QuikNews February 2001 E-Mail Newsletter




Quality Technology Solutions, Inc. QTS QuikNews - February 2001 - Issue 2001.2 March 3, 2001 ************************************************************************ Welcome to the February edition of QTS QuikNews, our Monthly E-Mail newsletter. In this monthly e-mail, you will receive an update of what's new at QTS - new products we support, new patches and upgrades, solution ideas and promotions to save you money, and information about our company and our clients. As a QTS client, a prospective client we have had discussions with, or a "friend of QTS," you have been automatically added to our newsletter distribution list. To unsubscribe from this mailing please see the instructions at the bottom of this page, or call your QTS Account Manager. Please do not respond to this e-mail. This is an unmonitored account. ********************************************************************** IN THIS ISSUE ********************************************************************** 1. QTS News 2. Events 3. Patches & Upgrades 4. LAN Administration Best Practices 5. Special Offers & Featured Solutions ********************************************************************** QTS NEWS ********************************************************************** +++ FROM THE WEB +++ QTS ANNOUNCES 2000 AS "BANNER YEAR" FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE 2/12/2001: QTS announced results of its internal performance measures for 2000 in the areas of Customer Satisfaction, Support Responsiveness and Project Management. Read more at http://www.qtsnet.com/stayinformed/l3_stay_pr9.htm ********************************************************************** EVENTS ********************************************************************** QTS SEMINAR SERIES QTS is continuing our Spring Seminar Series with upcoming Microsoft seminars on Windows 2000 Professional and Server, and Novell seminars on Upgrading to NetWare 5.1 and Managing your Network with ZENworks (for Desktops and for Servers). We will continue into the Summer with an Internet Security series of sessions with Checkpoint Software Technologies (makers of Firewall-1), beginning with Network Firewall Security. Sign up Now! Note the date changes for the Novell ZENworks and NetWare 5 sessions! Read more at http://www.QTSnet.com/seminars.html ESSEX COUNTY COLLEGE TRAINING INC. TECHNOLOGY FORUM ON THE IT STAFFING PROBLEM QTS will continue its support of Essex County College Training Inc. by serving on a panel of computer industry experts to discuss best practices in solving the industry-wide staffing shortage for IT talent. Read more at http://www.qtsnet.com/stayinformed/l3_stay_pr8.htm. ********************************************************************** PATCHES & UPGRADES ************************************************************************ Call the Customer Support Center to have us apply QTS-standard patches and keep your systems current. The following patches have been recently released and are recommended by QTS: * ZENworks for Servers 2 Service Pack 1 * Exchange 5.5 Service Pack 4 * Citrix ICA Win32 Client 6.01.963 (2/13/2001) CA InoculateIT signature files are currently at version 21.29 (2/28/2001) and McAfee VirusScan/NetShield is at version 4125 (2/28/2001). Please keep your antivirus signatures current! If you do not have your system set up to automatically distribute updates from your server to your PCs, please call your QTS Account Manager or the Customer Support Center. Notes: - Remember, always check compatibility with key applications (DOCS Open, Goldmine, etc.) before applying Microsoft SQL Server Service Packs; - We have seen problems with NetWare 5 and ARCserveIT for NetWare service packs depending on client configurations. Please keep these patch levels "as is" unless we recommend otherwise; - Check with the CSC for compatibility issues before applying patches yourself (or have us do so). A 5 minute call can save hours of problems! Some patches can cause problems, especially in combination with other software programs or patch levels. Please talk to us to verify whether we see any possible problems in your environment before patching your systems independently. We make best efforts to test patch combinations but cannot guarantee compatibility between software and hardware manufacturers' products. ************************************************************************ LAN ADMINISTRATION BEST PRACTICES ********************************************************************** This month, our focus is on E-Mail Management. E-Mail has become a mission-critical function for many of our clients, often just as important as being able to access files and printing. Here are five things you can do to improve your E-Mail solution and the likelihood of being able to use it when you need it! 1. Define Policies for Use of E-Mail A significant number of email problems can be prevented with good communication and establishing an organization-wide policy about use of email for personal purposes. This not only prevents email system problems, but potentially also avoids lost staff productivity. Meet with your company's executive management and HR manager and determine how restrictive a policy they will support. What level of resistance would you expect from staff members? If you are just starting with E-Mail, it is easier to establish policies now. This ideally is part of an overall policy for company computer system use. 2. Set Size Limits and Retention Policies for Mailboxes, and Encourage Archiving Most major E-Mail systems, including Exchange, GroupWise and Notes, allow for setting size limits on user mailboxes, for automatic deletion or archiving of messages after a specified time period, and for archiving and management of messages. Ensure users are trained to set up folders for storage of mail, and set mailbox retention limits so if users want to keep mail, they need to move the messages to folders within that time period. This requires some work on the part of your users, but the payback will be faster system performance for everyone, and a more reliable system with less chance of post office corruption and disruption of mail service. Note that this can be done for everyone, then exceptions can typically be made for specific users. 3. Daily Checkpoint that all Gateways are Active Most mail system problems start when a gateway, such as your Internet Agent or Connector, is unable to process a message, and the rest of your system's mail backs up behind it. This can be due to a virus problem, a file attachment, or a corrupt message. Check your gateway status and the file system of your email software each morning to ensure mail is moving. Contact the Customer Support Center if you need help with this. QTS will be adding a QuikAlert option this year to do this for you for a small addition to your annual QuikAlert fee. There are also some software packages that monitor for gateways that are down or "stuck." Speak to your QTS Account Manager for more information if you are interested. 4. Implement E-Mail Specific Backup and Antivirus Agents Most of the major E-Mail packages have specific agents for backup and virus protection, depending on their vulnerabilities in this area. The backup agents allow for open file backup of the mail system, but more important they allow for restoration of a user's mailbox (which cannot be done easily without these agents). The antivirus agents scan email as it comes into the system and is inside the mail system, before it gets to the server file system. Contact your QTS Account Manager for specifics on how your E-Mail software, backup software and antivirus software inter-relate and how you can best protect your system. 5. Restrict File Attachments and Execution Most email system crashes, in our experience, are the result of email attachments that contain a virus, are corrupt, or are too large. Consider placing limits on message size, though there are pros and cons to this. It can help prevent problems. Microsoft Outlook can be particularly problematic here, and two approaches could include applying the Security Fix to Outlook (note, however, that this can disable Simple MAPI integrations for some programs that integrate with Outlook) and applying registry settings to prevent Microsoft scripting tools from running - these steps can prevent execution of Outlook-specific viruses. Hopefully these LAN Administration Best Practices will help you keep your E-Mail flowing smoothly. ********************************************************************** SPECIAL OFFERS & FEATURED SOLUTIONS ************************************************************************ ZENWORKS 3 FOR DESKTOPS QTS is offering customers ZENworks for Desktops 3.0 licenses at upgrade pricing for a significant savings, through April 30, 2001. Normally, you must have purchased the full ZENworks package to qualify for an upgrade, but for now we can offer you upgrade pricing, and we recommend it highly. Key features include: * Windows 2000 Support (Group Policies, other advanced features) * Disk Mirroring Technology (similar to Ghost, but NDS-integrated) * Enhanced Notebook Support (ability to work offline and cache NDS application information) * Improved Remote Control for User Support ZENworks for Desktops 3.0 requires NDS, but will run in a Windows NT/2000-only environment. Call your QTS Account Manager for more details. ************************************************************************ To Comment on this newsletter, send an email to QuikNews@QTSnet.com. ********************************************************************** To Remove yourself from this mailing list please send a reply to this message with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject field. Or call or email your QTS Account Manager. ********************************************************************** To Subscribe to this Newsletter, tell your friends and colleagues to go to http://www.qtsnet.com/contact/enews.htm. ********************************************************************** To View an archive of all QTS QuikNews editions, please visit http://www.qtsnet.com/stayinformed/QuikNews/QuikNews_Index.htm. ************************************************************************ �2001 Quality Technology Solutions, Inc. This site last updated 12/16/06 � 1999 Quality Technology Solutions, Inc. 76 South Orange Avenue Suite 302, South Orange, New Jersey 07079 telephone: 973.761.5400 fax: 973.761.1881 email: info@qtsnet.com