IT organizations have been caught between a rock and a hard place. Charged with protecting their company's information, IT organizations have established aggressive service level agreements (SLAs) that impact the manner in which they implement data protection by setting recovery point objectives (RPO) and recovery time objectives (RTO).
Organizations struggle with shrinking or non-existent backup windows, the need to recover quickly, often to a specific point in time, and even meeting compliance or regulatory guidelines. Backing up to tape is no longer adequate; not only is it difficult to administer for backups and recoveries, but it lacks the speed, reliability, flexibility and simplicity IT needs to meet stringent SLAs. Backing up to disk using virtual tape emulation or virtual tape libraries also falls short as the administration of the solution is tape-centric and schedule driven. Add in the explosion of data, along with the challenge of protecting remote offices, and you have the challenge facing many of today's business--with IT sitting on the front lines of aligning business needs with today's technology.
As a result, a growing number of IT organizations are augmenting their traditional backup and recovery strategies with continuous data protection (CDP) solutions. CDP dramatically improves RPOs and RTOs while eliminating backup windows. What's more, CDP not only reduces the need for tape in the backup and recovery process but it also makes recovery easy enough that users can often recover their own files, without help from IT.
What is CDP?
CDP is a process that lets organizations continuously capture or track data modifications and stores changes independent of the primary data, enabling recovery points from specific points in the past. CDP systems may be block, file-, or application-based and can provide fine granularities of restorable objects to infinitely variable recovery points in time.
CDP reduces the complexity of the data protection system and eliminates the classic challenge of theing backup window because it eliminates the need for full, incremental, or differential backups by protecting data immediately and then continuously backing it up to disk. CDP is not a complete replacement for traditional backup but rather an important component of a well-rounded backup and recovery strategy.
Can CDP be leveraged for backing up and recovering email? As the predominant form of communication for business transactions, email is an application that is mission-critical to organizations of all sizes. It generates a huge amount of information that must be immediately available and protected. The loss of a single message may generate hours of unnecessary and frustrating labor for administrators and/or users and can lower productivity or affect business operations. And with the introduction of Exchange 2007, organizations need protective solutions that can support the latest offering from Microsoft.
Not surprisingly, the amount of email data requiring protection and availability is growing exponentially. IT, in turn, is faced with the challenge of backing up this critical data within the existing backup window and recovering it quickly. Moreover, they must not only be able to back up and recover whole email databases but they also require a system which enables recovery of individual mailboxes or emails. However, if administrators want to back up email databases for complete disaster recovery purposes and be able to recover individual email, folders, or mailboxes, they typically have had to do separate backups.
New granular recovery technologies have emerged that enable mail messages, mailboxes, and folders to be restored individually without having to restore an entire email database, and without separate and redundant mailbox backups. In an Exchange environment, for example, only a single-pass full or incremental backup of Exchange is required, which dramatically decreases the time required to protect all mailboxes while also reducing the backup storage requirement.
Selasa, 18 Maret 2008
An overview of continuous data protection
Three Tips For Handling PDF Conversions
1. Zamzar launches a pretty nifty file conversion service
I wanted to scrape a graphic from a PDF file and I was searching online for my options. Normally one looks for a packaged option, downloadable, and I was sorting through the free and not so free, the working and not so working and I came across this little gem called Zamzar. It’s a service, rather than software, and they do one or two of the niftiest things going. First, they translate my PDF files into just about any file format I could wish for. This was what I wanted in the first place, but they also offered to do little other things that were neat, like send me a file that they can scrape off Youtube! I like that. Let me go aside for a paragraph and then back to Zamzar.
I pulled Paul Tobey’s Music Box Dancer, which is a jazzed up version of the classic off and now I can listen to it on my PDA when I don’t have internet access. One of the comments said it best for me: “I like both versions. These guys are just having a great jam session having fun with a tune that lends itself to such things.” Over 22,000 views can’t be wrong! Paul is an interesting guy. I met him at one of his Internet Marketing Courses, and after about three hours, realized that he wasn’t just teaching me how to do Search Engine Optimization, but he was also teaching me about copy writing, etiquette, strategy, how to close sales, and just plain Internet business sense. His Music Box dancer is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmqgNKB1uog and you can look over his internet marketing course at http://www.trainingbusinesspros.com/. But that’s not why I’m writing this. Through Paul, I found a great practical use for Zamzar and this is how it fits usefully into my life.
Zamzar is a pretty neat converter. It's free. You go to www.zamzar.com and simply upload your file. Shortly afterwards, Zamzar emails you a link back. You follow that link and download the converted file. It's free, and pretty easy!
Zamzar does the following conversions to PFD and back. The entire list, which includes images, audio and video!
• convert PDF to doc - Microsoft Word Document
• convert PDF to html - Hypertext Markup Language
• convert PDF to odt - OpenDocument Text Document
• convert PDF to pcx - Paintbrush Bitmap Image
• convert PDF to png - Portable Network Graphic
• convert PDF to ps - Postscript document
• convert PDF to rtf - Rich Text Format
• convert PDF to txt - Text document
and
• convert csv to PDF Comma Separated Values
• convert doc to PDF Microsoft Word Document
• convert docx to PDF Microsoft Word 2007 Document
• convert odp to PDF OpenDocument presentation
• convert ods to PDF OpenDocument spreadsheet
• convert odt to PDF OpenDocument Text Document
• convert ppt to PDF Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation
• convert pptx to PDF Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 Presentation
• convert ps to PDF Postscript document
• convert rtf to PDF Rich Text Format
• convert wpd to PDF WordPerfect Document
• convert wps to PDF Microsoft Works Document
• convert xls to PDF Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet
• convert xlsx to PDF Microsoft Excel 2007 Spreadsheet
The thing that I really like about Zamzar is that they are new and coming up with new stuff all the time. It also seems to convert WordPerfect documents into Word documents and Word documents into WordPerfect Documents which can be very handy if you are in a WordPerfect shop.
I'll use Zamzar occasionally. However, I'm not sure I want to ship my corporate or personal information to Zamzar or off into some unknown place in the Interweb, but I sure like it for what it does. I'll stick to MyPDFCreator for the business critical and personal stuff, but Zamzar is a great tool in the toolbox!
2. PDF Etiquette: It's the right thing!
Just because you have PDF doesn't mean you have to use it! When should one use PDF and when should one stick to POT (Plain old Text)
PDF is great when you want to send an uneditable document. Examples include quotations, invoices, legal documents, and ebooks PDF is also outstanding for sending documents for which the presentation layout is crucial, like annual reports.
However, anytime that you email an attachment, it requires extra clicks to open it, and people tend not to do extra clicks. They miss the attachment, or they don't want to open attachments for fear of viruses, or, if they are on an old computer, opening up large PDF or other files can slow down and stop a computer. If you are sending a birthday party initiation or something casual, put it in the email. Don't use any attachment at all.
3. In Software, "Feature Rich" can be a "Bloated Pig"!
Make sure that the software you are using isn't loaded down with options you'll never use. If you buy, for example, Adobe Professional for $449.00 you are getting the most complete feature rich, product available. This is great when you want to "Design forms to collect and aggregate data through e-mail or on the web" for example. But if 100% you are going to do falls in the realm of "create a Word Document or a PowerPoint show and convert it to PDF and back" then you don't need to spend most of the $449.00 and you don't need to have to struggle through the myriad of options that the "Feature Rich" software offers you, and you don't need to go on a three day training course. Buy the bacon, not the whole hog!
Senin, 17 Maret 2008
The Benefits Of CRM Software
CRM software, often called customer relationship management software, is becoming much more popular today than it was in years past. One reason for this is that more people understand what the software is and are deciding to use it. Another reason is that the software is getting better and easier to use. It has more features and benefits than it did in the past, and it is also becoming more user-friendly, which is very important. More people today are using the Internet for their businesses. As this trend continues to grow, there will be a larger need for CRM software, but only if it is found to be useful and compatible with the needs that a business owner or manager has.
There are a lot of benefits to CRM software, as well. Managers can use this software to keep track of their customers and vendors and organize them in many different ways. It is unfortunate that so many people only think of CRM software as being a datebook or contact-recording type of software. It does handle these functions, but it does a great deal more than that, which is something that many business people fail to realize today when they are presented with CRM software. This CRM software can be used to record names and dates. However, it also keeps track of sales, returns, important dates such as birthdays and anniversaries. In addition, it can help to remind salespeople of their prior commitments. This keeps them from missing deadlines, meetings, the returning of phone calls, or anything else that will affect the perception of them that their clients have.
Naturally, not missing deadlines is vital to a good business relationship. In addition, the CRM software can help a client feel as though he or she matters to a business. When a client feels important and valued, repeat business is much more likely than it would otherwise be. This is great for the business, but it is also good for the clients, because everyone in the relationship benefits from the efficiency that CRM software helps to create. Without CRM software, there is a good chance that there will be more problems in the interactions that are needed between clients and businesspeople. This is not to say that CRM software eliminates all chance of problems, but it does reduce them.
Those who use CRM software can also be more organized, because it is easier for them to find what they need when it comes to their customers, their vendors, and anything else that they need to keep close track of. It allows them to return calls more promptly, send out birthday cards, and keep customer information stored in a database where it can easily be retrieved by anyone who has authorized access to it. The main benefit to customers is that almost anyone in the company can help them, at least to some degree, because they can get to their information. This benefit of CRM software is the most important one because of the ability to let customers know that they are important to the company.
The Benefits Of CRM Software
CRM software, often called customer relationship management software, is becoming much more popular today than it was in years past. One reason for this is that more people understand what the software is and are deciding to use it. Another reason is that the software is getting better and easier to use. It has more features and benefits than it did in the past, and it is also becoming more user-friendly, which is very important. More people today are using the Internet for their businesses. As this trend continues to grow, there will be a larger need for CRM software, but only if it is found to be useful and compatible with the needs that a business owner or manager has.
There are a lot of benefits to CRM software, as well. Managers can use this software to keep track of their customers and vendors and organize them in many different ways. It is unfortunate that so many people only think of CRM software as being a datebook or contact-recording type of software. It does handle these functions, but it does a great deal more than that, which is something that many business people fail to realize today when they are presented with CRM software. This CRM software can be used to record names and dates. However, it also keeps track of sales, returns, important dates such as birthdays and anniversaries. In addition, it can help to remind salespeople of their prior commitments. This keeps them from missing deadlines, meetings, the returning of phone calls, or anything else that will affect the perception of them that their clients have.
Naturally, not missing deadlines is vital to a good business relationship. In addition, the CRM software can help a client feel as though he or she matters to a business. When a client feels important and valued, repeat business is much more likely than it would otherwise be. This is great for the business, but it is also good for the clients, because everyone in the relationship benefits from the efficiency that CRM software helps to create. Without CRM software, there is a good chance that there will be more problems in the interactions that are needed between clients and businesspeople. This is not to say that CRM software eliminates all chance of problems, but it does reduce them.
Those who use CRM software can also be more organized, because it is easier for them to find what they need when it comes to their customers, their vendors, and anything else that they need to keep close track of. It allows them to return calls more promptly, send out birthday cards, and keep customer information stored in a database where it can easily be retrieved by anyone who has authorized access to it. The main benefit to customers is that almost anyone in the company can help them, at least to some degree, because they can get to their information. This benefit of CRM software is the most important one because of the ability to let customers know that they are important to the company.
Kamis, 13 Maret 2008
Quantum Leap
In February, D-Wave Systems of Vancouver, British Columbia, launched the Orion, what they call “the world’s first commercially viable quantum computer.” Whereas digital computers confine bits of information to either 1 or 0, quantum computers harness the strange laws of quantum physics to achieve “qubits” of information. Unlike bits, qubits can represent more than one number at a time. Computer scientists realized decades ago that representing multiple values simultaneously could cut certain number-crunching problems from years to minutes. But no one had ever managed to assemble more than a handful of qubits at a time.
D-Wave claims to have solved that problem. It cools circuits made of the rare metal niobium to five-thousandths of a degree above absolute zero. Each of these 16 superconducting circuits serves as a qubit, and the company has plans for expansion. By the end of next year, it hopes to unveil a vastly more powerful 1,000-qubit machine. D-Wave hasn’t yet released data on Orion’s early test runs, but some experts are expressing guarded optimism about the machine that could herald the end of the beginning of quantum computing. “I think that this current piece of work is potentially solid,” says Seth Lloyd, a mechanical engineer at MIT.
Others are more dubious. Qubits must function in a single collective quantum state, so that any action performed on one simultaneously affects all the others. Achieving that kind of coherence isn’t easy. “Understanding their basic fabrication process and talking with D-Wave people, I know that any quantum coherence in their system is very minimal,” says John Martinis, a physicist at the University of California at Santa Barbara. But Geordie Rose, D-Wave’s founder, seems unconcerned. “What we’re going to do is build them and see whether they’re behaving as quantum computers should.”
Low-Cost Laptops Begin Mass Production
Laptop Per Child Program, which hopes to spread sub-$200 computers to schoolchildren in developing countries, has reached a milestone with the start of mass production.
The nonprofit spinoff from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said assembly lines for its "XO" laptops were fired up Tuesday at a Chinese factory run by manufacturer Quanta Computer Inc.
That means children should begin getting the green-and-white computers this month.
• Click here for FOXNews.com's Personal Technology Center.
One Laptop Per Child did not specify how many computers will be made or how many orders it has received from international buyers.
The program's founder, Nicholas Negroponte, said in September that Quanta would build about 250,000 XOs this year, ramping to 1 million a month in 2008.
Negroponte originally expected mass production of several million XOs to have begun by now. But he scaled back that goal after encountering reluctance from potential buyers.
The computers were dreamed up as $100 laptops but for now cost $188, and buyers are expected to let children keep the computers and tinker with them at home.
The initial recipients will be children in Uruguay, Peru and Mongolia. Also, beginning Monday, people in North America will be able to buy one for themselves and donate the other to a child overseas through http://www.laptopgiving.org.
Even with mass production beginning later than expected, One Laptop Per Child can claim success on several fronts.
The small yet rugged XOs require low power and can be recharged by hand, have a screen that can be read in full sunlight and boast a user interface designed specially for children.
And the impending emergence of the XOs awakened other companies to the potential of a low-cost educational market, greatly expanding the choices that international buyers now have.
FOXNews.com is owned and operated by News Corporation, which is a backer of the One Laptop per Child project.
Rabu, 12 Maret 2008
Probabilistic Chips
Krishna Palem is a heretic. In the world of microchips, precision and perfection have always been imperative. Every step of the fabrication process involves testing and retesting and is aimed at ensuring that every chip calculates the exact answer every time. But Palem, a professor of computing at Rice University, believes that a little error can be a good thing.
Palem has developed a way for chips to use significantly less power in exchange for a small loss of precision. His concept carries the daunting moniker "probabilistic complementary metal-oxide semiconductor technology"--PCMOS for short. Palem's premise is that for many applications--in particular those like audio or video processing, where the final result isn't a number--maximum precision is unnecessary. Instead, chips could be designed to produce the correct answer sometimes, but only come close the rest of the time. Because the errors would be small, so would their effects: in essence, Palem believes that in computing, close enough is often good enough.
Every calculation done by a microchip depends on its transistors' registering either a 1 or a 0 as electrons flow through them in response to an applied voltage. But electrons move constantly, producing electrical "noise." In order to overcome noise and ensure that their transistors register the correct values, most chips run at a relatively high voltage. Palem's idea is to lower the operating voltage of parts of a chip--specifically, the logic circuits that calculate the least significant bits, such as the 3 in the number 21,693. The resulting decrease in signal-to-noise ratio means those circuits would occasionally arrive at the wrong answer, but engineers can calculate the probability of getting the right answer for any specific voltage. "Relaxing the probability of correctness even a little bit can produce significant savings in energy," Palem says.
Within a few years, chips using such designs could boost battery life in mobile devices such as music players and cell phones. But in a decade or so, Palem's ideas could have a much larger impact. By then, silicon transistors will be so small that engineers won't be able to precisely control their behavior: the transistors will be inherently probabilistic. Palem's techniques could then become important to the continuation of Moore's Law, the exponential increase in transistor density--and thus in computing power--that has persisted for four decades.
When Palem began working on the idea around 2002, skepticism about the principles behind PCMOS was "pretty universal," he says. That changed in 2006. He and his students simulated a PCMOS circuit that would be part of a chip for processing video, such as streaming video in a cell phone, and compared it with the performance of existing chips. They presented the work at a technical conference, and in a show of hands, much of the audience couldn't discern any difference in picture quality.
Try Before Your Buy - Computer Laptop Rental Option
Even Grandmothers Can Do It!
There may still be a few of you out there who are apprehensive of purchasing a laptop computer either because of cost or lack of knowledge. But with today's laptop computer being more affordable and the technology making them easier to use, you need not be. In just a minimal amount of time, with the all the new user-friendly prompts, one could become another computer geek. There is even a computer laptop rental option for those who don't want to spend the money until they have tried to navigate around a computer on their own. Being a grandmother, with my children and grandchildren living and traveling to various parts of the world, I found it necessary to overcome my fear.
The hardest part of my introduction to the laptop computer was to learn how to hook up and manipulate an external mouse, punch a few buttons on the keyboard, and basically, to just turn the machine on. It's hard for some folks to believe, but the computers of this generation almost run themselves! Read on to discover for yourself just how little computer knowledge most of these machines actually require.
Even being completely new to the computer I was able to use it without even knowing what the mouse was for or how to use it. I went the computer laptop rental route prior to the purchase a computer. I found one that was set up to operate on voice command. Voice command software allows users to tell a computer what to do and the computer responds by fulfilling the user's commands. Although it's pretty new and still under development, voice directed technology has already infiltrated consumer service related systems.
Have you ever paid a bill by phone? Instead of speaking to a human being, chances are that you spoke to a computer that not only responded to what you said and followed the commands that you gave it, it also asked you for more information such as your full name or credit card number. In this case, a person (such as myself) operated a computer without even knowing it!
Does the computer novice still need more incentive to sit down with a laptop computer without knowing how to use one? Imagine a computer that is set up to operate on touch command. Actually, one does not have to imagine, it is already available and has been for several years. Touch command software allows users to literally touch objects on a monitor with their finger to tell the computer what to do. Known as "kiosks," these programs are already in use world wide at ATM machines, employment centers, and in health monitoring systems. Most people have used the ones at department stores when checking out wedding or baby gift registries. Neither a mouse or a keyboard is required. A computer user only needs to touch various boxes on a screen to input information onto the computer. The programming behind such technology is extensive and advanced, but to the end user, it makes the use of a laptop computer less intimidating and just plain easy. With a little research you may find a computer laptop rental available with this technology.
These illustrations are just a couple of example of how far computer technology has grown, and how far we have pushed "user-friendliness" to its limit. So much of today's software is designed to accommodate the new laptop computer user. Anyone can get connected to the Internet wirelessly, send an email message, and download an MP3 file within the first few hours of purchasing a personal PC or possibly using a computer laptop rental. Don't be afraid to take the plunge, even a grandmother like me is able to go online, access her e-mail and print photos!
Find the latest information on laptops visit Cheapest Laptop as well as Computer Laptop Rental.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mary_Swanson
How To Make Your Computer Faster
It's kind of a law of nature: your computer slows down over time even though nothing seems to have changed.
So how to make your computer faster again without buying a new machine?
Firstly, check how much memory your machine has. Windows always has liked to use lots of memory and modern operating systems like XP and Vista are especially greedy. If your machine has less than 2Gb of RAM memory, it's time to treat it and you to more.
Upgrading your memory to this level will make near enough everything on your computer run faster. If Windows doesn't have enough memory to work with, it will use space on your hard disk as an alternative. But hard disks are lots, lots slower than regular memory.
A memory upgrade is simple enough to do yourself - there are plenty of tutorials online to show you how - or your local computer store will be happy to help you for a small fee. The whole operation should be over quickly - it will probably take you longer to unscrew the screws on the case than it will to upgrade the RAM.
If it's only print jobs that are running slow, do the same treatment for your printer if it's possible. Color lasers especially will appreciate any extra memory you give them and will allow Windows to pass them across more of the printing job, freeing up your machine for other tasks.
If that still doesn't do enough to make your computer faster, there are other things you can try as well.
Find out more ways to make your computer faster including simple software adjustments that should speed up your computer.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Trevor_Johnson
5 Easy Tips To Keep Your Computer Running Smooth And Safe
There are various ways to streamline computer performance and functionality. I will show you five very helpful methods that I have learned in the field to help keep your computer running great. Some are free but there are some which will require a small investment which is well worth the cost. I have provided some links at the bottom of this article to help you decide what tools to invest in. This article is for Windows 2000/XP users only.
1. Cleanup your startup menu- This is perhaps the fastest way to improve overall performance and startup speed. To do this, go to the run command line in the start menu and type in msconfig. Please ONLY use the startup tab at the top!! Go through the list of startup programs and disable messengers, updaters, and applications that are not used at all times ie. (quick time task, winzip, Ituneshelper). The rule of thumb here is disable what you know you don't need and don't touch anything you do not understand or recognize, they are most likely drivers and system files.
2. Run a disk defragment- If you notice that your applications are taking a long time to load or are not running as smooth as your used to run a disk defragment. This will basically organize your hard drive to run more efficiently. To run, go to your start menu, program files, accessories, system tools, Disk Defragmenter. Click the analyze button to see if you need to defragment and if you do, click the defragment button. Please note, while running this utility you should not make any system changes including saving and deleting files, installing and/or uninstalling programs or moving files on your hard drive. It is best to just start it and let it run. It can take up to 5 hours depending on the size of the drive and the amount of fragmentation in the volume. This is easiest to start before you go to bed.
3. Use anti-virus- I can't stress this enough, if you are on the internet you need anti-virus. Not only will it protect you from attacks but it will actively scan any files you open and will stop most viruses BEFORE they infect you computer. You will have to purchase this for your computer and I have provided some helpful links to good anti-virus programs. These should be set to be running at all times through the settings of the anti-virus program and updated weekly if not daily.
4. Run spy-bot scans regularly- Spy bots are not the same as viruses. A virus is aimed to infect and deter your computer from running correctly. Spy bots can steal your information, passwords, logins, and are typically malicious in intent. I consider these more dangerous than viruses because they can literally steal your identity without you knowing it and open the door to automatically download viruses to your computer. I have also provided links for effective spy bot removal tools. These should be run twice a month.
5. Registry Cleaners- A little known tool for making a huge performance increase to your computer is running a registry cleaner regularly. Basically what these do is remove any unnecessary piece of your registry left behind from either updating your software, removing a program or deleting program directories. By doing this it will help your computer find the correct paths it needs to run the commands given to it and help avoid "confusion" by removing "broken pieces" in the registry.
Branden DiLorenzo
