Digital teamwork tools are changing the way teams do business: Today, more than 30% of businesses use advanced communication tools in conference rooms.
With Teamwork solutions from Microsoft, you can facilitate better communication among your teams by using cloud-based email technology and calendaring services. You can also ensure that your teams are aligned with web conferencing and group chat. And that’s just the beginning.
Contact us to see how your company can benefit from our enterprise-grade communication technology.
Did you know that up to 80% of workers’ time is spent on collaborative activities like responding to emails and attending meetings?
This guide to promoting a more collaborative workplace culture outlines common communication breakdowns in the modern workplace and provides strategies to help customers communicate and collaborate more effectively.
Here are some lessons learned from a recent recovery of a server with the following error:
Lesson #1 – Blinking Hard Drives
So when I got to the customer site the Dell server had blinking hard drive lights on two of the drives. Based on the support article about it the lights meant -“Identifying drive or preparing for removal.” and digging into the RAID controller I found the worst possible scenario for a RAID-5 array – two dead hard drives. I removed the two dead drives, cleared the configuration on the RAID controller, built a new RAID-5 array out of the remaining drives (4 out of 6), and did a fast initialize.
Lesson #2 – Drive letters on Windows Server Backup
Not sure if anyone else has noticed, but when Windows Server Backup is setup to use an external drive it likes to hide the drive by not assigning it a drive letter. This caused a few issues with the restore done from Windows Server 2012 R2 USB boot media as it couldn’t find the drive. I had to connect the external drive to my laptop then give it a drive letter. Plugged it back into the server and rebooted.
Lesson #3 – Patience is a virtue in Scanning for System Image Disks
Following the basic instructions for doing a Windows Server Backup 2012 Restore via Windows Server 2012 R2 USB boot media it came to the point where it does the scanning for System Image Disks. Turns out this can take hours depending on the speed of the drive plus the size and quantity of restores you have on the external drive. Just wait for the process to complete.
Lesson #4 – UEFI or Legacy BIOS matters
So you waited all that time for the Scanning for System Image Disks to complete and now that precious moment arrives when you realize that the Windows Server 2012 R2 USB boot media that you created was UEFI instead of legacy BIOS and the restore fails telling you so. Make sure that when you create the Windows Server 2012 R2 USB boot media that you change the settings to match the system that you are trying to restore.
Hope that these lessons help a few other Windows Server admins, who are trying to do a Windows Server Backup 2012 Restore, save some time and frustration. If you are looking for a better way to do backup and restore then contact us for details.
Farmhouse Networking continues to make strides in providing our customers with the best, most cost effective, and environmentally friendly computing experience possible. Part of that process is what has come to be known as Lifecycle Management. Each piece of hardware has an expected amount of time in which it is cost effective to use and support it. Once this time frame has been exceeded the cost of supporting the device becomes greater than the cost as shown in the following graph:
FHN Lifecycle Management
So the question remains what to do with the old computers when the time comes to replace them. Previously here in Grants Pass, OR we could support a local charity by taking them to Southern Oregon Aspire to have the computers dismantled and hard drives shredded. Now that their doors are closed we are stuck with dropping them off at the local dump, but what if you could make money while being responsible with the environment?
Farmhouse Networking is now partnering with a company called Arcoa, who do just that. Here is what they do in their R2 rated responsible recycling facility:
“We help you recover value from retired electronic equipment through responsible methods of reuse and recycling. Resale offers the best potential for value recovery, but the fast pace of innovations in technology and short product life cycles can limit equipment’s potential for reuse. From there, the best option may be to recycle the items in an environmentally friendly manner. We’ve built a robust de-manufacturing process to offer additional options for asset value recovery by disassembling equipment for commodity grade materials, which can be diverted from landfills and be used to create new materials.”
Hard drives will be electronically wiped, magnetically degaussed, or shredded based on need. The rest of the parts will be dismantled and sold with part of the profit returning to your company to help offset the cost of buying new computers. What could be better than making money on the buy?
If your company is heading towards a hardware refresh, then make the environmentally sound choice by contacting us for assistance.
Before switching to Teamwork solutions from Microsoft, employees at Clifton Coffee Roasters (CCR) would physically print out all documents, fill them out by hand, and then bring them into the office, where they would get scanned and entered into a computer. Sounds tedious, right?
Powered by Microsoft, CCR team members communicate better than ever. Now, their team members stay connected from almost anywhere in the world they are individually located. With flexible communication tools like Forms, employees can contribute and work together on shared documents from personal devices. No printing or scanning required.
Check out this video to learn how CCR connected their teams and resources with help from Microsoft solutions. And contact us to learn how you can too.
Your customers are probably already taking advantage of Office applications like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. But do they know that Office 365 gives them the capability to access content from any device, or allows them to leverage the power of AI to create more impactful content? Check out this guide for more on how Office 365 can help your customers protect their sensitive data and accomplish more in their workday.
Employees who work with outside companies save time and money. With Teamwork solutions from Microsoft, they can easily share workspace, which results in $759,493 saved over three years. That’s huge!
Now, you can deliver a cost-effective solution that will allow you to easily work with teams outside of your company. And, you can secure and preserve company data when sharing information with external users. Check out this infographic–which shows industry trends, pain points, and proof points–to learn more.
Clifton Coffee Roasters (CCR) was the first specialty coffee roaster to adopt the Teamwork solutions from Microsoft platform, which means they’re breaking new ground in communications methods for their industry. As the company expands, they depend on Teamwork solutions from Microsoft to manage their growth, drive innovation, and help their employees connect in the most meaningful and productive ways possible.
Want to increase productivity and drive innovation in your business? Check out this video to see how CCR lead the way in communications innovation in their industry, and then contact us to learn more.
Clifton Coffee Roasters (CCR) was the first specialty coffee roaster to adopt the Teamwork solutions from Microsoft platform, which means they’re breaking new ground in communications methods for their industry. As the company expands, they depend on Teamwork solutions from Microsoft to manage their growth, drive innovation, and help their employees connect in the most meaningful and productive ways possible.
Want to increase productivity and drive innovation in your business? Check out this video to see how CCR lead the way in communications innovation in their industry, and then contact us to learn more.
And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. As the Scriptures say,
“They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever.”
For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. - 2 Corinthians 9:8-10
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