If you are fortunate enough to be in a multi-cloud provider organization, then cloudprice.net becomes a great ally in cost optimization. Despite only including some of the larger cloud providers, it allows for multi-tier and multi-region comprehensive analysis in convenient form.

URL: cloudprice.net

Sometimes, small changes can result in costly application downtime, emergency rollbacks, accompanied by several hours of troubleshooting, followed by days of analysis and planning. One of the most common changes involves updates and patches to operating systems. These are typically driven by security concerns but may also introduce new functionalities.

The first step to increasing the chances of successful patching is basic organization and planning. Tracking successful or failed changes on servers and applications is essential in IT management, often using tools like Jira or ServiceNow. It’s also important to stay informed about known issues with the patches that are about to be installed, and understand which changes will be made. For example, a few years ago, a Windows update disabled SMB 1.0, and a subsequent update altered how Windows Features are activated.

Keeping application owners informed and involved in approvals is crucial to avoid unintended consequences. By ensuring they approve maintenance windows, downtime and disruptions are minimized, as their input is vital for assessing risks and timing of updates effectively.

By implementing update rings and testing groups further enhances patching reliability by allowing updates to be gradually tested and rolled out. For example starting with the test and development environments is a the best way to do this.

Another way to ensure successful patches and updates is by using patching applications like Azure Update Manager, WSUS or SCCM. These tools provide reports on the latest patches, track the status of each server and their patch level, and allow for automated patching based on predefined conditions and grouping. However, be cautious with fully automated patches without prior testing, as they can lead to issues, such as the recent Crowdstrike patch failure that caused a widespread downtime in hundreds of businesses on a Friday. Additionally, ensuring free disk space is essential for successful updates.

Another important step is to plan how to revert any changes if something goes wrong. For this, I recommend automating pre-update snapshots and deleting them if everything goes well.

By combining these best practices, you can significantly reduce the risks associated with patching and ensure a smoother, more reliable update process.

I didn’t use my Macbook for a long time, so I decided to put it up for sale. Before posting any ad, I wanted to be fully sure it was working correctly, to avoid any surprises to the future owner. My computer was a 2019 Macbook Pro, with an Intel CPU, therefore I ran a series of tests to ensure it didn’t have any issues. Besides the onboard diagnostics available in the pre-boot environment, I wanted to run additional tests. I also recommend, to guarantee the best and most realistic results, running the tests a few times and comparing the results.

Disk

Most modern Apple computers come with non-removable internal drives, because they are directly soldered to the motherboard. Hence, SMART Utility, a GUI tool for querying and verifying SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) data becomes very important, as its showing the number of hours, GB/s written to the drive, and it’s overall health. This is important because HDDs and SSDs have a limited amount of writes.

Memory

MemTest86 is a self-booting USB tool that allows testing with detailed reports of almost every x86 based CPU and RAM type in the market. It requires creating a bootable USB pen-drive and an adapter, but its worth it.

FAN

Intel based Macbooks need a fan to run at optimal temperatures, that’s why a full blast fan for a couple of minutes with Mac Fan Control can help diagnose any issues with it.

Battery

The application coconutBattery will show the battery health, cycle count and even the temperature.

Stress test

The benchmarking tool novabench will run 11 tests that span from CPU, GPU, HDD and RAM, that will show actual performance in usable units such as GFLOPS or MB/s. The build in stress test is also super useful.

Ever landed somewhere and realized that your laptop or phone changer wont plug to the local electrical socket?

These days the majority of SMPS power supplies are designed to adapt themselves to most mains voltages and frequencies around the world, but the physical sockets may still have completely different designs.

Before any trip, a quick glance at the information present in worldstandards.eu, will allow you to confirm if your chargers will manage with your destination’s voltages and frequencies, but also let you know if you need a special adapter for the sockets. Every IT technician, should stock adapters according to the visitors you may receive, and the possible business trips your coworkers may have to international branches of the company.

URL: worldstandards.eu

This tool improved my daily routine by securely storing my remote sessions , for example RDP, FTP or SSH, and credentials under strong authentication (2FA). Some of my favorite features are the notes, tags, password manager, and credential batch editing.

The tool is has free and feature rich paid version, both available here.

The original fan supplied with the 52Pi NAS case had quiet operation, but the RGB LED flickering proved to be a distraction. I opted to upgrade it by installing a NOCTUA fan coupled with a temperature control circuit.

The fitting required slightly bending the heatpipes towards the board, to ensure a perfect lid closure. The cooling performance increased without any visual or audible disruptions.

Grateful to share that Techlogist.net has reached its 5th anniversary milestone, with hopes for many more years to come!

If you need to benchmark the major components of your Windows or Mac OS computer, then novabench can help you. It will run 11 tests that span from CPU, GPU, HDD and RAM, that will show actual performance in usable units such as GFLOPS or MB/s. It also has a built in stress test.

The tool is free and available to download here.

If you need a more detailed battery health report from your Macbook, then the application coconutBattery is the correct tool. It will show the battery health, cycle count and even the temperature. This tool also allows for iPhone or iPad battery tests.

The application is free and available here.

Your computer has lots of private data, that should be protected. Here are a 10 steps designed to enhance the overall security of your Windows systems, aimed at the a every day user.

1. Set a BIOS password. An attacker will be unable to boot your computer from a Live CD or USB drive, preventing access to any unencrypted parts of the disk by bypassing authentication.
2. Enable secure boot in the BIOS. This protects a user’s from threats like ransomware, because it ensures that all code running immediately after the operating system boots must be signed by Microsoft or the hardware manufacturer.
3. Encrypt the whole hard drive. By using BitLocker for Windows (built into the system), you can encrypt your device. It safeguards your data against unauthorized access, such as in the event of theft.
4. Your software and operating system need to be constantly updated. By enabling automatic system with the option “Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available” you will always be up to date.
5. Create a separate administrator account with a strong password. Avoid giving your user account admin rights, this prevents accidental changes or unwanted installations.
6. Ensure that both your firewall and antivirus are active. Windows Security app and the Windows Firewall, work together to provide comprehensive protection by scanning for threats and blocking unauthorized network access.
7. Don’t install applications from unknown sources. Always download from trusted sources and check the file signature. Avoid downloading or installing pirated software.
8. Avoid connecting to unknown networks. An attacker can create a fake, unencrypted network with a name (SSID) similar to one you’ve previously connected to, causing your computer to connect to it automatically and allowing the attacker to intercept your data.
9. Don’t leave your logins and passwords in unencrypted text files. If your computer is compromised or accessed by someone else, these files can be easily read and misused, leading to potential theft of your sensitive information.
10. Enable regular file backups. Using tools like File History, recovery drives, and cloud storage to safeguard your data against hardware failures or malware attacks.

By following these 10 steps, you can proactively secure your Windows systems. Although some steps may require technical know-how, implementing these practices will establish a strong defense against unauthorized access and safeguard your personal information.

Most modern Apple computers come with non-removable internal drives, because they are directly soldered to the motherboard. Hence, SMART Utility, a GUI tool for querying and verifying SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) data becomes very important, as its showing the number of hours, GB/s written to the drive, and it’s overall health. This is important because HDDs and SSDs have a limited amount of writes.

This application has free version available for free here.

If you need a all-in-one terminal based package manager for your Mac, then Homebrew is the right tool for the job. This free tool will allow you to quickly install, update, remove or automate any package in any Apple computer without having sudo permissions.

Its free, and super easy to install and use. The setup instructions are available here.