Hardware Support Contracts Explained: Care Pack, ProSupport and Premier Support
The short answer: a hardware support contract decides how quickly a broken machine gets attention, who comes, and whether you keep your failed hard dr
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How-To Series
Step-by-step guides for UK businesses that run their own IT: servers, storage, Microsoft 365 and security, from the Apaxon team.
Kitting Out a Meeting Room for Microsoft Teams: Licences, Kit and Room Sizes
The short answer: a Teams meeting room needs a certified device, a display, a wired network connection and a Teams Rooms licence. Teams Rooms Basic is
Business Monitors and Desk Setup: What the Law Requires and What to Buy
The short answer: if your staff use screens for an hour or more at a time, most days, the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations app
Dell Pro, Pro Max and XPS: What Happened to Latitude, OptiPlex and Precision
The short answer: Dell retired Latitude, OptiPlex, Precision, XPS and Inspiron as PC names in 2025 and replaced them with three families: Dell for hom
Windows Server End of Support: The Dates That Matter in 2026 and 2027
The short answer: if you run Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2, paid Extended Security Updates finish on 13 October 2026 and there is no further extensio
Windows 10 Extended Security Updates: What UK Businesses Need to Do Before October 2026
The short answer: Windows 10 stopped receiving free security updates on 14 October 2025. Businesses can keep Windows 10 PCs patched by buying Extended
NAS vs Server: Which Does a Small Business Need?
The short answer: if you mainly need a central place for files and a target for backups, a NAS (network-attached storage) is usually cheaper and simpl
Cyber Essentials Explained: Requirements, Costs and the 2026 Changes
The short answer: Cyber Essentials is a UK government-backed certification showing your organisation has five basic security controls in place. You co
The 3-2-1 Backup Rule for Small Businesses (and the Extra Steps Ransomware Demands)
The short answer: keep at least three copies of your data, on two different types of storage, with one copy off site. Because ransomware now goes afte
Dell PowerEdge Model Numbers Explained: What R760, R7625 and R770 Mean
The short answer: in a Dell PowerEdge name, the letter is the form factor (R for rack, T for tower), the first digit is the class or size, the second
How to Turn On Multi-Factor Authentication for Microsoft 365
The short answer: If you don't have Microsoft Entra ID P1, turn on security defaults in the Microsoft Entra admin center; it makes every user register
RAID Levels Explained for Small Business Servers
The short answer: For small business servers, RAID 1 suits two drives, RAID 10 gives the best performance for databases and virtual machines, and RAID
How to Secure Dell iDRAC and HPE iLO Remote Management
The short answer: Keep iDRAC and iLO on a separate management network that's never reachable from the internet, replace the default passwords with nam
How to Plan a Server Refresh for a Small Business
The short answer: Start with an inventory of what you have: each server's age, warranty and operating system support dates. Measure what your workload
How to Choose a UPS for a Small Server Rack
The short answer: Add up what your equipment actually draws in watts, size the UPS so that load sits at no more than about 80% of its watt rating, and
How to Find a Dell PowerEdge Service Tag and Check Its Warranty
The short answer: A Dell PowerEdge Service Tag is a seven-character code that identifies that exact server. You'll find it on the pull-out information