SMB Technologist
Experienced IT pros address the particulartechnical challenges faced by IT pros working for small and medium businesses.
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Merge or share your LibreOffice Calc spreadsheets
The ability to easily share spreadsheets in LibreOffice has helped bring the office suite that much closer to being a worthy replacement for Microsoft Office.
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PernixData Flash Virtualization Platform: a storage solution worth researching
Discover why this VMware vExpert is so excited about startup PernixData's Flash Virtualization Platform, which is currently available as a public beta.
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Use AudioDocs to hear the text from your Word docs
If you're looking for an incredibly easy way to get text to speech from your Microsoft Word 2007/2010 documents, check out the free AudioDocs open source software.
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SMB 21st century data center: VCE Vblock System 100
Watch this demo of VCE's Vblock System 100, which is a converged infrastructure solution geared toward the SMB market.
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Connect the Thunderbird email client to your Exchange server
Looking for an Outlook replacement? If so, try using Thunderbird with the ExQuilla addon to get an email client connected with an Exchange 2007 or 2010 server.
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New startup Exablox announced at Storage Field Day 3
Startup Exablox announced its launch at Storage Field Day and impressed this delegate. Watch Exablox's presentation and demo to learn about its NAS solution.
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Install SugarCRM for powerful customer relationship management
SugarCRM is a standout in the crowded CRM market. This SugarCRM Community Edition installation tutorial gets you started down the road to better customer relationship management.
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Change vCenter alarm notifications using VMware PowerCLI
It can be a nuisance to change vCenter alarm notifications, unless you use this script that allows you to automate the process.
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CRM for ERP: Built-in or best of breed?
In the experience of one UK SMB, CRM functionality in manufacturing ERP packages is often added as an afterthought and doesn't quite measure up to what sales and marketing departments need.
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BambooInvoice makes invoicing easy for small businesses
BambooInvoice is an open source, web-based solution that produces professional looking invoices and makes it easy for your small business to manage those invoices.
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Create your VMware test lab using AutoLab
AutoLab is a way to bring up a VMware environment through scripted installs to create test/lab environments. Read why Lauren Malhoit calls this tool awesome.
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Import and export databases using phpMyAdmin
phpMyAdmin offers one of the easiest ways to import and export databases on a MySQL environment. Follow along with Jack Wallen's phpMyAdmin tutorial.
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Create your small business budget and reports in GnuCash
If your small business needs a budgeting solution but doesn't have much or any money to spend on one, you should try the open source, multi-platform solution GnuCash.
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Create a Gmail-based Outlook-like client with Opera
If you want to offer end users a client-based version of their Google email/calendar account, you can do so with the Opera email client and an easy to use extension.
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Block social networking sites with DansGuardian
If your SMB doesn't want to fool with the hassle of monitoring employees' use of social media sites and creating a social media policy, try the open source DansGuardian to block such sites altogether.
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VMware's vShield App and Data Security in a nutshell
Here's an overview of how to install, configure, and use the vShield App and vShield Data Security components of VMware's vCloud Networking and Security 5.1.
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Fixing a PCI DSS scan failure on the SonicWALL IPSec VPN, part one
An IPSec VPN using pre-shared secret for authentication will fail PCI DSS security scans. Here's how to switch to using certificates on the router and the VPN client to pass the scan.
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Migrate VMware virtual machines and View desktops to a new SAN
Learn how to move VMware data from an old storage array to a new one using storage vMotion and Rebalancing for VMware View desktops.
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How to run VMware ESXi on a Mac
As of the vSphere 5 (ESXi 5) release, Macintosh is now supported as a VM guest, as long as you put it on Mac hardware. Lauren Malhoit puts an old Mac Pro 4 through the test.
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How SkyShellEx makes the SkyDrive cloud desktop client easier to use
If you're looking for a simple way to expand the Microsoft SkyDrive syncing service, Jack Wallen says your best bet is to use the SkyShellEx user friendly app.
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Carry the free winPenPack toolset on your USB drive
The open source and free winPenPack comes with a complete set of useful tools for anyone who wants to carry IT applications with them.
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How to Add a Visual Studio Solution to Visual SourceSafe
Though some criticize Visual SourceSafe (VSS) for its lack of features, remember that it integrates nicely with Visual Studio (VS) and suffices in its most essential role, which is to give you a way to version your source code.
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Change vCenter alarm notifications using VMware PowerCLI
It can be a nuisance to change vCenter alarm notifications, unless you use this script that allows you to automate the process.
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Create a photo slide show presentation in LibreOffice 4.1
If you need to create a presentation based on a collection of images and you're short on time, there's no easier way to do it than with LibreOffice 4.1 Presentation software.
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Setting up a Cisco ASA 5510 firewall, part 3
Lauren Malhoit ties up the series on setting up a Cisco ASA 5510 firewall.
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The value of Deleted Items Retention in Exchange
Microsoft Exchange's Deleted Items Retention feature is turned on by default and one day it’ll save you contemplating a whole mailbox restore.
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Fact sheet: VMware vCloud Hybrid Service
Here is the rundown of what you need to know about VMware vCloud Hybrid Service.
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Manage mobile devices and add Outlook apps through Exchange OWA
Learn how to disconnect a device from your Exchange account, wipe a device through OWA, and add apps from the Office Apps store.
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10 useful libraries for JavaScript developers
Learning how to use JavaScript libraries to create interactivity on a Web browser or making a responsive application is becoming increasingly important. Here are ten of the best.
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Set up replication on an EMC VNXe storage array
Learn how to set up a replication connection on an EMC VNXe storage array, and get tips on what to do if you don't have a lot of bandwidth between your two sites.