A good hybrid cloud service can help improve a number of aspects in an office. A smartly implemented hybrid cloud strategy can help improve communication between the various teams, especially the IT teams.
This makes it imperative for IT business owners to choose the right hybrid cloud service. The best one will allow you to migrate from your old systems seamlessly without affecting the productivity of the firm and its employees.
Read on to know how to choose the best hybrid cloud provider for your firm. Keep the following points in mind when choosing a hybrid cloud provider.
The first thing is to find out what kind of management tools are available that are compatible with the cloud provider. Find out to what extent and what tools and apps can you manage from the office desktops as well as public servers.
Make sure you look out for providers that are secure for your systems. Not just that look out for a system that avoids redundancies of single points of failure. Another important thing to find out is about kind of open application interfaces are available.
Latencies in transferring data is another factor you need to consider. A latency critical application needs to be done on the same platform and should not be expected to run on the hybrid cloud provider.
Ensure that the cloud service provider offers an ample number of servers and basic infrastructure to meet your professional needs. Before you sign up with any company ensure that the service level agreement has all the terms and conditions laid out without any issues and including all important points especially mentioning the course of action in case the company provides service that is not up to the mark as promised. Some hybrid cloud service providers offer their services for a trial period as well, this can help you decide whether the specific brand is right for you.
Last but not the least, do not forget to understand how the pricing works. Check if the usage is pay per use or you have to pay a lump sum right in the beginning. Make sure that that the service level agreement spells out the pricing terms and conditions clearly.
When shopping for hybrid cloud computing solutions for your small business, compare different brands keeping mind your cloud platform needs. Keep the above factors in mind to choose the best one for you.
Despite the widespread availability of internet-supported devices and online streaming entertainment option, the concept of television has not died. A lot of people still prefer getting their entertainment and news from cable television plans.
There are a number of plans and offers for cable television in the market. The plans can be contractual or non-contractual in nature. Owing to the higher number of options, it becomes difficult to choose one. Keep in mind some of the following important factors when shopping for cable bundles or packages.
Features of the plans
A very important thing to consider and check is whether the TV package you are looking at has all the features you need an ample number of channels. Find out the specialty offerings of each channel and whether they suit your needs. Although comparing the packages of different brands may be difficult you may want to find out about any premium content and add-ons that are offered.
Customer service
Do a background check about how well the specific cable television provider is in the area of customer service. You can read reviews online or speak to people who are using the services of the cable television service provider. Sometimes issues such as billing discrepancies and interrupted services may be a problem and a good customer support team’s role in such situations is really high. So look for TV packages or TV bundles from brands that offer reliable customer service.
Cost
Compare the cost of the various packages. These package cost should not just include the price for the channels but also other costs like installation charges, DVR charges, and any other additional charges. Sometimes cable television packages may not include these charges often misleading the customers into thinking that these prices are comprehensive.
When buying any cable television package, make sure that the company provides you a DVR that is able to keep up with the changing technological trends and upgrades. This will save the time and money of replacing the DVR every now and then when an upgrade or change happens in the setup. Some of the popular cable television brands you can explore include Spectrum TV, DirecTV, AT&T, Verizon, and DISH. Some of these plans can be bundled with Wi-Fi plans. And the companies offer discounts for customers who opt for such TV bundles.
Comcast is one of the popular cable television providers in the country and has some of the best cable packages. The Comcast Xfinity is one of the plans from the brand that has seen a lot of consumers as it offers traditional television packages with features like a large storage memory and recording facility.
Xfinity plans are not just some of the best Comcast Cable TV packages as a standalone package but are also a great option for bundling with other plans and are affordable as well. The cheapest Internet and Xfinity cable television plan costs only around $40 which makes it one of the lowest priced in the market. You can even opt for bundles that have a landline connection included as well.
The Comcast cable packages offer a minimum of 100 channels. The lowest costing plan includes channels like A&E, AMC, E!, Food Network, Lifetime, and Disney Channel. The most expensive plan offered by the company is the Digital Premier plan. This one includes all the sport and premium channels apart from the basic channels.
The company has special sports packages to offer for sports enthusiasts. These plans cost as less as $5 and go up to only $10 making it one of the most affordable ones in the category.
The company offers its customers a decent DVR – X1. One can enjoy the X1 services by paying an additional fee of $10 per month. The DVR has a generous memory space as well. It can hold up to 60 hours of HD content and 300 hours of SD overall. This is one of the few DVRs in the market that has Netflix as an inbuilt system. The DVR also has the feature of offline downloading and allows the user to carry the library anywhere. Users can go through the entire program catalog with voice command using the remote.
The only con of Comcast cable TV packages is that these services are not available in all the states of the country. The company also has a reputation for not being able to solve customer queries and issues very effectively owing to a bad customer service department.
If the two cons mentioned above does not seem like an issue and the pros seem attractive, log on today to the Comcast website to know more about the terms and conditions of the Comcast cable packages.
Time Warner Cable, now known as Charter Spectrum, is one of the popular cable television service providers in the country. The brand is ideal for people who are looking for traditional cable service features.
Time Warner Cable has non-contractual plans offering all the basic and premium channels. This is perfect for those who do not want any flashy extra features and just the required channels. Most other cable television providers require the subscribers to sign a contract of a minimum one year for enjoying the services.
The prices per channel may be slightly higher than other brands but Spectrum TV offers real value-for-money customer service. However, the slightly higher cost shouldn’t be a problem for consumers who do not want to be bound by a contract as the non-contractual nature of the plan is what makes the service a bit pricier than other brands.
However, Spectrum is a good choice as its overall package would still be lower than the ones of other contract-based cable service providers. As with contract-based plans, there is no assurance that the price per channel will not change and termination fees are to be paid if the plan is canceled before the term is completed, unlike Spectrum TV that can be canceled any time. Spectrum TV plans start at $65 per month for over 125 channels and increase as the number of channels you opt for increase.
Spectrum also offers add-on channel options which include some premium channels and services but at a cheaper rate. Some of the plans offered by the cable television brand include Spectrum TV Silver, Spectrum TV Gold, and Spectrum TV Select.
Spectrum also has special offers from time to time for consumers who want to get out of a contractual cable plan and move to Spectrum. Spectrum offers heavy discounts to such buyers for specific plans.
If you think Spectrum TV’s features and plans are ideal for you, sign up for a connection today. Speak to a customer representative to understand the terms and conditions. Some costs may not be included in their plans and prices like the cost of hardware, setup, and installation. You may also want to do a little background check on how well the customer service is. Reading online reviews and/or speak to people who use Spectrum to get a better idea.
Once you have established your business, you need a swift internet connection to increase your customer base by offering services to the maximum number of people. A good internet service provider (ISP) not only helps in launching your business but also helps to run it smoothly, thereby ensuring growth in the long run.
Following are the factors that you should consider while choosing the best business internet service provider.
Mode of connection
The best business internet service providers will offer you the Internet based on the size of your business. Following are different types of modes of connection offered by the best business internet providers.
Cybersecurity
This is one of the most important factors to be considered while choosing the best business internet service. The rapidly evolving internet gives rise to complex cyber threats. Therefore, make sure that your business internet service provider deploys the best endpoint security tactics to save your business from the most penetrative cyber-attacks.
Web hosting
If your business has a website and doesn’t want to run it on your own server, then look for those business internet service providers that offer web hosting. The most important factor to consider is how much area does your ISP (internet service provider) provide in web hosting for the content of your website. The best internet service providers use SSL (secure socket layer) to protect your website data. This is particularly handy when it comes to e-commerce businesses. You should also ask if the service providers offer email services with web hosting. Email services let you customize email address using your own domain name.
IP address
There are two types of IP (internet protocol) addresses provided by the best business internet services, static (permanent) and dynamic (changing) IP addresses. IP addresses are unique identifiers that are used by websites and peripherals in the background to communicate with each other. Static IP addresses are tedious to maintain and difficult to configure. Therefore, they cost around $10 to $15 more when compared with dynamic IP. Dynamic IP addresses, on the other hand, are assigned using DHCP. It is a protocol that automatically offers a dynamic IP address to an online business. The best business internet service providers offer their customers to choose from both, static and dynamic IP addresses at competitive prices.
To pick the best business internet service provider, ensure you conduct extensive research, compare various options, and choose from the top 3 business interner service providers in the market.
In today’s world where networking technology updates almost on a daily basis, it is necessary to stay protected from digital prowlers lurking on the Internet. Virtual private network (VPN) is a virtual secured tunnel between communicating devices and a network provider. It is used to protect your web traffic from being tracked. Be it for personal or commercial use, a secure network is absolutely necessary to protect your data from anonymous trackers who can filter into your network and steal sensitive information.
Here are some factors to consider in order to pick the best VPN services.
Selecting the best VPN based on communication protocols
Since we have already established that VPN is a secured tunnel, it is important that we secure it by making the tunnel robust. You can do the same by adding security protocols to the communication or the network layer of the system.
In such cases, PPTP or Point to Point Tunnel Protocol is more secure than L2TP /IPsec Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol. This is because the Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol provides security to layer 2 of the networking protocol, unlike PPTP where it provides security on point to point basis.
Decide if you want to connect to the home network or to the cloud
If you are planning to connect to VPN through home or office network, then you might need a router which will act as a VPN endpoint. However, this is not going to be the same if you are using cloud-based services. A VPN service provider will provide anonymous browsing using their own network.
VPN services with the best privacy policies
The best VPN services will offer you maximum independence of managing your web traffic. Their iron-clad privacy policies will let you remove the web traffic information from their database. Look for those services that have servers out of the reach of such oppressive regimes.
A VPN with a user-friendly interface
The setup and user interface of a VPN service provider should work on all main platforms like Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. Even if the user is not tech savvy, they should be able to navigate freely on the main interface of the VPN service. The navigating options should not have jargon that is difficult to understand for regular users. Apart from this, you can also look for VPN service providers that allow you to connect to their services on multiple devices.
VPN services with good capacity
The last thing a user would want is to be cut off from anonymous browsing because they have used too much of data. The best VPN service providers would provide higher capacity data usage to their users when browsing privately. Check their terms and conditions to find out how much bandwidth is throttled in their VPN service. VPN servers with a maximum number of servers provide higher capacity for private browsing.
Say no to free VPN services
If you are a small business owner, you might be stringent when it comes to investing in anonymous browsing. VPN companies require funds to run their services. Hence, the best VPN companies will not offer their services for free. If a VPN company is offering you free services, there is a high possibility that the data security is compromised. Some of the best VPN companies offer services at as low as $10 a month. You can also save a few dollars off your bill if you decide to prepay for a year.
Beware of fake services
When you are selecting a VPN provider you are trusting the company with your personal data. Scammers or fake VPN providers can prey on that trust. Fake VPN services can grab your data as it passes through just like fake antivirus vendors, email messages, and other smartphone apps.
Whether you are starting a new business, product, or service, you will need a website through which you can reach your audience. In today’s world, there is a significant percentage of audience that can be reached through the Internet. When you are planning an advertising model that is based on online advertising with popular platforms, a website becomes a basic necessity for you. Getting the domain name of your choice might be a little difficult if you are running on a tight budget. In such a case, you might also have to resort to web hosting services that will help you in hosting your website through their servers. To make this process easier for you, following is a list of the best web hosting plans by top web hosting services.
Hostinger
When you choose Hostinger, you will not face any kind of roadblocks. Irrespective of the category of your website, this web hosting service will help you in setting up a website. This is a cheap website hosting service that has some of the best web hosting plans for your needs like an online resume, portfolio, or even a blog. You do not need to worry about the page being live either; even if you do not access it for a long time, the page will still be active. The plans start at as low as $2.15 per month and go up to around $15.90 per month. The plans are divided as the Single Shared Hosting, which is the cheapest and has limited services, followed by Premium Shared Hosting that gives you unlimited bandwidth, disk space, and a number of websites but costs around $3.49 per month. As for the Startup plan, it has all the features of the first two plans as well as the speed boost, 24/7 support, uptime monitoring, and a 1-click installer, among other attractive features.
Bluehost
If you are testing a website on WordPress and are looking to transform it into a professional website, then Bluehost is ideal for you. They are home to over 2 million websites and have some of the best web hosting plans. Another interesting perk for this website hosting service is its provision to use any other CMS and still function smoothly. As for the plans, they have a shared plan, which is the cheapest and starts at $2.65 per month. They believe this is the best web hosting plan if you are planning to start a small website with limited content and pages. A virtual private server is the next offering from this host allowing you to exercise more control over the activities. Moreover, the prices starting at $14.99 per month approximately. A dedicated website with enhanced servers and absolute control is a part of the final plan for this host. It gives you exclusive and absolute control over the website and starts at around $69.99 per month.
TMDHosting
This web hosting service is ideal for personal websites as they have one of the best web hosting plans and the cheapest shared hosting services. They have a high number of data servers that are spread all around the world ensuring that your website is live all the time. Moreover, if you select the premium membership, you are also eligible for a free application and components installation, free updates as well as free templates. The attractive facet of this web hosting service is that their premium plans start at as low as $2.95 per month. The cheapest plan gives you access to host one website with unlimited bandwidth and SSD space, which is a steal at the price. The second plan, the business plan, is priced at around $5.95 per month and gives you access to host unlimited websites, a 60-day money back guarantee, premium support, and many other services. The final plan, the enterprise plan, gives you access to all the features of the starter and business plan and three times better performance for the websites you host.
If you are starting a small business of your own, then the internet service is something you need to pay close attention to. Today, both large and small businesses require fast speed internet to get almost all their work done. Not just that, you need to have one of the best cloud email services that will help you bring together your clients, vendors, and staff all under one virtual space.
It is true that you can use the free web-based cloud email services for your business but if you look from a long-term perspective, it is always better to have your own personal cloud email host. One of the main reasons for this is that if you work with a free web-based email provider, you will have to give up control and let the third party take all the final calls regarding your email services. Hence, it is best to select the best premium cloud email service that will allow you to run your small business according to your terms.
Choosing the correct cloud email service is essential as every email service offers you something different. So, depending on the nature of your business, you must choose the best cloud email service.
If you are not able to decide which is the best cloud email service for your business, then keep reading to find the top three companies in the market that are known to provide the best cloud email services.
Google Mail
Google Mail is one of the best cloud email services that both small and large business can use today. If you are already aware of how the free version functions, then it won’t be difficult for you to get familiar with the premium version. By getting a paid version, you agree to enjoy 30GB of inbox storage and an ad-free emailing experience.
The paid version of Google Mail also gives its users free 24/7 customer service, where the staff will help you to have a smooth emailing experience. You will have to pay $5 per user per month if you want the 30GB storage plan. For those who are interested to subscribe to the unlimited storage plan, you will have to pay $10 per user per month.
Amazon WorkMail
Amazon WorkMail is another cloud email service that is gaining popularity amongst the emerging small businesses. It is a secure and well-managed email service and calendar provider that can be integrated with Microsoft Outlook. This cloud email service allows users to access their emails, calendar, and contacts through their web browser, iOS or Android apps. One of the many reasons why many businesses are considering Amazon WorkMail over other email service hosts is that it provides additional features of enterprise-grade security and it gives you the luxury to choose the location where you want to safely store your data.
Amazon WorkMail also allows users to first try the free version for 30 days for up to 25 users before they subscribe to the paid version. For $4 per user per month, you get 50GB storage per user.
Rackspace Email
Rackspace Email is one of the best cloud email services that is gaining popularity amongst small businesses because of its high-quality security and well-managed email services.
This email service provider boasts of offering its customer a premium email filtering that keeps your inbox free from viruses and spam. The email service provider 100% UpTime Guarantee, along with free migration service that lets you shift from your existing email provider without any additional cost.
The mailbox of Rackspace Email comes with 25GB of storage space and you can send messages that are up to 50MB in size. While the price starts from $2 per user per month, you can get an upgraded unlimited storage plan by paying $3 per user monthly.
The best way to pick to choose the best cloud email service is to first understand the nature of your small business and to know what exactly you want your email service provider to offer you. Once you are clear on what you are looking for, do a comparative research about the best cloud email services and pick one that is affordable and has a great customer satisfaction rating.
Before you can compare affordable Internet plans, you must understand the different types of home Internet services available in the market. You have the option to choose from a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), cable connection, satellite, and fiber-optic services. Each connection will have varying speeds depending on the service and service provider. While DSL connection may not offer super high speeds, a fiber optic service can be too expensive for a residential connection.
Consider the following points before subscribing to an Internet connection:
Top 5 high-speed internet providers
AT&T
One of the popular names in the telecommunications industry, AT&T is one of the top 5 Internet providers for best overall service. The service offers both DSL and fiber optic connection to provide a high-speed connection. Internet speeds vary in the range of 50 Mbps to 1000 Mbps for some of its premium fiber optic connections. If you have access to AT&T in your local area or community, you must consider the service to enjoy a high-speed connection. One of the key highlights of AT&T is customer support. In terms of pertinent factors like performance reliability, cost, billing, and communication, AT&T top the list of some of the best high-speed Internet providers.
FIOS by Verizon
When it comes to fiber optic Internet, FIOS by Verizon is a reliable name and considered among the best high-speed Internet providers in the market. The service is available in only nine states but provides quality internet to over thirty-three million customers within its coverage area. Popular plans for FIOS internet services start at $39.99/month going upwards of $94.99/month for the more premium plans. The price will also vary depending on the type of bundle you choose including support for multiple devices.
HughesNet
FIOS may be well known for providing premium fiber optic services but HughesNet is one of the best high-speed Internet providers for satellite services. HughesNet has been providing satellite Internet connections and plans that offer a decent 25 Mbps connection. Note that the high speed will dip after you cross the fair usage data cap limit so choose your plans wisely. One of the popular plans offered by HughesNet is the Gen5 satellite Internet priced at around $49.99/motnh. You also have the option to upgrade or downgrade plans at your convenience making HughesNet one of the popular satellite services in comparison to premium alternatives available in the market.
Frontier
If you can’t afford a satellite or fiber optic connection, you can always opt for Frontier Internet services. It offers affordable DSL line Internet connection with plans that start at just $20/month. The service has some special offers that include a yearlong subscription to Amazon Prime, a free Wi-Fi router, and free installation of the service. Frontier also offers bundle plans with affordable combinations of voice and Internet plans starting at $42/month.
Spectrum
Spectrum is one of the best cable Internet service and one of the alternatives you can consider among the best high-speed Internet providers. It is one of the services that provide unlimited data, high speeds, and also a $500 contract buyout option. Your basic Internet plans start at around $44.99/month with speeds that go up to 100 Mbps. Charter Spectrum bundle plans allow you to enjoy the combination of high-speed Internet and television services with prices starting at $79.98/month.
Identity fraud is one of the most common types of cyber threats that individuals and corporations face on a daily basis. Hackers and identity thieves can access, download, and manipulate sensitive information for their personal gain making identity protection a must-have service.
Your digital identity, if compromised, can be used to steal money, take out loans, and authorize financial transactions in your name. The damage is already done to a significant extent by the time you realize your identity has been compromised.
Some of the best identity theft protection services will offer tools that safeguard your identity against hacks and intrusions. Identity protection proves to be a beneficial investment as it also offers monitoring services for your credit report with major credit bureaus. The services perform common identity scans across public databases to check for any fraudulent use of your digital identity and notify in case of any discrepancies.
The 3 best identity theft protection products and services
The first step in identity protection is to secure your credit information with all major credit bureaus to ensure there is no misuse of your financial information. Most services will offer comprehensive protection for single users to secure information online, monitor activity, and detect any possible theft and misuse.
Identity Guard
One of the best identity theft protection product that offers comprehensive support to protect your information online. Identity Guard offers protection from synthetic ID theft, child ID theft, new account fraud, credit card fraud, account takeover fraud, and even tax fraud. Common monitoring systems provide artificial intelligence support, case management, risk management, and mobile application monitoring. The product also effectively detects any personal information misuse, tracks high-risk transactions, monitors bank account takeovers, and blocks sudden requests to open savings and checking accounts without authorization. Moreover, Identity Guard offers credit score protection, real-time alerts for changes made in your credit information, and provides access to your annual credit report. You can choose from three different packages available including value, total, and the premier package. The price range is between $8.99 and $34.99 per month depending on the package you nominate.
IDShield
The product is considered among the best identity theft protection services for providing comprehensive support for affordable pricing. It is also the only service that offers access to expert licensed private investigators to help track and restore your stolen identity. Although IDSheild monitors your credit from one of the major credit bureaus only, the services offered for information monitoring and recovery makes it worth the investment. The product includes basic protection features for ID monitoring, fraud alerts, consultation, credit freeze, recovery, and restoration all backed up by a $5 million service guarantee for customer satisfaction. The guarantee barrier is yet to be broken as IDShield manages to deliver on its promise time and time of being the best identity theft protection service in the market. IDShield mainly offers two distinct plans and pricing options for both single and multiple users. For just under $10 per month, you can purchase the basic plan for a single user or pay approximately $19.95 to cover multiple users.
Identity Force
The product offers an UltraSecure and Credit combo that maximizes its potential. The Identity Force unique combo offers daily monitoring across all three credit bureaus. Basic services include identity monitoring, fraud alerts, assistance for a credit freeze, reimbursement insurance of up to $1 million in case of theft, and assistance for identity recovery. Identity Force also features public record checks for similar offenses and offers a support staff for restoration and recovery assistance. The product can also take pre-emptive actions combined with automatic processing to protect your personal data and prevent any misuse of sensitive information. Among basic services, customer support is important and Identity Force offers 24/7 support for grievance redressal. You can purchase the ultra-secure version for a monthly charge of $17.95 or opt for the ultra-secure credit option for $23.95 per month. An array of features offered for an affordable price makes Identity Force one of the best identity theft protection services among popular alternatives.