System Administration

In today's business world, the health of IT hardware plays a critical role in daily operations. Even the most advanced systems experience wear and tear over time. Recognizing early signs of hardware failure helps IT professionals act before minor issues become major disasters. Here are 10 warning signs to watch for, plus strategies to respond effectively.

1. Unusual Noises From Hardware Components

IT hardware is designed to operate quietly. Unusual sounds like clicking, grinding or high-pitched whirring often signal trouble. Hard drives, in particular, are prone to making clicking noises when their read/write heads malfunction. 

Integrating physical security principles into cybersecurity strategies can significantly enhance an organization's defense mechanisms. Just as businesses protect physical assets with layered barriers, controlled access and continuous monitoring, they must take similar steps to protect digital infrastructure.

Below are key physical security principles and their corresponding applications in cybersecurity, along with actionable steps to help IT professionals implement these best practices.

Last year at this time, we quietly introduced a new website called INFOTECH Pub. It was an effort to see if there was enough interest in a website focused on information technology much in the same way we've seen interest in socPub and CMS Report. Well, the short answer is no.

During the past seven days I've been upgrading our websites from Drupal 9 to Drupal 10. There are four of them which includes socPub, CMS Report, INFOTECH Pub, and After Work Pub. While one is never quite done with the work, we're quickly moving from the upgrade back to the maintenance phase of these website. As the dust settles down it will soon be time to start focusing on the content and presence of these websites.

Media and publishing companies have the best performing websites according to new analysis of all FTSE 100 and 250 homepages by an expert team at Contensis. 

Travel, hospitality and leisure and retail and grocery; industries which existentially rely on their online presence, failed to make it into the top half of the table. 

It make take awhile but when I make a mistake I will eventually admit and correct the error of my ways. Half a decade ago, I turned my back on supporting niche websites and focused all my effort in creating a new multi-topic website which you now know as socPub. As counter-intuitive that it sounds, the more diverse and interesting topics we published under this website, our number of loyal visitors to the website decreased in numbers. I found this analysis to be alarming and discouraging.

This is old news but I thought still worth mentioning. Last month Drupal 8 reached its end-of-life. This means that all versions of Drupal 8 core and Drupal contributed project releases that are compatible with only Drupal 8 have been marked unsupported and are no longer supported by the Drupal security team.

Drupal 8.0.0 was first released on November 9, 2015. The last version was released on November 17, 2021. With the end of life approaching, I also updated my two websites from Drupal 8 to Drupal 9.