Alex, Author at DTC Computer Supplies

DTC – A True Partnership

For Over Half of a Century We’ve Been Committed to Serving IT Departments and Saving IT Budgets

Our Story

In 1965, we opened our doors for business with the idea to transform the IT equipment industry through technology, transparency, standards, and processes. We planted our roots as a round reel tape company in Downey, CA. As a family owned and operated business over the past 50 years, we have sprouted into one of the most trustworthy, reliable, and authoritative organizations in the industry.

From disk pack tape storage and round reel tape to hard drives, networked storage, tape libraries, and cloud backup systems; our business and partnerships continue to prosper and grow with the constantly innovative IT industry. DTC proudly works with all organizations, letting our reputation speak for itself.

DTC’s 3 Point Message is Simple:

Our goal is to reach 100% Recyclability of old storage media and IT assets.

Electronics recycling is our bread and butter. We’ve been both saving the environment and companies money, by setting the standard for secure handling and re purposing of used and obsolete electronics. Recycling of electronics and IT equipment is an essential part of a company’s waste management strategy. If you are looking for a safe and secure way of electronics recycling, then you should consider our proven services. We specialize in ethical disposal and reprocessing of used and obsolete electronics and computer equipment. We can help accomplish legal and conservational goals as a responsible organization. Let us be the solution to your problem and help your organization stay socially responsible.

Learn more about recycling your old IT assets

Our pledge since day one has been to keep your data safe.

Data security is main concern for IT departments in any organization, and rightly so. Many of our partners demand that their data is handled appropriately and destroyed according to both government and industry standards. DTC provides honest and secure data destruction services which include physical destruction with a mobile shredder and secure data erasure methods like degaussing. All of our destruction services are effective, auditable, and certified. Ship storage assets to our secured facility or simply ask for the mobile data destroyer to be deployed on site. With over 50 years of service, we’ve never had one data leak. Now that’s experience you can trust!

Learn more about DTC data security

Our process will help you save time and money.

Our IT asset disposition (ITAD) process will help your organization recoup dollars from your surplus, used IT Assets and free up storage space at your facility. Our equipment buyback program is dedicated to purchasing all types of surplus and used data storage and IT equipment. We use the highest standards to ensure you get the greatest return your initial IT investment. With the current pace of hardware evolution, most companies are upgrading their systems every two years. This leads to a lot of surplus IT equipment. DTC has the experience and resources to get you the most for your old IT assets.

Get the most return on your IT investment

The Value We Provide

DTC’s diverse knowledge-base and experiences, allow our partners to utilize our purchasing and sales personnel as a valued resource for questions, research, and answers. Our vast database and the contact list of customers, resellers, recyclers, suppliers, and industry partners allows us to excellent pricing when sourcing your IT Equipment. Don’t believe us? Let us know what you need, and we will find it for you.

How we can help you?

Here is brief list of services we provide:

Ready to work with a trusted partner? Contact Us Today

The TikTok Controversy: How Much Does Big Tech Care About Your Data and its Privacy?

If you have a teenager in your house, you’ve probably encountered them making weird dance videos in front of their phone’s camera. Welcome to the TikTok movement that’s taking over our nation’s youth. TikTok is a popular social media video sharing app that continues to make headlines due to cybersecurity concerns. Recently, the U.S. military banned its use on government phones following a warning from the DoD about potential personal information risk. TikTok has now verified that it patched multiple vulnerabilities that exposed user data. In order to better understand TikTok’s true impact on data and data privacy, we’ve compiled some of the details regarding the information TikTok gathers, sends, and stores.

What is TikTok?

TikTok is a video sharing application that allows users to create short, fifteen-second videos on their phones and post the content to a public platform. Videos can be enriched with music and visual elements, such as filters and stickers. By having a young adolescent demographic, along with the content that is created and shared on the platform, have put the app’s privacy features in the limelight as of late. Even more so, questions the location of TikTok data storage and access have raised red flags.

You can review TikTok’s privacy statement for yourself here.

TikTok Security Concerns

Even though TikTok allows users to control who can see their content, the app does ask for a number of consents on your device. Most noteworthy, it accesses your location and device information. However, there’s no evidence to support the theory of malicious activity or that TikTok is violating their privacy policy, it is still advised to practice caution with the content that’s both created and posted.

The biggest concern surrounding the TikTok application is where user information is stored and who has access to it. According the TikTok website, “We store all US user data in the United States, with backup redundancy in Singapore. Our data centers are located entirely outside of China, and none of our data is subject to Chinese law.” “The personal data that we collect from you will be transferred to, and stored at, a destination outside of the European Economic Area (“EEA”).” There is no other specific information regarding where user data is stored.

Recently, TikTok published a Transparency Report which lists “legal requests for user information”, “government requests for content removal”, and “copyrighted content take-down notices”. The “Legal Requests for User Information” shows that India, the United States, and Japan are the top three countries where user information was requested. The United States was the number one country with fulfilled request (86%) and number of accounts specified in the requests (255). Oddly enough, China is not listed as having received any requests for user information.

What Kind of Data is TikTok Tracking?

Below are some of the consents TikTok requires on Android and iOS devices after installation of the app is completed. While some of the permissions are to be expected, these are all consistent with TikTok’s written privacy policy. When viewing all that TikTok gathers from its users, it can be alarming. In short, the app allows TikTok to:

Access the camera (and take pictures/video), the microphone (and record sound), the device’s WIFI connection, and the full list of contacts on your device.
Determine if the internet is available and access it if it is.
Keep the device turned on and automatically start itself.
Secure detailed information on the user’s location using GPS.
Read and write to the device’s storage, install/remove shortcuts, and access the flashlight (turn it off and on).

You read that right, TikTok has full access to your audio, video, and list of contacts in your phone. The geo location tracking via GPS is somewhat surprising though, especially since TikTok videos don’t display location information. So why collect that information? If you operate and Android device, TikTok has the capability of accessing other apps running at the same time, which can give the app access to data in another app such as a banking or password storage app.

Why is TikTok Banned by the US Military?

In December 2019, the US military started instructing soldiers to stop using TikToK on all government-owned phones. This TikTok policy reversal came just shortly after the release of a Dec. 16 Defense Department Cyber Awareness Message classifying TikTok as having potential security risks associated with its use. As the US military cannot prevent government personnel from accessing TiKTok on their personal phones, the leaders recommended that service members use caution if unfamiliar text messages are received.

In fact, this was not the first time that the Defense Department had been required to encourage service members to remove a popular app from their phones. In 2016, the Defense Department banned the augmented-reality game, Pokémon Go, from US military owned smartphones. However, this case was a bit different as military officials alluded to concerns over productivity and the potential distractions it could cause. The concerns over TikTok are focused on cybersecurity and spying by the Chinese government.

In the past, the DoD has put out more general social media guidelines, advising personnel to proceed with caution when using any social platform. And all DoD personnel are required to take annual cyber awareness training that covers the threats that social media can pose.

Apple iPad Mini GIVEAWAY !!!

It’s Giveaway time! DTC Computer Supplies is giving away a brand new Apple iPad Mini to one of our lucky followers. It’s easy to enter for your chance to win. All you have to do to qualify is:

Like / Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.
Re-Post the ad onto your social media platform
Use the Hashtag #DTCiPad in the post caption.

We will be choosing the lucky winner Friday, August 21st @ 12PM PST. Good luck, spread the word, and thanks for all your support!

Like / Follow DTC Computer Supplies here:

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/dtccomputersupplies/

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/DTCcompsupplies

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/DTCcomputersupplies/

LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dtccomputersupplies/

Contest Rules:

Ad must remain posted onto your social media for the duration of the contest
Remain following DTC on social media for the duration of the contest

LTO-9 Tape Technology (Pre-Purchase Program)

LTO-9 Tape Technology (Pre-Purchase Program)

Our LTO-9 Pre-Purchase Program allows anyone to pre-order LTO-9 tape technology before it is available. This is the ninth generation of tape technology that delivers on the promise made by the LTO Consortium to develop LTO tape technology through at least 12 generations. In an endeavor to deliver our customers the latest technology on the market, we are offering pre orders of LTO-9 tape technology. This gives our customers the best opportunity to receive the latest generation of LTO tape as soon as it’s available. LTO-9 is expected to be available in Fall 2020.

How to Buy: CLICK HERE | or call us today @ 1-800-700-7683.

How to Sell: For those looking to sell your old data tapes prior to upgrading to LTO-9, CLICK HERE to submit your inventory and we will contact you back within 24 Hours.

LTO TECHNOLOGY FOR LONG-TERM DATA PROTECTION

LTO tape technology provides organizations with reliable, long-term data protection and preservation. With LTO tape drives, organizations can meet security and compliance requirements, while at the same time, save on storage footprint, power, and cooling costs, which can make a significant difference in operating costs for larger library environments.

LTO-9 FEATURED HIGHLIGHTS

Lowest cost per GB.
Tape offers lower power and cooling costs, plus a lower footprint leads to improved TCO.
Linear Tape File System (LTFS) support.
AES 256-bit Encryption – Military-grade encryption comes standard.
WORM technology – Makes data non-rewriteable and non-erasable, which acts as an immutable vault within your tape library to secure and protect an offline copy from ransomware.

LTO-9 vs. LTO-8

LTO-9 (Linear Tape-Open 9) is the most recently released tape format from the Linear Tape-Open Consortium, following the LTO-8 format which launched in 2017. LTO-9 is expected to double the capacity of LTO-8 to 60 TB compressed. LTO-8 provides 30 TB of compressed storage capacity and 12 TB of uncompressed capacity, doubling what LTO-7 offered.

Although, the LTO Consortium has not announced the data transfer rate for LTO-9 yet, LTO-8 features an uncompressed data transfer rate of up to 360 MBps and a compressed data transfer rate of up to 750 MBps.

LTO-9 has a similar structure to LTO-8 in that tape drives are backward-compatible with one generation. Essentially, the LTO-8 tapes can read and write to LTO-7 tapes. LTO had typically been able to read back two generations and write back one generation. However, in LTO-8 the backward reading compatibility is limited to one generation.

LTO-9 also features the same WORM, LTFS, and 256-bitencryption technology as the prior generation LTO-8.

Uses for LTO-9

LTO features high capacity, durability, and portability for a comparatively low cost. Archived data storage is not normally needed on an immediate basis, making tape a solid backup option. More commonly, backup data is used for restores in the event of an incident or data loss.

LTO-9 tapes housed at an off-site location are a fantastic option for disaster recovery. If an organizations main data hub has an incident, they can use the durable LTO9 tapes to recover their data. According to the LTO consortium, once data becomes less frequently retrieved, it should be migrated to tape.

Tape is particularly useful in industries such as entertainment and healthcare that generate large volumes of data every day and require a long-term data storage option that’s less expensive than disk. As ransomware attacks stay in the headlines, tape provides an offline backup storage option immune to a cyber-attack. Data stored on an LTO-9 tape cartridge does not have to be connected to the network. This creates what is called an Airgap and creates a safety net from a cyberattack.

Pros and Cons of LTO-9 Tape

Tape capacity continues to expand. When LTO-9 launches, it will have enhanced the compressed capacity of the LTO tape products by almost 60 TB in roughly 10 years. As data levels continue to grow rapidly for many groups, capacity is one of the most important aspects of data storage media. Even the cost of tape is low compared to storing 60 TB on other storage media such as disk or flash. Particularly when taking energy and equipment into consideration as a constant energy source is not required to keep data stored on tape.

Other advantages of LTO-9 tape include:

A reliable generational roadmap that allows customers to count on a new product every few years, and a capacity that is not far off from the original estimate.
256-bit encryption that guarantees security during storage and shipment. Its offline nature also serves as protection from ransomware and cyberattacks, creating an airgap.
A reputation of being extremely reliable, with a lifespan of roughly 30 years. The tape format is also portable, making it remarkably easy to transport.

LTO’s open format also allows customers to access multiple, compatible products. The open format offers intellectual property licenses to prospective manufacturers, leading to innovation and improvements. However, LTO products are not compatible with non-LTO products.

Depending on the amount of data you need to store, cloud storage can be less expensive than tape. In some instances, cloud backup providers provide a free option up to a specified volume of data. Cloud also offers random access, unlike tape. But restoration of data files can be slow depending on data volume and bandwidth.

DTC – Clients

DTC works with some of the biggest names in #business! We’re here to help. Give our sales team a call today and get your #data on the right track! P: 1-800-700-7683

#Fortune500 #Software #Sports #Food #Beverage #Hospitality #Entertainment #Healthcare #Retail #Education #Energy #Development

Using IT to Help First Responders Save Lives

Using IT to Help First Responders Save Lives

Imagine sitting in rush hour traffic on Friday afternoon and you see an ambulance approaching in your rear-view mirror with it’s lights flashing. Surely you assume there must be an accident ahead, but what if it were a relative on their way to the hospital?

The question you ask yourself is, “how is there not a better way?” With all of the emerging technology these days, there certainly has to be something to help those who need it most.

Low and behold smart cities. Smart cities are the trend of the future, and the technologies that empower them are likely to become a $135 billion market by 2021.

For first responders, the likelihood of smart traffic lights is a pleasant change. By operating with GPS technology in emergency response vehicles, smart traffic lights can help first responders avoid traffic jams and significantly reduce response times.

Even better is the sensors that can check the structural integrity of buildings, bridges, and roads can increase safety by identifying problems before they cause an accident. Such preventative maintenance can help cities avoid the costs associated with minor injuries to major and fatal accidents.

What could go wrong?

Strategically placed sensors have the potential to improve safety in a multitude of ways. However, city officials are justly concerned that the massive amounts of data collected might not be useful as well as overburdening current systems to their limit.

There are two main obstacles standing between city officials and smart city adoption. The first problem is the issue of integrating new technologies within existing systems, and the second problem is figuring out how to ensure the implemented sensors collect beneficial data.

The Apple Watch is terrific example of how technology can be both helpful and harmful. The ability of the Apple Watch to distinguish between a “fall” and a “drop” could be more than the health-care system bargained for. One could say that the technology has the potential to save lives, especially the elderly.

On the other hand, in the chance of a malfunction, the sensors could create an excessive number of 911 calls when they aren’t actually needed. With possibly millions of the devices in a densely populated city, it’s easy to see how the issue could escalate consume emergency call centers with false alarms.

IoT advantages

In spite of the complexities with integration, the cities that do transition to smart cities stand to benefit greatly. A network of connected sensors and devices can reduce the severity of accidents or eliminate them entirely. For instance, Tesla has installed sensors that intelligently avoid impacting other cars.

Recently the city of Corona, CA migrated to a smart city. They’ve implemented sensors can also provide an incredibly rich picture of what’s happening. Many of the most revolutionary technologies have yet to be invented, but the data gathered by these tools is already helping city officials use their resources more effectively.

For example, officers can distribute Amber Alert information to an entire population, and apps like Waze show transportation officials valuable traffic data so they can reduce bottlenecks. A smart watch might be able to give paramedics vitals of their patients before they even arrive on the scene. No matter the city, smart tech has the potential to improve safety, efficiency and quality of life for residents.

Features of LTO Technology over the Years

Linear Tape Open or better known as (LTO) Ultrium is a high-capacity, single-reel tape storage created and frequently improved by HPE, IBM and Quantum. LTO tape is a powerful yet scalable tape format that helps address the growing demands of data protection.

PROVIDING GROWTH FOR GENERATIONS.

Originally introduced at the turn of the new millennium, LTO technology is currently in its 8^th generation out of a proposed twelve generations. LTO-8 supports storage capacity of up to 30 TB compressed, twice that of the previous generation LTO-7, and data transfer rates of up to 750MB/second. New generations of LTO storage have been launched consistently with higher capacity and transfer rates along with new features to further protect enterprise data. Furthermore, LTO storage is designed for backward compatibility meaning it can write back one generation and read back two generations of tape. Currently, LTO-8 Ultrium drives are able to read and write LTO -7 and LTO-8 media, ensuring the data storage investment.

WORM

LTO technology highlights a write-once, read-many (WORM) ability to make certain that your data isn’t overwritten and supports compliance regulations. The LTO WORM operation is designed to give users a very cost-effective means of storing data in a non-rewriteable format. With the increasing importance of regulatory compliance — including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), and SEC Rule 17-a-4(f) — there is a need for a cost-effective storage solution that can ensure security of corporate data in an permanent format. LTO WORM contains algorithms using the Cartridge Memory (CM), in combination with low level encoding that is mastered on the tape media to prevent tampering.

Encryption

LTO technology features robust encryption capabilities to heighten security and privacy during storage and transport of tape cartridges. Sadly, it seems like a common occurrence now when a company suffers a breach in security and endangers confidential or private information. Fortunately, recent generation LTO tape drives include one of the strongest encryption capabilities available in the industry to help safeguard the most vulnerable data stored on tape cartridges. LTO tape encryption is specific to all LTO generations since generation 4 (LTO-4). It features a 256-symmetric key AES-GCM algorithm that is implemented at the drive level. This facilitates compression before encryption to maximize tape capacities and deliver high performance during backup. With a rising number of laws and regulations and financial penalties, a security breach can be damaging for corporations. Data managers are called upon to develop effective security for sensitive data and are turning to tape encryption.

Partitioning

More modern generations of LTO technology include a partitioning feature, which help to enhance file control and space management with the Linear Tape File System (LTFS).

Beginning with the 5^th generation (LTO-5), LTO technology specifications consist of a partitioning feature that allows for a new standard in ease-of-use and portability.

Partitioning allows for a section of the tape to be set aside for indexing, which tells the drive exactly where in the tape a file is stored. The second partition holds the actual file. With LTFS, the indexing information is first read by the drive and presented in a simple, easy-to-use format that allows for “drag and drop” capabilities, similar to a thumb drive.

Why Your Data Storage Strategy Should Include Tape

As most businesses utilize the latest in flash and cloud storage technologies to keep up with extensive data growth, tape technology continues to thrive. The decades-old storage platform has continued to be remarkably dependable throughout the multiple innovations in storage equipment. In fact, tape still offers numerous benefits when it comes to backup, archival and other mass storage of data.

Tape’s Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

The cost per gigabyte of tape storage is less than a penny compared to about three cents for hard disk storage, according to Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG). In the long run, tape is also less expensive than cloud storage. The hardware, software, and operational costs are all more costly with other forms of data storage technologies. Additionally, tape has a smaller footprint and uses considerably less power than disk. ESG found that in a 10-year total cost of ownership (TCO) study, an LTO tape solution cost just 14% as much as an all-disk infrastructure, and 17% as much as a hybrid disk/cloud storage solution.

The Density of LTO Tape Technology

One of tape’s key value propositions is its density. The most recent release of Linear Tape Open (LTO) Ultrium 8 technology provides capacity of up to 30TB of compressed storage.

The Lifespan of Data Stored on Tape

Yet another major benefit of tape is its longevity of data storage. LTO tape media has a lifespan of 30 years or more, with the average tape drive lasting nearly 10 years. In contrast, the average disk storage lasts roughly four years. ESG conducted a lab audit of LTO-8 drives and found them to be more reliable than disk.

The Ever-Increasing Speed of LTO Tape

There are still several people that hold to the belief that tape is much too slow to be useful in today’s rapidly evolving IT environment. However, the increases in storage speeds over the 8 generations of LTO tape hasn’t been seen by any other storage solutions. For instance, LTO-7 provides compressed data transfer rates of up to 750MB per second, that’s more than 2.7TB per hour, compared to the 80MB per second of LTO-3 which was released only ten years prior.

Data Tape Software

Not only had tape increased in density and speed over the years, tape has also gotten smarter. Linear Tape File System (LTFS) allows tape data to be read as just another drive on a network. Users can drag and drop files to tape and can see a list of saved files using an operating system directory. LTFS is an open standard supported by LTO drives from any manufacturer. By making it possible to maneuver files on tape just as you would with disk, LTFS allows organizations to use tape for more than backup and archival. Tape becomes part of an “active” archival infrastructure in which data can be moved to the most cost-effective storage tier at any time. As a result, tape is increasingly used for audio/video and surveillance data, and in big data and regulatory compliance use cases.

The Future of LTO

LTO technology continues to improve. The LTO Consortium recently finalized the LTO-9 specification and announced plans for the development through 12 generations of the storage technology. LTO-9 is slated for release in Fall 2020. IBM introduced a tape drive based upon the most advanced LTO-8, which offers compressed capacity of up to 30TB (12TB native) and compressed data transfer rates of up to 900MB per second (360MB per second native). The drive comes with AME and AES-256 encryption and write-one-read-many (WORM) capabilities for data protection and is compatible with LTO-7 media.

Tape as a lower cost, portable, and simple to use storage solution has always made it a fantastic choice for long-term archival backup. LTO innovations over the past decade have produced unparalleled increases in capacity and greatly superior economics compared to other storage technologies on the market.

Author: Alex

DTC – A True Partnership

For Over Half of a Century We’ve Been Committed to Serving IT Departments and Saving IT Budgets

The TikTok Controversy: How Much Does Big Tech Care About Your Data and its Privacy?

Apple iPad Mini GIVEAWAY !!!

LTO-9 Tape Technology (Pre-Purchase Program)

DTC – Clients

Using IT to Help First Responders Save Lives

Features of LTO Technology over the Years

Why Your Data Storage Strategy Should Include Tape

Contact Us for a Quote / Ask a Question

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