In this relatively tiny form factor Iomega has a generous 320gb 5400 RPM hard disk.

The great thing about these is they are USB powered so you don’t have any additional power cables to carry just the supplied USB cable. When you are connected to your PC the USB Port/Cable powers the drive.

I have issued these drives to many remote users over the years and not once had a problem which is saying something as they are portable and more likely to get bashed about.

This 320gb model has about 298gb of available storage. It comes formatted Fat32. Some of my files are large so I always format new storage as with the NTFS file system that can deal with them better.

Tip: As great as these drives are they are also a security risk. With server like storage capacities you could end up leaving the equivalent of your companies’ data in the back of a taxi.  Check out something like TrueCrypt for additional security. Link: http://www.truecrypt.org/downloads.php

The cost at £94 inc VAT for the 320GB version is reasonable but cheaper lower capacity models are available. (see Amazon, Dabs etc).

Grab one of these and go do some backing up! Just keep the drive in a safe place.

It appears they do have a mini laptop in the works.

Michael Dell had one on his person at this weeks All things Digital conference.

The $50b dollar question is what Operating system is it going to ship with?

I see a Windows Key in their mock up so that could mean Vista is a safe bet.

Link: http://yourblog.direct2dell.com/2008/05/28/something-from-dell-at-d6/

I am genuinely excited to see Windows Small Business Server 2008 Standard and Premium reach public beta.

This is the core network operating system used by my clients, or the 2003 version is at any rate.

Ultimately this final release of the 2008 version is sometime Q3 2008.

Hopefully this beta is full of lots of cool stuff worth Screencasting.

Unfortunately I have been working technology long enough to have lived through:-

BackOffice Small Business Server 4.0 (1997)
BackOffice Small Business Server 4.5 (1999)
Microsoft Small Business Server 2000 (2001)
Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 (2003)
Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 R2 (2006)

So What’s new for 2008.

New Management Console
Security Center
Updated Remote Web Working and Terminal Services
Integration with Office Live

And of course the latest Windows Server (2008), Exchange Server (2007) and SharePoint 3.0. Premium comes with SQL Server 2008.

Things you may not know

You need 4gb of Ram and x64 Processor
The cost of this release has increased.
The Premium install now requires an additional server.
Tape Backup is no longer supported.
Single Nic installs only.
Comes bundled with Microsoft’s own security products (Forefront and Live One Care in a 120 day trial).

Ever since the 2003 version SBS has proven to be a reliable choice for business. I am just hoping that their good reputation continues with this new release.

Main Product Page: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver/essential/sbs/default.mspx

There is a lot of noise, sorry news about Windows 7 the successor to Windows Vista (Link).

Bill and Steve are giving us a nice chat about it at the All things Digital Conference (Link)

However the fact of the matter is the next Version of Windows is not due until the 2010.

Microsoft wants us to focus on the past (”look how far we have come”) bypass the elephant in the room (Vista) and now want us to look to a future in which Windows 7 will make it all better again.

I think I can be a more useful talking about technology and products that actually exist, so that’s it on Windows 7 for while.

A Common Question about buying from Dell.

The quick answer is yes.

When you visit the Dell Website after you select the type of computer you are interested in (Laptops, Desktop, Servers Etc) the very next question is: are you a home user or a business user?

There are some subtle differences between the two channels (home and business).

Example:-

Home users are shown the price including VAT, A business user see’s the price excluding VAT.

Next up is Distance Selling Rules.

These apply to home users but not business users. So a home user can return the PC within 14 days for a full refund.

Link: http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?topicId=1074033669

Tip: Evaluate everything in the range regardless of the home or business label Dell place on it.

Tip: The warranty options are not consistent throughout the various ranges. Some of the business computers come with 3 years on-site as standard, the home offerings typically do not.