Week 12 Final Blog Posting

As we are ending our semester in BSIT 200. The time to reflect upon the semester has come.
I would like to say that this has been a very rewarding and informative experience..
Our class always had good ideas and the discussion boards were always a great collaborative effort.
I enjoyed hearing about my classmates experiences in the IT field . Whether they were just starting their IT Carer or have had extensive experience.  I did not mind writing the blog for this class.
As it give me a chance to share my impressions of the discussion topics for the week as well as some knowledge relevant in my current career.
Unless it is for an educational purpose like this.  I cannot say that I would be doing this If did not have to.
Sharing my thoughts and observations in this medium as I am much more comfortable expressing these thoughts in a one on one basis. However due to the online nature of thio course and our current pandemic.
I see this as being the only way to get those thoughts heard. 
In this advent of Social Media and everything being done online.
I am glad that I  was able to share these thoughts with my instructor and whomever took the time to read them.  This class gave me a great opportunity to learn about a company NCR . Which I have been working with through my positions in Enterprise IT as a POS and IT Support Specialist.
The research paper assignment was a really tough but very interesting assignment for me to learn about the history of the NCR Corporation which was started in 1884 in Dayton , Ohio. Dayton, is about 1 hr and 30 min from my hometown of Columbus, Ohio. So it was nice to learn something about a business within my state as well.   I set a goal for myself to achieve at least a B or better for this class.
Aside from one assignment that I had forgotten about while I was writing the research paper.
I would have to say that I put forth the best effort that I could to complete the assignments in the time they were given and to collaborate and share ideas with my fellow classmates.  I would suggest to anyone taking this class. That if you get a used book.  Make sure it has the DVD for assignments .  As I am sure a few of us in the class had rented a textbook which did not have those included.
Thankfully our instructor was extremely kind and more than helpful with that and understanding when it came to having to request extra time to complete an assignment .
Overall, I would definitely recommend this class and this instructor to anyone that asks me about my studies at Bellevue University.

Week 11 Printers and Multi-Function Devices

This week as we move into our 11 th week of this class BSIT 200.
We touch upon a subject that is often a sore subject for Technicians as well as end-users.
Printers and Multifunction Devices.  We have seen them evolve from Dot Matrix Printers.
to Devices that can Fax,Scan and Print. Giving us more features to support and troubleshoot as technicians..
Going from having to install printers via software in order for them to work has now been replaced by plugging a USB Cable into one end of the printer and the other into your laptop or Desktop PC.
This can be a simple task when it does not involve having to choose your printer's drivers from a long list of printers as you would in an office/enterprise setting.  Most of the time it will be so frustrating that it will malke you wish you were dealing with Dot Matrix or Printers that have software drivers that are included with them. The bulk of the printer issues that I deal with on a regular basis revolve around the printer not printing due to incorrect driver setup, A failed USB cable or the printer itself being inoperable due to over use.
When upgrading an OS like Windows 10 after being on Windows 7.
We have to make sure that the printer the user is trying to print from as connected and able to recognized on the network.  Verifying that the printer mostly Brother MFC 2560 is showing as the Default printer in the
Devices and Printers settings.  When I was working for Bob Evans we had our networking team program our Meraki switches with Static Ips for each of the Back Of House(BOH) Printers so that they were able to be seen easliy and ready for use immediately.  We also set the settings for Do not make this printer shared.
Which was a way to secure the printers by not allowing the Network to be discoverable by people not working within the restaurants.   With our discussion topic being what kind of improvements you would make with Microsoft's Printing and Faxing Utilities.  Our class came up with a lot of great ideas that would be both practical and beneficial to both technicians supporting Printers and the Home and Office Printer user.
As technology continues to evolve. I am sure that we will see something soon that improves the installation
and use of  Printers and Multifunction Devices.

WK 10 Mobile OS

This week our class discussed mobile OS.and which we considered the best and the reasons why.
The class chose the mobile OS with which they had become most familiar with or has started out with when getting their first mobile phone.
Android is 78.6 % preferred worldwide and IOS 28.79%.
I found this information on Statcounter https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/mobile/worldwide.
Most Businesses prefer Apple IOS because of the security, its built in app.
In the end it all came back to what people find to be the OS that they
know the best and offers them features that they know and love from either Apple or Samsung.
While working with multiple major corporations over the years.
I would fund that the IT Departments would choose the devices that they could deploy multiple
applications for their users and clients based on the cost of doing so.

COVID 19 has changed how a lot of us are working.

Due to Covid -19,
I like most of the rest of the U.S  have been working from home since March 15th.
If COVID continues to spread like it has here in Ohio and other states that have been hit hard by it.
This seems to be what will become the new norm for Schools,Businesses and any field that can perform their job using remote tools like VPN, Micorsoft Teams , Zoom and Web Ex.
As all of the same things one would be able to do from an office setting can be duplicated and
put into practice in a Home Office setting.
The only thing that will be missing is the one on one human interaction.
Which has been hard for myself and anyone that works in a team environment.
The use of Web EX, Teams and or Zoom will make it so that all of us can
conduct meetings and presentations from home as well.
As many have stated this looks to be the new normal  even after COVID 19 .

IPV6 and why they are used

Ipv6 addresses were created when
Ipv4 addresses ran out about 10-20 years ago.
Ipv6 addresses have a large address range and will not be depleted
as easily as ipv4 addresses have been ..
Ipv6 addresses are 128 bits .Ipv4 addresses are 32 bits.
The FCC website has published a really good consumer's guide to IPv6 that can be found here,

https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/internet_protocol_version_6_-_ipv6_for_consumers.pdf

BSIT Wk 7 Post

After reading about and then completing
a spreadsheet of PC Components and  their failure rates.
I decided to run a test on my Personal Laptop.
Using  a program called NovaBench I was able to isolate major issues
that wee effecting my PC's Overall Performance.
NovaBench made it easier to see these issues than with any Wundows 10 system Checks.
Novabench allowed me to see my CPU's Temperature as well
as my Batteries Wear status.
The test results were published in excel for so that I could see them instantly
and compare them on  a Daily, Weekly, and Monthly basis.
This is important to know as it will help me to decide when to replace my laptop
and its hardware components before I have a Catastrophic Failure or BSOD.

Types of File Systems that are Not for Windows

After learning about all of the File Systems associated with Windows.

I thought , that we could take a brief look at some non widows filing systems.

HFS- Is a system that is used by Mac Users .

The user needs a removable storage device like a a Time Machine in tandem with the HFS System/

Ext2Ext3Ext4- Linux based .

Ext2 is the oldest of the systems and is not as up to date as Ext4

None of these are compatible with Windows.

BTRFS- Is a new under development file system

that has features to allow Linux to be able to have maximum storage space.

These are just a few non Windows versions of File Systems.

You can read more about other file systems on the internet., The article below is a good resource.

https://www.howtogeek.com/196051/htg-explains-what-is-a-file-system-and-why-are-there-so-many-of-them/

Use of Windows 10 by Enterprise Users and Home Users

Windows 10 is currently one of the most used Operating Systems.
It is utilized by all PC users and a lot of businesses
My team just finished supporting the installation of
Windows 10 in an enterprise environment.
This was needed to make sure that the POS Systems in use are
PCI compliant with updated Credit Card Payment Processing Software
At home the use  of Windows 10 is up to the user.
Most of what Windows 10 at home is used for is
so that the OS on the user's  Desktop or Laptop PC is up to date.
Not finding Win 10 to be very user friendly at first
I did not want to install it on any of my home computers.
Most people will tell me that they found Windows 7
to be a much more user friendly OS.
However the support for Win 7 has officially stopped as of January 2015 for mainstream support which
Involves the addition of new features
and January 14, 2020 for Extended Support.
Windows 7 is still safe to use on your PC as Microsoft will Continue to patch security threats
but they do not add any new features.

Businesses benefit greatly from the use of Win 10
because it is available on many different devices .
One Drive makes it easier for Businesses to access data from anywhere

According to PC World Windows 10 is now being used on half of the worlds PC
per PC World in Sep 2019.

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3436838/windows-10-powers-over-half-of-the-worlds-pcs.html

The Importance of a CMOS Battery for pcs

CMOS or Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor
CMOS battery is a coin sized lithium battery
that provides power to your CMOS Memory Chip when it is not powered on.
If this battery malfunctions or dies it is not re- chargeable and needs to be replaced.
Most of the CMOS batteries are the CR2032 3v Lithium battery,.
A dead CMOS battery can cause a black Screen on your PC's Monitor
due to the BIOS losing its settings.
You might also have an incorrect Date and Time Setting due to a dead CMOS Battery,
These are all due to the CMOS battery being weak or failing to work at all.

2 Best CPUs for PCs and Personal Experience with installing RAM on a Desktop PC

CPUs for PCs do not have Error Correction Code-ECC.
This is very important as this does not allow for the CPU to be able
to find or fix data errors .

The Top 2 brands for CPUs for PC's based on research done on the internet mainly Tech Radar
https://www.techradar.com/news/best-ram
Yielded the following results.

1. Corsair Vengeance LED 16GB
 which is selling for anywhere to $163.99 from Tiger Direct-
$424.46 from Walmart.

This CPU is one of the most well known brands of CPUs for PCs
it has CL 16 latency and heat spreaders to maximize cooling
and to obtain maximum performance from this CPU.


2. The G. Skill Trident  Z RGB was next it is also 16GB




The G. Skill Trident is optimized for intel Processors/

The Price range on this CPU Started at $139.99 from New EGG-

$261.99 also from New EGG.

It has lighting effects to showcase your PC
It has the most updated Intel XMP 2.0 Profiles.





The research my class did on both RAM for Severs and RAM for PCs
was very informative and watching videos about different types of CPUs
and the way that they performed based on the category and the budget that the buyer has
to purchase them was very interesting and taught me a lot more than I already knew about CPUS
I have not had to install any RAM in my current occupation
However when I was working with another major Restaurant Chain,
I had to go into stores and upgrade the RAM for a major POS Windows Deployment Project
as I could not do this remotely.  This was done to due to the outdated hardware at most of the stores'in the Central Ohio area that would not be able to support Windows 10 or the software needed to run int tandem with it to make the store's Back Of The House (BOH) Pc's ran smoothly so that they could
complete their Daily//Nightly Tasks and Checkouts. 
Those installs and upgrades had to be done in a timely manor so as not to interfere with
the day to day operations of the stores.

POS Terminals I have used in my IT Career

The field that I have been for about 4-5 years now
has been Enterprise Technology.

I have worked for 3 major restaurant chains that all utilized Point OF Sale systems
that were designed or supported by NCR.

I have worked with both Windows 7 and Windows 10.

The Current POS I deal with on a daily basis is the  P1235 .and the P1230

P1235




P1230





The P1235 is designed to support Win 10
Has a hard drive of 8GB

The P-1230 was designed for Win 7 and older versions of Windows
it has a hard drive of 4gb.

Recently within the last 2 years.  The companies that I worked for
all implemented  the use of both Windows 10 and the P1235 POS Terminal.

This is due to the fact that all Credit Card Processing software and hardware
had to be upgraded to Windows 10 in order to be in PCI Compliance.

The Pin Pad that is used to process Credit Card transactions is a Veriphone VX 820

Which looks like this


These are connected to the POS terminal with  a USB Connection.




I have also used the P 1530 and P1535 Terminals also NCR Hardware


The P1535 is the newer of the two models if you have ever been to a Wendy's or Bob Evans

You may recognize these two POS Terminals they are the most widely used POS Systems in my field.




The P 1535 has a flat screen

it is similar to the 1235 POS , however the number in the model
lets you know that it Has a 15 in Screen instead of a 12 in Screen.\
Both the P1235 and P1535 are Win 10 and Android Ready

You can read more about them here from Radeon's Web site

http://radeontech.com/ncr--p1535-pos-terminal.html.



Most of my IT career I have supported this POS Hardware and
Have had to troubleshoot them both on site and via remote desktop Software known as VNC.

Most of what I am currently doing involves a lot of remoted support and file transfers via

NCR Command Center which allows me to remote into POS Terminals and Kitchen Controllers
at the 2500-3000 Stores that we support daily..

IT Trends in POS Technology

I am currently working as a Level 1 Help Desk Specialist for a major restaurant chain.

The bulk of my day revolves around solving  a lot of common IT related issues
that arise with restaurant technologies and deployment upgrades that are
pushed so that the POS Systems in the store's  are running in an efficient manner
and also  so that the systems are following PCI Compliance which is the Data Security Standard for the Payment Card Industry.  Companies have to upgrade their payment processing software and hardware such as Credit Card Pin Pads and POS Terminals so that they are not exposing customers valuable Credit Card information when they use their Credit Cards either in a store or to place an order online via the web or an app.

Right now the biggest trend in the industry is the demand for Online Ordering.
Currently most companies business is done through online ordering via an app or a third party delivery service like Door Dash or Post Mates .

Locally, due to the Coronavirus here in Ohio.
As of 9:00 PM EST all restaurants and bars have been shut down for in store dining
and only Carry Out and Delivery is available for residents wanting to eat out.
More Delivery and Carry Out orders will drive the need for POS and Credit Card Payment
Processing Software to work harder than ever.

When the POS and Software malfunction and are not processing orders properly
is when our team gets the call to remedy the issue to the best of our ability and utilization
of all of our skills and tools to tackle the problem.