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Home > Presentations > 2004 - Safe Computing

EZ Institute technical training

Urban League, Boston, MA
9am - 3pm, March 25, April 1, and April 8, 2005

Trainer: Steve Linberg, Silicon Goblin Technologies
steve@silicongoblin.com

This document is a post-course review of the material presented in the three-session workshop given at the Urban League on the above dates. The objective of the three sessions is to give participants a solid foundation from which to plan and deploy a technical infrastructure for small nonprofit organizations with limited funding and in-house IT support and expertise.

The permanent home of this document is:
http://silicongoblin.com/presentations/2005_ez_institute/

Needs assessment / things to think about

The technology needs assessment is always the first stage of creating a technology plan. Technology is a set of tools and procedures for performing tasks and solving problems, not a generic "one size fits all" kit one can simply drop into an organization. No two technology plans are the same; each should be tailored to fit a specific set of needs.

To this end, technology planners should begin with this needs assessment worksheet. While not scientific, it provides a range of questions to reflect on and to help you identify both your own needs, and what areas you might need to learn more about (beginning in this training) before you can assess those needs. Knowing what questions to ask is half the battle. This is not a worksheet to be handed in; it is for your own use, to make notes on and bring your own vision into shape with.

The following categories all cover areas that need to be thought about when putting together a technology plan:

Cost (hardware, software)

The initial purchase of computers and peripherals such as printers is sometimes thought of as the only part of a technology plan that costs money, but it is actually only part of the cost, and somtimes not even the biggest. You also have to include and plan for:

  • Software & licensing fees (sometimes)
  • Infrastructural support (installation, wiring, utilities)
  • Repair & IT costs
  • Replacement costs

Additionally, an often-overlooked question in technology planning is: Do you have any existing equipment you can bring in? Sometimes, older computers and printers and so forth can be made to work just fine for certain purposes with a little tune-up. A technology plan does NOT have to include completely new equipment for every task. For example, if one main task is simply basic word processing and printing letters, you do NOT necessarily need a new, top-of-the-line PC to do that with. A refurbished or repurposed machine expressly for that purpose could be entirely adequate and save you a considerable amount of money, to either not spend at all or spend on different and better improvements in other parts of your plan.

Technical support

Planning for technical support is an essential part of a technology plan; support is an ongoing expense for most orgniazations. Some framing questions that should guide your assessment of your support needs include:

  • Are you part of a larger organization that can offer technical support for you?
  • Do you plan to develop your own in-house technical support expertise, or will you need to budget for consultants?
  • Do you have liasons at schools where students might want work-study or co-op work in exchange for credit?
  • Will you rely on volunteers?

Data security, privacy

Every organization needs to think about security and privacy issues related to their use of technology. Security (making sure your technology consistently behaves the way you expect it to) and privacy (safeguarding your sensitive information) are hugely important, and require a careful assessment and a combination of technical and social techniques to properly address.

To begin with, consider this question: What's the worst that could happen if your data fell into the worst possible hands, or was completely destroyed?

Then, consider: what infrastructure do you need to have in place to safeguard against this?

Cost of software

How much are you willing to budget on an ongoing basis for support and renewing of software licenses / upgrades? Software purchases used to be a once-off expense, but nowadays there are almost always "upgrades" to both commercial software (e.g. Office, Photoshop) and operating systems themselves (Windows, Mac OS) that occur somewhat regularly and can be a significant fraction of the original purchase price, or sometimes actually full price all over again. You can always choose not to upgrade to the latest versions of your software when it becomes available, but sometimes upgrades can be "forced" on you by software incompatibilities (especially when upgrading computers).

Every organization trying to put together a technology plan with limited funding should take a hard look at the products offered by the free software community, notably the Linux operating system and software suites like OpenOffice, which can be as robust and stable as commercial offerings and are completely free. They can sometimes have a steeper learning curve than commercial software and systems, but in recent years they've become much more polished, and are well worth evaluating when making cost-of-software decisions.

To network / be online or not to

The internet is one of humanity's greatest resources. From an IT perspective, it can also be a danger. If you can look out, people can "look in" in various ways. Sometimes it's good to have machines that are NOT online.

The days of free internet access are largely over. If you want to be able to send and receive email, surf the web, or download software and programs, you're going to need some way to get online, and this has a cost. The cheapest way to get online is with dial-up access of some sort using a telephone line; telephone charges aside, this can be had in the range of $10-$25 per month. Dial-up access is very slow compared to the various sorts of broadband (or high-speed) access that are available, depending on your location; faster options include DSL (typically starting around $30/month and going up based on the type and speed), cable (usually slightly more expensive than DSL and available in areas not served by DSL), satellite (generally similar to cable in terms of cost and access), and dedicated solutions like T1 lines (much more expensive, but dedicated high-speed service direct to your building).

Hardware

Hardware may be broadly defined as anything you can physically put your hands on; this includes computers, but also peripherals such as printers, scanners, cameras, storage devices, and anything else you can connect to your computers.

Computers

There are many different kinds of computers, and many different categories to consider when thinking about buying them. The major ones include:

Intel-based vs. PPC (Windows/Linux vs. MacOS)

The first major category is what kind of CPU (or "brain") the computer has and what operating system it runs. There are two major families of CPU among the major computer manufacturers, and three major operating systems. The CPU families are:

  1. Intel

    This includes the Pentium family (2, 3, 4), as well as "clones" like the Xenon, Celeron, AMD, and others. The overwhelming majority of computers in the world run on these processors.

  2. PPC

    This is the family of processor used by Apple Macintosh computers.

Operating Systems

Operating systems are software, not hardware, but since they are tightly bound to the hardware they run on, we will discuss them here rather than in the software section below. The major operating systems are:

  1. Windows (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/default.mspx)

    Microsoft Windows currently runs somewhere on the order of 90% of the world's computers. If you buy a computer without specifying something different, you are overwhelmingly likely to get one with Windows. There have been many versions of Windows over the years, including Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows 98, Windows 95, Windows 3.1, and earlier versions as well. As of 2005, Windows 2000 and Windows XP are the only versions sold and supported by Microsoft, and most new PCs come with one or the other pre-installed.

  2. Mac OS (http://apple.com/macosx)

    Mac OS is the Macintosh operating system used by Apple Macintosh computers. It comes pre-installed on all Macs.

  3. Linux (http://www.linux.org)

    Linux is a free operating system written and developed by skilled volunteers all over the world. There are versions of Linux for both Intel and PPC computers. Modern Linux distributions are typically distributed on CDs and contain the operating system and a range of free software as well. It can be difficult to buy a new computer with Linux installed, although some retailers like Wal-Mart have begun to offer deeply discounted PCs running Linux instead of Windows (one example: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=3321525). Linux is also very stable and largely free of viruses and security problems, and recent distributions have become much more user-friendly.

Most PCs you're likely to see these days will be Intel-based PCs running Windows, but recent price cuts by Apple and the emergence of viably usable Linux systems are beginning to shift that; all three systems have their loyalists and reasons for and against. Some of the more broadly heard are:

Windows

Pros:

  • Ubiquity

    Windows is extremely widespread and has a wide base of familiarity as a result. Software for Windows is easy to find. Windows PCs are sold in department stores, office supply stores, and of course computer stores everywhere.

  • Support for hardware

    Most peripheral manufacturers design for Windows PCs first (because of their ubiquity), so there's a high degree of likelihood that any peripheral you need will be compatible with your PC (although there may be incompatibilities between different versions of Windows).

Cons:

  • Security & privacy

    Nearly all viruses and worms that propagate online are engineered specifically for Windows, and in fact will only run and spread under Windows (partially because of historically poor security design, partially because of Windows's ubiquity). One site that tracks Windows security issues is http://www.windowsecurity.com/.

    Mac OS and Linux are both nearly completely free of viruses and worms, by comparison.

  • Incompatibilities between versions, forced upgrades

    Not unique to Windows, but certainly common in the Windows world, is the problem of new versions of software often requiring new versions of Windows, and new versions of Windows being incompatible with older versions of software. This is sometimes described as the "forced upgrade cycle". Sometimes Windows service packs, which can be required for fixing bugs or security problems, can break compatibility with existing applications; the recent Windows XP Service Pack 2 is one such example (see http://www20.tomshardware.com/column/20050414/index.html). Microsoft has asserted that all Windows XP users must upgrade to SP2 if they wish to continue to receive critical security updates; however, SP2 has created compatibility problems with many applications and systems and some users are choosing to avoid it as a result. Doing so, however, prevents them from being able to install certain critical updates to Windows.

Mac OS

The Mac OS (currently Mac OSX) runs Macintosh computers from Apple.

Pros:

  • Ease of use

    "Ease of use" has been the central premise of the Macintosh experience since its inception in 1984, and Macintosh users tend to be rabidly loyal as a result. Most computer users agree that the Mac OS is a very well-designed, elegant and fluid system that is easy to learn and easy to use.

  • Stability & security

    Mac OS is largely free of the virus and malware problems that plague Windows users. Mac OSX, the current version of the Macintosh operating system, is engineered on Unix, which is extremely secure and well-designed; security issues under Mac OS are extremely rare.

Cons:

  • Proprietary hardware, somewhat more expensive

    Mac OS is not available for Windows PCs; it only runs on Macintosh computers. Historically, Macintosh computers have been more expensive - sometimes dramatically so - than their Windows counterparts; however, recent price cuts by Apple (see the "Mac Mini" (http://apple.com/macmini) for one example) have dramatically reduced this difference.

  • Not as much software (legacy issue)

    It used to be the case that software for the Mac was harder to find, or didn't exist at all for certain key applications. While the former may still be true to a degree - most computer and software dealers either only have a small section for Macintosh computers and software, or don't carry it at all - the latter is not; just about all of the major commercial software applications (office software, graphics manipulation, internet software, and so forth) comes in both Windows and Mac versions.

It is worth noting that a con for both Windows and Mac OS in the eyes of some people is that they are both commercial, proprietary operating systems and that they are controlled by corporate vendors and are not free. This leads well into Linux, a free alternative to the major commercial operating systems.

Linux

Linux is a free operating system written by expert volunteers from all over the world. It can take a little more expertise to deploy, but can save tremendous amounts of money and is often much more secure and stable than commercial operating systems.

Pros:

  • FREE

    You can't beat the price of Linux. Free means free.

  • Stability & security

    Like Mac OS, Linux is extremely stable and virtually free of security issues, viruses and worms. Security problems under Linux are extremely rare.

  • Non-proprietary OS: you are in complete control of your entire environment

    It has been said that "With commercial systems, I am limited by the software; with Linux, I am limited only by my knowledge." This is a fair statement. While it can require a significant degree of expertise to wield the full power of Linux, it is engineered from the ground up to be open and free to all. There is no risk of Linux coming under any corporate agenda; it is legally required to be and remain free and open, and modifiable by anyone who wishes to learn about it and contribute.

    It is certainly not for everyone; historically, Linux was intially a computer-hobbyist OS that required an extremely high degree of technical skill to deploy and use. Recent years, though, have seen tremendous gains in user-friendliness from volunteers who wish to make using Linux as easy as possible, and many distributions are modeled on the Windows user interface. The progress has been remarkable and Linux is well worth a look for any organization on a tight budget.

Cons:

  • Learning curve

    Despite the significant advances in overall usability of Linux in recent years, there remains a learning curve to it that can be significant in some areas. Although basic usability can resemble using Windows in many ways, more advanced use will require some learning for most users. Documentation for Linux systems and software is always written by volunteers (as is the entire OS itself) and as a consequence can sometimes be uneven or even out-of-date, although that's not always the case and much of it is quite enthusiastic and good. Still, users contemplating Linux as an OS should be prepared to spend some time reading and learning about the system to maximize their use of it.

  • Software & hardware issues

    Virtually all software for Linux is, like Linux itself, free. This means that one generally does not purchase software for Linux; one downloads it if it isn't already installed in the distribution. For obvious reasons, most commercial software is not available for Linux. There is not and (probably) never will be a Microsoft Office for Linux. However, Linux users have responded by creating their own software to replace the missing commercial software; OpenOffice (see below) is one example, and is a complete office suite that can entirely replace Microsoft Office for most purposes. It is completely free as well.

    However, if you have a need for a specific piece of commercial software, it is very unlikely to be able to run under Linux. If you need a word processor, there are plenty available freely for Linux; if you need Microsoft Word specifically for some reason, that's going to be a problem. (Notice that there is a way to run most Windows software under Linux through a software program called WINE (see http://www.winehq.com/), which can be worth a look if you're running Linux and need to run a piece of Windows software under it.)

    Linux's major achilles heel probably remains hardware compatibility; most peripheral manufacturers write device drivers (for printers, scanners and so forth) for Windows first and Mac OS second, but many don't create Linux drivers for their devices, which means they won't work until a volunteer does. While a broad range of printers, cameras, scanners, and so forth do work under Linux, some "bleeding-edge" ones don't, and there can be a delay before they're supported properly. Many devices don't NEED drivers, or don't need specific new ones, but if you plan to use a lot of peripherals on a PC, having them all fully supported CAN be an issue under Linux.

Downloadable Linux distributions

There are many freely downloadable variants of Linux; some also include commercial support that can be purchased. Usually downloading Linux involves downloading one or more CD images, which can take an hour on a broadband connection and many hours over dial-up, and then burning that image to a CD and booting that CD to begin the installer. Since this can be a complicated process for some users, most vendors also offer an option to purchase CDs with documentation and instructions for users who don't want to download and work with CD images themselves.

Some of the major Linux distributions include:

CD-based (Knoppix!)

The German company Knoppix has a fantastic, CD-bootable version of Linux you can run on any Intel-based PC (copies of this CD were distributed in class). This CD can be used to boot an existing Windows PC and try Linux out without installing anything or touching your computer's hard disk. It's a brilliant feat of engineering and an easy way to look at Linux without committing to it. In fact, since the CD cannot be modified, in many ways it itself is a completely secure operating system that is completely immune to viruses and other forms of filesystem damage (you can store your files on a floppy disk, pen drive or other removable medium, or set aside a small portion of your Windows hard drive to use as a Linux filesystem). It comes with huge range of free software preinstalled, including the OpenOffice suite, the Firefox web browser, the Gimp image manipulation software, and lots, lots more.

It is free, of course, and can be downloaded here:

http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html

Laptops vs. desktops

Another question to consider when creating a technology plan is whether to purchase laptop or desktop computers. Laptops were something of a luxury years ago, but nowadays are quite competitive cost-wise with their desktop counterparts, and have the significant advantage of mobility. Will you need to move your machines around? Be able to take them home or loan them to staff or students? If so, laptops may be worth a look.

Laptops are also far easier to lose (or steal), of course, and this can be a disadvantageous consequence of their portability. They are also more fragile and less expandable than desktop computers; most desktop computers have empty "drive bays" that can accomodate additional hard disks, CD drives, or other devices, and expansion slots inside for adding PCI and AGP cards that can accomodate sophisticated hardware. Laptops, as a rule, do not; while laptop hard disks can be replaced, there is generally only room for one inside, and they have very limited expansion options overall; where most desktops can "grow" with your needs in various ways over a period of several years, laptops tend to stay largely as they are as purchased until you replace them.

The main question to ask when considering laptops is: do you need the portability for your organization's needs? Do you or staff need the ability to work from home, or offsite? If so, laptops are probably going to be at least a part of your technology plan. If not, desktops are cheaper as a rule and less prone to various sorts of hardware failure, and may be a better fit.

New vs. Donated / refurbished hardware

You can save a significant amount of money buying used computers, if you're willing to do a little more work and perhaps lose some warranty coverage.

Sometimes, companies upgrading equipment donate (slightly) older computers to nonprofits. This can be a good way to get inexpensive or even free computers that are still perfectly serviceable.

Sources

Some sources of donated or refurbished computers in the Boston area include:

Cheap vs. fancy

Top-of-the-line, or on a shoestring? Here's recent article on budget PCs.

Peripherals

Peripherals used to mean "things you plug in," but in our increasingly wireless world, that's no longer a given. They add functionality to your computers. Chances are you're going to need at least a few peripherals in your tech plan; if you need to network, print, scan, work with images, or use external storage, you'll need more than just the computers you buy.

Printers

There are a few things to think about when considering printers:

  • Quantity

    Do you need a printer at each computer, or can you share/network them? In most cases, it is much more economical to have a shared printer, either via a network or via a dedicated "print station" that people can use when they need to print something.

  • Printer networking

    If you wish to share a printer over a network, you will either need a printer with built-in networking capacity (which is generally only found in laser printers), or you will need a computer acting as a print server, connected to the printer and then sharing it via printing services with other computers on your network. How exactly you do this depends on which operating system and version you're using and the details of your network, so it can't be discussed more than generally here, but any vendor should be able to give you details for printers you're considering.

  • Type (inkjet vs. laser)

    There are two general categories of printer in common use: inkjet and laser. (The older dot-matrix, thermal and impact printers are pretty much relics these days and you will have a hard time finding any kind of support for them if you have one.) Printer prices have fallen dramatically in recent years; low-end laser printers can be found in the $100-$200 range, and inkjets are often given away free with new computers and can be had extremely cheaply.

    Modern inkjets, even inexpensive ones, can print text with a resolution that rivals the generally more expensive laser printers; text is sharp and crisp and black, and it takes very close examination to tell the difference. Furthermore, color inkjet printing is still much cheaper than color laser printing, so if you have a need for printing photographs or color web pages, inkjets are probably the way to go. However, as the process uses ink rather than toner, the output can smudge or smear if it gets wet, and it doesn't have the "raised bump" feel of toner (for those who appreciate such things). Laser output is less likely to fade over time, and for this reason many people prefer it for business correspondence and archival purposes. Finally, laser printers tend to be faster on the whole than inkjets, and more economical in higher volumes, so if you anticipate a lot of printing, you might be better off with laser.

    The big "gotcha" with inexpensive inkjet printers is the cost of replacement ink; many manufacturers sell printers at a net loss and try to make the money back in ink. Some inkjet printers actually cost less than a single ink replacement for them; it's not unusual to find a $40 printer whose refills cost $50. For a time it was actually cheaper to throw these printers away and buy a new one than to buy a new ink cartridge; once manufacturers caught wind that people were doing this, they started shipping them with ink cartridges that were mostly empty, forcing people to buy the expensive replacement cartridges almost immediately.

    It is possible to save a great deal of money by purchasing ink cartridges from discount ink dealers; one good place to start looking for deals is http://dealink.com. You will need to locate ink specifically for your printer model and use the usual common sense when judging whom to buy from. This is usually much, much cheaper than buying brand-name replacements at department or office stores.

  • Paper

    Finally, the quality of your output will be no better or worse than the paper you print on. For most normal correspondence, ordinary typing paper is fine, but for color printing (whether inkjet or laser), you will need higher-quality paper (you can of course print color on typing paper, but the results tend to be dark and the colors not very crisp, and the weight of the ink can saturate and wrinkle the page). Printing paper is available in many grades, some of which are optimized for heavy saturation; photo paper is considerably more expensive than typing paper and you should factor that into your budget if you plan on printing a lot of color.

Networking

Networking refers to the way the computers in your organization connect to EACH OTHER over a network, if at all. This is not always necessary, unless resources are being shared. There are some security implications to consider for machines holding sensitive data, as well.

An insecure network is one in which all machines are connected with file sharing turned on, so that they can all see each other without restriction and read and write freely to each other's hard drives. Normally you will want to be somewhat selective when considering which computers to network and which to share files between, and for what purpose. Office computers with sensitive data should be networked extremeny carefully, if at all. Consider what is the worst that could happen if data was destroyed, lost or stolen, and make your networking choices from that point forward.

Imaging

Do you need to generate or work with images? If so, you'll need one or more of the following:

  • Digital cameras

    Digital cameras have also become extremely inexpensive and easy to use in recent years. Most digital cameras will connect to any computer with very little problem (some will require an install of drivers that come with it, others will "just work" when connected). Digital cameras free you from the cost of film and developing; you take pictures as normal, but rather than send in film, you connect it to your computer and transfer the images off as ordinary files, from where you can edit, crop, rotate, print, and email to your heart's desire. Digital cameras store images on various sorts of magnetic media generally referred to as "cards" which are small and removable, and you can buy larger or extra ones if you need more capacity than the camera came with (which is typically modest).

    When considering a digital camera, the following factors are important:

    • Resolution (megapixels)

      Digital camera resolution is measured in megapixels (millions of pixels, or "dots"). This mostly matters when it comes to printing; the higher the resolution, the sharper the image, and the larger prints that can be made without visible artifacts. These days it's hard to find a new digital camera with less than 3 megapixels, which is fine for printing up to 8" x 10"; four and five megapixel cameras (which can do even larger prints) are also relatively inexpensive. Generally speaking, more than five megapixels gets into professional territory and is beyond the needs of most typical consumers.

    • Optical zoom

      In the digital camera world, there are two types of zoom: optical and digital. They are often multiplied together to announce a higher number for "total zoom" (e.g. 3x optical plus 4x digital = 12x total zoom), which is extremely misleading. Digital zoom is meaningless; it is no different than zooming in the view once you've brought a photograph into your computer. It does not increase the resolution, and digital zoom results in blocky, artifacty images. Optical zoom is all that matters for image quality.

      Small, pocket cameras sometimes have no zoom at all; 3x optical zoom is generally considered a satisfactory minimum for most purposes. Some models go up as high as 10x optical, which is impressive, but it's worth noting that a zoom of that range can make it hard to hold the camera steady enough for a clear shot (depending on how steady your hands are), so a tripod might be good to have if you have a model with high optical zoom you anticipate using frequently.

    • Storage capacity

      Storage capacity refers to the number of pictures that can be stored on the camera before it fills up and needs to have the pictures offloaded to the computer. The higher the megapixel rating for the camera, the more space the images will require and the fewer of them that can be stored in a given space.

      Most camerase come with a small amount of built-in memory, typically enough to hold between 10 and 20 pictures at a time, and have an expansion slot that you can add a memory card to to store more. These cards typically come in sizes like 16mb, 32mb, 64mb, 128mb, and 256mb. Naturally, larger cards cost more; 128mb cards tend to be in the ballpark of $100 these days, give or take, and can hold around 100 full-quality images on a 3 megapixel camera, and around 60 on a 5-megapixel. These numbers are extremely approximate; consult your camera's manual for more detailed information.

  • Scanners

    Scanners are for importing digital images from usually flat sources like printed pages and photographs. Scanners these days are mostly used for scanning photographs, and like digital cameras have come down in price recently. Perfectly adequate scanners for most purposes can be found in the $100 range.

    Working with scanners can require the development of a little bit of expertise; there is software to use to drive the scanner, and once the image is imported, it will need to be manipulated in various ways according to its purpose; often cropped, sharpened, scaled, and saved in an appropriate format. This is far beyond the scope of this presentation, but of course all scanners come with manuals that explain the basic functionality; be prepared to spend some time practicing and learning, though.

  • Video cameras

    Video cameras are also the subject of a much larger discussion, if you need to produce and work with video (such as: if you wish to author a promotional multimedia DVD). Not very long ago, video was the exclusive province of professional videographers and required extremely expensive equipment and software. Nowadays, digital video cameras can be had for a few hundred dollars, and inexpensive and surprisingly sophisticated software is available to make working with digital video much, much easier than it used to be.

    Two things are worth noting in this brief discussion:

    1. Macintosh is probably the way to go.

      Most people who work with video prefer the Macintosh operating system and software. The "iLife" suite currently comes free on all new Macintosh computers, and includes consumer-level software for working with digital video and producing movies and DVDs. This isn't to say it can't be done under Windows too, but most people starting from zero tend to favor the Macintosh for video and multimedia.

    2. You're going to need a powerful computer with lots of storage.

      Digital video requires a huge amount of storage and processing capacity. DV video (the "raw" uncompressed format recorded by most cameras) requires about 12 gb (gigabytes) of storage per hour of footage, and additional space will be needed to store the converted footage in whatever format is appropriate for what you'll be doing with it. Compressing and working with the video will require a fast, modern computer. You cannot have too much processor speed, RAM, or storage space for working with digital video. Plan on a high-end computer if you'll be working in this area.

Storage

Computers use hard disks for their built-in storage, but external storage of one sort or another is crucial for two reaasons:

  1. Document portability

    You are probably going to want to move documents between computers at least periodically, if not regularly (e.g. working on a document on a home computer and then bringing it in to work).

  2. Backups

    All storage systems fail eventually. Built-in hard disks can suffer various types of failures and lose all of their data. Making regular backups of your important documents that are stored on other media is absolutely critical.

This section describes the major types of external storage in use today.

  • CD / DVD burners

    CDs and DVDs are excellent choices for backing data up because of their low cost, high storage capacity, and the fact that they are optical media and not suceptible to magnetic deterioration or damage. They are physically fragile and can be damaged by scratching or warping from heat, but as long as they are kept in hard cases and stored in a cool, dark area, they can have a very long lifespan and be an excellent repository for backups.

    To record CDs or DVDs, your computer will need a CD or DVD burner. DVD burners are a superset of CD burners (i.e. they can also burn CDs); CD burners alone cannot burn DVDs. Some CD burners can READ DVDs (e.g. to play DVD movies on a computer) but not record them.

    To record a CD or DVD (or "burn," as that is literally what happens when you record), you also need burning software. Usually this will come preinstalled on a machine equipped with a burner, or with an external drive if you buy one, but it may be a "lite" version of the software with only basic functionality if so.

    CD and DVD burners are rated by burn speed; you will see burners rated at 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x and so forth. This generally equates to the amount of time needed to record the CD relative to its playback time; for example, if a CD would contain one hour's worth of (say) music data, an 8x burner would burn that CD in 1/8 of that total time, or about 8 minutes. CD burn speeds (as of 2005) are significantly faster than DVD burn speeds; CD burners can achieve maximum burn speeds of 52x (which burns a full CD in just over one minute), where the fastest DVD burners are at 16x (meaning able to burn a full one-sided DVD in approximately 10 minutes); it is also important to note that the media (blank discs) must also be rated at at least the speed you wish to burn on. If you have a 16x burner but your blank DVDs are only rated as 4x, then you will only be able to burn at 4x. Generally speaking, higher burn speeds have a higher risk of failure, so if you're not in a hurry, bring your burn speed down low and you'll have a higher chance of success.

    Finally, do not write on your CDs and DVDs. Also, do not use glue-on labels that adhere directly to the disc. A common practice is to write directly on the disc's surface with a marker, but even markers described as "safe for CDs" have not been tested long-term and there is evidence that the ink from the marker can eventually damage the disc. You can write on the small clear inner ring directly around the hole, but this is very small. The best thing to do for discs that you want to last is to put them in a clearly-labeled case and do not write on the disc itself.

    CD and DVD burners are without question the best method currently available for backing up data in terms of reliability and price.

  • Pen / flash drives

    Pen or "flash" drives (named for the type of memory they used, called "flash RAM") have become extremely popular in the past year or two, and with good reason. They are tiny, light, durable, fast, and some can hold more data than a CD (with capacities expected to steadily increase as technology improves). Present models connect to your computer's USB port, and do not require drivers on modern operating systems, meaning they are extremely portable and a great way to move modest amounts of data around without the time required to burn a CD; most are small enough to fit on a keychain and priced in the $25-$100 range (depending on capacity).

    Pen drives are a great way to move data around for temporary purposes, but they should not be relied on as long-term archives. They are intended for use as temporary storage, and although the data on them is reasonably robust, data corruption CAN occur, particularly if the drive is physically disconnected with the computer without being "dismounted" first in software. Always be sure to use your computer's "eject" mechanism on the pen drive before you physically unplug it. In all other ways, it functions exactly like a (tiny, portable) hard disk.

  • External hard drives

    For backing up large amounts of data - like, say, an entire hard disk - usually the only option that's large enough is a second hard disk of the same or larger size. With some high-end hard disks (as of spring 2005) over 300gb in capacity, a full backup would require hundreds of CDs or scores of DVDs, which is simply not practical. Until and unless removable media capacity catches up with hard disk capacity, the only practical way to do very large backups is to use an additional (usually external) hard disk.

    Your computer will need to have the appropriate interface to connect an external hard disk. As of spring 2005, there are two primary methods: Firewire and USB. Both of these methods offer high enough speeds to make large-volume data transfers possible. Older methods (such as SCSI and parallel) are simply not fast enough and are not used anymore. USB is furthermore broken down into two categories: "plain" USB (the original USB) and the more recent USB2 (which is 40 times faster in transfer speed). Although a USB hard disk can be used via a "plain" USB connection, it will be too slow to be practical for most purposes; be sure your computer has USB2 capacity. If it doesn't, it can usually be reasonably cheaply added via an expansion card; contact a computer dealer for further information.

    External hard disks should be treated and handled with all the caution you'd give to any other sensitive electronic device: do not subject it to shocks, heat, moisture, magnetism, and so forth. Store them in a cool, dark place when not being used, and always be sure to unmount them properly (like with pen drives above) before unplugging them from the computer.

  • Legacy (zip / floppy)

    It is worth mentioning legacy systems that were used in the past, if only for comparison's sake. The venerable 3½" floppy diskette is still around and most new Intel / Windows PCs still ship with floppy drives installed (Macintoshes stopped using them many years ago). Floppy disks are too small today to have much use other than as "bootstrap" toolkits for computer technicians; they can be used to back up extremely small documents and can have a surprising lifespan if treated well, but are definitely on their last legs as a practically useful technology.

    The Iomega Zip drive was a popular external storage method for many years and still exists, although its popularity has sharply declined with the advent of inexpensive CDs and CD burners. The Zip disk was slightly larger and thicker than a floppy disk but held 100mb, about 60x the capacity of a floppy disk, and was much faster to read and write. They cost about $10 each individually for much of their lifespan, slightly cheaper in bulk. Later models increased the capacity and dropped the cost somewhat, but they were never comparable with the capacity and cost of CDs, and their use is on the decline overall.

    Other removable magnetic media included the Jaz and Orb drive, for instance, at 1gb and 2.2gb capacities (respectively), but their cartridge costs were generally too high for them to catch on in a widespread fashion.

Software

A computer without software is a paperweight. Software is what gives computers action. All computers need software. Most come with some preinstalled (an operating system and basic applications); often, more needs to be acquired to do what you need to do. Operating systems were discussed under "Hardware" above.

Office software

"Office software" is the generic term given to software used in most business settings, generally a suite of software that includes at least a word processor and a spreadsheet, and sometimes additional applications like databases, presentation software, and publishing. Many computer users never venture far beyond basic application software such as this, and for most common business tasks there may be no need to. Application software typically does not come preinstalled on computers unless it is paid for as an option, or factored into the price.

The two major office suites in use today are Microsoft Office (from Microsoft), and the free OpenOffice suit (from Sun Microsystems).

Microsoft Office

Microsoft Office is the "granddaddy" of office software; it contains Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Powerpoint, and optionally Microsoft Access (a database). It was created by Microsoft many years ago and has been refined with a steady stream of updated versions over the years. Considered by many to be the "standard" office software suite, it is used nearly everywhere. It runs on Windows and Macintosh computers (except Access, which is Windows-only).

The Microsoft Office home page is here: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx

Pros:

  • Ubiquity - near-universal documents

    Since Microsoft Office is used so widely, its document formats are considered "standard" by many people and used for information exchange (e.g. mailing each other Microsoft Word documents).

  • Power - sophisticated applications do just about everything

    It could be argued that there is no need for Microsoft to keep refining Office because the word processor's basic functionality was finished many years ago; likewise for the spreadsheet and database and so forth. Although some call them "bloated," meaning that the default install takes up a tremendous amount of disk space, they are exceptionally powerful applications with abilities far exceeding most people's typical business needs.

Cons:

  • Expensive ($350-$500 per copy)

    Microsoft Office isn't cheap, and some critics charge that Microsoft has unfairly used its monopoly power over Windows to give Office unfair performance advantages over competitors' software and force people to buy it. Volume licensing is available which can reduce the cost per seat for large-scale installations, but it remains the most expensive of all of the major office suites.

  • Security issues (Word macro viruses, etc)

    Microsoft Office has struggled with various security issues, such as macro viruses in Word documents that can spread from infected files and corrupt data on the host system. It has also been alleged that Microsoft has violated some privacy concepts by embedding traceable IDs in documents created with Word that can be used to glean information about the authors (this actually played a key role in the tracking down of the author of the Melissa virus: see http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-514239.html?legacy=zdnn).

  • Proprietary document formats not (reliably) readable by other systems - "vendor lock-in"

    The broadest criticism of the Microsoft Office suite is one shared by all proprietary programs that create documents, but tends to carry more weight because of Microsoft Office's ubiquity: the document formats used by Microsoft for its data are a closed, proprietary format owned by Microsoft and not disclosed to the world, which means that the only completely reliable way to work with Microsoft Office documents is to use Microsoft Office software. Being that it has such a large critical mass of users, this leads to a phenomenon sometimes called "vendor lock-in": where users are completely dependent on a particular company's software to access their own data, and are vulnerable to losing their data if the company goes out of business or stops supporting its software, or changes its licensing terms to something less favorable.

OpenOffice

OpenOffice is a free, open-source alternative to Microsoft Office and other commercial office suites. It is still in active development in the spring of 2005, but is very useable as it stands and in many cases it can function quite acceptably as a replacement for Office.

It may be downloaded at: http://www.openoffice.org/

Pros:

  • Free

    Like the Linux operating system (above), OpenOffice is completely free. It may be downloaded for nothing and used without restriction. Especially for a large-scale installation, this can produce dramatic savings compared to commercial alternatives.

  • Excellent compatibility with MS-office

    Although Microsoft's document formats are proprietary trade secrets, as discussed above, OpenOffice does a very good job handling all but the most extremely complex Office documents. OpenOffice can read and write Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents with very few problems; it even allows documents to be saved back as Office document formats (although it also has its own native and open formats as well). For most uses, OpenOffice can be used as a complete replacement for Microsoft Office and handle all Microsoft formats just fine.

  • Open document formats

    OpenOffice can read and write to most of the major proprietary formats, but it also has its own internal format that it uses if compatibility with Office is not a priority, and this format is openly documented by Sun and released to the public. This means there is no danger of "vendor lock-in" because it will always be possible for programmers to write perfect translators from the OpenOffice format in the unlikely event that something prevented its use in the future.

    Additionally, in May of 2005 it was announced that OpenOffice will support the emerging OASIS OpenDocument format, being urged all around the world as a shared, non-proprietary format, beginning in version 2.0 (which is in development now and slated for release in the summer of 2005). See:

    http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=office

  • Runs on Windows, Macintosh and Linux

    OpenOffice runs on all major computing platforms and is free on all. This helps ensure a high degree of interoperability.

Cons:

  • Install can be complicated

    For novice computer users, downloading and installing OpenOffice can be a little complicated. It requires the Java language, which is preinstalled on Macintosh systems and usually installed on Windows, but if it isn't it might need to be downloaded and installed itself before OpenOffice will run. OpenOffice is a large download and will require many hours over a dial-up line if broadband is not available.

    Windows users might want to visit the following page, which will detect whether Java is properly installed and offer to install it if it isn't:

    http://www.java.com/en/download/windows_automatic.jsp

    CD-ROMs of OpenOffice can be ordered from a variety of vendors; see the page below and scroll down to the "United States of America" listing for links in the U.S.

    http://distribution.openoffice.org/cdrom/sellers.html

  • Not quite as "polished"

    OpenOffice has made extraordinary progress in polish and usability since its inception, and the user interface resembles Microsoft Office to such a high degree that it can sometimes be difficult to tell them apart. Nonetheless, it is still an application under active development, and as such it may have occasional bugs and areas that lack the "polish" of a finished commercial product. These are being addressed as development continues.

In summary, OpenOffice can be an excellent alternative for people concerned with the costs or risks of using proprietary office software; it can co-exist perfectly well with Office or other software also installed, and since it is free, there is no reason not to try it and evaluate it for yourself.

Note: Proprietary vs. open format documents

It is worth emphasizing the difference between proprietary and open format documents.

Proprietary format documents are documents stored in a format that is kept a secret by the manufacturer, which usually ensures that only the manufacturer's software can read and manipulate that document. This is sometimes referred to as "vendor lock-in," in that it forces the consumer to continue using that software in order to access the documents s/he has created. Most commercial software, including most notably Microsoft Office, uses proprietary formats for all of its document types (e.g. ".doc" for Microsoft Word, ".xls" for Microsoft Excel, ".ppt" for Microsoft Powerpoint, ".mdb" for Microsoft Access, and so forth). These formats are all owned, controlled, and protected by Microsoft as part of the trade secrets of Microsoft Office.

There are potential problems with any proprietary-formatted document, including:

  • Risk of software obsolescence

    It may seem unlikely that major software manufacturers go out of business and stop updating their software, but it does work, and if this happens, consumers who are forced to use their software because of existing documents in the corresponding proprietary formats can be stranded with few (or no) alternatives.

  • Risk of vulnerability to changing terms

    What is more common is that software manufacturers can introduce new requirements, restrictions, or licensing terms unfavorable to the consumer once "lock-in" has been established. This can include things like forced upgrade paths due to incompatibilities with operating system upgrades, activation schemes that can put consumers' data at risk, or restrictions on usage of the software itself. Again, if consumers are forced to use the software because of existing documents in proprietary formats, they have few choices if they wish to retain access to their work.

Open format documents are documents whose internal structure is documented publically and available to the public. Examples include Rich Text format (.rtf), Portable Document Format (.pdf), the OpenOffice format (.sxw), and the emerging OASIS OpenDocument standard. Open-format documents are not tied to any particular application, but can be read and written by any software capable of handling the format, and the fact that the formats are open ensures that such applications can always exist or be created. There is no risk of vendor lock-in or software obsolescence with open-format documents.

For documents with a short expected lifespan - like a printed memo distributed to staff and discarded at the end of a meeting - the issue of propietary vs. open format documents is nearly meaningless. However, for documents that need to remain accessible into the indefinite future, it is very wise to either use non-proprietary software to create and save the documents in an open format (e.g. OpenOffice), OR to at least save a COPY of the document in an open format if the proprietary software allows it (e.g. a Rich Text (.rtf) file for Word, or a tab-delimited text file (.txt) for Excel or Access databases) and carefully store that copy. Using open formats where possible ensures that you will never be "locked out" of your data by software vendors driven by fiscal priorities.

Internet software

This discussion will be restricted to two indespensible categories of software for accessing the internet, as these are the two most closely concerned with everyday usage and security: Web browsers and email clients.

Most operating systems ship with preinstalled web browsers and mail clients; Windows currently ships with the Internet Explorer web browser and the Outlook Express email client, and Mac OS ships with the Safari browser and the Mail email client. However, there are many alternatives to these, and some (notably the alternatives to Internet Explorer and Outlook) are well worth a look.

Browsers

Web browsers allow you to access the World Wide Web. Most web browsers function more or less identically - in theory, at least - in that they should all render any given web page readably and predictably. Most do, although some older ones (notably Netscape 4 and Internet Explorer 5 and 5.5) have flaws that prevent them from correctly rendering many pages. It is always a good idea to keep whichever web browser(s) you use as up-to-date as possible.

In the late 1990s, Netscape was the first browser in widespread use. Microsoft released Internet Explorer and the two fought for dominance for several years until Internet Explorer took the lead, and it peaked at well over 90%, in large measure because it came preinstalled on Microsoft Windows computers, where Netscape and other competing browsers needed to be downloaded and installed, which many users were unwilling or unable to do.

Inernet Explorer is still the dominant browser as of 2005, although its market share is slipping because of widespread security problems that put users at risk. Many types of spyware are written specifically for Internet Explorer because it is designed to allow the downloading and installation of software on the user's computer (notably in the form of ActiveX controls), sometimes without the user's knowledge. To be used safely, Internet Explorer must be secured more than it is by default, and most users don't know to do that and soon find themselves with infected systems, riddled with spyware and other annoyances and malware installed by malicious websites.

Internet Explorer also lacks, as of 2005, popular features such as pop-up blockers and tabbed browsing. Microsoft has promised to add these and other features to the next version of the browser, but this is still a long way off according to their current schedule.

A very popular alternative to Internet Explorer is Firefox, which is free:

Firefox: http://mozilla.org

It is extremely secure, fast, and extensible, and features pop-up blocking and tabbed browsing and a great deal of extensibility right out of the box. And being free, there is no reason not to use it. It can coexist alongside Internet Explorer, which can be difficult to impossible to remove under Windows systems. Firefox is available for Windows, Macintosh and Linux and is a superb browser.

Other browsers worth mentioning include:

Email clients

The other major category of internet software is email clients, which allow you to send and receive email (assuming you have one from your internet service provider). Although there are web-based systems that allow you to email through a web browser if you have an account for such a service (such as Yahoo Mail, MSN or Hotmail), much more flexibility and power is possible with a standalone email client.

A standalone email client will allow you to send formatted mail (or HTML mail, which allows the use of typefaces, graphics, and HTML elements like links), which is difficult to do through a web-based mail system, and will let you have your mail on your own computer, as opposed to a web-based system where the mail is stored on the service provider's server. Email clients offer more privacy and power than web-based email services.

The dominant email client in the Windows world is Microsoft's Outlook and Outlook Express, because they come preinstalled with Windows. Unfortunately, like Internet Explorer, these clients have been plagued with security issues over the years, and nearly all viruses in existence today were created specifically to spread via Outlook (sometimes derisively called "Look Out" by weary system administrators). Most viruses travel in email and have to be activated by the recipient of the infected attachment opening it; versions of Outlook in the past were preconfigured to do this by default without user intervention, so merely receiving an infected email virtually guaranteed that the virus would take hold, since opening the message would automatically also open the attachment(s).

More recent versions of Outlook have curbed this behavior, but Outlook is still the mail client that most viruses are targeted at. Fortunately, there are two very good alternatives to Outlook:

  • Thunderbird: http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/

    Created by the Mozilla foundation who also created the Firefox browser (above), Firefox was designed to be a free, secure drop-in replacement for Outlook and Outlook Express, and does not have the vulnerabilities to viruses that these clients have had. Like Firefox, it is fast, stable, and flexible, and is a highly recommended alternative to Outlook.

  • Eudora: http://eudora.com/

    Eudora is another full-featured mail client that has been around for many years. It is commercial, although it can be used for free with a visible advertising window on the screen if desired.

Macintosh computers ship with Mail, Apple's preinstalled mail reader, which is a perfectly capable email client so far free of virus and security issues. Thunderbird and Eudora are also available for Macintosh users.

Administration

Once you have your computers purchased and installed, and your software set up, you then enter the permanent business of administering them to make sure they continue to function as expected. The care and feeding of computers, like anything else, has a learning curve to it and takes time to develop skill in, but there are a few things to do right off the bat that will help simplify things.

Administrator and low-privilege accounts

First, if your operating systems support it (and all recent ones do), consider setting up both Administrator and low-privilege accounts for their use, and use low-privilege accounts whenever possible. Low-privilege accounts run under tighter security, and it is harder for viruses and other malware to do widespread damage when they "detonate" in a low-privilege account.

All major operating systems support multiple users (Windows XP, Mac OSX, Linux, etc). On multi-user systems, the first step for users is to log in with a username and a password, which brings them into an area of their own, with their own documents and settings, and associates a privilege level with them which details what they are allowed to do. Low-privilege accounts, for example, are typically not allowed to install applications without providing an administrator-level password. This can be inconvenient at times, but it also ensures that no spyware or malware can install anything "quietly", which is sometimes possible on higher-privilege accounts where no password is needed. If a "please enter your password" dialog pops up unexpectedly under a low-privilege account, it may very well be a piece of malware getting caught red-handed trying to do something bad, where it would happen without the user's knowledge on a high-privilege account.

Windows and Mac OSX can also be configured to run as single-user systems with no login, and in such cases, the user is always an administrator account, which can be dangerous. It is highly recommended to have a low-privilege, general-use account on all systems in addition to the main administrator account, and to use that low-privilege account whenever possible.

Written usage policies

It is also highly recommended to create and POST a written usage policy for your computers, for all employees, staff, clients and anybody else who might be using them.

For example, a usage policy might forbid the use of a computer for personal email. Or for viewing sexually explicit materials online, or for violations of copyright or intellectual property laws. Prominently posted notices about what is allowed and what isn't might prevent conflicts at some point in the future with people who could claim that they didn't know the rules since they weren't written anywhere.

Here is one example of a usage policy from a school which is given to students to sign and accept:

http://www.itrc.ucf.edu/WORKSHOPS/Telecom2/AUP_template.html

Here is another which is not intended for signatures, but is part of a handbook for a school district:

http://www.harlingen.isd.tenet.edu/hcisdcq.htm

These are just examples; simple internet searches can turn up hundreds more. You might find one you can adopt to your own needs relatively easily, which can be easier than creating one from scratch. However you create it, be sure you have one, and be sure it is posted prominently in your organization so that everyone can see it.

Privacy & Security

You will have to think about privacy and security if you are storing any kind of information that is at all sensitive - confidential client data, fiscal information, health or criminal records - anything you wouldn't want posted on billboards out on the street. Privacy is keeping sensitive data hidden; security is a very large topic which basically means making sure your computers behave as they are expected to.

This section of the workshop has been expanded into its own presentation; please see the full documentation at:

http://silicongoblin.com/presentations/2004_safe_computing/

Wrapping up: Working on YOUR technology plan

It is now time for you to put your own technology plan together.

Use the following document as a template to print out and write on. It can be the repository for all of the information you will use to describe your technical plan to your potential funders. It is available in both Rich Text (.rtf) format for word processors, and its native OpenOffice format (.sxw) for OpenOffice users:

Rich Text: http://silicongoblin.com/presentations/2005_ez_institute/tech_plan_template.rtf

OpenOffice: http://silicongoblin.com/presentations/2005_ez_institute/tech_plan_template.sxw

A very basic HTML version is also available just for peeking at, but the versions above will print better and are recommended over this version:

HTML: http://silicongoblin.com/presentations/2005_ez_institute/tech_plan_template.html

This document is released under the Open Content license.

EZ Institute staff will be in contact with you to help review your technology plan once you have filled out this document; every workshop participant will receive one hour of telephone support. We hope you found this three-session workshop informative and useful, and we look forward to seeing your technology plans and helping you productively realize your mission of bringing technology into your organization.