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A network switch is a simple device that houses a set number of Ethernet ports. These can be used to connect many devices with RJ45 ports. Your PC, TV, printer, consoles and other smart devices will more than likely have an Ethernet port that can be used to create a more stable connection. While Wi-Fi has come a long way over the past decade, it still doesn't beat a wired connection. Should you be happy with the wireless performance of your router, a switch probably isn't for you.

Network Switches are designed for homeowners or the office to create physically connected networks. A switch will take control over traffic management and provide some advanced network features that your ISP supplied router may lack, further enhancing performance. 

There are two types of switches on the market: managed and unmanaged. The former is for advanced users who know what they're doing and need to fine-tune settings on the switch for the network. An unmanaged switch is the better option for home-owners since it'll largely handle everything with little to no human input.

The trends in 2020 are many and they include:

1. The IT skill shortage will drive automation and innovation. Given that the economy is flourishing, this presents challenges finding and retaining key IT personnel. Resources are in short supply. CIOs and CISOs will search for automated solutions that streamline various processes and tasks.  Off-shore solutions also provide a medium for dealing with the personnel shortage.  Many organizations are outsourcing software engineering to free up staff to focus on security, strategic planning, etc.
2. Cloud Computing: As organizations continue to look to the cloud to quickly implement new technologies, security for cloud and hybrid cloud solutions will become increasingly important.  The cost, flexibility and speed of deployment are very attractive to organizations as they struggle to meet business demands while keeping costs lower.  Cloud-based solutions are often the perfect fit.  However, we must not sacrifice security for the sake of cost savings and/or flexibility.
3. Data privacy will create demand for new business solutions. Most organizations are tuned into the idea of ensuring consumer, customer and employee data privacy is reality. According to research, approximately 45% of all organizations consider data privacy as their top priority in 2020.  Many failures and enhanced legislation is driving this need home.  New and innovations solutions are on the horizon as key vendors help provide solutions to this complex problem.
4. Ransomware will continue to rise. In 2020, ransomware attacks will become even more prevalent and sophisticated. Organizations that collect and store a lot of personally identifiable data such as those in the healthcare and finance will be targeted. To mitigate the threat, organizations must implement measures to ensure fast detection of ransomware attacks and enable prompt recovery. At IT 4 the Planet we define those measures as “Pro-Active”…what must be done to try and avoid an attack and “Re-active”….what must be done if attacked (an Incident Response Plan).
5. AI-based solutions will be a new target for attacks. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a term we are hearing frequently. AI is defined as the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages.  As organizations implement more solutions based on artificial intelligence (AI)  various entities and individuals will be experimenting with ways to misuse those solutions. As an example,  vendors need these results to improve cybersecurity, hackers will use them to conduct attacks.
6. Security training will become paramount. Organizations must invest in cybersecurity training and consulting to minimize the risk of data breaches due to employee mistakes. Key IT personnel and vendors must collaborate on new ways of helping organizations to better train it’s people and partners. Senior Management must drive this home by providing appropriate budgets and direction.
7. IT teams will make more investment in IT solutions and security. Organizations will see increases in budgets. CIO ‘s will need to ensure any investments in this area bring value to the business.   To demonstrate enhanced productivity, reduced compliance costs and enhanced IT efficiency, they will develop key metrics and KPIs to report to management.
8. Senior Leadership must get on board. Senior management is a tough job.  There are literally dozens of people, customers, employees and partners looking for attention regarding many subjects and initiatives.  Part of the solution to make that process easier is innovation and creativity.  Senior staff must provide direction and support to IT organizations.  This must include increased spending for security and spending in other key areas to ensure their organization is prepared to deal with growth and the enhanced security threat posed by hackers from all over the world.  Additionally, IT Governance should become a standard process.   The objective of IT Governance is to ensure the delivery of business results not “IT systems performance” nor “IT risk management”- that would reinforce the notion of IT as an end in itself. To the contrary, IT Governance is about IT decisions that have an impact on business value.

Read more @ IT Technician Job Description

I am excited to share that today VMware introduced the most comprehensive software stack for modern applications – the VMware Tanzu portfolio, VMware Cloud Foundation 4 and vSphere 7. These offerings provide a new way for organizations to think about their application modernization initiatives.

This is incredibly important to customers as they are continually grappling with the challenge to better meet the needs of their customers. To do that they are increasingly called to deliver applications more quickly and reduce the time to market.

Read more; Is CompTIA Cloud+ Certification Right for you

VMware vSphere IconOur customers who are most successful in meeting the changing needs of their customers simultaneously work on two initiatives: modernize their approach to applications, and modernize the infrastructure that those applications run on, to meet the needs of their developers and IT teams.

As part of these initiatives, customers want to gain the benefits of a cloud operating model, which means having rapid, self-service access to infrastructure, simple lifecycle management, security, performance, and scalability.

This is exactly what vSphere now provides. vSphere 7 is the biggest release of vSphere in over a decade and delivers these innovations and the rearchitecting of vSphere with native Kubernetes that we introduced at VMworld 2019 as Project Pacific.

The headline news is that vSphere now has native support for Kubernetes, so you can run containers and virtual machines on the same platform, with a simple upgrade of the system that you’ve currently standardized on and adopting VMware Cloud Foundation. In addition, this release is chock-full of new capabilities focused on significantly improving developer and operator productivity, regardless of whether you are running containers.

Microsoft Windows users

1. Open any of the Office applications, such as Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.
2. Create a new document.
3. Choose File in the upper-left corner, and then select either Account or Help from the list to the left.
4. Under Product Information, the Office product name and the full version number is shown.
5. If you do not your version in the current window, select About Word, About Excel, About PowerPoint, etc., and a new dialogue box should open that contains the full version number.