What's Inside a Computer?

In the endless evolving world of electronics, there's always the same principal concept that a computer operates on: sending electrical signals through a circuit. Over the many years since the the first computers, they got smaller. From dedicating massive rooms to your palm of your hands, computers are everywhere you go. It's important to know what components go into the computer and what their individual function is.

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What Makes a Computer?

There's eight components that goes inside a computer:

• Case: Provides shielding for the other parts

• Motherboard: The backbone of the computer, connects other parts together

• CPU: The brains of the computer, processes thoughts

• RAM: Fast-retrieval storage, working space for the computer*

• GPU: The eyes for the computer, displays user interfaces for the computer

• Storage: Bank storage, all the saved data lives here

• Power Supply: Provides the energy and shares with other part

*Note: If the power gets turned off, all that data is lost.

Mentioned before, the great thing about computers is that they come in all different types and sizes. From the cell phone that's in your pocket to satellites flying in space. There's pros and cons to each of these and ultimately depends on your needs on which to get.

Our Recommendations

For Managed IT Services:

• CPU: i3 - 6th Gen / AMD equivalent or better

• Storage: 256 SDD (Solid State Drive)

• RAM: 8 GB or more*

*Note: Have more if you want a faster computer

Photo by Alienware

Microsoft Exchange Vulnerability - March 2021

In essence, this was an successful zero-day exploit by a cyber espionage group that Microsoft has publicly identified known as HAFNIUM that's affecting on-premise Exchange servers globally. Currently, information about the group is limited to what Microsoft has stated regarding the situation.

Why Does This Matter?

E-mail is one of the few backbone components in running a successful business. It's one of the many communication methods that our society uses everyday. This zero-day attack is a vulnerability that compromises the integrity of the e-mail messaging system and can majorly affect your business.

Mail servers store all those e-mails in a place where your computer can retrieve it from using your authorized credentials. It's akin to the post office. Beginning in early January, four of these exploits were found, giving attackers full access to e-mails/passwords, admin rights on the servers, and to connected devices in the network.

Typically with these kinds of threats, they will install additional vulnerabilities that will continue to let nefarious actors into the network even if a patch update is provided, which Microsoft had done in the first week of March.

Am I Safe?

This exploit takes advantage of Microsoft Exchange servers that are on-premise for your business. In other words, if you're hosting and managing that yourself, then yes, there is cause for concern.

The most common targets of the vulnerabilities are small businesses and non-profit organizations that lack the same funding and resources a large corporation may have to invest in data protection systems.

DMDS partners with industry leaders in email hosting, protection and compliance. Our systems were patched immediately to be protected from the initial threat and are being proactively monitored for issues. Click here for current status.

If you're looking for more details, we recommend that you watch this video - Hak5 - ME Zero Days

7 Things To Know About VDI

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is a key offering from DMDS. It allows businesses to access desktop applications such as Microsoft Office, QuickBooks, ERP software such as Sage 50 and Microsoft Dynamics from both inside and outside the office.

We have put together a list of 7 things you should know about VDI and why it may be worth considering - 1. Work From Anywhere, From Any Device Businesses are global and employees need access to resources 24/7 so that no important information or lead is missed out. This requirement can be successfully fulfilled with VDI which gives you the ability to securely work and access your organization's data from any location.

In addition, VDI services are at the point where your hosted applications can be accessed from virtually any device, any operating system. Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and Chromebooks are all supported.

2. VDI Allows for Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Bring Your Own Device is a term used by various organizations that allow their employees to bring their personal devices to offices to aid in accomplishment of daily tasks.

However, there are a number of challenges faced by organizations when they allow employees to work from their own device.

VDI offers a solution to these challenges by connecting the devices to virtual desktops seamlessly. The organization has complete control over the virtual desktops. They can also control the access given to their employees and monitor activity. 3. Lower Operating Costs

You may assume VDI increases overall technology costs compared to traditional VPN access and workstations. However that's not necessarily the case. A good fully managed VDI solution will reduce current recurring hardware costs and maintenance. VDI services through a Managed Service Provider (such as DMDS) are not only maintained, they often include endpoint security software, regular backups, Multi-Factor Authentication and more with the cost of the service.

4. Improved Security

The most common myth about hosted applications is that it may be insecure. However, VDI is more secure compared to traditional workstations, especially laptops, as the data is stored on cloud servers situated in remote data centers. If the device is stolen, there's significantly less risk of your organization's data being compromised.

Moreover, virtual desktop hosting providers have security safeguards such as multi-factor authentication, data encryption, Intrusion Detection and Prevention System (IDS and IPS) to ensure total protection of your data.

Access Controls are also implemented to set roles and permissions on files so that no unauthorized user can access them. 5. More Control and Customization Virtual desktops are configured to a standard, these standards can be customized by the customer as needed. This setup gives businesses the ability to offer the same applications and settings for multiple employees. It can also save on expensive software licensing costs. 6. Increased Scalability Your VDI platform can be adjusted as needed. With a traditional workstation, basic upgrades such as additional memory or storage involve hardware changes. With VDI, compute resources, memory and storage can all be upgraded, often without downtime. 7. Better Green Profile By hosting applications and servers in the private cloud it eliminates the need for running servers and additional hardware on-site at the office. If you're looking to reduce energy costs, equipment waste and your organization's carbon footprint, implementing VDI will help.

Does your business use VDI? Let us know how it's working out in the comments. Interested in discussing a hosted VDI solution for your business? DMDS can help, with secure, fully managed hosted application services.