Michael Richard joins 3D Corporation as System Administrator

MICHAEL RICHARD

3D Corporation is pleased to announce that Michael Richard has joined the company to assume the role of System Administrator.

As System Administrator, Richard’s responsibilities will involve assisting clients with comprehensive remote and onsite network assistance and will eventually evolve into providing project management and emergency network problem resolution services. Richard’s diverse experience with infrastructure design and implementation, in-house network administration and on-site network consulting coupled with his Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE), CompTIA A+ and CommVault Certified Systems Administrator certifications make him a valuable addition to 3D’s Engineering Department.

3D is happy to have Michael as a member of our team and is always looking for talented individuals like him to join. To find out more about how to become part of the 3D team, visit the Careers page of our website at http://www.3dcorp.us/careers.html.

Microsoft Issues 16 Security Bulletins to Fix 34 Vulnerabilities

Microsoft has released 16 new security bulletins describing 34 vulnerabilities ranging from important to critical in their severity. The vulnerabilities affect many Microsoft products including Internet Explorer (IE), Windows, Office, SQL Server, .NET Framework, Silverlight, Visual Studio and Forefront Threat Management Gateway. An attacker can exploit these vulnerabilities in various ways and the impact could allow elevation of privilege, information disclosure, denial of service, or remote code execution which could ultimately enable the attacker to gain complete control of the user’s computer.

3D Corporation will automatically test and deploy security patches on the networks of our 3DProActive™ Managed and Partner clients to eliminate the risks posed by these vulnerabilities. Other Microsoft users of the above-mentioned products should download and install the appropriate patches immediately to avoid possible exploitation of their computer and/or computer networks. More information regarding these vulnerabilities and their impact can be found at Microsoft’s Security Bulletin Summary for June 2011.

3D provides up-to-date security solutions that can protect businesses from threats like these automatically. If you would like additional information on how we can make your network worry-free, please visit our website at http://www.3dcorp.us/, email us at info@3dcorp.us, or call our office at (360) 671-4906.

References: “Microsoft Black Tuesday: 16 Bulletins, 34 Vulnerabilities, Lots of Patching”, watchguardsecuritycenter.com; Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for June 2011

3D's New Service Coordinator Position

3D continuously enhances our services in order to provide the most current and ‘best-in-class’ technology solutions to our clients. In April, we established and filled a new position within our organization entitled Service Coordinator.

The Service Coordinator is essentially the ‘hub’ of our Engineering department, adding an additional layer of service and providing continuity between our Engineers, our Business Analysts, and our clients by communicating and ensuring your needs are addressed appropriately and met in an effective and timely manner. As the initial point of contact for our Engineering department, the Service Coordinator provides you with immediate assistance when you contact our Help Desk. Keenly aware of our engineers’ whereabouts, current workloads and schedules, the Service Coordinator determines the quickest, most effective path to resolve your IT problems and helps ensure your satisfaction with our service.

In addition to Help Desk assistance, the Service Coordinator is responsible for project coordination which involves maintaining consistent communication and disseminating project-related information between our Engineers, Business Analysts and clients. This coordination is vital to the project process as it minimizes project impact and ensures the project stays on track.

Other duties of the Service Coordinator include creating and updating service tickets, coordinating technical training, and maintaining cohesion within our engineering department.

Heidi Metour has taken on the role of Service Coordinator and has proven to be a valuable asset to 3D and our clients. Please take a moment to welcome her to 3D the next time you have the opportunity to speak with her.

Please keep in mind the Help Desk is here to provide technical support and solutions to your network and computer issues. Your Business Analyst, however, will continue to be your primary point of contact for planning, questions, initiating projects or resolving complex issues and is your resource to ensuring 3D understands the big picture and provides effective solutions that meet your business’ technology needs.



The IP-Acolypse is Upon Us, it's Time to Make the IP Switch

On February 3, 2011, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), the organization that manages the global IP address pool, allocated the last blocks of IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4) Internet addresses to the five Regional Internet Registries (RIRs): AfriNIC, APNIC, ARIN, LACNIC, and RIPE NCC. The RIRs will eventually allocate these IP addresses to large network operators in their respective regions, including enterprise organizations and Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Essentially, with less than 3% of the IPv4 address pool available among the RIRs, the remaining addresses will soon be exhausted and IPv4’s successor, IPv6, will officially take its place.

When the Internet first began using IPv4 in 1981, the 4.3 billion potential web addresses it provided seemed more than enough to accommodate the public Internet. However, due to the Internet’s explosive growth and the proliferation of Internet-enabled devices coming online such as smartphones, netbooks, laptops, tablets, etc., it has proven to be insufficient in keeping up with demand. IPv6 stands to solve this problem by providing an exponential increase in IP addresses, 2^128 or 340,282,366,920,938,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 of them to be exact, which should be more than enough to support the foreseeable growth of the Internet.

While IPv6 was created in 1998 in anticipation for the depletion of IPv4 addresses, most ISPs and software vendors waited until 2008 to begin their IPv6 deployment. Now, in 2011, the first real test of the IPv6 network will occur tomorrow, June 8th, on what is known as World IPv6 Day. The Internet Society (ISOC) is sponsoring a 24-hour global testing of IPv6 content enablement that will give web companies such as Google, Facebook and Yahoo the ability to test drive the network to see what it can handle and what still needs to be done. The goal of World IPv6 Day is to motivate organizations across the industry – Internet service providers, hardware makers, operating system vendors and web companies – to prepare their services for IPv6 to help ensure a successful transition and better equip businesses, and the world, for the switch.

Though IPv4 and IPv6 will run parallel for quite some time, businesses are encouraged to begin the transition to avoid any potential software, router or server support issues that may occur with the IPv6 network. 3D Corporation can assist your business in determining whether your network is IPv6 compatible and help you take the appropriate steps to ensure a smooth transition. Please visit our website at http://www.3dcorp.us/, email us at info@3dcorp.us, or call (360) 671-4906 for more information.

References: http://www.worldipv6day.org/; “IP Address Pools”, arin.net; “IPv4 & IPv6: A Short Guide”, mashable.com; “Are You Ready for the Great IPv6 Migration?”, watchguardsecuritycenter.com; IPv4 address exhaustion, Wikipedia.org