skills for IT support professionals

 

CompTIA A+ certified professionals

 CompTIA A+ certified professionals are proven problem solvers. They support today’s core technologies from security to cloud to data management and more. CompTIA A+ is the industry standard for launching IT careers into today’s digital world. 

• The only credential with performance-based items to prove pros can think on their feet to perform critical IT support tasks in the moment
• Trusted by employers around the world to identify the go-to person in end point management & technical support roles
• Regularly re-invented by IT experts to ensure that it validates core skills and abilities demanded in the workplace

The CompTIA A+ Core Series requires candidates to pass two exams: Core 1 (220-1001) and Core 2 (220-1002) covering the following new content:

• Demonstrate baseline security skills for IT support professionals
• Configure device operating systems, including Windows, Mac, Linux, Chrome OS, Android and iOS and administer client-based as well as cloud-based (SaaS) software
• Troubleshoot and problem solve core service and support challenges while applying best practices for documentation, change management, and scripting
• Support basic IT infrastructure and networking
• Configure and support PC, mobile and IoT device hardware
• Implement basic data backup and recovery methods and apply data storage and management best practices

Who uses data centers?

 united states data center

Despite the fact that hardware is constantly getting smaller, faster and more powerful, we are an increasingly data-hungry species, and the demand for processing power, storage space and information in general is growing and constantly threatening to outstrip companies' abilities to deliver.

Any entity that generates or uses data has the need for data centers on some level, including government agencies, educational bodies, telecommunications companies, financial institutions, retailers of all sizes, and the purveyors of online information and social networking services such as Google and Facebook. Lack of fast and reliable access to data can mean an inability to provide vital services or loss of customer satisfaction and revenue.

A study by International Data Corporation for EMC estimated that 1.8 trillion gigabytes (GB), or around 1.8 zettabytes (ZB), of digital information was created in 2011 [sources: Glanz, EMC, Phneah]. The amount of data in 2012 was approximately 2.8 ZB and is expected to rise to 40 ZB by the year 2020 [sources: Courtney, Digital Science Series, EMC].

All of this media has to be stored somewhere. And these days, more and more things are also moving into the cloud, meaning that rather than running or storing them on our own home or work computers, we are accessing them via the host servers of cloud providers. Many companies are also moving their professional applications to cloud services to cut back on the cost of running their own centralized computing networks and servers.

The cloud doesn't mean that the applications and data are not housed on computing hardware. It just means that someone else maintains the hardware and software at remote locations where the clients and their customers can access them via the Internet. And those locations are data centers.

What is Texas Workforce Solutions?

Texas Workforce Solutions is a local and statewide network comprised of the Texas Workforce Commission and its statewide operations, 28 Workforce Development Boards (Boards) for regional planning and service delivery, the Boards' contracted service providers and community partners providing local service delivery, and the TWC Unemployment Benefits Tele-Centers. This network gives customers local access to workforce solutions and statewide services at numerous Workforce Solutions offices.

The Boards are responsible for strategic planning of universal employment services for employers and job-seekers. The integrated workforce delivery system maximizes funding and productivity while eliminating duplicate efforts. Through performance-based contracts, TWC monitors and holds the Boards accountable for program performance and provides technical assistance as needed.

About Us provides more detailed information about Texas Workforce Solutions.

How is TWC funded?

Most of the TWC budget is funded through federal sources, such as funding for administration of the Unemployment Insurance program, and grants for employment and retraining services under Wagner Peyser and the Workforce Investment Act. TWC block grants, through allocation formulas, go to workforce development boards that plan and administer Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act, Choices, Employment Services, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment and Training, child care, and other workforce and support services.

What does the workforce do?

SECURITY SPECIALIST JOB REQUIREMENTS:

  SECURITY SPECIALIST JOB REQUIREMENTS:

In the world of IT Security Specialist job listings, it pays to narrow your options by choosing the appropriate salary & experience level. For example, we’ve seen a specialist job with the OECA that only requires 1 year of full-time work experience and no specific degree. But we’ve also seen a Cyber Security Specialist position with a well-known defense firm that requires a 4-year degree in Computer Science or a related field, 5-8 years of experience in security & programming, CISSP certification and Government Clearance.

Because specialists have a hand in many IT security projects, you can build your experience in all kinds of ways. Internships and bootcamps are good, but so too are MOOCs, volunteer projects, and specialist certifications (e.g. CEH). Attending cyber security conferences can help you create a network of contacts. You may also want to reach out to current specialists in your preferred arena (e.g. finance) to learn more about the realities of the work. Are they doing a lot of repetitive administrative tasks? Do they have a lot of control over projects? Ask away.

Best freelance websites

 

best freelance websites for beginners

Where can you get the ideal work or client? If you’re a freelancer, we can help point you in the right direction.

We know that freelance work has its perks, and searching for customers isn’t one of them. Marketing your services is indeed one of the most tedious tasks that you can face. This is where freelance websites come in.

However, websites offering freelance work come at varying degrees of reach, work types, and payment terms. If you’re not careful, you can end up wasting time, effort, and, worse, money on platforms with questionable standing.

That’s why we came up with this 20 best freelance websites for beginners and professionals, so you can weed out undesirables and focus on the most reliable ones. After all, time is money. Below, you’ll find it easy to compare the similarities and, more importantly, differences between each platform. Key features to consider include job types, payment terms, and communication channels. 

1. Fiverr
2. Upwork
3. Freelancer.com
4. Envato Studio
5. PeoplePerHour
6. Toptal
7. Guru.com
8. DesignCrowd
9. Nexxt
10. DesignContest

1. TaskRabbit
2. crowdSPRING
3. Hireable
4. WriterAccess
5. 99Designs
6. Catalant
7. Bark
8. DesignHill
9. Skyword
10. Gigster

Freelancing is a big part of the US economy with a total income of nearly $1 trillion. This amounts to 4.8% of the total GDP of the country, making it on par with major industries.

How the heck can I work as a freelance artist?

 

freelance art jobs online

freelance art jobs online 

These days ain’t easy for artists. With a crazy load of opportunities comes the lack of self-esteem and it’s normal to feel lost, right? 

So let’s say you’re an artist and you actually believe in your talent. You don’t want to work for anyone else but yourself and it keeps you awake in the middle of the night thinking:

How the heck can I work as a freelance artist? 

You want to be your own boss, which means you need to impose some obligations to yourself, and it may seem a little scary. That’s one of the main reasons why artists hesitate to build their own businesses - the fear of not making it and letting themselves down.

Becoming a freelance artist always requires a lot of hard work, consistency, and perfect organization. Actions speak louder than words, so let’s check out the list of basic things you need to do when you dream to make money all by yourself.

1. Have A Full-Time Job First

You don’t have to do this, but you should. Working in a company will give you the experience you’ll never get by yourself. You’ll learn how to communicate with other people and clients, work on a deadline and plan your time in the most efficient way.

Do you think you can go from zero to hero?

Well, there’s a chance you might. But working as a freelance artist will need from you a professional background you’ll achieve only by working for someone else. 

Once you have a full-time job you need to be 100% sure you’re ready to quit. Building your personal appearance in business will take you some time, so don’t jump to conclusions too soon. Give yourself a while to find clients and don’t discourage yourself when there’s no real income at the beginning. 

It’s a process that may last a few months or even a year, so don’t be so hard on yourself, save some money from the job you still have and wait until it’s the right time to shine. 

data center jobs salary

data center jobs salary

It's no secret that the economy is changing. As technology plays a greater role in our personal and professional lives, our economy too increasingly relies on technology to create jobs and encourage growth. Technology is the foundation of our digital economy, and its modern infrastructure is data.

However, in order to use data, we need a place to process and store it - in other words, data centers. Data centers are facilities that house the computers that process data. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, there are three million data centers across the country - including here in Alabama.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Chamber Technology Engagement Center (C_TEC) recently set out to learn how data centers impact their local communities, and the findings were substantial. According to our recent report, the average data center adds $32.5 million in economic activity to its local community each year.

Our report reveals that during construction, the average data center employs 1,688 local workers and provides them $77.7 million in wages. Additionally, building the average data center generates $243.5 million in output throughout a local economy's supply chain and produces $9.9 million in revenue for state and local governments, which can then be used for public services. For every year that follows, that same data center goes on to support 157 local jobs paying $7.8 million in wages. It injects $32.5 million into the local economy and generates $1.1 million in revenue to state and local governments.

The economic benefits of data centers can be seen here in Alabama, where they have been a significant boost to the state economy. Google is currently building a $600 million data center in Jackson County and plans to create over 100 high-paying jobs. Other major companies such as Blue Cross and Blue Shield, AT&T, and Atlanta-based power company Southern Company have already invested millions of dollars building data centers around Birmingham.

Across the country, data centers are powering communities, creating jobs, and driving economic growth. They support local communities both directly and indirectly through improving public infrastructure such as roads, power lines, water, and sewage systems and providing millions of dollars to local governments. Local infrastructure improvements and robust commercial activity can also help bring more businesses to the area, which can create jobs and spur additional economic growth.

However, beyond our local communities, data centers are also important to our global competitiveness. Innovations in science, energy, manufacturing, health care, education, transportation and many other fields depend on new technology and the ability to store and process data. Data centers create a foundation for the technology that has supported distance learning courses that improve education for both children and adults, wearable technologies that encourage healthy lifestyles, and lifesaving gene therapies for diseases like cancer.https://www.fieldengineer.com/skills/data-center-technician

The innovations that change the world start here at home. To create jobs in Alabama, spur innovation, and drive economic growth, we need to support investment in data centers. We need to create a business environment that encourages research and development. We need smart tax policies that incentivize investments in innovative and job-creating technology, and we need to lift burdensome regulations that prevent entrepreneurs from creating new products. The thousands of Americans working to build and operate data centers are proof that - with the right policies in place - data centers can create jobs in our communities that power innovation across the country and around the world.

freelancing sites

 How do I find freelance projects?

freelancing sites

If you’re a software developer, you’ve probably felt at least a twinge of envy when talking to your friends who have switched to freelancing. As a freelance developer, you can earn more than you would in a full-time job.You also have the freedom to be your own boss and enjoy flexible work times and many more perks.But it’s a bad idea to quit your job and strike out on your own if you don’t yet have a stable client base.And to build that client list, you first need to get noticed.

The following are 7 tips that will help you get some attention as a freelance web developer, grab a few projects and begin to build your reputation.

1. Build an online portfolio

One thing a client looks for in a potential freelancer is whether you’ll be able to deliver. If you’re new to freelancing, there’s a 90% chance you’ll lose out on projects to a more experienced freelancer. After all, clients are spending a lot of money on their projects, and they want every penny to count.Occasionally, though, a prospective client doesn’t just choose the most experience freelancer, but instead spends the time to review the profiles of other freelancers who offered to work at a lower rate.

Now you have a chance to convince the client that you are worth a try.To make a great impression with the client, you need to have a convincing portfolio.By portfolio, I don’t mean one with a lot of showy graphics and design. Good portfolios use a simple design and show off the best work you have done. If you have worked on some big projects at your daily job, put up some screen shots and a description of the project.

Don’t brag too much–just be clear and to the point.

The tips that follow will include some additional items that you can include in your portfolio.

2. Work for free

Beginning freelancers face a tough dilemma: To get projects, you need to have a reputation based on projects you’ve already completed. But since you’re starting from zero, you have no projects and no reputation.

So how do you start to build your reputation?

When you find yourself in this position, your main objective should be building your reputation, rather than getting paid. This will help you gain some experience, make some new contacts and begin to build your portfolio.

network security profession

 

What is cyber security professionals?

Cybersecurity Professional. ... Cybersecurity Professionals are vital for protecting an enterprise's digital infrastructure and assets from both internal and external cyber threats, which can undermine business operations and violate both customer privacy and organizational security.

The modern financial services sector relies heavily on web-based technologies to serve customers’ needs. Cybersecurity Professionals are vital for protecting an enterprise’s digital infrastructure and assets from both internal and external cyber threats, which can undermine business operations and violate both customer privacy and organizational security. Professionals in this field are referred to by many different titles, including Cybersecurity Engineer, Security Researcher, Information Security Analyst, Security Specialist, Malware Analyst, Computer Forensics Expert, Incident Manager and Risk Analyst, among others.

Key Role Dimensions

Acting as a subject matter expert: Have specialized expertise in areas such as computer programming and engineering, math, statistics and data mining.

Monitoring online threats: Work with advanced tools and systems while attempting to minimize the impact of successful cyber-attacks.

Developing best-practice methods for protecting information systems and networks: Engage in software development, testing, industry risk management, and asset and identity protection.

Advising stakeholders on threats and potential remedies: Convey findings and recommended courses of action to team members and management.

Focus Areas

Cybersecurity Professionals can apply their talents in the following ways in the banking, insurance, and finance and asset management sectors:

• Prevention: Verify stability and integrity of networks to ensure protection of finances and corporate and personal data from cyber-

Network Operations Center Jobs

 Job Description for Network Operations Center (NOC) Technician

Network operations center (NOC) technicians are in charge of monitoring critical network elements and engaging in proactive network systems monitoring. Troubleshooting is a daily task for a network operations center technician, and they also monitor the software, network, and signal strength from satellites. They also check CPU performances and network statuses. A network operations center technician works regularly with customers and must be able to troubleshoot all problems that may arise. These technicians generally work full time in an office setting, although overtime may be required depending on the needs of their organization. These individuals' work hours vary depending on the needs of their company. Sitting for long periods of time is often required for network operations center technicians. A network operations center technician generally need to have at least a high school diploma or equivalent. Most of the time, companies prefer some college experience in computer science, computer engineering, or a related field as well. These technicians need to possess at least two years of experience in the field, and they must possess strong communication and interpersonal skills, as well as any necessary certifications.

Network Operations Center (NOC) Technician Tasks

• Monitor automated and end user incident and outage reporting, troubleshoot, and resolve problems.
• Provide direct customer support when required.
• Implement, maintain, and repair routing, IP switching, firewalls, and remote access protocols.
• Create reports on up time, bandwidth usage, server utilization, and other key metrics.

How the heck can I work as a freelance artist?

freelance art jobs online 

These days ain’t easy for artists. With a crazy load of opportunities comes the lack of self-esteem and it’s normal to feel lost, right? 

So let’s say you’re an artist and you actually believe in your talent. You don’t want to work for anyone else but yourself and it keeps you awake in the middle of the night thinking:

How the heck can I work as a freelance artist? 

You want to be your own boss, which means you need to impose some obligations to yourself, and it may seem a little scary. That’s one of the main reasons why artists hesitate to build their own businesses - the fear of not making it and letting themselves down.

Becoming a freelance artist always requires a lot of hard work, consistency, and perfect organization. Actions speak louder than words, so let’s check out the list of basic things you need to do when you dream to make money all by yourself.

1. Have A Full-Time Job First

You don’t have to do this, but you should. Working in a company will give you the experience you’ll never get by yourself. You’ll learn how to communicate with other people and clients, work on a deadline and plan your time in the most efficient way.

Do you think you can go from zero to hero?

Well, there’s a chance you might. But working as a freelance artist will need from you a professional background you’ll achieve only by working for someone else. 

Once you have a full-time job you need to be 100% sure you’re ready to quit. Building your personal appearance in business will take you some time, so don’t jump to conclusions too soon. Give yourself a while to find clients and don’t discourage yourself when there’s no real income at the beginning. 

It’s a process that may last a few months or even a year, so don’t be so hard on yourself, save some money from the job you still have and wait until it’s the right time to shine. 

 

NOC Analyst

Network Operations Center (NOC) Analyst

POSITION SUMMARY

The Network Operations Center (NOC) Analyst performs technical analysis of system issues and outages as they occur across customer enterprise networks. This individual then performs research to troubleshoot and resolve the issue or, depending upon complexity, escalates the issue to higher-level systems administrators and network engineers. The NOC Analyst is responsible for researching and documenting various mitigation strategies, and must maintain current and thorough knowledge of customer technologies and their significance to customer operations.  This individual must be able to prioritize remediation of issues in a 24 x 7 environment with critical up time requirements. The NOC analyst may also perform basic system administration tasks such as network/system troubleshooting, patching operating systems and applications, and executing various scripts.

TYPICAL DUTIES

Typical duties include, but are not limited to:

• Provide timely response to all incidents, outages and performance alerts. Categorize issues for escalation to appropriate technical teams
• Recognize, identify and prioritize incidents in accordance with customer business requirements, organizational policies and operational impact
• Collect and review performance reports for various systems, and report trends in hardware and application performance to assist senior technical personnel to predict future issues or outages
• Monitor a wide variety of information and network systems that include, but are not limited to telecommunications circuits, LAN/WAN systems, routers, switches, firewalls, VoIP systems, servers, storage, backup, operating systems and core applications
• Document all actions in accordance with standard company policies and procedures
• Notify customer and third-party service providers of issues, outages and remediation status
• Work with internal and external technical and service teams to create and/or update knowledge base articles
• Perform basic systems testing and operational tasks (installation of patches, network connectivity testing, script execution, etc.)
• Support multiple technical teams in 24 x 7 environment operational environments with high uptime requirements. Varied shift schedules may include day or evening hours.
• Other duties as assigned

What is WiFi and wireless LAN?

The notion of wireless continues to get complicated in business environments. If you don't know the specific wireless context or application being discussed, your assumption of what wireless LAN means may be different than mine -- even if we're engaged in the same conversation.

Forget, though, about wireless personal area networks, like Bluetooth, and wireless WANs and their respective network devices. Even without these wireless network topologies, there can be enough to keep straight under the simple heading of WLAN. In particular, let's explore the difference between WLAN vs. Wi-Fi.

What is a WLAN and how does it work?

To tackle the generic WLAN construct, we first need to review what is meant by local area network. Local generally means a network that is contained within a building or campus, representing a geographical or functional construct. Add a W to LAN, and we have a wireless LAN.

The terms WLAN and Wi-Fi are often linked and used interchangeably, but problems arise with that habit. A WLAN can be built on various wireless technologies.

To illustrate the difference between WLAN vs. Wi-Fi, I'll share a story. Recently, I consulted on requests for proposals and implementation projects involving lighting control and building alarm systems. Each used WLAN for its interconnectivity. Upon hearing WLAN was involved, I thought: "Oh, boy, we may not want critical services on Wi-Fi."

Information technology what is It

information technology what is it

Information technology (IT) is the use of any computers, storage, networking and other physical devices, infrastructure and processes to create, process, store, secure and exchange all forms of electronic data. Typically, IT is used in the context of enterprise operations as opposed to personal or entertainment technologies. The commercial use of IT encompasses both computer technology and telephony.

The term information technology was coined by the Harvard Business Review, in order to make a distinction between purpose-built machines designed to perform a limited scope of functions and general-purpose computing machines that could be programmed for various tasks. As the IT industry evolved from the mid-20th century, computing capability advanced while device cost and energy consumption fell lower, a cycle that continues today when new technologies emerge.

IT software and hardware

IT includes several layers of physical equipment (hardware), virtualization and management or automation tools, operating systems and applications (software) used to perform essential functions. User devices, peripherals and software, such as laptops, smartphones or even recording equipment, can be included in the IT domain. IT can also refer to the architectures, methodologies and regulations governing the use and storage of data.

Business applications include databases like SQL Server, transactional systems such as real-time order entry, email servers like Exchange, Web servers like Apache, customer relationship management and enterprise resource planning systems. These applications execute programmed instructions to manipulate, consolidate, disperse or otherwise affect data for a business purpose.

Computer servers run business applications. Servers interact with client users and other servers across one or more business networks. Storage is any kind of technology that holds information as data. Information can take any form including file data, multimedia, telephony data and Web data, data from sensors or future formats. Storage includes volatile random access memory (RAM) as well as non-volatile tape, hard disk and solid-state flash drives.

IT architectures have evolved to include virtualization and cloud computing, where physical resources are abstracted and pooled in different configurations to meet application requirements. Clouds may be distributed across locations and shared with other IT users, or contained within a corporate data center,

Typically, Server Management is a capability of a variety of other G2 Software categories. See more below to select the m

 best Server Management Software.

Server management can be achieved with a few different types of software. Network management tools provide tools for monitoring, diagnosing, and remedying issues associated with IT infrastructure. These software solutions constantly monitor network performance performance, create a baselines for network performance, alert administrators of crashes, and suggest solutions to performance issues when they arise. Application performance monitoring (APM) software provides management tools for the IT infrastructure backing web applications. They will track your applications functionality and diagnose issues in both programming and physical server functionality. Enterprise IT management suites provide features for both network and application performance. In addition, they supply users with tools for asset tracking and operational intelligence reporting to provide data insights such as power consumption and system performance. If you are looking to avoid local server management, IT outsourcing providers will take the work off your hands and manage your infrastructure.

SERVER MONITORING SERVICES

Server Monitoring is a process to monitor server's system resources like CPU Usage, Memory Consumption, I/O, Network, Disk Usage, Process etc. Server Monitoring helps understanding server's system resource usage which can help you better your capacity planning and provide a better end-user experience.

Your application's health depends on a large part on the health of the underlying server. Server Monitoring ensures that your server machine is capable of hosting your applications. Server Monitoring provides you with data relating to your operating system and when used in conjunction with other monitoring data from the application you get a true glimpse into the working of your system.

Data center technician amazon salary

data center technician amazon salary

A Maintenance Technician at Amazon earns an average of $75,109, ranging from $66,780 at the 25th percentile to $82,441 at the 75th percentile, with top earners (the top 10%) earning more than $90,640. Compensation is derived from fewer than 20 profiles, including base salary, equity and bonus.

Datacenter technicians are skilled, hands-on professionals who provide a variety of services to keep computer data servers and hardware networks operating smoothly. They are the first line of defense in safeguarding a company ‘s valuable information. Most data center technicians have full-time schedules but do not work a typical 9 to 5 shift. They work shifts that are 8-12 hours long on nights, weekends, and holidays. They normally work in server rooms where usual office noise, machine noise, or construction noise is present. Data technicians must be willing to respond to emergency calls 24 hours a day, since data support is vital to any business’s core operations.

What skills do you need at Amazon as a(n) Maintenance Technician?

Do you meet the bar? Maintenance Technicians at Amazon tend to know the following skills. Check out individual skills to view our evaluations and insights, along with similar skills and a number of skill building learning opportunities to expand your own potential

What degrees do Amazon Maintenance Technicians hold?

There are 4 times more applicants with a Bachelor's Degree than those with a Associate Degree. 67% of applicants have no degree. 27% have a Bachelor's Degree. 7% have a Associate Degree.
 How long have Amazon Maintenance Technicians worked?
20% employees have 20 or more years of experience. 33% have 10 to 20 years of experience. 47% have 2 to 5 years of experience.

Types of application system?

 application systems

An application software is something that is intended to perform a task on a system or a specific program. Depending on the level of language used there are different types of application software:

1) Word processing software

This tool is used to create letters, word sheets, type papers etc.

Eg: MS Word, MS Works, AppleWorks

2) Spreadsheet Software

A tool used to compute number intensive problems like forecasting, budgeting etc.

Eg: MS Excel, Quattro Pro, Lotus 1-2-3, MS Works

3) Desktop Publishing Software

This tool is used to create illustrative worksheets, banners, newsletters, signs, gift cards etc.

Eg: MS Word, MS Publisher, Adobe PageMaker

4) Database Software

Used to store data like text information, memberships, address etc. which helps users to sort information accordingly.

Eg: MS Access, FileMaker Pro

5) Communication Software

Allows to connected computers to communicate each other using audio, video or chat-based medium.

Eg: MS Net Meeting, IRC, ICQ

6) Presentation Software

Used to create multimedia stacks of cards/screens

Eg: MS PowerPoint, Hyper Studio, Flash, Super Card, HyperCard

7) Internet Browsers

This tools allows one to surf the web, read their emails and also create web pages.

Eg: Netscape Navigator, MS Internet Explorer

8) Email Programs

This software is mainly used to send and receive emails.

Eg: MS Outlook, Netscape Messenger, Eudora, AOL Browser

As technology and the number of users keep evolving, the types of application software also keep changing with better modifications to perform better virtual tasks to solve real world problems