sql server trouble shooting

Using network and systems monitoring to protect against UPS failure.

Ensuring your business doesn’t get caught out by UPS outage. The need for effective network and systems monitoring was recently highlighted by the May outage suffered by BA. Their systems failure not only caused days of travel chaos for customers, it also led to BA suffering significant financial loss and major damage to its reputation. The failure was blamed on a datacentre UPS system failure, however this is unlikely to be the whole story as the secondary disaster recovery facility was also affected by the outage. What really happened is still unclear, but the fact is, having the right monitoring solution in place can help you to avoid a similar catastrophe. Why is a UPS so important? Having your data replicated to a datacentre means your files will be protected against loss or corruption in the event of a disaster. To maintain the integrity of your data as well as ensuring your ability to access it, you must remain online. A continuous supply of power is essential for this to happen, which can be achieved with a UPS. If properly configured, a UPS can have two functions in the event of an outage. The primary function is to keep your systems running until mains power is resumed, eliminating any downtime that could interrupt the normal operation of your business. The secondary function is to smooth out any spikes in electrical current, which could cause a power source to blow. Smoothing out these surges helps protect your hardware and its components from damage. Having the correct monitoring software solution in place means that your UPS resilience can be ensured, and problems caused by power surges can be immediately identified, smoothed and reported. Safeguarding your data in the event of an outage. After making sure your system is fault-tolerant, there are three other things to consider when safe-guarding your critical data: SAN (Storage Area Network) Maintaining the integrity of your critical data can also be done by separating it from the server using a SAN (Storage Area Network). The intelligent controlling of dual power supplies should also be implemented to ensure continuous protection. Disaster Recovery With a good disaster recovery solution, a replication server is dedicated solely to the roles of backup and export. All servers that are in a DR mode can be exported out in a clean and consistent manner to ensure data integrity so that it cannot be influenced by a failure at the primary site. Disaster Recovery testing Constantly testing your DR solution means that you can be secure in the knowledge that should an unplanned event happen your contingency will work when you really need it to. Avoiding a high level of disruption to your business due to a UPS failure could save you and your customers days of frustration and hassle. Outsourcing your network monitoring to ASL makes sense. At ASL, we can provide you with effective network and systems monitoring that protects your critical data. This includes safeguarding the resilience of your UPS, and the implementation and testing of a comprehensive disaster recovery solution that’s tailored to your needs. To find out more about our networking and systems monitoring solutions, ask your Sales manager or call us on 0345 862 0350.

Why is it vital to have an effective PRTG network monitoring solution?

Has moving your network to the Cloud put your data at risk? The rising popularity of expanding networks to the Cloud, coupled with the increased threat of serious cyber-attack, means that effective systems network monitoring is more important than ever. As more businesses move to using a mix of public and/or private cloud services, network management needs have become more complex. However, regardless of this fact, many businesses still fail to seek expert advice from a specialist provider, and instead bury their head in the sand and take a ‘hope for the best’ attitude towards both cloud and security. Cloud-based hosting. Why can network monitoring be more complicated with cloud-based hosting? Expanding your system to public and/or private cloud hosting options means that your workforce can use their mobile devices to access your system, enabling them to work at any time and in any location. Although the advantages are obvious – including improvements in speed, availability and application, the downside is the loss of systems visibility. A lack of visibility means an inability to accurately track the performance and behaviour of your system’s workload. Left unchecked, this could lead to downtime, negatively impacting your bottom line as well as your brand’s reputation. Cyber-attack – how can network monitoring reduce the system’s security threats? It is not only large organisations such as TalkTalk, Reddit and Twitter that are at risk of being targeted by cyber-criminals, smaller businesses are under threat too. However, this threat can be significantly reduced by using an effective system monitoring tool that not only alerts you to system malfunctions but also to any unusual activity, which could mean you’ve been hacked. Becoming aware of this at the earliest opportunity allows you to investigate and respond appropriately, minimising the risk of disruption. The benefits of PRTG network monitoring Having the right network monitoring solution is imperative to maintain your system’s levels of reliability, PRTG network monitoring offers: increased uptime – problems identified before they become an issue increased network performance – improvements identified and made increased application performance – performance issues detected and diagnosed enhanced security – potential threats detected and flagged Contact ASL and solve your network monitoring issues. ASL are specialists in network monitoring and are a PRTG service provider. Our solutions can give you insights into Cloud infrastructure and effectively monitor your environment. We offer a transparent approach to cloud-based hosting and offer peace of mind with no-fuss contracts that don’t tie you in legal knots. Our terms include an initial contract of one year, which becomes a 90-day rolling contract thereafter. At ASL, we deliver simple PRTG network monitoring solutions, to discuss your requirements in more detail call us on 0345 862 0350.

ASL industry leading IT support services across Manchester, Cheshire and the UK

Wide-ranging IT support available on your doorstep. As a Manchester based IT service support provider, we are perfectly positioned to deliver industry-leading, managed IT support services to businesses around the UK. We have years of experience helping small, medium and large corporations with their IT issues, and offer an extensive range of services that deliver flexibility and value, that can be easily scaled up or down according to your business needs. 6 reasons to choose ASL Fully trained locally based IT experts – we offer first-line IT support services to businesses based anywhere in the UK by phone and email. Wide-ranging IT experience – we deliver industry-leading IT support. We are specialists in Microsoft Technologies, Microsoft Dynamics, Cloud and High Availability Systems. We offer advanced support covering a wide range of hardware and software products – including SAN’s, printers, firewalls, PCs, and SQL servers. We can help you, whatever your requirements and deliver affordable IT support so that you don’t have to pay to hire, train and manage your own IT department. Easy access to disaster recovery – outsourcing your backup and disaster recovery to us ensures your business quickly gets back up and running after a disaster, whether that’s a malicious ransomware attack, human error, power outage or weather-related disruption. With our help, you can remain operational. Onsite Surveys – we provide onsite surveys to give you the opportunity to discuss your business IT support requirements. Cost control – recruiting and training your own in-house IT support team, and keeping them up to speed with every development, can be very expensive. We constantly update our skill set, provide training and keep up to date with developments in the marketplace, so you don’t have to. Stay competitive – because your resources are not being stretched by maintaining your own IT department, you can direct your finances and expertise towards developing your business. To discuss your IT support needs, call us at ASL on 0345 862 0350.

SQL Server troubleshooting

Getting to the root of your Microsoft SQL Server problems The success of SQL Server as the world’s leading database for midmarket ERP software applications is no surprise. Its ability to process thousands of simultaneous queries and operations without missing a step is down to a robust design and continuous Microsoft development during the last 30 years. Nevertheless, SQL Server frequently gets blamed by IT administrators when ERP users find their systems slowing down or ‘hanging’ completely without warning. Understanding SQL Server, and the wealth of tools available for monitoring performance, can lead to the wrong conclusions in determining where the fault lies. The business consequences can be significant. If system performance problems remain unresolved for any length of time, it’s not just the system users who become frustrated, customer service suffers too. Need help overcoming your SQL Server performance problems? At ASL, we can help you to get to the bottom of your SQL issues. We take the time to understand precisely how the problem manifests itself: slow inputting of orders/transactions slow response times to queries application ‘hangs’ or ‘crashes’ slow screen draw slow report generation. We undertake a thorough evaluation of the SQL server deployment: we check whether the database deployment meets the minimum requirements recommended by Microsoft and their sizing documentation we identify the precise application activity where the performance problem is manifested we use SQL’s inbuilt tools to monitor the problem as the user experiences it. We undertake a thorough evaluation of the entire IT environment: we look at all the IT resources involved in the tasks that are underperforming we perform tests to rule out factors such as network latency and under specified end-user devices such as old PCs, we run further diagnostics to see whether overall ‘system load’ is a factor in the manifestation of the problem. Once we’ve completed our analysis we’ll come back with recommendations for resolving the problem. It may be something as simple as tuning the database or it may involve improving the specification of some part of the system. Whatever the problem we have the SQL Server experience and systems know-how to get to the bottom of the issue quickly and propose remedies that work. If your business is struggling with performance problems that appear to be SQL Server related get in touch by emailing sales@aware-soft.co.uk or calling 0345 862 0350.

Why perform regular systems updates?

Are you putting your business at risk by neglecting systems updates? After spending time and money to ensure your IT systems and software meet your business requirements, it’s important that you don’t just sit back and think – job done. It’s too easy to forget the most simple and fundamental tasks, such as software updates and firmware patches. By neglecting to update to the latest versions, you open your business up to unnecessary risk. The risks of using outdated software Increased Security Issues – Outdated software is a ticking time bomb that presents a huge security risk. Your best defence against malware and viruses is through installing the software updates released to address specific threats. By carrying out regular updates, you can patch the vulnerabilities hackers rely on to infect your IT system. It’s important to be aware that hackers pay close attention to security patch release dates, as this tips them off to the vulnerabilities of the previous version. By not applying a patch, you could expose your business to serious risk. Impact on Workflow – Security issues aren’t the only risks you’ll encounter by not updating your systems and software. You also run the risk of impacting employee workflow. For instance, if your employees want to work on joint projects but they are running different versions of software, then compatibility issues may arise hindering their progress. To prevent this issue, you need to synchronise every piece of software across your network, which also includes mobile versions. According to Microsoft, businesses unnecessarily expose themselves to cyber-attack when they fail to update their software. Why make time to update? Your system may be working fine so you might be thinking – why bother updating and applying a patch? Failure to patch leaves the door open for malware to enter, however, patching is not only about security. An update may be released to improve an application’s stability. To ensure you are both protected and able to operate applications effectively, you need to make system upgrades a priority. However, this is time-consuming and can be a complex task if you have a large infrastructure. You can’t afford to risk being hacked or having your employee productivity levels drop, but you don’t have time to prioritise systems updates. So what are your options? The answer is easy – you need to consider outsourcing. ASL software systems updates and patching. By outsourcing to us you can be confident in keeping track of all updates, we take on the responsibility so you can concentrate on your core business. We deliver proactive protection, we monitor to find outdated software and security vulnerabilities. The larger your infrastructure the more difficult it is to keep on top of updates, which is why it makes sense to contact us at ASL to discuss our IT support services. We update your software to ensure that you’re running the most current and bug-free version, we offer; A quarterly systems update – too often can become a hindrance to business operations, and not often enough can leave your business open to security threats. Urgent patches that have serious consequences are performed on an as-needed basis. A proactive review of all Firmware updates, Windows updates and software updates (working in partnership with your other suppliers). A server snapshot to ensure that any update issues can be rolled back, quickly and safely. Urgent updates out of business hours to limit disruption. To find out more about ASL IT service and support call 0345 862 0350

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