IT Insights by Julian Rouse

The Importance of a Post-Summer IT Audit   As summer ends, assessing your IT systems is crucial to ensure stability. Vacations, increased cyber threats, and deferred maintenance can lead to vulnerabilities. Conducting a thorough audit can identify and address these issues before they escalate in the fall. Audit Focus Areas Security : Start with a comprehensive security review, ensuring all firewalls, antivirus software, and access controls are up-to-date. Verify that patches are applied, and check for unauthorized access during the summer. Performance : Evaluate system performance by checking server loads, network latency, and storage utilization. Identify and resolve bottlenecks to prepare for increased workloads in the fall. Compliance : Review compliance with industry regulations and internal policies. Ensure all systems meet the latest standards, particularly if there have been changes in requirements. Backup and Recovery : Test your backup and disaster recovery systems to ensu...

Migrating over 100 virtual machines (VMs) from on-premise infrastructure to Microsoft Azure is a monumental task that involves careful planning, strategic decision-making, and meticulous execution. This blog will explore the challenges of such a migration, guiding you through the process from the initial considerations to the final tests before rolling out to production. We’ll also discuss how incorporating auto-scaling and load balancing can optimize your cloud environment. 1. Initial Considerations: The First Thought Before diving into the migration, it’s crucial to understand the reasons behind the move and what you aim to achieve. Common motivations include reducing on-premise infrastructure costs, improving scalability, or enhancing disaster recovery capabilities. However, the sheer scale of migrating 100+ VMs requires a detailed assessment of your existing environment. Assessment and Inventory : Start by taking a complete inventory of your VMs, including their configurations, dep...