A Backup Strategy should be an integral part of a healthy data system.

Computers and computer components can and will fail; multiple disk failures in RAID configurations, data center catastrophes (no matter how small) and virus infections can take down your system and corrupt critical data.

There is usually no warning before it’s too late. Suddenly data is unrecoverable and lost – and basically data loss can be costly and may impact productivity.

There is a large amount of investment into the data on a user hard drive. Some data value is obvious, such as company financial data or employee records, which would be disastrous to lose.

Consider the man-hours reinstalling the base software (operating system) on your computer and reconfiguring your environment to suit your preferences again. In some instances this could easily cost you several days of productivity. In extreme cases, some data may not be recoverable.

Implementing a backup plan will often turn several days of lost productivity and weeks of reorganizing into an hour of restoring your disk image.
Depending on the importance and value of your data, storing a regular backup securely off site may be prudent, in case of a disaster or catastrophe.

Redundancy provides the ability to survive the loss of a single hard drive, and replace the failed drive without a system crash. In theory this is good, but does not provide for data viability in the event of two drive failures, or two drive data corruption. DO NOT confuse hard drive redundancy with a true backup.

I have a confession. I’m not a very faithful person. In the past years I’ve used everything from Ubuntu Linux, OpenSUSE – miscellaneous Windows and Vista Installations – and whatever i found interesting to install.
In all these years, I had annoying bugs after bugs with each release/solution, in the hope that maybe, maybe the upcoming release (or version) will be ‘the golden one’, the one that would solve all my issues. But in vain…

So, I backed up all my stuff and installed Fedora 10.

Fedora Linux is the free community version derivation of Red Hat Linux. While Red Hat Linux is an enterprise-class server Linux OS used in massive computer networks, Fedora is like the ‘free to use’ version more suited to home users. It is also sponsored by Red Hat company. While the community gets sponsorship, Red Hat uses Fedora as test-bed for upcoming new features in their commercial products.

Fedora sure has a lot of new things. I was quite surprised by how different it is from other Linux Distributions, even though it looks the same and does the same thing.
I didn’t need to bother though, because everything, really, just works, and that’s great.

I am not saying i will ditch windows (forever) – but for now, i have taken the path at home, with a Microsoft Free Solution – to find out, can Linux really provide me with the desktop tools that i need.

I am still using Windows (in the office) and at the home server – to test services under VMware – services that will make sure that i am aware of what is going on in the Redmond Camp, but for now .. Welcome to a new world… And by the way, they kids love it – they do not know there should be any differences with the software.

If you’re somehow a web worker like me – would be on the constant search for good, free software applications and utilities – which can help you improve.

The web is booming with software – ready for download, some good and some reeeeeaaaally bad  
With this little posting – I will round up the places, where I search for software and utils there are plenty more, let me know with – feedback to my post / comments and enlighten me.

SourceForge.net. The one and only Source Forge is the place to go. The home of all software (Open Source) that moves, and the software we need to succeed. If you can’t find it here, well – then its going to be a hard search. 
Categories, excellent search function and a match not seen anywhere else, Chance to see the activities within the individual projects and a place to find the solution – no matter what or which platform you are looking for.

TinyApps.org. Well, just a little bunch of surprises here. The site is clear (call it minimalistic) but certainly a place to find the little neat thing that can help you once in a while.

There are many other, let me have you feedback.

One of the challenges of being an independent or in the consultant role – is offering all of the services that your clients want.

You can start working for yourself as soon as you have someone willing to pay for your skills, but what happens when they want something done that’s outside of your area of expertise? Partnering with others has many benefits. Besides being able to tackle larger jobs than you can handle alone, you can offer potential customers a better rounded package of skills.
It’s also useful to have someone to call when you get stuck on a problem (”hey, can you see what’s wrong with this ……..?”) or to just remind you why you gave up the security of corporate life in the first place. But how do you build up a network of people to work with, particularly if your work is entirely virtual?

Here are some ways to find your future virtual team.

1. Work your Social Networks.

Why not; Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and all the rest. If you put out the word that you’re in need of help with xxxxx design or application development or anything else, it’s likely that the network will give you access to the right person eventually.

2. Blog your Way.

Every consultant should have a blog, both for personal branding and for marketing. Thanks to search engines, blogs give you more reach than you might think. When you need something, use that reach. But be careful how you word things, because your clients (current and potential) are reading your blog too – remember to talk in terms of opportunities since you are not facing problems – right ??

3. Seminars and Conferences.

Whether you speak or listen, it’s vital to get out to the conferences, user group meetings, and other get-together Do not underestimate the value of overhearing someone at lunch or in the exhibition hall who turns out to be just the person you were looking for. Its like dating, sometimes you might even find a winner.

4. Be helpful to others.

- Whats goes around, comes around. One of my friends call it “Karma Point” – others just try to be visible and helpful when possible. But people who are seen as helpfull to others, also have the value within themself to be able to ask for assistance.

These were just a few examples – of how we can bring it forward – to gain that extra edge. It does require something from our self (nothing is free) – but investments tends to grow in time, so better spend in advance, than pay when it really counts.

But do us a favor and take into consideration – that a messenger can be a distraction – if we are busy with other work (and this was also a mental note to my own ego).

MSN, Yahoo, ICQ and others; we tend to be 100% available all the time, but we also have to secure a better working life with a messenger. Here are some online advice, of how to work with this technology and how to proceed enjoying it.

Based on John McKees list of the most undesirable working habits, I would like to add my own comments.

1. Please avoid staying up to date – this is the sure way to be “out of touch” with both colleagues and partners. Sure, it’s always a pleasure for a colleague to help each other, but at the end of the day – if you bring nothing to the table, why are you taking up the space?
2. Do not provide any results (or expected results). It is not enough to be available; sometime the goal in a boring match is all that matters.
3. Be impersonal – stay at your desk. The one who doesn’t get around in the organization is not visible and not the person who will be approached, once the shit hits the fan. And remember, if not visible – how to be included in the important decisions.
4. I am impossible to replace … Duh… What do you leave behind in a glass of water, when you remove your finger.. Nothing…
5. I know everything about this job. (See #1). A true winner spends most his time tracing down the next opportunity for success.
6. I have my friends here (Support Group). Well, if you are not being challenged – you are not in the loop. A true winner (and a winning team) will always challenge each other, for the next success. It’s like a drug 
7. Accept all credit – even when it’s not earned. Do remember that sharing credit is to share responsibility. It your team members also feel that credit was given to them, they also “own the job” and will raise to the occasion and give a second success.
8. Marketing – Well, availability. Show that you are there, and make sure that you are visible. Don’t brag – but do show that most jobs (relevant or not) is something that you are no stranger to and someone who is not afraid of a new challenges.
9. Ask for help; involve your colleagues. Search for advice, feedback in process or before delivery, a second opinion should always be welcome, and does provide you with the opportunity to create an alliance with a colleague or a new friend.
10. Set ambitions – make a plan… If not, how do you know your targets and where to go.

Please read this article by Damon Darlin, a New York Times tech reporter, who recently wrote about his decision to use Google Apps when faced with even a fairly modest $150 outlay for a family version of Office. What he’s discovered is that the online suite actually suits his needs better than Microsoft’s workhorse. He declares: “I’ve lived for a month without Word. And it has set me free.”

Once people get used to using the online apps at home or at school (or both), they may well find the idea of buying an expensive piece of software, and regularly patching and updating it to be awfully old-fashioned.

I find daily work with my Google documents sufficient, and I do feel free to

Behold the new wonders of y favorite social networking site: www.linkedin.com.

The site has been through some changes and has now launched their new services on a brand new (and redesigned homepage) which imho looks quite appealing. New features would include:

Company News, (Better) Network Updates and the Opportunity to make “Modules”.

This, and the connection with the OpenSocial Members (Oracle / Salesforce and many more) provides a possible platform for all of us who wish to be connected, but just can’t agree on the right platform. OpenSocial is the Google Solution to this problem, providing the glue that makes it all happen. I hope this will be a success, and until then – see you on www.linkedin.com

Your nontechnical co-workers will use you as personal tech support for their home PCs

Your co-workers (in addition to your friends, family, and neighbors) will view you as their personal tech support department for their home PCs and home networks. They will e-mail you, call you, and/or stop by your office to talk about how to deal with the virus that took over their home PC or the wireless router that stopped working after the last power outage and to ask you how to put their photos and videos on the Web so their grandparents can view them.

Some of them might even ask you if they can bring their home PC to the office for you to fix it. The polite ones will offer to pay you, but some of them will just hope or expect you can help them for free. Helping these folks can be very rewarding, but you have to be careful about where to draw the line and know when to decline.

Vendors and consultants will take all the credit when things work well and will blame you when things go wrong

Working with IT consultants is an important part of the job and can be one of the more challenging things to manage. Consultants bring niche expertise to help you deploy specialized systems, and when everything works right, it’s a great partnership. But you have to be careful.
When things go wrong, some consultants will try to push the blame off on you by arguing that their solution works great everywhere else so it must be a problem with the local IT infrastructure. Conversely, when a project is wildly successful, there are consultants who will try to take all of the credit and ignore the substantial work you did to customize and implement the solution for your company.

You’ll spend far more time babysitting old technologies than implementing new ones

One of the most attractive things about working in IT is the idea that we’ll get to play with the latest cutting edge technologies. However, that’s not usually the case in most IT jobs. The truth is that IT professionals typically spend far more time maintaining, babysitting, and nursing established technologies than implementing new ones. Even IT consultants, who work with more of the latest and greatest technologies, still tend to work primarily with established, proven solutions rather than the real cutting edge stuff.

f you are preparing for a career in IT or are new to IT, many of the “dirty little secrets” listed below may surprise you because we don’t usually talk about them out loud.

The pay in IT is good compared to many other professions, but since they pay you well, they often think they own you

Although the pay for IT professionals is not as great as it was before the dot-com flameout and the IT backlash in 2001-2002, IT workers still make very good money compared to many other professions. And there is every reason to believe that IT pros will continue to be in demand in the coming decades, as technology continues to play a growing role in business and society.
However, because IT professionals can be so expensive, some companies treat IT pros like they own them. If you have to answer a tech call at 9:00 PM because someone is working late, you hear, “That’s just part of the job.” If you need to work six hours on a Saturday to deploy a software update to avoid downtime during business hours, you get, “There’s no comp time for that since you’re on salary. That’s why we pay you the big bucks!”

It will be your fault when users make silly errors

Some users will angrily snap at you when they are frustrated. They will yell, “What’s wrong with this thing?” or “This computer is NOT working!” or (my personal favorite), “What did you do to the computers?” In fact, the problem is that they accidentally deleted the Internet Explorer icon from the desktop, or unplugged the mouse from the back of the computer with their foot, or spilled their coffee on the keyboard.

You will go from goat to hero and back again multiple times within any given day

When you miraculously fix something that had been keeping multiple employees from being able to work for the past 10 minutes — and they don’t realize how simple the fix really was — you will become the hero of the moment and everyone’s favorite employee. But they will conveniently forget about your hero anointment a few hours later when they have trouble printing because of a network slowdown — you will be enemy No. 1 at that moment. But if you show users a handy little Microsoft Outlook trick before the end of the day, you’ll soon return to hero status.