuses on wireless networks i.e. computer networks that are generally confined to the same building or site. A wireless LAN is often part of an existing wired network but can also be standalone systems.

Thin client networks have been around for a long time, but what are they and when is appropriate to use them? This article gives an overview thin client networks, their pros and cons, and options available.

Overview and History of Thin Client Computing

By Ian Ryder, IT Consultant, appiChar

The concept of thin client computing is not a new one – before PCs came along most large businesses used mainframe computers to process data. These generally consisted of powerful central computers that handled all data processing. Users of these computers had dumb terminals that could only handle simple text entry and display – no mice! These dumb terminals communicated directly to the central mainframe for almost everything they did.

One beauty of this set up is that support costs were minimal – in fact, modern-style IT helpdesks were relatively unheard of as there was no need to have engineers running around fixing problems. Either it was a programming problem or some piece of hardware needed replacing!

Then along came the PC. Suddenly data was being held on computers running on people’s desks. It seemed the age of centralised computing was over as users got used to graphical displays and being able to perform a number of tasks with just one computer rather than different dumb terminals for different applications.

By:Morgan Killick

Courtesy of www.ictknowledgebase.org.uk/

So you think you want a Server? But are you ready for one? This article discusses some of the most popular reasons for acquiring a Server, potential drawbacks, costs involved in purchasing, installation and support, and prerequisites for getting one.

By Lasa Information Systems Team

Courtesy of www.ictknowledgebase.org.uk/

Every organisation needs at least one printer. However, with massive choice spanning a wide range of options, how do you find your way to the right printer for the job?

By Lasa Information Systems Team

Courtesy of www.ictknowledgebase.org.uk/

One barrier to using an Apple Mac in the office has been a lack of compatibility between Mac computers and Windows fileservers and Windows Exchange Servers. Apple Mac’s have traditionally been associated with education and creative arts, rarely breaking through into the world of the Windows dominated office. However, that has changed with the introduction of Apple OS 10.4. In this article, we’ll outline how easy it can be to connect a Mac to a Windows network, Windows network printer and Windows Exchange server.

As the price of Apple Mac’s has fallen, more and more people have thought about buying one for their office. Macs after all have a reputation for reliability, require less IT support, and well… just look so good on the desk.

However, more than one systems administrator has given up after failing to connect a Mac to the Windows fileserver or Exchange Server.  Much of this is do with Apple Mac and Microsoft Windows using different technologies and protocols to communicate.

The latest release of Mac OS 10.4, and some handy tools from Microsoft now makes the Mac an almost equal player in a Windows network, and a very attractive buying proposition for IT administrators.  Just to show how easy it has become, this whole article was written on an iMac, connected to the Lasa fileserver running Microsoft Small Business Server 2000.

At the end of this article there is a tutorial your Systems Administrator or IT Support Company can download that steps through how to connect a Mac to your Windows network.

By Lasa Information Systems Team

Courtesy of www.ictknowledgebase.org.uk/