New Podcast: The Value of KVM in ILO Enviroments

From HP website: “HP remote management gives you virtual presence, i.e. complete control as if you were in front of servers in datacenters or remote sites.”

Some IT managers believe HP iLO replaces the need for KVM.

We think differently. Learn why this is not the case in our latest Podcast: The Value of KVM in ILO Environments

Speaker: David Zucker, Director of KVM Business Development
Duration: 4:07 minutes
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Related Material:

• White Paper: Remote KVM access - Planning your Remote KVM strategy
• Case Study: AGH (DX System & IP Control) Polish University
• Featured Product: KVM.net II - Centralized Access Management Solution
  
  
  
  

Interop Vegas - Day 1, David Zucker Twitter Updates

First photos from Interop Vegas.... Minicom in Wright Line booth #1861

Minicom's Video Display System is being used at the Wright Line booth.

Follow David Zucker on Twitter: www.twitter.com/davidzucker

Improved Out-of-Band Remote Access for Mixed Linux and Windows Clients Environments

Press Release:

Latest IP KVM extenders and switches provide enhanced security features, wider OS and browser support and a stylish, easy to operate user interface.

Minicom, a leading developer of KVM switches, extenders and access management solutions announced the release of an updated version for its IP based KVM product lines. These provide corporate IT staff with secure, BIOS-level, remote access to mission-critical server rooms and data centers.

Minicom's KVM lines offer enhanced web-based access supported by the highest AES 256 industry leading security encryption standard for safe communication and data transfer together with expanded support for Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers on Windows and Linux platforms.

“Secure, below the OS remote access to the corporate server room is a mission-critical task for business continuity at all times, across any OS or browser” commented Benny Hayumi Minicom KVM Product Manager “Our mission is to provide solutions that enhance the level of IT service in organizations. This we provide with the expanded platform and browser support and the enhanced security that includes a lower number of open TCP/IP ports and an advanced exclusive and active share-mode. Our new client GUI is extremely friendly and simple to operate”.

Customers that have purchased Minicom products in the past will be able to perform a simple field upgrade in order to benefit from these features and benefits.

For an online test drive of Minicom IP products and more information about products and solutions please visit the Minicom Website.

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Related Material:
White Paper: Remote Support using KVM IP Technology
Webcast: "Achieving Remote Server KVM Access to your data center" (22 min)
Online Test Drive: KVM IP Products Demo

David Zucker to Live Tweet From Interop Vegas 2009

David Zucker, Director of Business Development at Minicom is on his way to Vegas and will be live tweeting from Interop– you will be able to find him at the show at our Wright Line partner booth –#1861.

Sign up to follow his tweets at www.twitter.com/davidzucker

I will be posting a selection of his updates here, as well as my twitter feed. Follow us www.twitter.com/Minicom_IT

In addition, you can also follow live tweeting from the show via the clever Interop Back Channel with linked twitter accounts for attendees and a chat room. This is the first event we’ve attended with live tweets being streamed from one site – it’s a fantastic idea!

Upcoming Webinar: Synnex Presents Minicom's Cost Effective Solutions for Remote Access

Friday, May 15, 2009 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EDT

In this Webinar, you will learn how to cost effectively upgrade your customers' data centers with Minicom’s IP KVM solutions. In today's unstable economy, many companies are slashing their IT budgets and reducing staff leaving little or no money for Data Center technology upgrades and stretching employees. With fewer resources, however, the need for remote access—and the associated increase in efficiency--is more important than ever before.

• Leverage Legacy Hardware: Learn about Minicom’s unique “Real Needs” approach which allows you to transform your customers’ legacy KVM switches into IP KVM regardless of manufacturer
• Be More Competitive: Offer a solution that provides your customers with the remote access they need for a reasonable budget
• Earn better margins when selling Minicom products
• Close sales faster, while saving your customers money

Join Synnex and Minicom to learn how you can provide your customers with crucial functionality on a budget, while earning great margins.

Friday, May 15, 2009 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EDT

Space is limited - register early:

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Related Material:
White Paper: Real Needs "Boost Your ROI by investing in KVM IP Management"
Podcast:KVM IP Value Proposition (4:48 minutes)
Online Demo: KVM IP Products Test Drive

10 Tips For A Quick Business Continuity Plan

While the threat of swine flu is all over the news, there are numerous reasons to have a business continuity plan in case you need to run your business remotely.

I asked a question on some of my LinkedIn Groups to see what IT Managers and CIO’s were doing, if they didn’t already have a business continuity plan in place. While some of the replies were (to say the least) sarcastic, others were very helpful with their advice.

According to a member of the Network World LinkedIn Group that works at Cisco, "they have already been told that they can request to work from home if we have concerns about health risks." He also said that “at Cisco teleworking has always been encouraged and everyone I know already uses the VPN to extend their day and people often work from home, so the infrastructure is already in place”.

Another fellow member of the CIO’s,com LinkedIn Group that works in Mexico City shared his company’s emergency plan. They were forced to send 90% of the staff home and will now work remotely. If you are a small business and you don’t have a business continuity plan yet, you really need one and here are some tips for support remote operations:

1. Business Impact Assessment must be done quickly but only to define vital functions for the company, do not try to do a BIA for entire company at this moment. Have this definition communicated to all IT, Finance, Operations and Sales teams to set clear business priorities.

2. Test the remote operations today, assure the functions defined in point one, can be operated remotely (VPNs, Laptop) [Do not open or change security], Assign an IT team to assure remote access (monitoring, VPNs and leased links administration and applications availability)

3. Set a Help Desk focused to help employees to get a connection to company systems

4. Distribute IT team to support vital operations

5. Set collaboration tools now (chats, remote meeting, soft phones)

6. Write down and publish a communication Network, including names and procedures

7. Call your local sales contact for laptops (will be better if you know how many laptops are available around and delivery times)

8. Identify outside providers that can run some business functions temporarily (distribution, payroll, invoicing, collections, etc) and evaluate cost, viability and timing to deliver and recover the functions

9. Write down and publish the main policies and procedures that will apply in this contingency plan (e.g. no changes in users profiles are allowed, all employees will be able to request a VPN access, when the contingency finishes all access will be revoked)

10. Keep your CEO informed all the time, and request funds and approvals to support the contingency, do the figures to support 1 month of remote operations.

Please add more tips or ideas in the comments and I can update the list.

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Related Material:
Upcoming Webinar: Synnex Presents Minicom's Cost Effective Solutions for Remote Access
White Paper: Remote Support using KVM IP Technology
Webcast: The ABC's of Remote Management

Fear of Swine Flu Prompts Business Continuity Plan

If you are a medium business owner, CIO or IT Manager, what can you do to protect yourself and the company you work for if the swine flu reaches your city or town? In a recent article “Swine flu prompts CIOs to prepare business continuity plans” some practical ideas were brought up about what can be done if you are forced to work from home. Some companies in Southern California are already taking measures to insure business continuity, in case of emergency.

Some of the highlights from the article:

Stephanie Balaouras, a principal analyst at Forrester Research Inc., said CIOs must check the limitations of the remote access technologies available in the organization to prevent what she described as a 'gotcha situation' -- believing the business is more prepared than it really is.

She goes on to say “having a workforce continuity strategy as part of a business continuity strategy and in addition to a disaster recovery strategy is an important investment across the business.” (click to go to full article)

This is good advice, but what if you don’t know where to start? How can Minicom help you be prepared and keep your server room safe and secure?

Take a look at our IP Control, the remote KVM gateway provides access and control of your computers and servers, no matter how distant, via a standard web-browser. It’s compatible with any brand KVM switch and gives you the power to access and reboot downed devices without having to be physically within reach. It’s affordable and ideal for remote support and remote service applications. If your IT Manager needs to work from home, the IP controls’ secure 128-bit SSL encryption insures secure remote access.

Want to try it out? Go to directly to our online product test drive right now. Don't wait, be prepared!

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Related Material:
White Paper: Remote KVM access - Planning your Remote KVM strategy
On-demand Webcast: The ABC's of Remote Management (27 minutes)
Upcoming Webinar: Synnex Presents Minicom's Cost Effective Solutions for Remote Access

Find Where to Buy Minicom Products

PR: Minicom Signs Distribution Agreement with Tech Data U.S

Press Release:

IT products distributor will carry Minicom's remote KVM and HD Digital Signage connectivity solutions

Minicom Advanced Systems – developer of KVM and Digital Signage solutions - signed a direct distribution agreement with leading IT products distributor Tech Data Corporation. Tech Data will offer Minicom's industry leading “last mile” high-definition multimedia distribution solutions for Digital Signage networks together with its diverse product lines of IP KVM and analog KVM switches, extenders and IT access management solutions for the server room and data center.

“This is a very important milestone for Minicom” said Saul Mishaan, President of Minicom America, “Tech Data offers us the winning combination of world-class service and the right channels into the IT and Digital Signage markets , be it VARs or system integrators. This gives us full confidence that this partnership will lead to significant growth in years to come. Opening a direct relationship with Tech Data gives our customers better visibility to our industry leading solutions and makes it easier for them to get service.”

“Tech Data and Minicom will continue to partner to ensure our customers have access to all the components they need to design, deploy and support cutting-edge digital signage solutions,” said Tech Data Vice President, Peripherals Product Marketing Wendy Linsky. “Tech Data supports Digital Signage VARs through our Digital Signage and Projector SBU, providing them access to the dedicated sales and technical resources and the latest solutions. In addition, we’ll distribute a complete line of Minicom KVM switches and extenders enabling more resellers to add these products to their data center solutions.”

Tech Data joins Synnex and Electrograph as national distributors selling Minicom’s products. The distribution agreement is effective May 1, 2009 and covers the entire United States.

About Tech Data
Founded in 1974, Tech Data Corporation (NASDAQ GS: TECD) is a leading distributor of IT products, with more than 100,000 customers in over 100 countries. The company's business model enables technology solution providers, manufacturers and publishers to cost-effectively sell to and support end users ranging from small-to-midsize businesses (SMB) to large enterprises. Ranked 105th on the FORTUNE 500(R), Tech Data generated $23.4 billion in sales for its fiscal year ended January 31, 2008. For more information, visit http://www.techdata.com/

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Tech Data's top selling Minicom product is the Mini KVM Extender - The Mini KVM Extender is made up of 2 micro sized, compact units on both ends: the Transmitter unit that connects to the computer and the Receiver unit that connects to the KVM hardware. The Mini KVM Extender is a pure hardware solution making it both software and network independent. It connects PS/2 consoles to any platform - SUN, USB and PS/2.

Interop Las Vegas - May 17 - 21

Interop Las Vegas takes place in just a couple of weeks. Choose the most convenient way for you to connect and stay fully updated about this and other upcoming Interop events:

Follow Interop events on Twitter
Join the Interop group on LinkedIn
Read and subscribe to the Interop Blog

If you are going to Interop, check out their recent blog post on “Resources while at the show” – for some very good advice.

We will have Minicom reps at the show, which you can find at our partner Wright Line’s booth - #1861. They will be handing out a 60-day trial version of our latest remote access management system on DVD – so stop by to get yours for free.

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Can't make it to the show? Want to test the product on your own servers? Fill out a "General Information Request" form with "DVD demo" in the comments section and we will send it to you in the mail or if you prefer I can send you a link to download the ISO on FTP.

PX Saves Valuable Time & Money for IT Outsourcing Company

The Client: A local IT outsourcing company that services approx. 50 clients and until now has used VNC as a remote support software. His client lists includes a dozen or so small branch offices, local non-profit organizations and real estate offices, all local small and medium businesses in the same metropolitan city.

His Problems: He needs to cut overhead by reducing travel costs and valuable time. He would also like to eventually expand his client base to towns farther away.

His Customers Needs: When a computer crashes and can’t be fixed using VNC, there is significant down time before he arrives and fixes it. Also, when a client hires someone new and has a new computer, they need to wait for a technician to come to configure it.

Minicom Solution: He bought 50 PX units and preconfigured them in his lab then sent them to each customer. When there is a problem, instead of sending a technician to fix it he instructs the customer with the problem PC to take the PX from its storage place, plug it in and proceeds with his service. In the past, when a client orders a new computer, instead of using precious time to travel and physically configure it, he instructs them to plug in the PX and he is able to set everything up remotely.

Added Benefit: Not only is the PX plug and play – it’s a simple to explain and simple to use solution. It was particularly attractive to this customer because he was able to choose between USB, PS2 or Serial versions. He was able to support each customer with a PX according to their needs.

If you want to see if the PX is the right remote access solution for you – test drive it and other IP products in our online demo right now!

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Related Material:
White Paper – Remote Support Using KVM IP Technology
Case Study – PX with KVM.net for Centralized Management
Podcast – PX for the Managed Service Provider (3 min)
Product Brochure - PX (pdf)

Webcast: The SmartRack 116-116 IP Switch

Title: “The SmartRack 116-116 IP Switch”

Speaker: David Zucker, Director of KVM Business Development.
Duration: 2:10 minutes

The SmartRack KVM switches are compatible with all major operating systems and can control any server’s brand and model, regardless of the server condition and network connectivity, covering the entire spectrum of crash scenarios.

Ideal for those who need both the console and switch together, this combined KVM switch and rack console provides total control.

Want to see more? Visit the Minicom Media Club for a wide selection of archived webinars, webcasts and podcasts.

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Related Material:

White Paper: Remote Support using KVM IP Technology

Online Test Drive: KVM IP Access Demo of all products

Case Study: AGH University in Poland - one universal system with access and control by 3 or more administrators

Support Report: Smart 232 Cascaded with Phantom System

Occasionally I get to work on interesting applications; here is another solution that I would like to share… I had been requested to find a solution for real out-of-band Keyboard/Video/Mouse access from two consoles (that are located in a control room) to multiple racks in the server room.

For this I proposed to use our Smart 232A KVM Switch that will be installed on each rack. The Smart 232A is a two user KVM Switch that allows two users connecting simultaneously to 32 servers. On top of that I daisy-chained the Phantom system with Specter USB over CAT5 cable. This allowed two users sitting in the control room to select which rack they wanted to access and which server within the rack to control.

The connection from the two controlling consoles to the servers is done through the daisy chained CAT5 cable to give real time video & mouse control.

Learn more about the Phantom or Smart 232A systems.

Thanks to Nir Dary, Minicom's Technical Support Manager for this Support Report!

Do you have a technical question about a Minicom product or are you looking for solutions for your IT department? Visit Minicom Support for FAQ's, product updates, user guides and contact details for our expert technicians around the world.
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Related Material:

Product Brochure: Smart 232
Webcast: Smart 216/232 Analog KVM Switches (2 min)
Case Study: Emergency Call Center uses Phantom System

Branch offices need remote KVM access to survive

It is no longer only large companies that have multiple locations. With the increase in globalization more and more small and medium sized businesses have branch offices and satellite locations. These locations may have a server or two that is critical to its business, but each location can’t afford its own IT person. For one IT person to manage distant IT is nearly impossible without KVM IP access.

As part of their normal service routine, servers and computers must be maintained regularly. This includes: updating anti-virus software, spyware, applications, etc., reconfiguring firewalls, installing updates for your O/S and hardware drives, and the list goes on and on. All these tasks can be performed remotely by using Remote KVM Access.

Remote access reduces expensive travel costs for IT staff to remote locations. With oil prices at record levels, the less staff must travel, the better it is for the bottom line.

Remote KVM IP access has become the standard at the enterprise level and now medium and small sized businesses need it in order to survive.

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Related Material:
Webcast: The ABC's of Remote Management (27 minutes)
White Paper: Remote Support using KVM IP Technology
Case Study: 888.com uses global centralized management system
Article: Reducing Travel Costs with Remote Server Access

Restrict Server Room Access to Increase Security

When staff is allowed in the data center, there is really nothing stopping them from plugging a crash cart into a Windows machine or worse, damaging or stealing equipment. By upgrading analog KVM switches with KVM IP gateways, additional security is provided by the ability to relate user names to their designated servers regardless of changes to their port configuration. Your IT staff’s access to servers and devices can be restricted, especially in branch offices where it might be harder to monitor all server room activity. If you don’t want your UNIX administrator to access Windows machines, you can make sure that does not happen.

Almost all KVM IP switches use SSL security; the same tools used by eBay and most ecommerce businesses. By using KVM IP gateways, you can manage and restrict server room access to secure your data center.

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Related Material:
White Paper: Remote Support using KVM IP Technology
Online Test Drive: KVM IP Access Demo of all products

Case Study: AGH, Poland’s second largest University DX System & IP Control

Gartner Report Says IT Spending Decline in '09

One of Gartner’s latest reports says IT spending will be affected by the economy just like everyone else.

The unprecedented decline of the global economy is impacting the IT industry with worldwide IT spending forecast to total $3.2 trillion in 2009, a 3.8 per cent decline from 2008 revenue of nearly $3.4 trillion, according to Gartner, Inc.

Go to Gartner's site to read about it>>

The full report is available with payment, but the highlights will give you a nice overview.

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Related Material:
Minicom's Real Needs Approach - Maximize past and future investments
White Paper: Protect Your IT Investment with KVM IP Management
Webcast: Real Needs™ Value Proposition (22 min)

FREE WEBINAR: Cost Effective Solutions for Remote Data Center Access

Rackit Technology Corporation and Minicom Advanced Systems invite you to join a webinar presenting cost effective solutions for remote access to data centers, server-rooms and remote/branch offices.

Is the current economic situation delaying your plans to upgrade the data center? Now, more than ever, we need to concentrate on what are your Real Needs:

Remote access? Yes, that's a real need.
Replacing your perfectly good switches? Not so much.

This short webinar will focus on learning how you can give your Data Center's KVM infrastructure a facelift and transform it into a remotely accessible IP system without replacing your legacy KVM switches.

We will be focusing on:

*Why we suggest not throwing out perfectly good KVM switches and serial devices just because you need to upgrade to an IP environment

*How you can save time, money, and training headaches by concentrating on your Real Needs

*What our competitors do not want you to know - how to extend the life of your products.

Space is limited so register for this free webinar today.
Date: Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Time: 2:00 PM EST (1 hour)

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Related Material:

White Paper: Real Needs Approach: Protect Your IT Investment with KVM IP Management
Podcast: Real Needs™ Value Proposition
Case Study: Christie Digital - four remote administrators manage 100 servers in its data center

ABC’s of Remote Management

Once upon a time organizations built redundant infrastructures at remote sites to ensure stability of their IT infrastructure. Now, many organizations turn to IP-based remote management technologies which offer a more cost-efficient centralized IT management solution. These solutions allow remote access to computers/servers to conduct maintenance, service faulty devices or simply reboot frozen operating systems. Today remote server management has become a standard for enterprise class data centers.

More and more, the ability to access servers from outside the server room or office has become increasingly important to small and medium size organizations. Due to shrinking IT staffs and budgets, it is more crucial for these customers to have KVM IP access to their infrastructures.

Why has remote KVM IP access become the standard at the enterprise level and why is it so important to medium and small sized businesses?

To find out watch our latest Webcast “The ABC’s of Remote Management” (Length - 27 minutes)

Speaker: David Zucker, Director of KVM Business Development, Minicom

Talking points:
What is remote management?
The value of KVM Switches
Why use IP KVM?
The Benefits of Real NeedsTM

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Related Material:

White Paper: “Protect Your IT investment with KVM IP Management”
Case Study: AGH University in Poland - one universal system with access and control by 3 or more administrators
Article: “Reducing Travel Costs with Remote Server Access”

Microsofts SMB Insight Report

Microsoft surveyed more than 600 of their Small Business Specialists as well as 1200 SMB's in the US, UK, France, Brazil, India, Germany, Mexico and China. Their study released today shows that SMB’s will use technology to cut costs and grow business. It’s a must read. Here’s what Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says on the front page:

“Because they can respond so quickly as business conditions change, small and midsize companies have an advantage in a volatile and uncertain economic climate. The right information technology tools and solutions lets them build on this advantage by helping them cut costs and improve productivity today, while enabling them to stay focused on innovation so they will be poised for growth when the economy begins to turn around.”

Part of the study says that one of the trends and attitudes among SMBs, is an increase in remote workers. They state that “a majority of Small Business Specialists believe their SMB customers will increase their remote worker base and will expand the role/job function of remote employees in 2009.”

This is good news for us – since we specialize in remote server management!

Go to the full study now>>

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Related Material:

White Paper: Boost Your ROI by investing in KVM IP Management
Webcast: Cost Effective Solutions for Remote Server KVM Access (3.15 min)
Webcast: Why should your organization use KVM IP (4:48 min)
Learn More: Minicom Real Needs Approach

Product Spotlight - Smart 2 Buy Switches for Small to Mid-size Businesses

For a number of years, 2 user switches have been the most popular model of KVM in the data center. From the enterprise to the mid-tier to a small company’s server room, two concurrent users is the most commonly requested configuration in the KVM industry. There have been a handful of studies done to understand why 2 user switches are so popular which found that the inherent blocking built in to single user switches is most likely the reason.

In small data rooms like an SMB environment with between 20-30 servers, a multi-user KVM IP switch is a perfect tool for cost effective remote, BIOS level server management, as well as local, at the rack access. The ROC dongles for 2 user switches allow servers to be up to 100’ from the switch with no video resolution distortion. This means more than 1 cabinet or servers/desktops (not in a cabinet) can be connected to the switch and managed effortlessly.

Minicom recently added a couple of 2-user switches to our Smart Family Line, a competitively priced solution for businesses with multiple branch locations. These offices often have several servers and network devices but do not have a full time IT person. Remote BIOS level access provides IT staff at corporate headquarters with a quick, cost effective and simple way to get access to servers and devices in remote offices.

The new Smart 216 IP, also available with 32 ports - Smart 232 IP, enables one local and two remote users, access and control of up to 16 (or 32) servers. In addition, two remote users can operate serial sessions for controlling serial devices such as routers, managed network switches or PDU's.

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Related Resources:

• White Paper: “Remote Support using KVM IP Technology”
• Upcoming Webinar: Remote KVM Management 101, March 24th, 2:00 EST
• NEW Webcast: The Smart 2-User KVM Series
• Free Live Online Demo of all Minicom IP Products

Added Features: Server Access Management Capability

The recently launched Smart 216IP & 232IP multi-user IP KVM Switches enable one local and two remote users, access and control of up to 16 or 32 servers simultaneously.

In these IP KVM Switches there is a built-in access management system that allows you to configure the users’ connection permission. You can define that a user that logs into the system either from the local or remote will have access to some of the servers that are connected to the KVM switch.

For example, Michelle in the marketing department has limited access which has been assigned to her. She only needs to remotely access the internal presentation server in order to manage the corporate digital signage system. On the other hand, the IT staff has different server access assigned to them which allow them to manage their parking lot cameras and security fence devices which are also assigned to specific servers.

Using the Smart 216IP & 232IP graphical management interface you can define up to 16 users accounts that each of them may have access to specific KVM & Serial ports, and when the Smart 216IP/232IP are been managed by the KVM.net II system there is no limitation to the number of users you can define in the system.