Thomas and I were discussing this prior to deciding not to sell hardware. His answer to me on why we don’t push hardware was simple, by making a profit on hardware that we sell, we are responsible for all failures, as well as the temptation to push hardware for a quick buck.

With VMWare you can actually use that Quad core processor. It is rare that you will use 1/4 of the power of the machine that you have, so why not make 1 machine act as 4. In the server world, it is typically the OS which creates problems, not the hardware. With VMWare, you can backup your machines completely (A complete restore is estimated to take approximately 1-4hrs per machine….. much less time than the days you can spend restoring physical servers). So give VMWare a chance, and save money on your investment!

I have a current situation where I am still awaiting a response on Cisco equipment, so let me break it down like this. In the many years that I have been configuring VPN devices the only devices which don’t completely freak out after an Internet link drops turn out to be above the $400.00 price range. So my question is : “How much is that $400.00 router?” Any guesses? Over an average year with lets say at a minimum, one ISP drop per month and between drive time, reboots, re-mappings (you know that “disconnected network drive” which most apps will freak about?), the $400 router is now roughly $1600 .00, the cost of a Cisco with an AIM module. So now you have a $400.00 router, with 1200+ in labor to troubleshoot. What have you gained? With a Cisco device, you actually would’ve saved $50.00 in costs, but better yet, you would have saved a lot more when you take in to account the lost productivity as a result of being down for longer than necessary.

So my theory on Cisco is: Even if it seems expensive, a year down the line, it will have paid for itself, possibly being 1/2 as expensive as the $400.00 super-deal.

C

Ruark Consulting ( formerly Ruark Engineering ) is a service oriented computer solutions firm. Parterned with Thomas Consulting, LLC, we provide solutions from the simple desktop setup to the Wide Area Networks, and Active Directory.
We support a comprehensive set of Cisco Network Devices backed by Cisco Certified technicians. Being a service oriented company, we will never sell any equipment. We believe that a good consultant cannot also be a salesman. Our work has been recognized from Tampa to Ft. Myers. Unlike a number of larger companies, you will have the pleasure of working with a single point of contact. This doesn’t mean that only one technician will be available, however it does mean that we will do our best to assign a lead consultant to your account, while having one or more backup support specialists for emergency purposes.

Over time, your PC accumulates massive amounts of temporary internet files, temporary program files, unused hotfix uninstaller, etc. You do not need them on your hard drive, in fact, the temporary internet files folder can cause problems with web browsing if it is too full.

Here is a program that will help CCleaner! Click on the CCleaner link to download it. Installing this program and running it will surely make your life much easier. After the install is complete open up CCleaner.

The opening screen will look like this:

Click on “Run” and OK. CCleaner can run for quite a long time, so be patient. It is good to

get in the habit of running ccleaner once every two or three weeks. For a quick shortcut on running ccleaner, right click the recycle bin and click “Run CCleaner” as shown below:

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