Network Help for Small Companies

Meanwhile, all server, workstation, and laptop computers sold in the last few years already have the ability to run in 64-bit mode. As a Microsoft Partner with years of experience helping businesses carry out network-wide upgrades, Progent can help you understand the costs and benefits of moving to 64-bit processing, design an efficient migration strategy that minimizes operational disruptions, and provide affordable, expert remote support to assist you in upgrading your existing computers and software.

The advantages of 64-bit computing go beyond gigantic spreadsheets. Software is more stable, system performance improves, memory capacity expands, security can be more extensive, and more servers can be consolidated through virtualization. These advantages equate to more uptime, increased productivity, better data protection, and lower equipment costs. Yet for most small businesses, 64-bit computing is still a great untapped resource.

Sticking with 32-bit software and under utilizing 64-bit hardware seems to make no business sense, but in fact there are serious obstacles to migrating to 64-bit computing that have prompted companies to hold back. There is no seamless path for replacing a 32-bit operating system with a 64-bit equivalent. The upgrade requires a clean installation, which means reinstalling existing applications, backing up and restoring data, and installing new 64-bit drivers. In some cases, it can be difficult or impossible to find 64-bit drivers for older peripherals. To avoid business disruption and minimize technical risk, a 64-bit migration demands careful planning and extensive experience.

Advantages of Upgrading to 64-bit Processing
The advantages of 64-bit over 32-bit computing may appear to be vague and hard to define precisely, yet they are real. The memory allocation schemes used in 32-bit operating systems are essentially an engineering band-aid that undermines stability. RAM-starved programs are sometimes unable to utilize free RAM since the operating system cannot allocate it effectively. This results in programs shutting down or running fitfully even when a machine seems to have plenty of available memory. Also, 64-bit operating systems support far more physical RAM than 32-bit ones and crunch twice as much data per CPU cycle. You can also go from one RAM-hungry program to another more quickly while using a 64-bit environment. Basically, 64-bit processing makes systems more reliable, more scalable, and faster, which makes companies more productive.

Microsoft's 64-bit Processing Support
Microsoft's “x64” software supports the 64-bit CPUs found in virtually all computers currently installed in business networks. (Microsoft's 64-bit "Itanium" software is limited to special advanced Intel/AMD CPUs and is intended for applications that need massive multi-processing.) Prior to the availability of Microsoft Office 2010, most Microsoft desktop programs including 2007 Office and Visual Studio 2005 were available only in 32-bit versions, which can still be run on x64 platforms. The latest generation of Microsoft Office offers dramatic improvements. For example, Microsoft Office Excel 2010 is available in a 64-bit version that allows you to create spreadsheets with huge datasets that are not restricted to the 2-Gbyte maximum file size imposed by previous versions of Microsoft Office Excel.

Microsoft offers true x64 versions of many Microsoft Server platforms, including Microsoft Windows Server 2008 and 2003, SQL Server 2008, Exchange Server 2007, Commerce Server 2007, BizTalk Server, plus Operations Manager. Windows Server x64 editions are priced and licensed identically to their 32-bit editions, so in most circumstances you pay nothing more for 64-bit server software or hardware.

For workstations, Microsoft offers Windows 7 and Windows 8 in same-price 64-bit editions that offer advanced dependability, scalability, and performance. As with all migrations from 32-bit to 64-bit operating systems, the move up can't be done seamlessly. Each desktop PC and server requires a clean setup that involves reconfiguring applications, saving and restoring data, and installing 64-bit drivers. On the other hand, for most current desktop PCs, and for every PC running Windows XP, the 32 or 64-bit version of Microsoft Windows 7 or Windows 8 requires you to perform a "from scratch" install. This being the case, there will never be a better opportunity to move to x64 computing on the workstation, since it will require little extra work.

How Progent Can Assist Your Business to Upgrade to 64-bit Processing
Besides helping your organization to understand the business advantages, expenses, and technical variables attached to migrating to 64-bit processing, Progent's Microsoft-certified engineers can help you design, document, implement, manage, and troubleshoot a network-wide migration to 64-bit server and client operating systems and applications. Progent can help you test your 64-bit infrastructure to make sure it supports all of the important 32-bit applications which you intend to keep as well as the new 64-bit editions of software you plan to install. If adopting Windows 7, Windows 8.1, or Windows 10 is part of your x64 upgrade plan, Progent's certified Windows 7 engineers, Windows 8.1 consultants, and Windows 10 evaluation and upgrade experts can assist you to determine which desktop hardware and programs can or ought to be retained, and plan a migration procedure that is minimally disruptive to your network operations.

Other ways Progent's consultants can help your business to upgrade to 64-bit processing include:

• Progent's experience delivering online computer consulting and support can save you effort and expense during your x64 upgrade, and Progent's background cooperating with internal support personnel and delivering technical information sharing to them can improve the effectiveness of your support staff.

• Progent's certified Cisco CCIE network engineers can verify that your network infrastructure is configured to support your x64 processing environment, that it is simple to monitor, manage, and troubleshoot, and that it provides a high degree of security and reliability.

• Progent's disaster recovery consultants can assist you in developing and validating a disaster recovery strategy that incorporates your 64-bit servers. Progent's Microsoft certified Microsoft System Center System Center Data Protection Manager support professionals can assist you to deploy System Center SCDPM to support near-continuous online backup with the capability of fast system recovery.

• Progent's CISM, CISSP, GIAC, and CISA network security consultants can help you create a company-wide security plan that implements some of the powerful security mechanisms incorporated into 64-bit server platforms. Progent can also perform network security vulnerability testing to evaluate or validate your network's compliance with mandated security standards.

• Progent's virtualization consultants can show you how to utilize 64-bit virtual server solutions to conserve hardware, simplify administration, enhance robustness, cut colocation expenses, and reduce recovery time in case of a disaster.

• Progent's live online education can help bring both your network support team and your office workers up to speed quickly and cost-effectively by providing online virtual training specialized for your network environment and business procedures.