The Hilltop Blog

Todays Gmail Outage

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 18:09:00 GMT

For those of you that wonder if Gmail is right for your business, check out this article about todays Gmail outage.

Stick with hosted Exchange or running your own Exchange server.

Microsoft to Kill Windows XP in Two Years

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:49:00 GMT

This article explains why Microsoft will discontinue Windows XP in two years. This is consistent with the 10 year Operating System lifecycle that Microsoft has previously followed.

http://blog.laptopmag.com/death-watch-microsoft-to-kill-windows-xp-in-two-years

The author is almost dead on, except for the last paragraph about Microsoft offering Windows 7 and MS Office 2010 for free via download. All that Microsoft is offering is a free tool for system admins to deploy Windows 7 and MS Office. They are not giving away free upgrades.

Is a Backup and Disaster Recovery System really necessary?

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:36:00 GMT

A Hilltop customer recently found out that having a reliable backup solution is really necessary. It did not take a fire, tornado, or act of nature to put their business at risk. All that it took was the kid living in the condo over her business. The kid tampered with the fire sprinkler system and caused a flood within the her business. Don't be caught unprepared when a 36 inch disaster targets your business. Our cloud based BDR can have your business up and running within 15 minutes of a disaster. Let us know if you would like to see a demo.

Why should Bethesda residents use Hilltop Computers instead of the Geek Squad?

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:37:00 GMT

Why should everyone that lives in Bethesda use Hilltop instead of the Best Buy Geek Squad when they need help with their computer?

1) Our techs are honest, friendly , and reliable.

2) We can fix many problems while you wait. We do not need to ship your computer across the country to a service depot.

3) Hilltop is owned and managed by a Bethesda resident. You can always reach the owner if you have a question or concern.

Hilltop Computers is also the winner of the Best Computer Repair category in Bethesda Magazine's Best of Bethesda list for 2010-2012. We also have an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau

When you have a computer problem, call Hilltop first at 301-652-9600.

Set It and Forget It Works for Pot Roasts, Not Computers.

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 02:50:00 GMT

You think you are pretty smart, right? You unboxed your new PC and got it connected to the Internet. You even transferred your documents and bookmarks. You did not worry about your email because it is all up on the cloud. Your antivirus is activated and your Windows Updates are set to download automatically. You are all set...

Are you really?

Did you know that some Windows Updates require manual approval before installation? Those same updates can prevent the rest of the automatic updates from downloading and installing.

Tonight I was performing what we call a Computer Health Service for a long time customer of our Bethesda Computer Repair Shop. I noticed that the computer was set to download updates automatically. I figured I would just launch the Windows Update tool to see when the last update occured. The computer needed 114 Windows Updates.

Many of the missing updates would have allowed a hacker to take full control of this computer. Other missing updates would have made it easier for malware and spyware to steal data or force the machine to become a spam spewing, zombified, member of what is called a botnet.

Always check your home PC to make sure that updates are working the way that you are expecting them to. Or, just schedule a Computer Health Service at any of our three Computer Repair Shops in Bethesda, Manassas, or Washington DC.

For $80, here is what we do.

1) Verify Windows Updates

2) Verify that your antivirus is current and working properly

3) Clean out the dust and cobwebs

4) Defrag and optimize your hard drive

5) Check for malware, spyware, scareware, and viruses

Keep the Set It and Forget It approach in the kitchen where it belongs.

Backup and Disaster Recovery

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:26:00 GMT

Several people commented on how timely my mass email about Backup and Disaster Recovery was yesterday. The reason I was able to remind people about this service so quickly, is that we have had our Backup and Disaster Recovery systems in place for years. The message that I sent out was actually sent out on July 1, 2010.

The time to be thinking about your disaster recovery plan and systems is not the day that the big earthquake, fire, or flood hits. The time to be thinking about these things is now, before disaster strikes.

If you are not already on Hilltop's Backup and Disaster Recovery system (BUDR) contact me so that we can start protecting your business today.

This websi[BUFFERING]te takes an aw[BUFFERING]ful long time to load.

Tue, 17 May 2011 19:10:00 GMT

One of the first questions Hilltop asks new clients during an initial onsite assessment is “how fast is your bandwidth, and how much do you pay for it?” A common answer is “we have a full T1 – isn’t that more than enough?”

A few years ago, our answer would have been yes. Now that Hilltop is rapidly moving clients to cloud services, the answer is a resounding no. Cloud services such as Hosted Exchange, Cloud Servers, and Cloud File Storage require much more pipeline than a T1 can provide. Even if your company does not utilize any cloud services, a small office of five users will easily max out a T1 line as many programs heavily rely on web access. Have you ever been on YouTube and waited every five seconds for the video to load? That’s because of low bandwidth.

There are a host of ISP providers with speeds exponentially faster than a T1. Let’s dig into some quick numbers. A T1 line provides a maximum download speed of 1.5Mb per second. That means a standard 20MB PDF will take 102 seconds to download. Let’s compare that with other common ISP options:

Service	Download speed	Time to download file
T1	1.5 Mb/s	102 seconds
Cable	50 Mb/s	2 seconds
Metro Ethernet	100 Mb/s	1 second
4G Verizon Hotspot	7 Mb/s	22 seconds

Yes. You read that correctly. The 4G hotspot from Verizon is over four times as fast as a T1. And it’s completely mobile. We certainly don’t recommend moving your office to a 4G connection because of monthly bandwidth caps, but you can see how technology is rapidly moving beyond the T1 connection.

Beyond just the obvious speed improvement you see with alternative ISP options, pricing can also be a huge attraction. Hilltop works with several ISPs in the Washington, DC area where pricing is often a fraction of the cost of a T1 line. We’ve configured clients with Comcast connections for under $200/month. In some cases, we’ve put in 100Mb lines for under $700 per month. That’s often the same price clients pay for T1 lines. Let’s take my numbers from above and factor in pricing. Pay close attention to the last column which calculates the cost per MB when factoring download speed and the cost per month.

Service	Download speed	Cost per month	Cost per MB
T1	1.5 Mb/s	$700	$466.00
Cable	50 Mb/s	$200	$0.25
Metro Ethernet	100 Mb/s	$700	$7.00
4G Verizon Hotspot	7 Mb/s	$50	$7.15

So how do T1 providers keep clients? They often tout their ‘responsiveness’ and ‘reliability.’ I can speak with confidence that after almost ten years of 24x7 monitoring of hundreds of servers, T1 lines are no more reliable than cable or DSL. Often the frequency of disconnects is based on how good the wiring into your building is, how careful the construction crews are at avoiding cutting lines when digging up sidewalks or how much snow your city gets in the winter. If any of those points fail, your T1 will go down as frequently as your cable connection. Beyond reliability, T1 providers love to tout their customer service. Again, after almost ten years of support, I can tell you the hold times for a T1 representative are just as long as cable or DSL. I’ve personally seen an ISP take over a month to replace a broken T1 router, resulting in our client being without a T1 connection for weeks. Thankfully we planned ahead and had a backup Comcast connection installed months earlier.

If you have ever felt like your bandwidth is slow or just want to save money each month, there are hosts of options available. Everything runs better when you have more bandwidth. As I like to tell clients, if your office operates on a T1 connection, you are getting close to the same bandwidth as my two year old BlackBerry connecting via a Sprint 3G connection.

Hilltop is celebrating our 8th anniversary by giving to those who deserve it the most.

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 17:26:00 GMT

Who want's to help wounded soldiers and get two chances to win an iPad 2? Hilltop is going to raffle off two iPad's to raise money for The Fisher House. For $8 (for our 8 year anniversary) you get a chance at both of the iPad's. We will pick one winner on May 6th and the other on May 13th. You can pick up an entry form tomorrow at our Computer Recycling and Paper Shredding event or any time after Monday at any of our three locations. Simply fill out the entry form and drop it off at any of our locations along with your $8 donation. You do not need to be present at the time of the drawings to win.

Changes in our Accounts Receivable management

Thu, 03 Feb 2011 12:50:00 GMT

Hilltop has engaged GreenFlag Profit Recovery to manage our accounts receivable and collections. I feel like we need to focus more or customer service and service delivery, and less on things that we are not great at, like AR and collections. Clients will notice changes in our communications over outstanding invoices. I hope that they don't get upset, but this is something that we need to do to ensure that the bills get paid on time.

February Newsletter

Thu, 03 Feb 2011 13:10:00 GMT

Our February 2011 newsletter is now online. http://bit.ly/gMGj3W

Avoid Downtime With Hilltop's Hosted Services

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 17:59:00 GMT

The DC area experienced major power outages this week which were caused by heavy snow. Many of our clients experienced downtime due to outages with PEPCO.

Now is the time to consider moving your email and data to the cloud or to start using hosted services such as Microsoft Exchange, Virtual Servers, and Cloud Storage. If you are not ready for the cloud, server co-location may be an option for you.

Visit our Managed Services website for more information.

Hilltop to help fellow Bethesda computer business macUpgrades

Sun, 16 Jan 2011 22:00:00 GMT

Effective Tuesday, January 18th, Hilltop is going to let macUpgrades co-locate with us in our Bethesda repair shop. This 20+ year old business lost their lease. We did not want to see another small business fail or see their employees without a place to work on Tuesday. If you or someone you know is one of the loyal customers of macUpgrades, you can now find them at our Bethesda repair shop. The address is:

4709 Chase Ave
Bethesda, MD 20814

macUpgrades is still the same company. They are just using some of our space until they find a new space of their own, or come up with another plan.

For more information about macUpgrades, visit their website.

http://macupgrades.com/Home.html

Change in Cell Phone / PDA usage policy

Tue, 28 Sep 2010 21:08:00 GMT

Effective October 1, 2010, Maryland has banned the use of non-hands free cell phones while driving. This welcomed move brings Maryland in line with Washington, DC and Virginia.

http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/cellphone_laws.html

In order to ensure the safety of our staff and the people around us, as well as to encourage compliance with the law, Hilltop is making changes to our internal PDA / cell phone usage policy. Effective immediately, our team has been instructed to not communicate via email, text message, or phone call while driving. Any consultant that uses their cell phone while driving will face disciplinary action.

In order to ensure that our customers receive timely responses to their calls, our consultants will be forwarding their cell phones to our dispatcher so that client calls will always get a live person during business hours. Our dispatcher will document each client request in our ConnectWise ticketing system to ensure that our consultants have all of the necessary information to assist our client with the request. Our dispatcher will then forward the call to the consultant provided that they are immediately available.

This change in policy will help to improve the safety of our team and the people around us. This change will also help Hilltop to ensure timely communication and improved customer service.

If you have any questions about this new policy, please contact Hilltop at support@hilltopconsultants.com.

The iPad and How it Can Help Your Business

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 17:21:00 GMT

Jim Turner will be conducting a seminar on the Apple iPad for the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Chamber of Commerce on October 4th, 2010. Click the link below for more information.

2010 Bethesda-Chevy Chase Chamber of Commerce Expo

Visit our table in the vendor area for a chance to win an Apple iPad.

Social Media for Businesses seminar

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 20:05:00 GMT

Only 7 tickets left for tonight's Social Media for Businesses seminar in Dupont Circle. RSVP here.