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This issue of the newsletter is focussed on SARS and the continuity plan companies can take. Also, covered is the business continuity plan if Systems Design's staff is quarantined. Some of SD customers have put in place a system for their essential staff to access mail and application software from home. Business has to go on where possible.

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Are you preparing any continuity plans just in case your staff have to be quarantined? If your key staff is to work from home, then preparation will be required.

1. His home PC configuration must be known. If it is too old, there may not be sufficient memory. If he can surf the net, chances are the PC is powerful enough. For Win XP Home Edition, Service Pack 1 must be loaded otherwise, it is not stable.

2. Depending on the office system, is Linux based or Windows NT or 2000 based, different procedures will be required to access the application. For Linux systems, a string of Hayes modem commands will need to be entered to dial out from the remote home user. For Windows NT or 2000 systems, PC Anywhere (remote) will need to be loaded into the remote home user before dialing out is possible.

3. For all system customers, a phone line and modem is already in place for SD staff to dial in. This modem is switched off most of the time. In the event of contingency plan to work from home, the modem will have to be turned on. No extra phone line or modem will be required. However, this will have to be transferred to a PC serial line instead of the server to prevent any accidental errors for the Windows server.

4. Accessing the email is another matter. Depending on the email system used, different approaches are required. Those using POP3 account with ISP as the email provider can then just dial direct to the ISP. Those using Exchange internally for the email will require some extra setup.

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Companies are preparing for business continuity plans just in case SARS strike. Systems Design is no exception. Touch wood, if all the staff at Systems Design were to be quarantined, essential staff will have to work from home. To get any service, the hotline number is 98162681. The coordinator taking the call will have the SD staff call the customer back.

For hardware situations, our engineers will phone the customer to see what help can be provided over the line. He/she will not be able to make any maintenance calls during the quarantine period.

For application software or systems engineering functions, essential staff will be able to work from home. For customers on software maintenance, the staff will call the customer back first to arrange for the modem to be turned on. Then he or she will dial in to perform the necessary task.

Essential staff will still be able to communicate via email from the home by dialing into the Systems Design mail server through the Internet. We will try to conduct as much business as possible “remotely”.

Sophos has issued a warning of a new computer worm that tales advantage of growing concern over the biological SARS virus. Known as W32/Coronex-A, the mass-mailer worm forwards itself to all contacts in Outlook address books and attempts to dupe innocent computer users into opening an attachment offering details on the current SARS epidemic. The Coronex worm uses a variety of subject lines, message bodies and attachment names to entice users into double-clicking including: "Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome", "SARS Virus" and Hongkong.exe

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This is the latest in a series of monthly charts counting down the ten most frequently occurring viruses and hoaxes as compiled by Sophos, a world leader in corporate anti-virus protection.

For March 2003, the virus chart is as follows, with the most frequently occurring virus at number one:

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3Com has combined the draft standards based Power over Ethernet technology (IEEE-P802.3af) with the advanced features, simplicity and style of the Switch 4400 series to create the 24 port SuperStack® 3 Switch 4400 PWR. The highly compact stackable 1-RU design provides power and data over a single cable to any compliant device; including 3Com NBX, Wireless LAN and Network Jack products. Power Over Ethernet eliminates the cost for additional electrical cabling and cuts the total installation time and cost significantly, helping to reduce the Total Cost of Ownership, especially when paired with Voice over IP solutions, like 3Com NBX.

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Recently, there are some cases where when the PC OS is changed from Win 95/98 to Win XP, the scaling on the digitizer is incorrect. So if you are upgrading from PC to a newer model, watch out for this when you migrate your applications over. You will need our engineers to do a re-configuration of the Drawing Board before the scaling works correctly.

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Want to see something new in the newsletter? Or just dying to get something off your chest? Write to Systems Design at newsletter@sysdgn.com.sg

SYSTEMS UPDATE Vol. 22 No. 2 MAR/APR 2003 issue