On the Road Again: Travel Tech That Makes

On the Road Again: Travel Tech That Makes
Like many of you, I spend a lot of time on the road and thus a lot of time thinking about how to best optimize the travel experience. So I do things like always carry my bags onto planes, book direct flights when possible, and travel as lightly as I can. But since this is by nature a technology column, and the technology I travel with changes pretty rapidly, I thought it might be worth discussing some recent trends and how they've impacted my own travel.

Connectivity
Years ago, when Wi-Fi was uncommon, we had to put up with dial-up connections at hotels, but that's no longer a concern. Once you've achieved a certain level of connectivity, you tend to expect it everywhere. Although 3G access points—whether they're built into a PC, part of a standalone MiFi type device, or provided via a 3G smartphone—provide a way to fill in the connectivity gaps, I recommend a slightly different approach. The problem with 3G access points is that they come with expensive monthly charges and often require a two-year contract where you pay for connectivity whether or not you need or use it.

I prefer a pay as you go alternative like Virgin Broadband2Go. It's a standard USB-based external 3G access point, but it costs less than $80. You can buy connectivity on-the-fly, whenever you need it. There are four options: 100MB of usage for $10 (expires in 10 days), 300MB for $20 (30 days), 1GB for $40 (30 days), and 5GB for $60 (30 days). And if you're worried about getting other devices online and have a Windows 7-based portable computer, you can share that connection, for free, with Connectify. Best of all, if you don't need it in a given month, you don't pay a thing MCTS Training.

Smartphones
No one traveling for work should be without a smartphone these days, and there are many excellent devices to choose from. I currently use and prefer Apple's iPhone, but phones based on Android are gaining in popularity. Research in Motion (RIM) BlackBerry devices are always a good option, especially for those businesses that want a bit more control over mobile access. Rather than get into a smartphone platform war, I'd like to just recognize that more and more people are using their phones for both work and play. And that means you're going to run into a very serious issue around battery life limitations.

Battery life is particularly problematic when you're traveling. While there was once a time when you could hop on a plane and be sure you'd be able to get work done, cramped quarters and overbooked flights have pretty much nixed that luxury. So I work when I can, but when it's not possible, I try not to get stressed out. And that means playing a game, listening to music, or watching a video on my phone. Which would be fine, except that the battery can be depleted by the time you get to your destination, forcing you to hunt for an outlet MCITP Certification.

You could just get an iPod touch or Zune HD, but another device can be expensive. A simpler and thriftier choice, perhaps, is to get an external charger. There are many alternatives, but I bring along two: The 3G Juice, which is just $50 and is iPhone/iPod touch specific and the Kensington Battery Pack and Charger ($70), which is advertised for the iPhone but has a USB port for charging any mobile device. I'll use one of these on the plane with the iPhone, ensuring that I have a complete charge when I land at my destination.

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network 70-299

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network 70-299
To learn how to go about applying and administering security in a Microsoft Windows Server 2003

Network, Microsoft has arisen with the 70-299 Exam.

This exam is obtainable in a diversity of languages including English, French, German, Japanese,

Spanish, and still a simplified version of Chinese. Like mainly other Microsoft exams, this one

is also geared towards as long as core credits for a Microsoft certification, which in this

container is MCSA OR Microsoft Certified System Administrator. Microsoft has a assortment of

certifications for beginners and IT professionals, two of the most well-known being MCSA 2003

Certification and MCSE 2003 Certification or Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer.Each

certification has a set of exams linked with it, and when a person clears all these exams,

he/she gets the documentation.

This 70-299 Exam provides the applicant with a MCP Certification or Microsoft Certified

Professional position after clearing it. It also provides with core credits for MCSA, and MCSE:

Security on Microsoft Windows Server 2003. Moreover, it also gives not obligator credits for

MCSA, and MCSE on Microsoft Windows Server 2003. There is a diversity of technical tasks that

you need to identify in order to clear this demanding exam. Thus, the skills measured comprise

implementing, managing and troubleshooting security policies; implementing, managing and

troubleshooting scrap management infrastructure; implementing, managing and troubleshooting

security for network communications;and preparation, configuring and troubleshooting

authentication, authorization and PKI. All Microsoft exams are fairly challenging to clear, and

the 70-299 one is not dissimilar.Microsoft recommends that people have thorough hypothetical as

well as practical information with hands- on experience and practice.

There is classroom training on hand for the exam along with a variety of online possessions that

candidates appearing for the exam can access. Apart from these, there are various other kinds of

preparation equipment too that one can easily find in the marketplace.The Microsoft 70-299

Implementing and Administering Security in a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network exam is one

of the more difficult of the core exams for the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer MCSE Certification based on Windows Server 2003 MCTS Training. This

Microsoft 70-299 exam measures the skills related to planning, implementing, and maintaining

security in medium to very large network environments based on the Windows Server 2003 operating

system. This Microsoft 70-299 Implementing and Administering Security in a Microsoft Windows

Server 2003 Network exam is intended for MCSE candidates who work in medium to very large

computing environments supporting 250 to more than 5000 users and use Windows Server 2003 as its

network operating system and Windows XP Professional or Windows 2000 Server Professional on its

client computers.

The Microsoft 70-299 Implementing and Administering Security in a Microsoft Windows Server 2003

Network exam tests a candidates ability to plan, implement, and maintain security in a Windows

Server 2003 network in medium to very large network environments. It is advised that you have a

minimum of six to twelve months experience in administering clients and network operating

systems in medium to very large corporations. There are no prerequisites for the Microsoft 70-299 Implementing and Administering Security in a

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network exam. Once you pass the Microsoft 70-299 Implementing and

Administering Security in a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network exam the candidate will achieve Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) status if it is the first MCITP Certification that

Microsoft Servers And Efficiency Optimization In Business

Microsoft Servers And Efficiency Optimization In Business
The complex processes involved in businesses would have taken a toll on the employers as well as employees with manual handling of data related tasks. Microsoft, the world leader in program and Windows tasks, has devised solutions for almost every complex process on earth. Its Windows Servers are used by countless enterprises, both big and small, across the world. Functioning efficiently and getting serious results is facilitated by Microsoft's infrastructure. Built upon a highly project-centred environment, Microsoft MCTS Training Servers can be customized to your business application needs. Reviews on these Windows Servers substantiate the efficiency optimization levels of companies worldwide. You will find everything you want to run your business, ranging from electronic mail, contacts and tasks to calendaring, web-based access to information, support for data storage, support for mobile, etc. in the Exchange Server

It was in November 2006 that the Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 was released for business customers. Compared to the other Microsoft MCITP Certification Servers, it comes with a host of new features such as better search and support for Web services, new clustering options, voice mail integration, 64-bit support for greater scalability, new Outlook Web Access interface, and better filtering options.

To run the Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, your systems should be equipped with the 64-bit x86-64 versions of Windows Servers with supported production environments. For testing of this server, you can download the 32-bit trial version. If you are already running a previous version of Exchange Server on 32-bit hardware and if you wish to upgrade to the newer version, i.e. Exchange Server 2007, you will need to migrate or replace hardware. Even if you have 64-bit capable hardware, you will have to migrate as the Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 does not support in-place upgrades. Given below are the new features in this Exchange Server:

* Protection of your systems from anti-spam, antivirus, etc.; you can experience improved security and encryption

* Working access is improved with improvement incorporated in web access, calendaring, unified messaging, and mobility

* IT professionals can experience enhanced efficiency with improved solutions facilitated by simplified GUI, 64-bit performance & scalability, enhanced deployment, simplified routing, command-line shell, and role separation

* Programming of complex tasks related to system administration into scripts using the graphical user interface that can be saved, shared, and re-used, all facilitated by the Exchange Management Shell. There are over 375 unique commands in this shell to manage features the Exchange Server

* Unified Messaging facility (email, fax, voice mail)

* Database size limit increased to 16TB per database

* Mail databases and storage groups increased to the maximum

* Facility for configuration of Outlook Anywhere for provision of external access for clients; automatic configuration is possible with the Autodiscover service.

Microsoft ventured into the enterprise level database market with the Microsoft SQL Server. A wide range of features right from data mining, integration services, reporting to messaging technologies constitute this relational model database server. The primary query languages in the Microsoft SQL Server are T-SQL and ANSI SQL.

Hard Disks Face 'Solid' Competition

Hard Disks Face 'Solid' Competition
Hard drives have long dominated the storage sector. But they are facing a threat from solidstate drives, especially Flash-based memory. We take a closer look at what the future has in stor(ag)e.
There is nothing carved in stone when it comes to storage. Here we don't mean stored data, but the medium on which the data is stored. There is speculation that solidstate drives (SSDs) may soon replace hard disk drives (HDDs).

Flash-based memories, which were once limited to RAM, USB storage devices and MP3 players, have now evolved into a strong competitor for HDDs. The most significant development in this field was made by Samsung in May 2006, with the announcement of the world's first notebook PC, featuring a 32 GB NAND Flash-based Solidstate disk (SSD), instead of traditional HDD Microsoft MCTS Training.

The announcement fuelled speculation that the future of HDDs was under threat, and Intel added to it with the launch of its own solidstate drive.

Analyse this
But will SSDs replace HDDs completely? There are several points that need to be understood before we can answer this. Let us analyse what makes SSDs better than HDDs. SSDs score over HDDs on various fronts: form factor, speed, boot delay, power consumption, ruggedness and many more.

The form factor may not be decisive because hard disks are also shrinking in size, but to a limit. Power consumption is a serious issue when one is talking about notebooks and mobile devices, and here SSDs consume only 5 per cent of what HDDs devour. According to a Samsung press release, SSDs read 300 per cent faster (53 MBps) and write 150 per cent quicker (28 MBps) than normal hard drives. Also, HDDs cannot resolve the issue of boot delay (time that a PC takes to start the operating system). The Microsoft Windows XP operating system will boot up 25-50 per cent faster on an SSD compared to other drives, claims Samsung. HDD manufacturers have attempted to compensate for this by coming out with the concept of hybrid drives,embedding Flash-based memories with HDDs. SSDs hold the edge in ruggedness as well. No matter how well packed, {quotes} HDDs are vulnerable to temperature, magnetic fields, humidity and physical impact, whereas SSDs are almost immune to them.{/quotes}

Nobody is perfect
But SSDs have their drawbacks too. These include pricing, reliability and storage capacity. SSDs are expensive compared to HDDs, while HDDs offer storage at the rate of $1 per GB, SSDs cost approximately $90 per GB. But prices are coming down dramatically,something that HDDs also experienced with the development in technology. SanDisk's 1.8-inch (4.6 cm) drive used to cost $600, but now the 2.5-inch (6.35 cm) drive is available for $350.

"Many of the PC manufacturers are looking towards the SSD as a future storage device. With falling NAND Flash pricing and faster access time compared to HDDs, this will be the future trend. {quotes align=right}But this technology will only mature in the next couple of years, to eventually replace the HDD{/quotes}," says Rajesh Panicker, country manager, India, Kingston Technology Company Microsoft MCITP Certification.

Is bigger better?
SSDs also fall short when it comes to storage capacity. Seagate, the leading manufacturer of hard drives, rules out the possibility of SSDs replacing HDDs stating, "This is not a viable solution for two reasons. First, the write-wear phenomenon with Flash puts your critical data in jeopardy. And second, 32 GB is just not enough capacity for mainstream consumers. Vista takes up to 15 GB and Mac OS X 10.5 takes 6 GB. That leaves about 15-25 GB to store your data and run your applications. Seagate's customers want much more storage than this. The average capacity of notebook drives shipped last quarter reached 90 GB."

But Linux may blow a massive hole in this argument. There are many distros (versions of Linux-based operating systems that are as good as Windows) available today that can be stripped down and packed in a Flash drive. A machine can be directly booted from the Flash drive,you are up and running without even requiring a HDD.

However, for high-density storage requirements, HDDs have no competition, unless there are some major breakthroughs in SDD technologies that ensure not only higher data storage, but also data security. Recently, there were reports that a Taiwanese company, A-DATA, developed a 128 GB 2.5-inch (6.35 cm) SDD with SATA II interface. But even this capacity appears tiny compared to the 1 TB capacity offered by hard drives.

Another issue that weakens SSDs' prospects of replacing HDDs is limited write cycles , the number of times you can write and re-write a file. At present, Flash-based drives have limited write cycles, compared to HDDs, on which you can re-write endlessly. But this does not mean HDDs are eternal. They also have a limited life span. The magnetic property of the drive fades with time, and you cannot keep your data on the same device for ever. Whatever the storage medium, you will have to migrate your data to newer devices.

But with the evolution of newer and better technologies such as Phase Change Memory (PCM), also known as PRAM (which is considered to be a successor to Flash), SSDs seem to have overcome the limited write cycle issue.

"Technology takes time to mature and volume ramps bring down prices; so if we take these two points into consideration, then we are looking at a 2-3 year period for these products to get into the mainstream," says Panicker.

Online applications ,who needs HDD space?
The world is now migrating from desktop-based applications to Web-based applications or online services (we covered part of this aspect in "Google Apps Biting Into Microsoft's Pie?" in the April 2007 issue of this magazine). With the advent of such services, you do not need to buy and install office suites or image editing applications on your PCs.

Google, Zoho and many other companies are offering online document processing services (free as well as paid for options) as an alternative to desktop-based office suites. There are video content sharing services such as You Tube and Yahoo Video, where you can save video files on the servers of these companies instead of on the PC. For images, there are services like Flickr, which allow users to post and share images on the Web. Adobe is also planning to introduce a Web-based version of its popular creative suites like Photoshop to enable people to edit images online. This new trend will negate the need for storing or installing applications as well as data on local machines, thus creating a demand for machines that do not have a large storage capacity.

"The future of storage devices will be more driven by the demands of the application. While we are seeing the need for faster access times, at the same time, applications are getting more niche. This trend looks like tilting more towards Nand Flash-based storage products," feels Panicker.

When it comes to entertainment, a new trend that has emerged is the pay-per-view/listen service, in which users do not have to buy the content, but pay for the times they want to listen or view it. This also eliminates the need to store data.

With the growing popularity of media players like the iPod, people are increasingly opting to listen to music on handheld devices. While high capacity media players still feature HDDs, some (including Apple's iPod Nano and Shuffle) are Flash-based. Ideally, SSDs are a better option for media players because of non-moving parts and low power consumption. However, they lose out to HDDs on the storage capacity front. But as SDD capacities expand (witness A-Data's 128 GB effort, which offers a higher capacity than the iPod or Zune), there will be a shift of digital content from hard drives to the SSDs embedded in these devices.

A controversial technology, digital rights management (DRM), may also lead to a decline in the demand for high storage capacity at individual levels, as this technology restricts people from copying or storing data on their machines. Why would anyone want high capacity storage devices like HDDs when there is not much to store?

Home users, unlike major organisations, are not particular about the security of their data. And they generally take back-ups of critical data on CDs or DVDs, instead of trusting hard drives or data recovery services. That's another factor in favour of SSDs.

The future is slim, sleek and...shrinking!
Devices are shrinking in size every day. Smart handheld devices are emerging as alternatives to laptops. And ubiquitous computing and 'wearable' computers are on the horizon.

Texas Instruments recently demonstrated a projector the size of a human fingertip, for mobile devices. You can place your mobile in front of a screen and enjoy life-sized images of a Hollywood blockbuster.

The future definitely seems to belong to sleek and slim devices, and these are likely to use SSDs for their storage needs. Hard drives will continue to exist, but you may not find them on the devices you use. They'll be running silently in server rooms!

Unleashing The Power Of Artificial Intelligence And Robotics

Artificial intelligence (AI) has immense potential. But it has yet to be leveraged adequately in several fields.

To be valuable, a system has to be intelligent enough to do much more than merely execute its tasks precisely. Unfortunately, many solutions simply use the term artificial intelligence (AI) without deploying any of its algorithms. I remember a friend of mine, who had worked as a CTO in a leading company, being deceived by an ISV (independent software vendor) that sold his company what it claimed was a capital markets prediction software using neural networks. Some solutions claim the deployment of several AI techniques including neural networks, genetic programming and genetic algorithms, but contain nothing! There are several fake solutions available on the World Wide Web, such as some intelligent RSS (really simple syndication) reading solutions and neuro solutions.

But not all AI solutions are bad. There are many good solutions that are used in research fields (and the R&D sectors of industry) such as non-linear regression, forecasting, curve fitting, classification, decision-making, problem optimisation, pattern recognition, and time series analysis. Then there are solutions used for doing business viz., those that help in financial analysis and investment (combining traditional technical analysis with state-of-the-art artificial intelligence technologies), and solutions used as competitive intelligence calculators (CICs). Finally, there exist some solutions employing the back propagation algorithm in AI Microsoft MCTS Training.

How effective is AI?

In theory, AI seems perfect. It has a wide range of applications ranging from network design to embedded solutions. But on the practical side, there are many hurdles. I remember reading a paper on"Using Artificial Intelligence in Communication System Design" by N Shiratori, K Takahashi, K Sugawara and T Kinoshita, which reveals more about the implementation of the theory. There are scientists who believe in a knowledge-based design support system (KDSS) that will assist designers who are inexperienced in communication system design, in creating advanced systems like intelligent networks and large-scale distributed computing systems MCITP Certification.

Large-scale applications are quite similar in their modus operandi to the top layers of the pyramid structure in Game AI. The application of Game AI (which is best thought of as a hierarchy or pyramid) is not just to decision-making. Once employed, it can solve large meshes. Some fellow hackers in our LUG (Linux user group) have even modified some of its algorithms for Password Recovery Master Solutions.

A Multi-Talented Storage Solution

A Multi-Talented Storage Solution
Designed as an all-in-one storage solution, Tyrone Opslag FS2 provides high performance and can be scaled up to 576 terabytes.

Meet Tyrone Opslag FS2. Plug this all-new storage device to your enterprise storage network, and it will perform multiple roles-as network attached storage (NAS), as storage attached network (SAN) or as a virtual tape library (VTL), depending on your storage needs. And in tune with your network.

This next generation storage solution, invented by Netweb Technologies, has up to 4 gigabyte (GB) Ethernet ports, which can scale to 576 terabytes (TB). "Opslag FS2 will revolutionalise the traditional NAS and SAS market, and will address almost all kinds of connectivity problems that a company may face. Data generation, maintenance and sharing, all play important parts in any organisation. The productivity and viability of organisations is becoming ever more reliant on the ability to store, organise and share business information," says Sandeep Lodha, VP, sales and marketing, Netweb Technologies.

A flexible solution
What makes this new generation FS2 different? The previous generation of FS2 only had NAS functionality and its scalability was limited to 24 TB. The interconnect offered was Gigabit Ethernet and the maximum throughput possible was 380 MB using multiple Gigabit Ethernet ports. In comparison, FS2 supports more flexibility in terms of the access protocols and can be configured as a NAS or a SAN, or both. The scalability and maximum throughput also has increased MCTS Training.

Opslag FS2 runs on quad-core Xeon processors and supports up to 16 GB of memory. It also supports various redundant arrays of independent disks (RAID), which ensures protection of valuable data even in case of multiple hard disk failures.
The design of this storage device is based on two major principles: unification and flexibility. "We have unified the NAS and SAN in one box. This offers high flexibility to customers, reduces the cost implication and presents the optimum utilisation of space without any waste," says Lodha. Customers have a choice of almost any kind of connectivity, apart from a selection of models to upgrade and change to, later. "If the customer uses a fibre cable (FC) switch today for networking, and tomorrow goes in for Infiniband, all that needs to be done is to change a cable and fix FS2 to the Infiniband switch," Lodha adds.

Apart from NAS and SAN functionality, Opslag FS2 can function as a VTL (Virtual Tape Library). The device enables you to shift back-up operations from slow tape drives to faster disk-based storage without any major changes to the existing set-up. It also allows Input Output unification, starting from Gigabit Ethernet, on to 10 Gigabit Ethernet; then Fiber Channel and on to InfiniBand (10/20/40GBps), in combination, or altogether.

Scalable protocols
"Availability of data can be crucial for the survival of any organisation. Therefore, we have implemented redundancy at various levels," says Lodha. At the very basic level, the system uses redundant power supply and supports RAID6, which can tackle simultaneous failure of two HDDs. The RAID cache is protected by a battery back-up unit MCITP Certification.

FS2's operating system is based on a customised 64-bit Linux kernel and is installed on a Flash module. It supports expansion by using multiple host bus adapters (HBA), which connect a computer to other networks or storage systems, and by connecting each HBA to several disks cascaded together. The device supports common Internet file systems and server message block protocols (CIFS/SMB), which are primarily used by computers running on Microsoft Windows. It also supports the Network file system protocol (NFS) that is mainly used by computers working on Linux.

"The novel feature in FS2 is its support for SRP (SCSI RDMA Protocol). In the last few years, Infiniband has emerged as an interconnect of choice for high-performance computing, providing extremely low-latency with high-throughput. FS2 also provides scalability from a few TB to 576TB, so that customers can plan and grow as their requirements grow," Lodha says. Support for a wide variety of access protocols enables FS2 to support a wide range of operating systems, and it works very well in heterogeneous computing environments.

On the speed side, FS2 could perform at 2 GBps, when used with InfiniBand. The device comes with the Web-interfaced management software, Opslag Storage Manager, which is easy to use and does not require a highly trained technician to configure the settings.

The company, which started in 1996, has several energy efficient supercomputing solutions, workstation solutions and reduced power consuming storage solutions to its credit. Its R&D wing developed the second generation of Opslag, which was launched late last year. "We have plans to boost the scalability to a few petabytes with a throughput of 3.5 GBps," says Lodha. That's optimism of the finest order. Watch out how the market will respond.

Microsoft certifications

A series of programs that provide certification of competency in Microsoft products. Administered throughout the world at Microsoft centers as well as colleges and universities, the certification exams consist of both core topics and elective material. The most popular programs are outlined below. See MCITP certification and MCTS Training.

MCP - Microsoft Certified Professional
Umbrella term for individuals passing exams in Microsoft certification categories.

MCSE - Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer
The best-known certification level, geared to the technical specialist involved with advanced Microsoft products. Exams are available for the Windows 2000 product line and for Microsoft Windows Server 2003. Specializations are offered in messaging and security.

MCSD - Microsoft Certified Solution Developer
For the VAR or software developer. Candidates must pass exams on Windows architecture and services plus programming languages of their choice.

MCDBA - Microsoft Certified Database Administrator
For the administrator involved with Microsoft's SQL Server database management system.

MCT - Microsoft Certified Trainer
For the person who trains others in these subjects through Microsoft authorized education sites.

MOUS - Microsoft Office User Specialist
For the user who requires proficiency with Office applications, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint.