Over the years, technology has grown increasingly complex. Small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) could, at one time, have a small IT staff or rely on a consultant to handle their technology needs. A deep knowledge of products from vendors is the new norm because a deep base of knowledge and expertise is required to configure and manage these technologies.

One of the most important functions of an IT infrastructure is to ensure apps are working properly. When a user interacts with the network, a slow application can immediately drag down their quality of experience and can have a potentially damaging impact on business productivity. Slow and unreliable applications can also hamper your productivity, cut ... Read more What Is Application Performance Monitoring? How to Measure App Performance

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All businesses need a way to detect vulnerabilities on their networks. This is especially true for larger businesses and those with sensitive data—banking, government, finance, law, health care, and education are all industries in which safeguarding network data and infrastructure is paramount. But smaller businesses must also ensure their information is secure, without pouring all ... Read more Top 15 Paid and Free Vulnerability Scanner Tools in 2020

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What is load balancing all about? Well, the truth is you can’t afford a web server overload—nobody can. A slow, faulty network can impact critical business services and result in a poor end-user experience. As external end users leave your site, profitability plummets. But external end users aren’t the only ones impacted. Every time an ... Read more What Is Server and Application Load Balancing? Types, Configuration Methods, and Best Tools

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Databases are at the center of most fundamental business processes. As applications become more complicated, IT infrastructures become increasingly diverse and sophisticated. This is a good thing—our IT technology is advancing, becoming more versatile and evolved. But with this evolution comes the issue of troubleshooting and problem rectification. In such wide-ranging infrastructures, finding the source ... Read more Ultimate Guide to Database Monitoring + Best Tools List

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Virtual machines are way more common now than they used to be, and every enterprise administrator will need to deal with setting up virtual servers and other virtual machines. Knowing how to follow best practices with this process can help keep your enterprise machines running with high levels of functionality and performance. In this guide, ... Read more How to Set Up and Configure a Virtual Machine Server and Best Tools to Use

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Nagios is an extremely popular network monitoring solution. It’s an open source program driven by a large developer community, with users including massive enterprises (like Yahoo, Amazon, and Google), ISPs, and governmental bodies. It was released in 1999, under the name NetSaint, and has been refined over the years by numerous contributors. Nagios has certainly ... Read more Best Nagios Alternatives 2020 for Windows & Open Source

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Application performance management is the process of managing and monitoring applications to ensure they’re behaving normally and aren’t impacting service levels. Ensuring good application performance keeps your end users happy and prevents low-quality experiences like slow applications or bugs. Using a professional application performance tool is critical to managing your systems and ensuring all your ... Read more 2020 Best Application Performance Management Tools and Software

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In server and application monitoring, response time is one of the most critical attributes to track because it tends to have the biggest effect on end users. If a server response time is slow, then so are the applications or websites, regardless of how well-tuned your other resources are. It’s important to use ongoing server ... Read moreHow to Check, Measure, and Improve Server and Application Response Time With Monitoring Tools

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The 2018 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report showed that businesses with fewer than 250 employees were the victims of 58 percent of cyberattacks. It has been a trend for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to be targeted by cybercriminals for some time now. To them, the SMB represents low-hanging fruit. A lack of security knowledge and inadequate security technologies help fuel this trend. 

This is where Check Point Software Technologies, a partner of Rutter Technologies, can help. When combined with a knowledgeable team of professionals from the right managed service provider (MSP), your organization has the tools in place to stop malware and other cybersecurity threats before they do damage to your network and reputation.

Virtualization can be useful everywhere, whether for home office and small business use, or in large enterprises and data centers. Using appropriate software to manage those virtualizations is important—if you aren’t using the right tools, your virtual environment can be messy and ineffective at best, or buggy and non-functional at worst. In this guide, I’ll ... Read more2019 Best Virtualization Software Comparison

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If you’re an IT admin responsible for managing your organization’s critical assets in an enterprise network, Active Directory (AD) should be your number one tool. Whether you’re running a small network or a large one, managing a slew of assets, users, and permissions can be a tedious ordeal. AD facilitates and streamlines this process. A ... Read moreActive Directory Forest and Domain Guide 2019 + Best Tools

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Patching software tends to be an annoyance for end users—and all too often, recommended patches go ignored. At the same time, admins may find it difficult to ensure all systems are adequately patched. Software patches and updates are of paramount importance, as they can prevent your software and systems from being vulnerable to bugs, malware, ... Read moreWhat Is Patch Management?

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Data loss prevention (DLP) refers to the process of safeguarding data to protect it against thefts and leaks. This is typically done through software identifying and monitoring sensitive data to ensure only authorized users are accessing it. DLP software also helps ensure those authorized users aren’t putting the data at risk, whether intentionally or unintentionally. ... Read moreWhat Is Data Loss Prevention (DLP)?

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You have numerous options when it comes to data loss prevention (DLP) solutions. Investing in the right one for your company will help you to strengthen the security of your business and better ensure the trust your customers place in you is justified. In this article, I review the best DLP solutions available on the ... Read moreBest Data Loss Prevention Software in 2019

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Businesses typically rely on network storage setups, in the form of either network attached storage (NAS) or a storage area network (SAN). These can be harder to manage and monitor than simpler storage infrastructures. In many cases, especially for larger businesses, storage performance monitoring software is a must. In this article, I’ll focus on SANs. ... Read moreBest Storage Monitoring Software + SAN Performance Tools

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Statista expects the size of the managed services market to reach nearly $300 billion a year by 2023. This growth, up from an expected $190 billion in 2019, is due in part to the fact that so many organizations realize the value a good managed service provider adds when it comes to their IT needs. 

However, if you are looking for Boston IT companies to help with IT in your company, you need to make sure that you find the right partner. As in any industry, with growth comes more competition. And not all Boston IT companies are the same. To ensure that you bring the right partner on board, avoid the following mistakes when vetting managed service providers. 

The central processing unit (CPU) is the core component of any device on a network, and it has the potential to dramatically affect the performance and stability of the network. When it comes to network management, effective CPU usage monitoring could be the difference between network stability and network performance deterioration. A powerful and dependable ... Read moreBest CPU Monitor Software and CPU Usage Programs

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SNMP, short for Simple Network Management Protocol, is a widely used protocol and an essential piece of any network management strategy. IT administrators use SNMP monitoring to detect and manage devices, gain insights into performance and availability, and ensure the health of their network. In this guide, I’ll break down everything you need to know ... Read more12 Best SNMP Monitoring Tools + Complete SNMP Guide

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Cisco is one of the largest networking companies in the world, providing a huge number of products and services. Most businesses could be assumed to have at least some Cisco equipment forming part of their network, and in some cases an entire network infrastructure might be comprised of Cisco equipment. This includes routers, switches, and ... Read moreBest Cisco Monitoring Tools for Network Performance and Routers

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Networks and network-related technologies are constantly evolving as networks become more complicated, bigger, and increasingly sophisticated. The cloud, software-defined networking, and the Internet of Things (IoT) all contribute to the speed of this growth. In this landscape of rapidly advancing technology, businesses must find ways to adapt to and manage the configurations of their many ... Read more10 Best Network Configuration Management Tools

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Companies depend on their server infrastructure for most IT functions, including data storage, hosting websites, emails, and applications. While many businesses have shifted to cloud services using servers located in enormous, distant data centers, a significant number of organizations still have in-house servers or use a hybrid environment of in-house and cloud services to host ... Read moreWhat Is Server Management? Definition, Best Practices, and Best Software in 2019

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The advent of virtualization technology revolutionized the way hardware could be used in many different businesses. Virtualization of applications and desktops has allowed easier access to users and employees, making remote work increasingly possible, and the virtualization of networks, storage, and servers improved efficiency and performance metrics for organizations in need of powerful and reliable ... Read moreVirtualization Technology vs. Cloud Virtualization

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If you’re an admin, you’re likely already familiar with SolarWinds and its array of highly rated products suited for just about every aspect of IT management. But you might not be familiar with SolarWinds® Access Rights Manager (ARM). This software exists because it’s critical for you to manage and audit access rights across the system—the ... Read moreSolarWinds Access Rights Manager Review 2019

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Virtualization technology is rapidly spreading, with many enterprises having infrastructure heavily comprised of virtual machines, servers, and storage. These kinds of virtualization are created with technology called a “virtual machine manager” or a “hypervisor,” and this technology can (and should) be monitored and managed with other software. Using monitoring software like SolarWinds® Virtualization Manager or ... Read moreWhat Is a Virtual Machine Manager Software for Administrators?

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More and more businesses are turning to managed service providers (MSPs) to handle the complex IT solutions required to stay competitive in today’s marketplace. However, some still view the MSP as the guy who fixes the computers when they go down. The role of the MSP has evolved since the days of the single consultant who would come in and reconnect the printer or remove a virus from your computer. 

Real user monitoring (RUM) and application performance monitoring (APM) are two different but related methods of IT monitoring that share a goal: improved application performance. In this guide, we’ll break down the differences between RUM and APM, how each of them work, and their typical purposes. I’ll also explain how RUM and APM can complement ... Read moreRUM vs. APM – How They Work and Where’s the Difference

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Depending on the success of your audit trail program, creating an audit trail for your data log can either be a benign part of company protocol or a major nuisance. Several industries, from health care to finance to public works, require detailed reporting of data logs through an audit trail. When your company’s data is ... Read moreOracle Audit Log Best Practices for 2019

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NetFlow is a network protocol that collects information about your network’s IP traffic and monitors network traffic activity. It stands out from other network protocols for its ability to generate insights particular to application flows. Analyzing the data collected through NetFlow enables you to gain a picture of the flow and volume of traffic on ... Read moreWhat Is NetFlow? Best NetFlow Analyzer Software 2019

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If you’re looking for software to ping multiple IP addresses, then you might need a ping sweep tool. But finding the right tool to ping a range of IP addresses can be tricky. The market is bursting with tools and software, each with its own advantages and disadvantages, and the technical jargon can be confusing, ... Read moreWhat Is Ping Sweep? Best Tools to Ping IP Range 2019

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Different IT infrastructure monitoring tools are designed to offer visibility into particular aspects of your overall IT system, including applications, servers, logs, and more. The overall quality of these tools can vary, from excellent products built for business use to more limited open-source software. Their alerting capabilities vary as well, with tools offering a range ... Read moreAlerting Tools for IT Infrastructure

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Oracle databases are an integral part of modern technological infrastructure, and they provide the backbone for how many companies house their data and process online transactions. Because so much of an organization’s important or sensitive information is stored in databases, they’re valuable targets for cyberattacks and hacking attempts. Considering how the costs of data breaches ... Read moreOracle Database Security Best Practices for 2019

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With an increasing number of programming languages in circulation, the range of application monitoring tools is growing. This guide will specifically address Hypertext Preprocessor, better known as PHP, and the key features and advantages of some of the best PHP performance tools available. Before reviewing the PHP performance tools, let’s first take a look at ... Read more7 Tools for Best PHP Performance

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With the continuous growth in demand on network resources, having a finely tuned and well-functioning network is vital for business operations. The increasing use of high-energy applications can strain your bandwidth, pushing your network to the limits and significantly affecting its performance. Improving and optimizing your network bandwidth isn’t easy, and companies often end up ... Read more10 Steps to Improve Network Bandwidth + 12 Best Network Software

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Consumers have been curious about the benefits of using multi-monitor displays for years now, and according to some studies, using dual or multiple monitors can increase a user’s productivity by up to 30% or more. The ability to see multiple applications at once, or to more easily drag and drop files between finder windows, may ... Read moreBest Multi-Monitor Support Tools for Mac and Windows Remote Sessions

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Any IT specialist knows the importance of switch port management. Your company can see quick benefits when you start monitoring your switch ports to increase network efficiency, including savings in time, money, and energy. Switch port monitoring also provides critical protection against security threats. Although network switches generally have LED lights to signal their status ... Read moreBest Network Switch Port Monitoring Software

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It’s extremely frustrating when you lose the data on your personal computer. Yet as annoying and time-consuming as this type of data loss is, it is nothing compared to losses that could be suffered by a business that has no IT disaster recovery plan in place. In fact, for a business, such a loss could mean the beginning of the end; more than 90 percent of businesses that lost their data for more than 10 days filed bankruptcy within one year of the data loss. 

In any company, network users must be both authenticated and authorized before they can access parts of the system capable of leading to security breaches. The process of gaining authorization is called access control. In this guide, I discuss the two main methods for managing access control for your systems—role-based access control (RBAC) and attribute-based ... Read moreRBAC vs. ABAC: What’s the Difference?

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With Windows Active Directory, a range of different account types can be set up with the necessary permissions, access, and roles. These include service accounts, which are intended for use when installing applications or services on the operating system. Common types of Active Directory service accounts include built-in local user accounts, domain user accounts, managed ... Read moreTop 10 Active Directory Service Accounts Best Practices in 2019

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If we’ve learned nothing else about cybercriminal organizations over the last few years, we know for certain these folks are experts on Microsoft security. They’re no longer simply opportunistically gaining access to your network; instead, they’re leveraging known vulnerabilities in operating systems and applications and using the very network they’ve compromised to assist them in finding their intended target ... Read more4 Ways Cyberattackers Take Advantage of Mismanaged Permissions

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Active Directory is essentially a registry containing all the information about a network, including users, groups, computers and printers, and servers. Each of these things, whether physical or virtual, is considered an “object” in Active Directory, and has various attributes assigned to it, such as a name, number, or group membership. Active Directory is used ... Read moreTop 6 Active Directory Security Groups Best Practices in 2019

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Node.js is an open-source, JavaScript-built platform developed in 2009 to help quickly build scalable network applications. It’s a server-side system that’s highly economical, being both productive and lightweight. As a non-blocking IO model that’s event-centric and driven, it’s well-suited to applications that are data-intensive and run at a multi-device level. Node.js offers a large library ... Read more7 Tools and Extensions for Node.js Optimization

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Ruby is a common programming language, ranked among the most popular in the world for tech startups, alongside Java, Python, SQL, and PHP. Many well-known applications and websites are built on Ruby, including Airbnb, Twitter, Kickstarter, CafePress, and Github. Ruby is an object-oriented language developed in the mid-1990s by Japanese creator Yukihiro “Matz” Matsumoto. Matz ... Read more5 Ruby Tools and Extensions You Should Know

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Docker is a multipurpose tool that can replicate many functions of a virtual machine with less of the hassle. Because Docker operates using virtual software packages (called “containers”) running from the same software kernel, Docker can help you reduce storage overhead while deepening the complex functions of your server. Using Docker can instantly allow for ... Read moreTop Monitoring and Optimization Tools for Docker

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The core of your organization’s security stance is built on a massive number of individual permissions to both on-premises and cloud-based resources. With the increase in cyberattacks, concerns around insider threats, and the growing need to meet multiple compliance mandates centered around data security of various types of data, it seems like permissions should be ... Read more3 Reasons Why IT Isn’t Managing Permissions (Even Though They Should)

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IT teams know the stakes are high for system monitoring. It’s not an overstatement to say tracking the health, performance, and security of the many IT components throughout your environment is crucial if you hope to ensure the overall organization stays operational and secure. When businesses don’t invest in the right solutions for measuring system ... Read moreBest System Monitoring Software in 2019

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Virtual machines, or VMs, are becoming increasingly common in enterprise infrastructures, joining physical computers, printers, and database servers on the network. Their uses include application development and testing, storage, operating system flexibility, and workspace duplication. The challenges when dealing with VMs are complex, as they can use resources in different ways than physical machines and ... Read moreBest VM Performance Monitoring Tools 2019

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Since almost everything we own is connected to the internet, it’s time to take another look at cybersecurity. The nature of cybersecurity threats has changed since the early years of the web: cybercriminals are getting more sophisticated and less obvious. According to the Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, in 2018, 74% of data breaches were ... Read moreWhat Is Threat Intelligence? Definition and Types

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When it comes to choosing a partner for managed IT services, companies may run into issues finding the right partner because of the overwhelming amount of noise in the local Boston market. There are a number of companies fighting for market share, and with the global market share expected to rise to 296.38 billion dollars by the year 2023, you can expect even more companies to start vying for your business. 

To think that IT security is only a problem reserved for large enterprises is to put your business at a serious disadvantage. In fact, more and more small to medium-sized organizations are investing more in IT security because they understand that they are at risk. According to the 2018 State of Cybersecurity in Small and Medium Size Businesses study published by Ponemon, 67 percent of respondents experienced a cyberattack in the year 2018, and 58 percent of those attacks resulted in a data breach. 

 IT security remains a challenge for organizations of all sizes, but there are steps you can take to reduce the risks. Adhering to these three key IT security strategy pillars is the first step you should take.