If you aren’t already using file checksums, why not? It’s a REALLY good idea for any file you download over the internet. It could also be a good idea for a file you may want to ensure stays unchanged on your own network. File checksums are a vital tool for ensuring the integrity and authenticity of files. They serve as digital fingerprints, allowing you to verify whether a file has been tampered...

Say hello to Cisco’s RADkit

How would you like a tool that can save you time with TAC cases and gives you an avenue of automation and time savings for your entire Cisco environment? If that sounds good, you should give RADKit a look.

So, you’ve verified your firewall appliance is allowing your application traffic, you’ve ensured your routers are getting the traffic where it needs to go, and your access control lists on your switches are perfect. A packet cap on your switch shows the traffic getting to your Windows server. Why isn’t it working? I’ve run into the Windows server itself blocking traffic destined to its own...

Would you know if one of the 2 power supplies in one of your critical switches went out? What would alert you to an SSL certificate expiring on a web-based application you use every day? If you’re like most organizations, you have some kind of infrastructure monitoring in place. Could you take the approach of “If anything breaks, my users will let me know”? Sure you could! Would it work? Yep!...

Well.. we did it. We started a podcast! LookingPoint is here to introduce our podcast:

IT in the Bay Podcast

If you are like many of our customers, you have asked the question “Why would I hire an MSP?” or you have considered hiring a managed service provider but not sure if it makes sense. Before we get into does it make sense or not, you need to know where you are at. To do that we recommend you ask yourself a few questions. Based on the answers to these questions you will have a better sense if you...

Why a Network Infrastructure MSP?

Businesses are always looking for ways to save time and money while advancing their goals. A common way to do that is to outsource business tasks that are not at the core of the business. Making use of a network infrastructure managed service provider (MSP) is an excellent example of hiring out tasks that are not central to a business. There are five primary...

Santa’s done with his list, now it's time for IT’s! We are reminded throughout the year to check our technology hardware and our different policies. Our software systems remind us to update our passwords and even force us to if we go too long without it. Software licenses renew and if any of our technology is outdated our technology partners help us to update our environment. But, what about the...

Having worked in Information Technology departments since the mid 90’s, I’ve seen a lot of change. As you might expect from technology, things move fast, as technology continues to improve at a rapid pace. But the biggest change I’ve seen is the feeling that most businesses have towards IT and IT spending. As a systems administrator in the 90’s I remember feeling as if companies never saw the...

From a high level, managing your IT infrastructure can be boiled down to 5 basic steps: