News 2008 Jul - Dec
10/09/2008
Realcom has gained Microsoft Small Business Specialist status
 Realcom has many years experience of supporting small businesses and, indeed, organisations of various types and sizes. But today we have officially been granted Small Business Specialist status. To gain that status our engineer Andreas has successfully completed a rigorous exam to show his understanding of small business needs, his ability to advise on suitable technical solutions and understanding of how to install and support Microsoft products. The marketing team also had to demonstrate awareness of small business needs and the current software and licensing options.
We have added that to our Authorised Education Reseller status. This allows us to advise schools and charities on suitable licensing arrangements and sell them Microsoft products at greatly discounted rates.
4/08/2008
Sophos Endpoint Security & Control wins VB100 award.
Sophos Endpoint Security & Control has been awarded the accolade of VB100 in the August 2008 edition of Virus Bulletin magazine. This is the 42nd time that Sophos has won a prestigious VB100 award, confirming its ability to detect 100% of the viruses in the wild, and its position as one of the most powerful anti-malware products available.
Virus Bulletin tested 35 different anti-virus products for their detection rates, lack of false alarms, and speed of scanning on Windows XP Service Pack 3. Sophos successfully detected all of the in-the-wild viruses with no false alarms.
More about VB100 awards >>
Sophos provide a range of solutions for various sizes of organisations. Realcom are Sophos partners and can advise on the best solutions for your business systems security. More>>
18/07/2008
ENTAnet launches ADSL2+
For a few months now BT have been rolling out their 21CN network Basically this involves replacing the backbone networks with fibre and upgrading the telephone exchanges around the county to provide new and faster services (voice and data). A number of ENTAnet broadband customers have already been moved onto the new platforms and mostly with no disruption to their services.
The 21CN platform makes it possible for ISPs to deploy new ADSL2+ products and services by connecting to the 21CN network with new technology. ENTAnet has taken this step and is ready to supply new services under their "2Plus Broadband" branding.
ADSL2+ is an enhanced version of ADSL. Its principal characteristics are increased performance in terms of improved stability and data transfer speeds.
While ADSL provides speeds of 'up to 8Mbps', ADSL2+ is capable of delivering speeds of 'up to 24Mbps'. Furthermore, while ADSL provides a maximum upstream speed of 448Kbps (832Kbps in the case of ADSL MAX Premium), ADSL2+ allows an uncapped upstream experience, potentially up to 1.4Mbps.
However, like traditional ADSL, it should be noted that ADSL2+ is a rate adaptive product whose speed performance is dependent on factors such as the distance of customer premises from the exchange and the quality of the line connecting them to the exchange. Customers currently experiencing speeds of over 4Mbps on ADSL MAX should see an increase in speed. This isn't going to help customers who are located far from exchanges. It will offer better facilities for the lucky ones who get reasonable speeds already. Also only a few exchanges are ADSL2+ enabled at the moment. It's going to widen the gap even further between the broadband haves and have-nots.
It will provide additional features such as the facility to prioritise types of traffic on a QoS (Quality of Service) basis which is going to be more and more important with the convergence of voice and data and the availability of low-cost VOIP systems.
If you want more from your broadband connection email me your requirements and your location (post code and phone number) at sandra@realcom.co.uk and we will check what ADSL2+ or other services are available and appropriate.
9/07/2008
Microsoft media
All Microsoft media for volume licenses (CDs / DVDs with software programs) will go end-of-life on the 11th of July 2008. After this date, Microsoft media will only be available as a free download on the eOpen website or by ordering it directly from Microsoft through the eOpen Website. There are some software titles e.g Vista Ultimate and Small Business Server for Volume License, which are not available for download and are still supplied on CD or DVD. Microsoft download site >>
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