VoIP Page

Unix / Linux Page

Microsoft Vista Page

Wifi / Wireless Networking Page

Training For Technology Jobs - IT Training

Unless you're extremely well-versed or have many years of experience working a specific Information Technology job then it's likely you will be required to gain certification before any professional IT track is officially started. Without certification these days you can, no doubt, get a job in the IT world, but it'll be just that - a job. If you want more such as an IT position with attached professionalism that can lead you toward a career you must possess some type of certification (even multiple ones).

Yet, even before being able to gain an IT certification something else must be sought on your end. 'What might that be,' you inquisitively ask? It's merely a preparatory action, specifically that of seeking IT training.

Successfully Taken Tests Lead to Acquiring Certifications

Just like any form of academic or professional betterment, there are steps involved to reach your desired success. In the IT professional sphere, this is no different. What you need to do to gain certification in an IT field is take a particular and required test, one in which you must pass and score noticeably well on to gain certification. This passing requirement in mind, wouldn't it make sense to take some preparative actions as to fully ready and inform yourself of the knowledge that will placed in front of you in test format?

It most certainly would. And one sure fire method to ready yourself for the prospective exams is through seeking the many available options of IT training.

IT Training To Ensure Successful Exam Taking

No matter what IT sector you're interested in or are considering, know that there are a plethora of training options for you to sort through and choose from. If you're looking into MCSE training options, Comp TIA training choices, CISCO training selections or any of the many other training selections, they're all clearly there and ready for the training, rather, taking.

So, if you have a specific certification in mind what you need to do is look into what you exactly must become knowledgeable of. From this point, it's simply a matter of taking that information and going through the specific training process diligently and with successful intent. If this is carried out, it's almost certain that you will pass any IT exam with flying colors and be on your way to having and working under a respectable IT certification.

Keeping With IT Trends

To keep up with IT trends involves staying on top of certifications and knowing when their expansions, improvements and upgrades are introduced and publicly provided. You will need to gain these advances to push you ahead. And you guessed it - to keep progressing you will no doubt need the required training, resulting test taking and - hopefully - successful certification attainment.

Now, keep in mind that the IT world is ever-changing, as are the jobs and positions within it. Training is constantly required and sought after by all IT individuals, even those who have been in the industry 10 plus years. So, the importance of going through any sort of IT training is not only based on preparedness, but also on maintaining and supplementing one's professionalism.

This Week's New Fun Online Tool: Pandora Radio - Listen to Free Internet Radio, Find New Music

Have you heard of Pandora Radio yet? You can at http://www.pandora.com .  The basic premise is that you go to Pandora and create a playlist, they call it a radio station, of an artist or group of artists that you want to listen to.  Now, that is nice, but nothing to get too excited about, so they take it a huge step further.  They take the genre and style of music that you have chosen and intermix similar music in the same genre by similar sounding artists.  This mixed with no ads makes for a very pleasant listening experience.  It is also fun to be introduced to artists you very well might really like but would not have listened to otherwise.  They also include the ability to say that you don't want to hear a certain song for the next 30 days. Imagine if your regular old top 40 radio station had that feature.  It sure would keep a DJ busy...

After you have created your favorite top four or five new radio stations, you invite your friends to share theirs with you and visa versa.  Now it all becomes very social, interactive, and really fun.  The Pandora folks have already made it available on iPhones, and Logitech's new Squeezebox device, but since I don't have or use eitehr of these devices, I use my good old fashioned laptop computer.

- Written by Pete Van Vuren, Prod.Net staff 

How to Create an Offsite Data Backup and Restore Plan

Once a business accepts the need for regular remote backups, the IT department requires a written backup and restore procedure. Creating such a plan doesn't have to be difficult and will reduce confusion so that your data storage system is protected.

Creating a Backup Plan

When creating a backup plan, decide what data should be included in the backup. Backup space costs money. Nightly backups of files that haven't changed in over a year may not be the most cost effective solution. Isolating particular directories or file types can reduce the size of the backup while still protecting important data.

Any backup plan should include multiple copies in case the backup file happens to be damaged at the same time the main server is corrupted. It is even possible for the system to crash during the backup operation, losing both your server and the backup. If you are overwriting your lone backup at the time, you just lost everything.

The simplest redundancy plan is to have two backups and alternate between them, however many companies have more. A common practice is to have one backup for every weekday so there are five backup files, one for Monday, one for Tuesday, and so on.

Finally, your offsite data backup plan should include a schedule of test restores. It is always possible you are backing up to a corrupt destination and none of your backups are intact. Ideally you should restore a few files every backup so you know the operation went through successfully.

Don't Forget the Restore Plan

It's easy to remember to create the backup plan since it is a procedure that affects your company every day. However what happens after disaster strikes? After major equipment failure, the department is likely to be in confusion.

There is pressure to get the data restored as quickly as possible as company operations can't continue until the system is running again. Imagine how much worse if the failure is due to a disaster like a fire. A detailed step-by-step restore plan is an integral part of a comprehensive offsite data backup procedure.

A solid restore plan makes it that much easier to get your business running smoothly again after disaster. You may need multiple plans for different contingencies. Bad sectors on a hard drive might require restoring just a few files, while a catastrophic incident could involve fully reformatting and restoring your entire server.

For best results, all offsite data backup and restore procedures should be fully tested by the personnel who will be performing the operation. This may reveal missing steps or inaccurate instructions. Tests will have to be conducted during a time the files involved aren't in use, which usually means IT staff coming in after hours.

When testing, make local backups of the files to be tested in case the restore procedure goes wrong. Though it may require a bit of time to create an offsite data backup and restore plan, once you have a systematic, documented system in place offsite data backups will become a simple part of the regular routine. If and when disaster strikes, it will be well worth the effort!