HighComm Pty Ltd
  • Home
  • Who are we?
    • HighComm
    • Keith Mewes
    • Karen Mewes
  • Services
  • Training
  • Resources
  • Contact us…
  • Privacy Policy

HighComm Pty Ltd

Apple Mac and PC support & Training

Recent Posts

  • The NBN Has Arrived!
  • Warning for all Apple Mac Users
  • More Windows 10 update issues?
  • Windows 10 upgrade woes!
  • Buying a new PC – how to get the PC you need

Tags

Android backup Backups Heartbleed microsoft NAS office office 365 passwords ransomware Samsung security smartphone storage Telstra The Cloud Windows windows 9

Recent Posts

  • The NBN Has Arrived!
  • Warning for all Apple Mac Users
  • More Windows 10 update issues?
  • Windows 10 upgrade woes!
  • Buying a new PC – how to get the PC you need

Categories

Recent Comments

  • Lamborghini Countach on Protecting your computers and other equipment from power fluctuations.
  • Martin on Protecting your computers and other equipment from power fluctuations.
  • keithm on Windows 10 upgrade woes!
  • C P Geevan on Windows 10 upgrade woes!
  • Smartphone security and data backup on The Cloud

Archives

  • July 2016
  • February 2016
  • November 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • March 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • August 2014
  • April 2014
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011

Categories

  • Anti-virus
  • Apple
  • Backups
  • Cloud Backup
  • Cloud Storage
  • Data Backup
  • Data Storage
  • Data Synchronisation
  • Hardware
  • HighComm
  • Internet
  • iPad
  • iPhone
  • Mac
  • MacBook Air
  • MacBook Pro
  • Maintenance
  • Mobile
  • Mobile computing
  • NBN
  • NextG
  • Office
  • Online data backups
  • Online data storage
  • Power Supply
  • Scams
  • Security
  • Smartphones
  • Surge Protection
  • Tesltra
  • The Cloud
  • Uncategorized
  • UPS
  • Website
  • Windows
  • Windows 10
  • Wireless Networks

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • WordPress.org
Menu

Cloud Storage

Paranoid about backups!

December 13, 2014 by keithm Leave a Comment

data backupIf you are a customer or Highcomm or  a regular visitor to this website then you are probably aware that I am fairly paranoid about backing up data. Well, I thought I was paranoid until I read the article which is referenced below.

Personally I have a desktop backup which I run whenever I feel it is warranted, which isn’t often as I don’t store much of importance on my desktop PC. The same goes for my MacBook, whenever I feel the need as not much is stored on it.

My important data is stored in Dropbox and synchronised as required across all of mine and my families devices, desktop PCs, laptops, Macs, iPads and smartphones (so multiple copies of the data is stored all over the place).dropbox

My desktop backup also backs up the Dropbox folders that are synchronised to my desktop PC so there is another copy. Also on a regular basis, things such as photos are “archived” to DVDs or some other storage media so that I have another copy stored somewhere safe.

So I am pretty much covered.

For businesses I generally recommend either a desktop backup with multiple disks which are alternated daily and taken off site. I also suggest cloud backup, such as Carbonite, but this really only works for small amounts of data, if you have Gigabytes then it is not really an option. Dropbox is useful again for storing data that is required across multiple devices, sites, etc. but remember Dropbox is not a backup!

So the article. This article is written by Rob Griffiths for Mac World and the title says it all. It is a fairly long article and although his backup regime really is over the top it does explain the many options for backing up and keeping your data safe.

The paranoid person’s guide to a complete Mac backup

Posted in: Cloud Backup, Cloud Storage, Data Backup, Data Storage, Data Synchronisation, Online data backups, Online data storage, Uncategorized Tagged: backup, storage

Microsoft Office 365

August 5, 2014 by keithm Leave a Comment
Microsoft Office 365

Microsoft Office 365

What is Office 365?

Wikipedia – Office 365 is a subscription-based online office and software plus services suite which offers access to various services and software built around the Microsoft Office platform.

I hope that explains it, if not keep reading!

To put it simply, Office 365 is Microsoft’s latest iteration of it’s Office suite following closely on the heels of Office 2013. The biggest point of difference with 365 is that it is a online based version of Office and it is also subscription based product only available by download and not supplied on DVD.

In this post I will attempt to supply you with enough information to make the decision whether 365 is for you and which version best suits your needs.

Lets get this main point out of the way first, 365 is an cloud based version of Office and you require a fast and reliable Internet connection to make full use of it. This is nothing new, you really need a fast and reliable Internet connection to use a computer for just about anything these days, so if your Internet connection is not fast and reliable then probably Office 2013 is not for you.

On top of that, Office 365 “encourages” you to use online, cloud based storage to get the best out of it. In this case they are of course referring to Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud storage (previously called SkyDrive).

Lastly, you will need Windows 7 or 8 on PCs and OSX10.6 (or later) on Macs to run Office 365, so if you have any old computers hanging around with Windows XP or OSX 10.5 (or earlier) you won’t be able to run it. In addition, 365 files are compatible with Office 2010 and 2013 and also work with Office 2007 but with some loss of functionality.

OK, so what do you get?

Well, as usual with Microsoft, you get what you pay for and Office 365 comes in a variety of flavours. Most of you will be using the personal/home or the small business versions (there are also Enterprise versions for companies with more than 300 employees). The best way to explain the versions is to send you to the Wikipedia page here where there is a good matrix explaining the different versions. I will assume that you require at the very least Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook applications in which case you will need Office Online, Small Business, Home (for families), Personal (for you) or Small Business Premium. The first two do not include desktop versions of the applications so you won’t be able to use them “offline”, or when disconnected from the Internet. So for now let’s assume you want the ones with Desktop applications.

So do you need it? If you are using Office 2010 or 2013 you can already work in the cloud and you can ustilise OneDrive to share files. However, what these versions don’t offer is the ability to work on your files on multiple devices, such as tablets, that don’t have office.

 

So now we have narrowed it down to 3 options, Home, Personal or Small Business Premium, lets start with Office 365 Home and Office 365 Personal.

Office 365 Home & Office 365 Personal

Cost: Home $12 pm ($119 pa), Personal $9 pm ($89 to pa).

Both come with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher, OneNote and Access.

Both options ensure you have the latest versions of the applications because subscriptions include automatic updates and upgrades for all applications. No more having to buy the new version of Office and installing it on all your devices!

Differences:

Home can be installed on 5 PCs or Macs and 5 tablets (effectively 5 users).

Personal can be installed on 1 PC or Mac and 1 tablet.

Home comes with 1TB of online (OneDrive) storage for each of the 5 users.

Personal comes with 1TB only.

So why would you go for Personal instead of Home?

If you want/need office on more than 1 PC or Mac then obviously go for Home, but if you will only ever need it on one PC or Mac then save $3 pm and go for Personal.

Office 365 Small Business Premium

Office 365 Small Business Premium costs $13.50 per user/per month, for up to 25 users

It comes with the same applications as Home and Personal plus Microsoft Link (whatever that is)!

It also comes with business class email, online conferencing, a public website, file storage & sharing and Office Online.

This product has many more cool features to simplify ownership and management of the product and also to facilitate collaboration and sharing of data online and on the business network. I haven’t fully explored this product yet but it is looking pretty good.

So which version is for you?

Unless you are running a business with many users, i.e. more than 5, then Home or Personal is probably the way to go. If you are only using one device but there is even the slightest possibility you may need to add a second device in the near future then why not pay the little extra and go for Home. If you only use one device and are never likely to get another then go for Personal.

And lastly, Small Business Premium if you have more than 5 employees or if you need/want the added features of this product.

Office 2013

Office 2013 is still available as a one-time purchase if you are not comfortable with a subscription service. Office 2013 is still available as Home & Student ($169), Home & Business ($299) and Professional ($599). All versions are for 1 PC only!

The final word:

Office 365 University

Office 365 University is available for eligible students.

It comes with  Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher, Access and OneNote and 1TB of cloud storage (that is OneDrive).

It can be installed on 2 devices.

It costs $99 for 4 years.

 

As usual, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in: Cloud Storage, iPad, Office Tagged: microsoft, office, office 365

Backups & Storage – what does it all mean?

May 16, 2012 by keithm Leave a Comment

And more importantly, why is it so important to you?

Read any article about computers, or have any discussion with anyone involved with computers and you will come across a variety of terms relating to storage & backup. These will include, backup, storage, data synchronisation, NAS (or Network Attached Storage), USB/Firewire Storage and cloud storage.

All of these relate to where you keep copies of your data, or more simply your files such as text documents and spreadsheets, databases, email, contacts, pictures, music, etc. Basically, anything that is on your computer that is important to you.

For now, don’t get tied up in what constitutes your data, in this article we are going to concentrate on what you do with it.

First some definitions (according to Keith):

Data – all of the files, databases, email, photos, music etc that are stored on your computer and are important to you for any number of reasons.

Data Storage – hard disks, CDs/DVDs, thumb drives, NAS, etc that contain your data. These can be in your computer, attached to your computer or on your network (e.g. Network Attached Storage or NAS for short).

Data Sychronisation – the process of ensuring that ‘live’ copies of data stored on various PCs, on external devices or in the cloud are identical. Often used when you have a desktop & a laptop. (Note ‘live’ = data you are currently working on, today, tomorrow or whatever).

Data Backups – secure & safe snapshots of your data stored in a safe place, preferably off-site. These are used to recover your data in case of emergencies

The Cloud – for all intense and purposes, the Internet.

Cloud Storage – storage for your data in “the cloud”.

Cloud Backup – a backup system for your data in “the cloud”.

Archiving – The removal of “old” (i.e. not ‘live’) data from storage (see above) to a safe place such as a fire proof safe. Examples of this may be data related to a completed project. You may require access to the data at a later date for various reasons such as compliance regulations. Archiving can be used to recover storage space or just to tidy up your storage (it can be tricky sorting through a thousand projects looking for a specific one).

OK, now we’ve got that out of the way, lets get started. [Read more…]

Posted in: Backups, Cloud Backup, Cloud Storage, Data Backup, Data Storage, Data Synchronisation, Internet, Online data backups, Online data storage, The Cloud Tagged: Backups, NAS, The Cloud

Post Categories

Recent Posts

  • The NBN Has Arrived!
  • Warning for all Apple Mac Users
  • More Windows 10 update issues?
  • Windows 10 upgrade woes!
  • Buying a new PC – how to get the PC you need

Post Categories

Wireless Networks MacBook Air Office NextG NBN UPS Surge Protection Mobile Maintenance HighComm Tesltra Power Supply iPhone MacBook Pro iPad Mac Hardware Data Synchronisation Data Storage Website Cloud Backup Windows 10 Scams Anti-virus Online data storage Cloud Storage Smartphones Uncategorized Data Backup Backups Mobile computing Online data backups Security Internet The Cloud Apple Windows

-- Powered by Category Cloud

Copyright © 2021 HighComm Pty Ltd.

Magazine WordPress Theme by themehall.com