Category: News and Events

Wireless Big Data: A Tech Update with Cisco and Pure Storage

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Wireless Big Data: A Tech Update with Cisco and Pure Storage

Wireless big data has the ability to provide in-depth information and analytics which allows operators to facilitate data-driven approaches for network optimization and operation. CT Link Systems, Inc. in partnership with MSI-ECS Philippines will be hosting a tech update on Cisco (specifically on Cisco Meraki) and Pure Storage this coming June 14, 2018 at M Cafe.  We hope to help further educate our attendees on how today’s businesses can benefit on the new innovations from both brands when partnered up with our CT Link business solutions.

To learn more about these solutions, you can email rcruz@www.ctlink.com.ph or contact us directly at 893-9515 to find out how you can register for this event!

About Cisco Meraki

Cisco Meraki is a cloud-based networking solution that provides a wide range of networking products, including wireless access points, switches, security appliances, and mobile device management tools. The platform is designed to simplify the deployment, management, and troubleshooting of enterprise networks.

One of the key features of Cisco Meraki is its centralized management interface. All Meraki devices are managed through a single dashboard that can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection. This makes it easy to deploy and manage networks across multiple locations without needing to physically access each device.

Another key feature of Cisco Meraki is its cloud-based architecture. Meraki devices communicate with each other and with the management dashboard over the internet, eliminating the need for on-premise hardware or software. This reduces the upfront cost of deploying a network and makes it easier to scale as needed.

Cisco Meraki also provides advanced security features to protect networks and data. Meraki devices can be configured to enforce policies such as content filtering, intrusion prevention, and malware protection. The platform also includes tools for threat detection and response, giving network administrators the ability to quickly identify and mitigate security risks.

In addition to networking and security products, Cisco Meraki also offers mobile device management tools. This allows organizations to manage and secure their mobile devices, including laptops, smartphones, and tablets. Meraki’s mobile device management tools include features such as remote wipe, device enrollment, and application management.

HPE Announces SimpliVity Support for Microsoft Hyper-V and SimpliVity Workspaces for Citrix

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HPE Announces SimpliVity Support for Microsoft Hyper-V and SimpliVity Workspaces for Citrix

May 8, 2018 – Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) announced that HPE SimpliVity 380 would now be able to run with Microsoft Hyper-V and they have partnered with Citrix to be a Citrix Workspace Appliance Partner.  With these new offerings, HPE hopes to enhance its ability to provide high-performance virtual applications and desktops ensuring a faster and easier way to deliver secure digital workspaces in today’s hybrid cloud environment while also increasing its customer’s hypervisor options.

HPE SimpliVity 380 with Microsoft Hyper-V offers businesses with an easier IT infrastructure solution which simplifies the data center by converging servers, storage and storage networking into one simple to manage, software-defined platform so that businesses will not be limited by the legacy IT infrastructure which cannot make use of the current IT environment.

This has resulted in an increased business agility and economics in the cloud in an on-premise solution.  With the pre-integrated, all-flash, hyperconverged building block simplifies IT by combining all infrastructure and advanced data services for virtualized workloads – this includes VM-centric management and mobility, data protection and guaranteed data efficiency.

The latest HPE SimpliVity 380 with Microsoft Hyper-V solution offers HPE SimpliVity customers the following core benefits:

Enables VM centric management and mobility

HPE SimpliVity hyperconvergence enables policy-based, VM-centric management abstracted from the underlying hardware to simplify day-to-day operations. VMware customers benefit from this core value with 95% seeing value and IT simplification. Now Microsoft Hyper-V customers can achieve the same benefit.

Data protection

Customers now have access to a hyperconverged solution with full-featured, built-in backup and recovery at no additional cost. These data protection features include the resilience, built-in backup, and bandwidth-efficient replication needed to ensure the highest levels of data integrity and availability, eliminating the need for legacy data protection.

Data efficiency

Efficiency is delivered by powerful built-in data services including in-line deduplication and compression and novel data architecture to speed business continuity and enable workload mobility. Guaranteed data efficiency saves 90 percent capacity across storage and backup combined and the benefits include slashing recovery point objectives (RPOs) and recovery time objectives (RTOs) from days or hours to seconds, with a guaranteed 60-second restore for a 1 TB VM.

Besides the Hyper-V partnership with Microsoft, HPE has also partnered with Citrix with a collaboration between the two on a solution portfolio integration, which includes the new HPE SimpliVity 380 with Microsoft Hyper-V, in the Citrix HCI Workspace Appliance Program.  So that the customers don’t have to create their own solutions to deliver their virtualized application and desktops, the HPE and Citrix solution is already pre-integrated and pre-tested in the SimpliVity appliance.  Customers will also find that the appliance program will make it easier to deliver new workspace solutions while being managed seamlessly with Citrix during the course of its lifecycle.  Thus creating a new standard for customers to easily deploy their digital workspaces with multi hypervisor, multi-cloud flexibility resulting in truly a top-class digital collaboration and borderless, productive workplace.

To learn more about these partnerships, you may find the original article here or you may contact us directly at 893-9515 and we will be happy to answer your inquiries!

Cryptomalware attacks become more prevalent with the increased popularity of Cryptocurrency

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Cryptomalware attacks become more prevalent with the increased popularity of Cryptocurrency

Cyptocurrency has been a hot topic over the last year, you may have heard plenty of people investing in this currency (such as BitCoin) hoping to strike it rich as its value has been highly volatile.  As revolutionary of an idea as it is for the market, there also those who wish to profit through this new-found trend by using unscrupulous means as well.  This is apparent with the introduction of a new type of malware which specifically targets such users whom use cryptocurrency, cryptomalware.

Just like how there is variety with ordinary malware, cryptomalware comes in different forms as well, ranging from client-side web scripts to mobile applications.  As of now, the usual modus operandi of cryptomalware are to target your computer to use its computing power to mine currency or to directly steal currency by intercepting your purchases by rerouting your payments to the criminal’s wallets instead.  Even IoT devices are now being targeted by these hackers in a way to expand their operations, knowing that the computing power of these devices are not as powerful as servers or laptops.

Cryptocurrency mining unlike many other malicious malware actively uses your computer for its computational resources to mine cryptocurrency.  This process puts a great strain on infected device and could cause its lifespan to significantly decrease.  A recent study from Trend Micro found that the most detected home event was cryptocurrency mining, showing that this is becoming more prevalent now even in the average consumers home.  To help mitigate the threat, below are a few tips on what you can do to lessen your chances on getting infected:

  • Regularly update devices with their latest firmware to prevent attackers from taking advantage of vulnerabilities to get into systems.
  • Change devices’ default credentials to avoid unauthorized access.
  • Employ intrusion detection and prevention systems to deter malicious attempts.
  • Be wary of known attack vectors, such as socially engineered links, attachments, and files from suspicious websites, dubious third-party applications, and unsolicited emails.

For increased security against these threats, you may also want to consider getting a proactive security such as Trend Micro™ XGen™ security.  With high-fidelity machine learning that can secure the gateway and endpoint, and protect physical, virtual, and cloud workloads, it will give you that second layer of defense to help secure your endpoint from threats like cryptomalware.

To learn more about cryptomalware you may check this link or you may contact us directly at 893-9515 and we will do our best to answer your inquiries.

Microsoft Azure: an Affordable and Flexible Infrastructure in the Cloud

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Microsoft Azure: an Affordable and Flexible Infrastructure in the Cloud

Getting a business started from scratch can be difficult, then adding into the equation of your internal infrastructure?  Now that can be a real challenge for some, even daunting.  Not knowing exactly what specifications you would need at first for servers can be costly, though this can’t be helped as requirements can be grow as you are already in the process of operating.  Due to this reason, many have started to use the services of IaaS (infrastructure as a service) providers such as Microsoft Azure.

Elasticity is one characteristic of cloud computing and its biggest benefits.  This means that you can either stretch or shrink your cloud service usage at any given time to better fit the needs of your IT workloads.  You will be able to seamlessly add or remove virtual servers, storage, network services while paying only for what you use.  This benefit is more prominent when you are heavily using applications where work can be divided among multiple identical applications or services running on different machines.

One of its features, Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets (scale sets for short), is an identical pool of virtual machines running an application you control.  Azure has tools for you in which you can build or configure the Virtual Machines (VM) the way you want it and also taking control of how many you have at any time.  With scale set, you can have an on-demand fleet of VMs doing whatever work needs to be done but will grow or lessen whenever you need it to or if it reaches a certain parameter you’ve stated.

Scale Set fundamentals

“Cattle versus pets” is a popular metaphor of cloud scaling, which is often credited to a former Microsoft architect Bill Baker.  If servers are like pets, each one is lovingly raised, tended to carefully and even individually named while even being nursed back to health when they are sick.  If they are treated as cattle than they are all interchangeable and do not need to be given names, and when they get sick you get rid of it and get another one.  In a way, scale sets give you a way to clone a herd of “cattle” which you are able to choose its size and breed at any given time at the cost of the herd being identical.

Something important to remember about Azure scale sets is that they are identical VMs.  This means that you can customize the first in the herd, but the rest will be exactly like the first.  There are multiple ways to define your scale set, through the Azure portal, manually via Powershell or the Azure command-line tools, and through an Azure Resource Manager (ARM) template.  From this definition, Azure will know what size VM instance you would like to use, its name, quantity of machines in the set, etc.  You can customize the VM used by the scale set to include your application in three ways: by creating a completely customized VM image and supplying it to Azure, by taking a prebuilt Windows or Linux image and installing your application when the scale set is started, or by customizing the image to include container software and then loading the application container when the scale set is started, each having its benefits.

For a more in-depth read on how Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets works, you may visit the link or contact us directly at 893-9515!

Celebrating our 20-Year Partnership with Hewlett Packard!

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Celebrating our 20-Year Partnership with Hewlett Packard!

1999:  CT Link Systems, Inc. officially signed up as an Authorized Corporate Reseller with then Hewlett Packard (HP) Corporation, a Dow Jones Top 30 company with US$ 42Billion revenue and employing 84,400 employees. The HP partnership established CT Link’s credibility as an IT-solutions company that enhanced its customer’s business processes.

In October 2014, Hewlett Packard split into two companies – Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and HP Inc.

HPE focused on enterprise products and the services business segment. Its flagship solution, the Hybrid IT, consists of both cloud and on-premise data center infrastructure and helps organizations transform their IT operations, security, economics and operations to support business workloads.

In 2015,  HPE bolstered its technology portfolio through a series of noteworthy acquisitions including Hyperconvergence pioneer SimpliVity and Nimble Storage for the All Flash Storage solution leveraging on InfoSight. They also bought the networking company such as Aruba Networks and other security and cloud-focused products to complement their IT transformation offering.

Meanwhile, HP Inc. transformed from a hardware-centric model towards seeing hardware as a foundation for services and solution offerings. It spearheaded quality improvement of HP Personal Systems through innovations such as Designing for the Modern Workforce, Security for the Modern Workplace, and Collaboration for the Modern Work Styles. It also provided new offering such as Device as a Service (DaaS), Office Printing and Cloud ready and optimize hardware.

Alongside these developments, CT Link has continued its partnership with both companies and has become part of the transformation from the hardware-centric company it was in 1998 to a company that provides solutions, services and cloud technology linkages for its customers.

Pure Storage: Why All-Flash storage is the next Critical Step for PACS and VNA Solutions

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Pure Storage: Why All-Flash storage is the next Critical Step for PACS and VNA Solutions

Presently, Healthcare organizations are becoming more reliant on their enterprise imaging systems to improve their overall quality of service they provide to their clients.  However, as growth in size and scope continues for imaging, those responsible for constructing and managing the Picture Archiving Communication Systems (PACS) and Vendor Neutral Archive (VNA) solutions will have to handle various new and potentially difficult challenges.  However, within these challenges lies opportunities to improve patient care with storage upgrades to support the PACS and VNA solutions.

Challenges

With major advances in both imaging technology and information technology, clinicians now have the means to use a broader range of images from across the entire health system to make better and informed decisions when it comes to their clients care.  Also, as the system continues to expand in size and scope, more advanced analytics will be available to improve the progress of treating patients.

This means administrators of PACS and VNA play a bigger role, making sure delivery of performance to the point of care and meeting more stringent requirements for images, including availability, business continuity and compliance.  This means dealing with capacity growth while making sure that images are readily available and not stored in an archive that is inaccessible or unable to meet the performance requirements of the image and viewer.  They must also align their systems to their customer needs, be it current or future customers.

How all-flash storage can help

Legacy spinning disk arrays do not have the performance level to meet the demands of today’s enterprise imaging solutions unless they are replaced or upgraded.  Hybrid systems have been tried by some organizations using flash as cache or as one of several storage tiers.  However these solutions failed to deliver consistent performance needed for the PACS and VNA systems making it very difficult on the part of the administrators during its operations.  This makes it clear that to optimally run these systems, single-tiered all-flash storage solutions is the only viable option.  Below are some of the key benefits in using an all flash array

Simplified manageability

An all-flash array will typically mean faster deployments, simpler scaling and less complex ongoing management and maintenance. With the right all-flash platform, administrators can use automation to eliminate a wide range of manual tasks— with no need to ever undertake an expensive and risky forklift upgrade.

A single storage tier

This is valuable from a number of perspectives. In terms of performance, using a single tier of high-performance storage means that images are always available and on storage that can ensure quick and easy access. In terms of manageability, a single tier eliminates manual processes and the myriad tasks involved in managing the cache. In terms of cost effectiveness, a single storage tier means no need to manage archives and older storage platforms that are becoming obsolete.

A future-proof infrastructure

All-flash storage is clearly the future for PACS and VNA systems, so there is really no point in waiting. With all-flash storage, PACS and VNA systems can deliver major improvements in performance, agility, availability and manageability. With the right solution, administrators can stay current with the latest technology without having to replace infrastructure and migrate applications, images and data. In addition, flash storage is the only storage platform that can deliver the performance required for modern initiatives such as big data analytics, machine learning and radiomics.

To learn more about PACS and VNA solutions with Pure Storage, you may check this link here.  If you want to learn more about all-flash storage, you can visit our Pure Storage product page or contact us directly at 893-9515.

HPE Awards CT Link with the “Simplivity Deal of the Year” award!

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HPE Awards CT Link with the “Simplivity Deal of the Year” award!

On March 21, 2018, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Philippines (HPE) awarded CT Link with the “SimpliVity Deal of the Year” award during its Partner Kick-Off and Appreciation Night held at the EDSA Shangri-La, Manila.  This award was given to CT Link as recognition of its efforts in the first SimpliVity deal that was partnered with HPE Proliant series after HPE’s acquisition of SimpliVity in 2017.

HPE SimpliVity is a powerful, simple, and efficient hyperconverged platform that provides best-in-class data services partnered with one of the best server technologies to provide a complete hyperconverged solution.  HPE SimpliVity has garnered a wide range of accolade throughout the years with its innovative line and best-in-class features.

About HPE SimpliVity

HPE SimpliVity is a hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) solution that offers a range of features designed to simplify the management and deployment of virtualized workloads. It is a product of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, a global leader in technology solutions, and is designed to help businesses of all sizes optimize their IT operations.

The HPE SimpliVity platform combines compute, storage, and networking resources into a single, compact appliance. This approach reduces the need for complex hardware and software configurations, making it easier to deploy and manage virtualized workloads. The platform also includes advanced data services, such as data deduplication, compression, and encryption, which can improve data protection and storage efficiency.

HPE SimpliVity is built on a powerful hardware platform that includes high-performance CPUs, memory, and storage. It uses VMware virtualization technology to create a flexible, scalable, and secure environment for running mission-critical applications. The platform also includes support for hybrid cloud deployments, allowing businesses to extend their data center resources to public cloud providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure.

One of the key benefits of HPE SimpliVity is its ease of use. The platform is designed to be intuitive and easy to manage, even for users with limited IT expertise. This is achieved through a simple web-based management console, which provides a single view of all virtualized resources and allows users to perform common tasks like creating virtual machines, setting up network configurations, and monitoring system performance.

HPE SimpliVity also includes a range of advanced data protection features, such as backup and recovery, disaster recovery, and replication. These features help businesses ensure the availability of their critical data and applications in the event of a system failure or natural disaster. The platform also includes support for VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM), which simplifies the process of configuring and testing disaster recovery plans.

Microsoft Teams Turns One!

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Microsoft Teams Turns One!

On March 12, 2018, Microsoft Teams celebrated its one year anniversary and what and eventful first year it was!  According to Microsoft, around 200,000 organizations in 181 markets (in 39 languages) are using teams to date and we can expect it to rise throughout the year with Microsoft’s additional features and updates to Teams this coming year.

Teams for Intelligent Communications and Collaboration

Being part of Office 365, Teams has been able to take advantage of many of its strength by being able to integrate with many other Office 365 applications while also tapping its 120 million user base.  Teams uniquely delivers on its many features, such as chat-based collaboration, meetings, calling (and soon, full enterprise voice features), at scale with enterprise-grade security and compliance standards to make sure that you are within global standards.  However, to improve on their vision for Intelligent Communications within organizations, Microsoft has announced that they will be implementing the following features within this year:

Cloud recording—Will provide one-click meeting recordings with automatic transcription and timecoding, enabling all team members the ability to read captions, search within the conversation, and playback all or part of the meeting. In the future, it will also include facial recognition, so remarks can be attributed to specific meeting attendees.

Inline message translation—People who speak different languages will be able to fluidly communicate with one another by translating posts in channels and chat.

Cortana voice interactions for Teams-enabled devices—Will enable you to easily make a call, join a meeting, or add other people to a meeting in Teams using spoken, natural language. This functionality will extend to IP phones and conference room devices.

Background blur on video—The ability to blur your background during video calls will allow other meeting attendees to focus on you, not what’s behind you.

Proximity detection for Teams Meetings—This feature will make it easy for you to discover and add a nearby and available Skype Room System to any meeting.

Mobile sharing in meetings—Meeting attendees will be able to share a live video stream, photos, or the screen from their mobile device.

In addition to this, Microsoft will be adding new enterprise-grade calling features in Teams which will include consultative transfer and call delegation and federation.  Another feature that will be introduced is Direct Routing which will allow you to use your existing telephony infrastructure with Teams for calling.  To learn more about this you may read the original article here or you can contact us at 893-9515 to ask us directly!

Reach the “TippingPoint” in your Business’ Cyber Security with Integrated Advanced Threat Protection

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Reach the “TippingPoint” in your Business’ Cyber Security with Integrated Advanced Threat Protection

The Cyber world is dark and dusty,organizations are facing the most complicated scenarios to solve their security puzzle to protect the data privacy. Every day, cyber criminals create new ways and multiple advanced techniques to break the security barriers, how strong is your defense gate against these unknown attackers?

Step into the future of security with Trend Micro, to know more on how to get a 360 degree view of defense approach against sophisticated threats today and in the future.

Join us on February 21, 2018 at Outback Steakhouse Glorietta 4 as we learn more about Trend Micro’s Tipping Point and how it can help your business defend against today’s security threats!

To register you and your company to attend this seminar, please contact us at 893-9515 and we will be happy to assist you!

About Trend Micro

Trend Micro is a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, dedicated to making the world safer for exchanging digital information. Founded in 1988, Trend Micro has grown to become a trusted provider of cutting-edge security solutions for businesses and consumers alike.

Trend Micro’s comprehensive range of cybersecurity solutions includes endpoint security, network security, cloud security, and security management services. These solutions are designed to protect against a wide range of threats, including malware, ransomware, phishing attacks, and other forms of cybercrime.

One of Trend Micro’s core strengths is its ability to stay ahead of emerging threats. The company employs a team of experts who constantly monitor the latest cyber threats and develop innovative solutions to counter them. Trend Micro’s solutions are designed to provide proactive, real-time protection against both known and unknown threats.

Trend Micro’s commitment to cybersecurity extends beyond its products and services. The company is also dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of online safety and promoting best practices for cybersecurity. Trend Micro regularly publishes research and insights on the latest cybersecurity trends and hosts events to help educate businesses and individuals about the importance of cybersecurity.

Microsoft Teams: Improving an already good Collaboration tool

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Microsoft Teams: Improving an already good Collaboration tool

It’s been close to 10 months since Microsoft has introduced Teams in an effort to help their customers improve their collaboration within the workspace.  Through these months, Microsoft has been slowly improving Teams through their observations and user feedback.  One example of this was the integration of third party applications such as Trello and SurveyMonkey.  Even now they are still updating Teams, recently they have released a new update in which they have integrated exciting new features which will surely help your company’s collaboration efforts!

New ways to utilize your apps in Teams

Include information from an app in a conversation

Be able to discuss content from a different app directly in Teams with the latest update.  Just like putting an emoji or GIF in the chat, you’ll be able to search and post integrated app information into chat and channels.  Be able search for a specific task in Trello, a work item in Wrike, or even a weather forcast, and even integrate them it into an interactive card.

Access a personal view of your apps

With the update, you can now easily access apps you frequently use and even see all items on those apps such as tasks in planner, issues in Jira Cloud and even conveniently find items you recently used such notebooks from OneNote.  This is made possible due to the addition of the personal apps space.  In addition, you can also find a new app in this space called Who, a new app powered by Microsoft Graph, which enables you to search for people in your organization by name or topic.

Find apps for Teams in the new Store

To make discovering and finding apps simpler in Teams by allowing users to search for apps by name, category, and integration type (like bots, tabs, connectors) in their new store.

Command apps, take quick actions, and search—all from the command box

Command apps from the command box

In the latest patch, Microsoft has added the function to query or command an app from the command box.   You are now able to search information in an app and easily place the results into a chat or channel in Teams.  More functions will be added overtime, one function they are working on is to create a task in your project management app over the Teams command box.

Take quick actions with slash commands

A convenient new function added to Teams would be the addition of slash commands to help you execute shortcuts quickly.

Contact us at 893-9515 to learn more about Microsoft Teams and how it can help you collaborate better with your own Team!