IT Connection Newsletter: Number 6
SQL Server 2012 Consulting:
Planning, Deployment, Application Development, DBA Services
SQL Server is Microsoft's flagship database management and analysis system and is tightly integrated with key Microsoft platforms such as SharePoint, Excel, Microsoft CRM, and Dynamics GP (Great Plains). Progent can provide the expertise of Microsoft-certified engineers as well as experienced application developers, database administrators, project managers, network architects, disaster recovery experts, and security specialists to help you derive the maximum business value from your deployment of SQL Server 2012.
SQL Server is Microsoft's top database management and analysis system and is tightly integrated with key Microsoft platforms such as SharePoint, Excel, CRM, and Dynamics GP (Great Plains). SQL Server 2012 has a broad range of features that offer major improvements in vital areas such as availability, security, performance, manageability, analytics, cloud readiness, scalability, collaboration, fast application development, and data discovery. SQL Server 2012 also consolidates the key editions of SQL Server from five to three, simplifying the selection of a version that fits your needs.
Progent can provide the expertise of Microsoft-certified engineers as well as experienced application developers, DBAs, DR/BC experts, network designers, and security specialists to help you evaluate the potential benefits of SQL Server 2012 for your business, set up pilot systems at your datacenter or at Progent's lab, plan and carry out a smooth migration to SQL Server 2012 either from prior releases of SQL Server or from other platforms, and design an efficient and secure environment that helps you maximize the business benefit of SQL Server 2012.
AlwaysOn High-Availability for SQL Server 2012
The headline innovation incorporated into SQL Server 2012 is Microsoft's AlwaysOn solution, which provides flexible and cost-effective system design options for insulating mission-critical application databases from downtime caused either by scheduled maintenance or network failures. Microsoft designed AlwaysOn to achieve or exceed the famous "five nines" availability, or 99.9999% uptime, which translates into just a few minutes of downtime per year.
AlwaysOn technology uses two enhancements in SQL Server 2012 to eliminate the inefficiencies of SQL Server 2008's Failover Clustering Instances (FCIs) for high availability (HA) and SQL Server 2008's database mirroring mechanism for disaster recovery (DR). For a more effective and affordable HADR solution, SQL 2012 includes AlwaysOn Failover Cluster Instances and the new AlwaysOn Availability Groups.
AlwaysOn Failover Clustering Instances support multi-subnet clustering across geographically dispersed sites, allowing you to deploy so-called Stretch Clusters. This architecture offers both a high level of availability as well as the basis for an advanced disaster recovery solution. SQL Server 2012's AlwaysOn FCI also improves failure detection and provides more flexibility for configuring an optimal failover policy. In addition, SQL Server 2012 has an option for indirect checkpoints as a viable alternative to automatic checkpoints. This new feature allows you to specify the maximum permissible downtime for a database so you can safely guarantee the recovery time of critical databases in case of a failover event.
AlwaysOn Availability Groups in SQL Server 2012 improve mirroring in SQL Server 2008 by allowing log-based data movement without shared disks and thereby enabling zero data loss in case of a fail over condition.
AlwaysOn Availability Groups improve database uptime as well as resource utilization by letting you define sets of user databases that fail over as a single logical unit and to create a set of primary and secondary availability replicas to host copies of each availability database. Availability Groups can have four secondary replicas and feature listeners for fast application failover over, automatic page repair to event page corruption, and the ability to force a Failover Clustering (WSFC) quorum. Secondary replicas can be used actively for read-intent applications and backup in order to improve hardware utilization.
For additional information about Progent's consulting support for Microsoft SQL Server 2012, see Progent's Support Services for SQL Server 2012.
Contact Progent about SQL Server 2012 Consulting Services
To find out more about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft SQL Server 2012, call Progent at
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An index of content::
After Hours SQL Server 2017 and Power BI Information Technology Consulting
Integration Services SQL Server 2017 Always Encrypted
Progent's Microsoft-certified SQL Server 2017 consultants can assist your business to assess the business advantages of migrating to SQL Server 2017 and can assist you to plan and implement a smooth migration of your databases and applications to any deployment architecture including local, cloud-based, or hybrid. Progent's consultants can provide remote or onsite support services ranging from on-demand architecture assessment or troubleshooting to end-to-end project management to make sure your SQL Server 2017 initiative is carried out on schedule and on budget.
Mac OS X Trainer
Office PowerPoint for Mac Instruction
Progent offers onsite education customized for people who wish to broaden their understanding of the Apple macOS and OS X platform, Mac computers, or Mac office productivity applications including Word, Excel, and Outlook for Mac. Progent also offers specialized group or one-on-one online training for Mac application software.
Microsoft LCS Server Engineer
Microsoft LCS Server IM Consulting
MS Office Communications Server delivers Instant Messaging and presence in an extensible, world-class package offering enhanced security, seamless compatibility with other Microsoft software, an expandable, standards-based development platform, and compliance with regulatory requirements such as HIPAA, SOX, and Gramm-Leach-Bliley. Communications Server offers cost savings and improved operational efficiencies, increased individual output, and stronger intellectual property protection. MS Communications Server 2007 has been superseded by Lync, which itself has been replaced by Skype for Business. Progent's certified IM and Presence consultants offer remote and on-premises support and troubleshooting services for your Office Communications Server 2007 environment and can assist your organization to evaluate the costs and benefits of migrating to Skype for Business. Progent can also assist you to plan and implement a smooth upgrade that will add business value to your information network
Computer Support Help Desk On-site Support
Online HelpDesk Call Center Professional
The Help Desk support delivery model used by Progent offers small companies an effective alternative to dependence on independent service individuals by offering broad technical knowledge accessible to multiple engineering teams, optional round-the-clock access to emergency help, escalation capability to world-class experts for handling the most intractable issues, support consistency and reliability, prompt follow through enforced by seasoned support managers, a variety of convenient ways for requesting support tasks, and excellent progress visibility made possible by ticket tracking and available via a web-based portal.
Microsoft SUS Consultant
WSUS Consult
Microsoft WSUS enables information technology managers to install and track the latest Microsoft patches and security updates to Windows Server 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Microsoft Windows XP operating systems. By using Microsoft SUS, network support personnel can fully and easily manage the installation of updates that are published via Microsoft Update to servers and workstations in a company. Progent can help you with complex details of the initial configuration of Microsoft Software Update Services such as planning the Microsoft Windows Server Update Services deployment, configuring user's workstations, establishing the Group Policy parameters, and making sure your Microsoft SUS GPO is associated with an Active Directory container that makes sense for your system environment.
Windows Server 2008 BranchCache Professional
24-7 Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Engineers
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 offers high levels of performance, security, fault tolerance, scalability, and flexibility that improve productivity of on-site, branch office, and mobile workers. Progent's Microsoft-certified experts can provide cost-effective online consulting, technical support, and training services to help you to design, implement, and maintain Windows Server 2008 R2 in order to add significant strategic value to your network.
Private Cloud Hosting Professional
Consulting Services Private Cloud Hosting
Progent’s private cloud hosting service allows small and midsize businesses to run mission-critical applications such as SQL and Exchange Server from a hardened Tier III data center on fully redundant hardware with offsite data backup. Progent uses Microsoft's Hyper-V platform for server virtualization and Data Protection Manager (DPM) for automatic backup and restore. You can use Progent’s private cloud hosting service to eliminate large capital costs for the purchase, upkeep, and operation of network equipment and facilities while benefiting the highest levels of system reliability and security.
Microsoft Online Technical Support Office 365 hybrid solutions for Exchange
Office 365 and on-premises Exchange Specialists
Office 365 is Microsoft's expanding suite of productivity apps and cloud services available on a subscription basis. Office 365 applications and cloud-based services are offered in an array of subscription plans intended for customers ranging from students and households to enterprises. Progent offers quick and affordable online access to specialists with expertise in Microsoft, Mac, iOS, and Android platforms. Progent can help your business to understand the wealth of subscription plans available with Office 365 and integrate your information network with Office 365 so you realize maximum business value. Progent supports multi-platform environments that incorporate Windows, macOS, and Linux operating systems. Progent can also help your business to create and manage hybrid networks that transparently integrate on-premises and cloud products and services.
ProSight Email Guard Spam and Virus Filtering Service Consult
After Hours ProSight Email Content Filtering Policies Consultant
Progent's ProSight Email Guard solution uses the technology of top information security vendors to provide web-based control and comprehensive protection for your email traffic. The powerful structure of Email Guard integrates cloud-based filtering with a local security gateway appliance to provide advanced protection against spam, viruses, Denial of Service Attacks, Directory Harvest Attacks, and other email-borne malware. ProSight Email Guard's Cloud Protection Layer serves as a preliminary barricade and blocks the vast majority of threats from reaching your network firewall. This reduces your vulnerability to inbound threats and saves system bandwidth and storage. ProSight Email Guard's onsite gateway device adds a deeper level of inspection for incoming email. For outgoing email, the onsite security gateway provides anti-virus and anti-spam filtering, policy-based Data Loss Prevention, and encryption. The on-premises security gateway can also assist Microsoft Exchange Server to monitor and safeguard internal email traffic that originates and ends within your security perimeter.
iPhone and Lync integration Technology Consulting Services
Remote Technical Support iPhone and SQL Server integration
Progent can provide cost-effective online consulting to help you to plan, deploy, and fix any aspect of your iOS and Windows integration efforts and is available for short-term jobs to help you through specific technical bottlenecks or major engagements to help you finish large-scale initiatives on schedule and within budget. Progent has expertise in on-premises, cloud-based, or hybrid environments and can help you create or maintain a resilient, secure and scalable infrastructure that aligns with your mode of computing. Progent also offers remote or onsite training to show you how to manage and use your iOS devices in a secure, team-oriented ecosystem that maximizes the strategic value of your information system.
Citrix StorageLink Site Recovery Specialists
Open Now Citrix Lab Manager Consulting Services
Progent's Citrix-certified consultants can help you to assess the potential strategic benefits of the various editions of Essentials for Hyper-V, help you to use Citrix administration tools with your Microsoft Hyper-V environment, and demonstrate to you how to use Citrix Essentials to improve the performance, availability, flexibility, and fault tolerance of your virtualized environment while lowering the cost of equipment and support and simplifying management processes.
Engineer Oracle Database Resource Manage
Immediate SharePoint application development Engineer
Progent’s team of expert programmers, database designers, and project managers can assist enterprise clients to carry out development programs for Microsoft Windows, Linux/UNIX, or Web applications. Progent's co-sourcing services include access to seasoned program managers for high-level planning and program co-ordination or Progent can assist customers plug expertise gaps by providing relational database designers and software programmers experienced in building line-of-business applications powered by Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, or MySQL. Progent's SharePoint experts can help clients to integrate SharePoint with additional data sources such as SQL Server and Office Excel to create data-intensive intranets and web portals. Progent also can provide experience with web development technologies and can help businesses to build, expand, repair, or port web-based applications to take advantage of the most current web technology.
ISA 2006 Firewall Professionals
Information Technology Consulting Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2006
Secure Application Publishing with Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2006 allows greater protection of intranet applications while enabling increased efficiency by making these applications accessible to authorized remote users. Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2006 helps guard business applications, services, and information across all network components with application-layer filtering and powerful publishing wizards. Progent's Microsoft-expert ISA Server 2006 consultants can show you how to design, install, configure, and maintain ISA Server 2006 on your system so that your business achieves a smart and economical combination of protection, productivity, and speed.
OS X and Exchange Computer Consulting
Time Machine and Outlook for Mac Onsite Technical Support
Microsoft Exchange and Macintosh computers can co-exist efficiently. Progent's Mac and Microsoft premier experts can show you how to set up Microsoft Entourage and Microsoft Exchange Server so your Apple Macintosh users are able to collaborate with colleagues who use Microsoft Outlook. With Microsoft Exchange and Entourage for Mac, Exchange and Mac systems can collaborate, allowing Mac users to receive and send messages, examine the GAL, copy addresses, synchronize appointments, and alert fellow workers to conferences with your Microsoft Exchange account. Progent will make sure that your Microsoft Server is appropriately configured and that WebDAV and Outlook Web Access are enabled. Progent also offers customized one-on-one Entourage training.
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