Updated at 10:10 p.m. PDT
AMD is planning to make a big push into the small business sector, according to ZDNet and The Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
The chipmaker is set to announce on Monday an initiative called AMD Business Class, formerly code-named Hardcastle, that is geared toward making it easier for PC makers to build computers that better suit the needs of small businesses, according to the reports.
The initiative is built around AMD's multicore Athlon and Phenom processors and ATI graphics technology.
AMD is touting the longevity of the new line. PC manufacturers will maintain AMD's Business Class systems for two years to ensure that systems aren't phased out before they are deployed, and warranties will be for three years instead of one, according to Larry Dignan over at ZDNet.
AMD's Web site also says the new technology comes with energy-efficient features for reduced power consumption. (The site links to a Business Class section in several places, but that page itself is not yet live.)
Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Fujitsu Siemens, Lenovo, and Acer are all expected to unveil new PCs based around AMD's Business Class technology, the articles said. HP will make its HP Compaq dc5850 Business PC available Monday, and Dell will use AMD's business class chips in its Optiplex 740 systems, Dignan said.
In todays' New York Times, David Pogue reviewed an updated version of Microsoft's Office Live Small Business, a suite of online services for making Web sites (I'm simplifying a bit).
He failed to point out an important defensive computing aspect of any Web site, divorcing it from the domain name registration. In addition, trusting Microsoft to handle domain registration is not your best option. To fully understand this, some background is required.
A domain name, such as CNET.com or JavaTester.org is a unique name on the Internet, one that is used for both e-mail and a Web site. Conceptually speaking, all domains are registered in a big master file in the sky. Hundreds of companies, called registrars, are authorized to register domains into this huge master file. Registrars offer many services, but simply registering a domain name ranges from roughly $9 to $35 a year.
Associated with each domain is a pointer to the computer running the Web site and a pointer to the computer that receives e-mail sent to the domain. The pointer system is called DNS, for Domain Name System. The pointers are indirect. That is, rather than pointing directly to the computer(s) with the Web site or e-mail, they point instead to server computers running DNS software.* A company that hosts Web sites is obliged to run a DNS server computer to handle the finger-pointing for all the Web sites under its control.
A small business setting up a new Web site is likely to be tempted by the one-stop shopping offered by Office Live Small Business. Many registrars host Web sites and any company hosting a Web site will also register a domain name. But, you are better off getting these services from different companies.
My JavaTester.org Web site, for example, is hosted at a company called A2 Hosting and the domain is registered with GoDaddy. A2 runs a pair of DNS server computers, ns1.a2webhosting.com and ns2.a2webhosting.com, which GoDaddy associates with the domain in the big master file in the sky. (If you want to impress your friends, the ns1 and ns2 computers are technically referred to as authoritative name servers.)
For one thing, using two companies makes it easier to switch Web site hosting companies in the future, should the need arise. More importantly though, it insures the domain is yours.
There have been times when a Web site hosting company registered a domain in their name rather than in the name of their customer. For example, instead of my JavaTester.org Web site being registered to me in the big master file, it would be registered to A2hosting.** In this case, it is not my domain, even though I paid for it. For a small business, this can be a really big deal.
What about e-mail? Companies hosting Web sites can also provide e-mail, as can most registrars. Then again, you don't need either one, you can have a third party handle e-mail for your domain.
Pogue on Office Live Small Business
The first Web site I ever created was hosted on a computer run by a school. The name was something like computerdeptserver.someuniversity.edu/~michael. Everyone in the class was assigned a userid on the server, and that formed the rightmost part of the Web site address.
From what Pogue says, Office Live Small Business does a similar thing, giving out names like bobsfleabag.accommodations.officelive.com (his example) to customers only interested in free services. Using your own domain, instead of one that ends with officelive.com, is what Pogue means when he refers to "customized domains." I point this out because the term "customized domain" has no real meaning--all domain names are unique.
If you want to use your own domain name with Office Live Small Business, Pogue's review said that Microsoft charges $15 per year after the first year. While the price is certainly fair, having Microsoft handle domain registration scares me.
The Defensive Computing Approach
If you are interested in using Office Live (which I have no experience with) to create a new Web site, first go to a registrar and register your own domain. The two registrars I recommend are GoDaddy and DirectNIC. GoDaddy is cheaper ($9 per year) but DirectNIC ($15 per year) is easier to use.
If you already have a Web site, but it was registered by the hosting company, I suggest first moving the registration to GoDaddy or DirectNIC before getting started with Office Live, or start over with a new domain name. For more on this, see my posting from last month on How to fire a Webmaster.
Microsoft's documentation
Registration of a domain is too important to trust to a company, such as Microsoft, that does it as a sideline rather than it being its core business.
Consider what its FAQ page had to say after Pogue's review came out:
"Will I be charged a fee when my domain name comes up for renewal?
Domain names are renewed on an annual basis. Microsoft will automatically renew your domain name for you, and you will not be charged a renewal fee. If you already own a domain name and transfer it to Microsoft Office Live, Microsoft will pay for any future renewals."
This directly conflicts with Pogue's account and I believe Pogue.
Also, it appears that Office Live Small Business domains are renewed on an annual basis. This is an accident waiting to happen. A real registrar can lock it up for many years.
The Microsoft Office Live Small Business FAQ also refers to "redirecting" a domain and "domain redelegation." The two terms are used interchangeably. But for what? I've dealt with domains and Web sites a lot. If you asked me yesterday what these terms meant, I would have given a different definition for the first term and couldn't have guessed at the meaning of the second.
The Office Live Small Business folks use these terms to mean changing the DNS server computers associated with a domain. For an existing domain with an existing Web site, that is how you point the world to the new Web site (at Office Live Small Business).
Good news, bad news
The bad news about changing DNS servers is that the actual procedure differs for each registrar.
The good news is that Microsoft provides instructions for making the change at a number of popular registrars. See How to set up your new Web site with an existing domain name.
The bad news is that the instructions for GoDaddy don't exist. Clicking on the link results in a Page Not Found error. The instructions for register.com are also missing. In fact, all
the "redelegation" instructions are missing. Maybe they were filed under changing DNS servers.
Update. February 16, 2008: The instructions now exist, there are no more "page not found" errors.
* That the Internet grew to the extent it has over the years is due, in part, to the distributing of the responsibility for maintaining these pointers. No one company can screw everything up.
** I don't know that A2Hosting does this, I haven't tested it. This is only an example.
See a summary of all my Defensive Computing postings.
The Dell 1320c is a color laser printer geared for small businesses.
(Credit: Dell)Today, Dell announced two new small-business-oriented laser printers, in conjunction with the release of its Vostro line of small-business desktop and notebook PCs. The printer announcements include the Dell 1320c color laser printer and the Dell 1125 mono multifunction laser printer.
The 1320c starts at $300 for the base model and goes up to $350 with networking options. Dell rates the 1320c for 16ppm (pages per minute) black and 12ppm color, with a monthly duty cycle of 35,000 pages. The Dell 1125 mono multifunction includes prints, copy, scan, and standalone fax. It includes a 30-sheet ADF for batch copy and scans. The $250 printer is rated to print at 21ppm, with a monthly duty cycle of 9,000 pages. The Dell 1320c is available immediately, while the Dell 1125 should be available in a couple of weeks.
Dell's new Vostro line
(Credit: Dell)It seems like a long time since Dell introduced a brand new line to its menu of laptops and desktops, instead of adding onto the current lineup of Inspiron, Latitude, and XPS systems (the long-lived Dimension line was finally retired in June).
Dell on Tuesday revealed an entirely new family of systems, called Vostro (Latin for "yours"), aimed at small businesses with 1-25 employees who need business-level systems that don't require full-time IT people to manage.
"For too long, entrepreneurs have been forced to fit either consumer or large corporate solutions into their unique environments," Dell Chairman and CEO Michael Dell said in a statement. In real-world terms, that means Vostro desktops and laptops won't include any of what Dell calls "trialware" (we call it "bloatware"), but will include simplified proprietary networking software and versions of the Dell PC Tune-Up and DataSafe Online programs found in the newest Inspiron systems. Vostro systems will also have a dedicated sales and support team, trained to work with small businesses.
Vostro systems available today include:
Hardware-wise, these new systems don't differ much from the current Dell lineup (but Dell expects to introduce a high-end Vostro desktop in August), and the online support and backup services are apparently only free for the first year, but in principle, we like the idea of a line that falls somewhere between consumer systems and systems aimed at larger businesses, which are expected to have at least some basic IT infrastructure.
Microsoft announced Tuesday a new service designed to help the small businesses that use Office Live get their Web site professionally designed. Microsoft said it is partnering with Website Pros to offer an $80 monthly service to allow businesses to set up and maintain their Web site using the Microsoft tools.
As part of the new service, users get a five-page Web site designed for them by Website Pros, with that site then submitted to MSN, Google, Yahoo and 100 other search engines, as well as business cards and a listing in Yahoo's yellow pages.
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