"WARNING" Company may not abide to any of their legal contracts. *Mid Valley Publications -Winton Times -Hilmar Times -Hughson Chronicle -Merced Times Corporation Address: 6950 Gerard Ave., Winton, CA 95388 Corporation Phone: (209)358-5311 Our company was first introduced to Mid Valley Publications on January 10th of 2008 by one of their co-workers who has politely requested that we keep them anonymous. The co-worker has noticed that Mid Valley Publications where running illegal software ( Windows XP, Quark and Adobe Photoshop ) and that they were using P2P applications such as Limewire and Bittorrents to download these pirated software and music. The company was having an Open House and I was invited to evaluate their current network and computers. I was first introduced to Fran Sodini (CEO), John Derbie (Owner) and later on that day another co-worker. I have evaluated their current network conditions and provided them with the following: 1. Wires where hanging from the ceiling and door areas. Fire / Safety Hazard 2. Hubs connected to series of hubs instead of purchasing longer CAT5. Latency / Bottleneck 3. Old and broken surge protectors. Fire / Safety Hazard 4. Old and broken universal power sources plugged in. Fire / Safety Hazard 5. Surge protectors plugged into series of surge protectors. Fire / Safety Hazard 6. Computers had dust bunnies in and outside of their towers. Fire / Safety Hazard 7. Old Desktop computer was used as a Server and was about to have a catastrophic failure. Down Time / Loss Of Revenue 8. Windows Software on computers where non-legit. Illegal / Loss Of Revenue 9. Network cables where old and had staples going through them. Fire Hazard / High Latency 10. Network cables where running all over the ground and people where either walking on or tripping over them. Fire / Safety Hazard / High Latency 11. No Firewall Security Software installed on any of the units. Not PCI / HIPPA Compliant 12. Viruses & Spyware where detected on almost every computer. Not PCI / HIPPA Compliant 13. Computers had P2P applications such as Limewire or Bittorrents running. RIAA Alert 14. No Antivirus Software installed on any of the units. Not PCI / HIPPA Compliant 15. Wireless router was not properly configured and allowing outside intruders to access their internet and network resources. Not PCI / HIPPA Compliant Enough said, we provided them with the following solution: 1. Remove all existing wiring and replace with CAT5e or CAT6. 2. Install In-Wall Plates with CAT5e or CAT6 female jacks for easy plug in. 3. Remove all broken surge protectors and replaced with new ones. 4. Remove all broken UPS and replaced them with new ones. 5. Requested customer not to piggy back their surge protectors. 6. Offered them our 2 Year Service Agreement to come out monthly to dust out and optimize the computers to increase performance. 7. Installed a custom Server with Redundant drives and fail safe features. 8. Back Up and Format any computer that's running any non-legit windows and install with a new Legit License of Windows XP Professional. 9. Remove all hubs as they will no longer be needed for the new network. 10. Professionally tied up any cables if they where visible. 11. Remove all P2P applications as they bog down the network, allows illegal content to be downloaded and that those programs expose their network to viruses. 12. Install Trend Micro Internet Security Software on all units. 13. Installed a 24 Port GiGa Switch. 14. Installed a GiGA Wireless Router with Enterprise Wireless Security and QoS Control. 15. Password Protected the security software to reduce employee tampering. 16. Password Protected each individual computer to prevent unauthorized access. Customer agreed and signed our 2-Year Service Agreement and later down the road decided to no longer abide to the contract and will not pay for our cancellation charges or fee's. read more