computer configurations.

Best Free File Archivers(Compressor/Extractor)

2012-03-22T07:13:00.005-07:00

The worlds Best open source(Free) Archivers for Windows(XP,Vists,7,8) are:

1. 7Zip (Click to download)
7Zip supports files with extensions .7z, XZ, BZIP2, GZIP, TAR, ZIP, WIM, ARJ, CAB, CHM, CPIO, CramFS, DEB, DMG, FAT, HFS, ISO, LZH, LZMA, MBR, MSI, NSIS, NTFS, RAR, RPM, SquashFS, UDF, VHD, WIM, XAR, Z.

2. KGB Archiver (Click to download)
By using This tool, We can compress a file of 100 MB to 10 MB file with only extension .KGB,
If we mail the compressed ex.KGB file to receiver(friends) they should also installed this tool to extract to respective file format.

Open any Blocked Websites using:-

2011-10-22T10:07:00.000-07:00

The below given links/URLs helps you to hide your current IP address.so that any blocked websites will be opened from other IP address.These links helps to open even any blocked URLs/ports done through Firewalls(Cisco/fortigaurd/fortigate...).

http://www.hidemyass.com/

http://www.youhide.com/

The other solution for only Firefox browser users is:-

Firefox->add-ons->search the " PhZilla ".Install this addon.then restart Firefox.Then it will be present in URL locator of firefox browser.

Convert your Windows 7-PC to WIFI Router.

2011-10-21T21:27:00.000-07:00

We can connect a Wifi enabled PC with any Wifi embedded systems(smartphone,Ipad,Iphone,PDA...).
The technology we use to achieve is Wifi-Hotspot.

The Free software called (Virtual Wifi Router) allows us to make a PC as Wifi router to smartphones(PC's broadband will be shared to mobiles).

Another way:We can use mobile's broadband through PC via wireless(Wifi-Hotspot.) by using same software.

The Virtual Wifi Router can be downloaded HERE.

Configurations:

1>download and install into ur Windows-7 PC.
2>You required to create->WiFi hot spot name which you wish,to be detected by ur mobiles.

3> As shown above, when u execute this software you get this type of window,In that fill hot spot name,password...

4>click on setup Hotspot, and then click START.

Now your PC turned to Wifi router...

The next step to configure your smartphone:-
Go to settings->wireless & networks->Tethering & portable hotspot->Portable Wifi hotspot.
Now it asks forNew password:give ur password ,Thats it.
Then sync both PC and Mobile With your passwords.

Start using it
:-)

Secure your confidential files through your own password.

2011-10-08T02:25:00.000-07:00

As I said it's basically a matter of Cryptography(securing files through some security Algorithms).
The software I'm talking about is LAZAR CRYPTER. Its an open source application which runs on all Windows(32 bit) platforms.
LAZAR CRYPTER is a GUI based, Faster Encryption and Decryption, very light weight process application.

This application runs on 2 steps according to user requirements:-
1>Encryption:-encrypts your files into .lcr files, so that nobody can access your files without your password.

2>Decryption:-If u need to use/execute any encrypted file you can Decrypt it and use it.
WORKING:-
When you install this application.you should use it by right click on any file that u wants to be secured.
This below fig shows this:-

As you can see the option Encrypt in sub menu of lazar crypter.you just have to select Encrypt, then a dialog box appears like this:-

Note: At a time u can encrypt any number of files by selecting all files and right click on any file...
you can give any password you want(don't forget this password: if u do,reinstall this application.)
After u give passwoed in both fields.click start.Then u can see your file(skype.exe) is converted into .lcr file as(skype.lcr).
If u want to use this file:-
double(left button) click your file u want to use it.then a dialog box shown below appears and asks for password. By giving password if u select start you got your file.
OR
if u want to recover your file from lazar crypter permanently, use below steps:-
you should right click on your file and select lazar crypter->Decrypt. then again u get another dialog box like:-

Here also u should give the same password as u given before.That's it, your original file(skype.exe) is recovered.

DOWNLOAD this app here:

http://www.softpedia.com/dyn-postdownload.php?p=187316&t=4&i=1

If you forgot your Windows login Password.Then recover it by getting a hidden Administrator account.

2011-10-03T09:26:00.000-07:00

Note: This will require editing the registry which is risky. Proceed only if you know what you are doing and at your own risk.

Enabling the Hidden Administrator Account

Now prepare your Windows 7/Vista DVD and restart the computer with the DVD in the DVD Drive—you’ll want to boot from the DVD so you may need to change the boot order in the BIOS. Depending on your system you will need to press Del, F2, or F12.

After you’ve successfully booted from the DVD you’ll be presented with the language setting of the Windows setup. Click next.

In the next screen click “Repair your computer” from the bottom left corner of the window. Now the setup will search for Windows installations then display them, choose the Windows(32/64 bit) you want and click next. The setup may try to search for problems and may ask you if you want to restore your computer, just click no. Finally you’ll arrive at the System Recovery Options window that looks like this:

Click Command Prompt. This will open up a command prompt window where you’ll have to type “regedit” and press enter. From this point on you have to be extra careful as one mistake might ruin your Windows and render it unusable. In the left side of the Registry Editor click “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE” then in File menu click “Load Hive”.

In the file name field type the following and hit enter.

%windir%\system32\config\SAM

The hive needs a name, give it a name and remember it. For the purpose of this article we will name it “test” so replace it with the name you chose for the next steps. What you just did is load the SAM file into the Registry Editor so we can edit it. The SAM file is the Security Accounts Manager and contains encrypted information about the account names and passwords. Now that it’s loaded into the registry, navigate to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\test\SAM\Domains\Account\Users”. Click on “000001F4” and from the right side pane double-click the “F” entry.

A new window will open allowing you to edit the “F” entry. The line that starts with “0038” is what you want to edit. The value next to “0038” is “11”, replace it with “10”. Be careful not to change anything else. Just double click the “11” and type “10” then hit the OK button. “11” is for disabled and “10” for enabled.

Back in the Registry Editor, from the left side click on the name you gave to the hive you loaded earlier and click “Unload Hive” from the File menu, restart the computer and you are done. The Administrator account is now enabled.

Access many computers using a single MOUSE+KEYBOARD.how?

2011-10-01T02:45:00.000-07:00

If you’ve got multiple computers conected(LAN) at your desk, you probably know that it’s a pain to use more than one keyboard and mouse. Here’s how to use a single keyboard and mouse on more than one PC using a tool from Microsoft Named (Mouse Without Borders).

To download this application (click here)

You can also get features like:- dragging files from one PC to another.

CONFIGURATION:

Using Mouse Without Borders

Once you’ve downloaded and installed the application, there’s a quick wizard that helps you setup the application for use on your network. On the first PC, you’ll want to click No to do the initial setup.

This will generate a security code that you can use on the next PC to connect to the first one as shown below.

Over on the second PC, you should enter the code that you generated on the first PC.

Also enter the computer name in the empty boxes as shown below.

After enterd click on LINK.Thats it you done...click NEXT as in below.

Now click Apply in the main dialog and minimize it.
At the tray u see this app's icon.right click on it and choose which computer to use this mouse n keyboard.
ENJOY.

Benchmark your computer

2011-09-28T09:00:00.000-07:00

Guys you can use 'benchmark software' to assess your computers performance including Cpu, Gpu, Ram, DVD, Motherboard and even Windows OS etc...

Download and Install this application::: Performancetest 7.0.

URL::: http://www.passmark.com/download/pt_download.htm

A real time Remote viewer(https://join.me) to access others PC from your PC.

2011-09-18T04:05:00.000-07:00

Open your browser by giving this url::: https://join.me
At a time 2 people should be in this domain.one can click share as present in below fig.

after clicking share you will get dialg box(click on save file and install it ). after u installed u will get a dock above your monitor.u can see(join.me/972-503-098 as belows fig), give this number to other one wants to remotely access ur PC, that other person will enter this given number to join's block and hit enter thats it.
now other user is accessing ur PC from his/her PC.

you can also use instant messaging as shown below...

How to Boot Linux OS from USB(pendrive).

2011-09-16T07:08:00.000-07:00

The application named Live usb creator helps us to extract the .ISO files into Pendrives and we can Boot from USB during System Booting time.(Older systems cant boot from USB due to older ROM-firmware.)
We can burn Fedora,ubuntu etc... OS into USB if we have their .iso files.
By using this app no need of CD/DVDs. U can format your USB after installing your preferred OS.

The visual of this app looks like this:-

It is very userfriendly s/w...

URL to download this application:-
http://www.softpedia.com/dyn-postdownload.php?p=123633&t=0&i=1

Double click to safely remove USB devices.

2011-09-12T09:43:00.000-07:00

Your computer will take more time while reading the data from on external device and the writing speed for the USB drives will also be reduced. So to provide a better interface for ejecting the drives, we will review a tool with the help of which you will all the drives enlisted under an application window. If you want to eject any of the drives then you will just have to double click the icon in the window. We have mentioned the download link of this tool below, you will get the ZIP file for this tool, once you extract the files and then run the exe file, then it will open the application window and you will see all the drives icon in the window.
You can eject any of then safely by either double clicking any of the icon, or simply selecting them and then pressing enter. This tool does not provide any other option for the drive, it will also detect your MP3 players if they have been attached and more over it also scan your mobile phones attached to the computer. This tool will offer you a simple interface to remove the drives safely and quickly. You can see the screenshot of the same mentioned at the top of the post. The size of this tool is around 500 KB and it has been used on Windows 7 32-bit Ultimate edition, so please let us know if you face any problem while using it.

To download this app:

http://quick.mixnmojo.com/files/USBDiskEjector1.1.2.zip

To keep all your data(OS+data) into logical partition and can reinstall same OS if ur OS corrupts.

2011-09-12T09:35:00.000-07:00

FileStream Secure Disk is the perfect solution for protecting sensitive information from theft and other attacks. It makes a part or all of your hard disk, USB flash drive, or removable drive, into a secure vault, which can be accessed like any drive except it requires login User ID and passwords to open.
All your private information stored on the Secure Disk is protected by Strong Encryption with options of 256-bit or 448-bit encryption. You can create as many vaults of any size as you like to compartmentalize data with the ability to move files from one vault to another.

To download this S/W:

http://www.pgcc.com/downloads/fsdtrial.exe

How to get worked Task Manager if affected...

2011-09-12T09:18:00.000-07:00

To make manual inspection and removal more difficult, malware often disables access to Task Manager. Fortunately, a few quick Registry edits are usually all that are needed to regain control.

    Click Start
    Click Run
    Type REGEDIT
    Click OK The Registry Editor will now open
    Browse to the following key:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\system
    In the right pane, look for the value: DisableTaskMgr
    Right click DisableTaskMgr and select Delete. (When prompted with "Are you sure you want to         delete this value", select Yes.
    Close the Registry by choosing File | Exit
    You should now be able to access Task Manager. If not, reboot into Safe Mode and repeat the steps outlined above.

How to gain access to your disabled registery editor.

2011-09-12T09:08:00.000-07:00

Some malware will disable access to the Registry editor. To prevent access to the Registry, malware generally does one of the following:

Makes changes to the shell open command;
Changes system policies (i.e. group policy editor);
Drops a bogus regedit.com file.

Depending on the method used, this might result in one of the following symptoms:

The registry appears to open but then quickly closes, or
You receive the error: "Registry editing has been disabled by your administrator"

To regain access to the Registry, try the following:

Difficulty: Average

Time Required: Variable; 5 minutes to an hour

Here's How:

Note: the following tips assume a decent level of knowledge and experience with the Windows System Registry. If you are inexperienced with using the Windows System Registry or you need a refresher, consult the Windows System Registry Tutorial before continuing.
First, make sure you have enabled "View Hidden Files and Folders".
Download Symantec's free UnHookExec.inf. Also see: General Description of UnHookExec | Changes Made by UnhookExec
Boot into Safe Mode and attempt to access regedit from there.
If you still cannot access the Registry Editor, right click the downloaded UnHookExec.inf and select Install. This free tool will correct unwanted modifications to the shell open command and it will correct changes to system policy which may be preventing access to the Registry editor. This tool runs silently - no messages will appear. After running, attempt to access the Registry.
If the registry appears to open but then quickly closes, it is likely that the malware has added a bogus regedit.com file to the system. The system will try to load regedit.com first, instead of regedit.exe. To resolve, try each of the following steps in order until resolution:
Search for and rename the bogus regedit.com file and see if the valid regedit.exe will now open.
You can also copy the legitimate regedit.exe to another folder and try to run it from the new location.
If none of these steps works, boot from a BART PE Recovery CD and open the Registry from there.
Once you've regained access to the Windows System Registry, you will need to identify and remove the malware that is preventing access. See AutoStart Entry Points for a list of common load points in the Windows System Registry.

HOW TO REMOVE AUTORUN.INF FILES...

2011-09-12T08:32:00.000-07:00

Autorun.inf files are self executable files which runs by themselves by double clicking any drives(c:/ or d:/ etc). these are harmful files for Windows OS. Highly recommendable to kill these files so that your PC is safe...These autoruns can contains malwares,virus,worms etc.even escapes from some of antivirus programs.
Well here is a solution to kill these files explicitly by using: autorun eater v 2.5

You can download this application from:

http://www.softpedia.com/dyn-postdownload.php?p=85585&t=4&i=1

Ten ways to speedup the performance of highend storage over Fcoe and iSCSI.

2011-08-21T09:22:00.000-07:00

The performance og storage are not all equally effective in every environment.It depends on variety of products and technologies do have great potential from optimizing server-side access to improving the storage-area network (SAN).
one of the most common causes of slow storage performance is the misconfiguration or actual failure of one or more of these components.the first place to look for better performance is in the existing storage I/O stack.
We should be especially vigilant during installation, migration or removal of data center equipment.

Some of acceptable reasons to improve QOS are:-

1. Updating firmware and drivers

Manufacturers are constantly fixing bugs, and new capabilities can sneak in with software updates. It's wise to stay on top of driver and firmware updates for all components in the storage network, with scheduled and proactive testing, tuning and upgrading. Microsoft Corp. and VMware Inc. have been actively adding new performance features to the storage stacks in Windows and vSphere,SMB 2.0 and 2.1, for example, dramatically accelerated Windows file sharing, especially over slower networks. Updates to NTFS and VMFS have also routinely improved performance and scalability.
But you should note that not all updates are worth the time and effort, and some can be downright perilous. Make sure your configuration is supported by all vendors involved and has been thoroughly tested, and never use beta code in production.

2. Question the queries with DBA

Most of our tips focus on locating and eliminating bottlenecks in the storage stack, but one should also consider reducing the I/O load before it's created. Working with database administrators (DBAs) to tune their queries for efficiency and performance.since a reduced I/O workload benefits everyone and every application.

3. Break down backup bottlenecks
Traditional backup applications are extremely taxing on storage resources, dumping massive volumes of data according to a daily and weekly schedule. Improving the performance of backups so they can fit within their assigned "window" has become a priority for data protection pros, but the techniques employed can help improve overall data storage performance as well.
One effective method to reduce the backup time is by using continuous data protection(CDP) technology. Built into many products intended for virtual servers, CDP continually copies data from a server rather than collecting it in a single.This is especially valuable in virtual machine (VM) environments because the nightly backup "kick off" across multiple guests can crush storage responsiveness, from the bus to the host bus adapter (HBA) or network interface card (NIC) to the array.

4. Offload virtual machine I/O with VAAI
The release of VMware vSphere 4.1 included many new features, but one of the most important was the vStorage API for Array Integration (VAAI). This new interface allows VMware ESX 3.0(IBM server) to coordinate certain I/O tasks with supported Fibre Channel (FC) or iSCSI storage systems,integrating the hypervisor and array to work more closely and effectively together.

VAAI includes three primitives/integration points:

->Unused storage can be released for thin provisioning using the efficient "write_same" SCSI command, increasing capacity utilization and reducing I/O overhead.
->Snapshot and mirroring operations can be offloaded to the storage array, greatly reducing the network, hypervisor and operating system I/O workload.
->Access locking can take place at a level more granular than the whole LUN, reducing contention and wait time for virtual machines.

5. Balance virtual machine I/O with SIOC

VMware vSphere Storage I/O Control (SIOC) is a "quality of service(QOS)" mechanism that makes I/O performance more predictable. SIOC monitors the response latency of VMFS.SIOC reduces the impact of "noisy neighbors" on production virtual machines, improving their responsiveness.

6. Streamline the server side
Today's multicore servers have CPU power to spare, but NICs and HBAs have traditionally been locked to a single processor core. Receive-side scaling (RSS) allows these interface cards to distribute processing across multiple cores, accelerating performance.
Hypervisors face another task when it comes to sorting I/O and directing it to the correct virtual machine guest, and this is where Intel Corp.'s virtual machine device queues (VMDq) technology steps in. VMDq allows the Ethernet adapter to communicate with hypervisors like Microsoft Hyper-V and VMware ESX, grouping packets according to the guest virtual machine they're destined(required) for.

7. Get active multipathing
Basic multipathing software merely provides for failover, bringing up an alternative path in the event of a loss of connectivity. So-called "dual-active" configurations assign different workloads to each link, improving utilization but restricting each connection to a single path. Some storage arrays support trunking multiple connections together or a full active-active configuration.
Modern multipathing frameworks like Microsoft MPIO, Symantec Dynamic Multi Path (DMP) and VMware PSA use storage array-specific plug-ins to enable this sort of active multipathing.

8. Deploy 8 Gbps Fibre Channel

Upgrading to 8 Gbps FC is a simple way to accelerate storage I/O, and affordable: today, 8 Gbps FC switches and HBAs are widely available and priced less.As SANs are expanded and new servers and storage arrays are purchased, buying 8 Gbps FC gear instead of 4 Gbps is a no-brainer; and 16 Gbps FC equipment is on the way.

Remember that throughput isn't the only metric of data storage performance;experienced in terms of IOPS or response time.latency is the speed at which individual I/O requests are processed and has become critical in virtualized server environments. Stacking multiple virtual servers together behind a single I/O interface requires quick processing of packets, not just the ability to stream large amounts of sequential data.

9. Employing 10 Gbps Ethernet(10 GBE)

Fibre Channel isn't alone in cranking up its speed. Ethernet performance has recently jumped by a factor of 10, with 10 Gbps Ethernet (10 GbE) becoming increasingly common and affordable, but 10 GbE storage array availability lags somewhat behind NICs and switches. Environments using iSCSI or NAS protocols like SMB and NFS can experience massive performance improvements by moving to 10 Gbps Ethernet,
An alternative to end-to-end 10 GbE is trunking or bonding 1 Gbps Ethernet links using the link aggregation control protocol (LACP). This helps address the "Goldilocks problem" where Gigabit Ethernet is too slow but 10 Gbps Ethernet isn't yet attainable.
Fibre Channel over Ethernet(FCoE) brings together the Fibre Channel and Ethernet worlds and promises better performance and greater flexibility. Although one would assume that the 10 Gbps Ethernet links used by FCoE would be 20% faster than 8 Gbps FC, the difference in throughput is an impressive 50%,FCoE also promises reduced I/O latency, though this is mitigated when a bridge is used to a traditional Fibre Channel SAN or storage array. In the long term, FCoE will improve performance.

10. Add high speed cache

Caches are appearing throughout the I/O chain, promising improved responsiveness by storing frequently requested information for later use. This is hardly a new technique, but interest has intensified with the advent of affordable NAND flash memory capacity.
There are essentially three types of cache offered today:
->Host-side caches place NVRAM or NAND flash in the server, often on a high-performance PCI Express card. These keep I/O off the network but are only useful on a server-by-server basis.
->Caching appliances sit in the network, reducing the load on the storage array. These serve multiple hosts but introduce concerns about availability and data consistency in the event of an outage.
->Storage array-based caches and tiered storage solutions. including NetApp's Flash Cache cards. EMC's Fully Automated Storage Tiering (FAST) and Hitachi Data Systems Dynamic Tiering (DT).

iSCSI SAN vs FC SAN.

2011-08-21T07:36:00.000-07:00

Both iSCSI and Fibre Channel connect host and storage using the standard SCSI command set and therefore provide block-level access to data.

*Fibre Channel was ratified as an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard in 1994. It is now a mature technology that provides a high-performance,high-speed switched storage network using dedicated host, switch and storage hardware. Fibre Channel SANs were introduced to improve connectivity between storage and hosts, consolidate storage systems and improve performance.

*iSCSI was ratified in 2003 by the Internet Engineering Taskforce (IETF), is a low cost IP-based protocol for connecting storage and hosts using existing or dedicated IP networks. iSCSI was developed to address the need for a more cost-effective alternative to Fibre Channel; IP networking technology is inherently cheaper than Fibre Channel.

SAN requirements:-

Availability:
It is critical that the SAN be available at all times,no downtime for maintenance,no equipment failure.
Performance:
The data throughput by the host is an important factor.Because components are dependable one another.
Applicability:
For production of data and for development environment.

Cost of equipment

Fibre Channel:
FC equipment is considerably more expensive than iSCSI. Host bus adapters(HBAs) can cost approximately $500 to $1,000 each. Fibre Channel switches cost around $1,000 per port connection.
iSCSI:
iSCSI can use standard Ethernet network adaptors and IP switches of much lower cost.

Cost of management

Fibre Channel:
FC SANs cost more to administer than iSCSI SANs. There is a higher cost for management software; skilled FC SAN professionals are expensive to recruit and train.
iSCSI:
iSCSI uses standard networking technology and can be implemented by IT professionals within an organization who are already familiar with IP protocols.

Reliability

Fibre Channel:
FC has a proven record in reliability.FC switches are engineered for high availability (director-class switches offer 99.999% availability) and vendors perform extensive testing to provide certification of HBA, switch and storage array products. In addition, Fibre Channel drivers and support for additional recovery and reliability features such as multipathing is well established.
iSCSI:
iSCSI can be implemented across standard network technology and the vendor certification process is not as rigorous; it is therefore less reliable than Fibre Channel when considered for critical applications.

Platform support

Fibre Channel:
FC is supported across a wide range of operating systems(Windows,macintosh,linux) and applications.
iSCSI:
iSCSI currently has narrower support by platform.only Sun Solaris 10 onward supports iSCSI natively.

General guidelines to make decision according to cost,avail,acceptable,training,high

->choosing Fibre Channel over iSCSI for SANs where availability, performance and reliability are accectable.
For example,A SAN supporting a mission-critical transaction processing system(TPS) is well suited to Fibre Channel.

->choosing iSCSI where acceptable,compromise and tradeoffs can be made/required to meet the customers needs. For example,An iSCSI SAN may be suited to the customer who may not be willing to invest in acquiring or training staff to support Fibre Channel.

Network-attached storage

2011-07-28T02:13:00.000-07:00

Network-attached storage (NAS) is file-level computer data storage connected to a computer network providing data access to heterogeneous clients.A network-attached storage device is a server that is dedicated to nothing more than file sharing.But it not acts as common servers(enabling email,authentication or file management.)
(or)
Network-attached storage (NAS) is hard disk storage that is set up with its own network address rather than being attached to the department computer. By removing storage access and its management from the department server, both application programming and files can be served faster because they are not competing for the same processor resources.The network-attached storage device is attached to a local area network(Ethernet network) and assigned an IP address.

NAS units are connected over computer networks that only provides file storage and file transfer services and not used for business purposes.these systems will not have keyboard,monitor,mouse.NAS device does not need to be located within the server but can exist anywhere in a LAN and can be made up of multiple networked NAS devices.

These units are just used for data backups,fault tolerant,snapshots, management utilities, tiering services, mirroring,end to end check summing due,redundant performance(parallel computing).

It is a computer appliance used for storing and serving files – rather than simply as personal computers.

NAS systems are networked appliances which contain one or more hard drives, often arranged into logical,RAID arrays,also with software for configuring and mapping file locations to the network-attached device.Network-attached storage removes the responsibility of file serving from other servers on the network. They typically provide access to files using network file sharing protocols such as NFS(normally used in UNIX), SMB/CIFS(Server Message Block/Common Internet File System)normally used with MS Windows systems, or AFP(used with Apple Macintosh computers) and Sun Microsystems' Network File System.

As we are not using these systems for our daily business usability.we not require high end operating systems.so almost all uses open source NAS OS or free BSD based OS.

The main advantage is NAS will works with multiple protocols and with over all operating systems.

Applications:

*Faster data access, easier administration, and simple configuration.
*NAS can enable simpler and low cost systems such as load-balancing and fault-tolerant and web server systems.
*Highly used in consumer markets where there is a large amount of multi-media data to be stored and retrieved.
*They have smaller form factorsrather than rackmounted package.
*They can run from a virtual machine, Live CD, bootable USB flash drive (Live USB), or from one of the mounted hard drives. They run Samba (an SMB daemon), NFS daemon, and FTP daemons which are freely available for those operating systems.
*IT allows Open source NAS-oriented distributions of Linux and FreeBSD,FreeNAS, CryptoNAS, NASLite, Gluster, Openfiler and Ubuntu-based TurnKey File Server^. These are designed to be easy to setup and are configured using a web browser.
*For centralized Exchange deployments supporting small user populations (<=500 users), NAS can be a efficient alternative to DAS or SAN-based storage.

Disadvantages:

*little more costlier than USB devices,Firewire devices,Tape...
*Unsuitable for using as Exchange server.(Implementing a disk protocol over IP and a dedicated LAN is relatively effective for a file server, but SCSI over IP can’t deliver the high I/Os per second that Exchange Server demands when supporting large user loads. Because disk I/O is the key to Exchange Server performance).

SAN(Storage Area Network).

2011-07-25T04:48:00.000-07:00

Storage area network (SAN,a high-speed network) is a dedicated storage network that provides access to consolidated, block level storage. SANs primarily used to make storage devices (disk arrays,tapes,optical jukeboxes) accessible to servers so that the devices appear as locally attached to the operating system.

SANs ensure that duplicate copies of the data are contained in different storage arrays or even at different data warehouse locations to allow for disaster recovery.

A SAN typically has its own network of storage devices that are generally not accessible through the regular network by regular devices. The cost and complexity of SANs dropped in the early 2000s, allowing wider adoption across both enterprise and small to medium sized business environments.

File systems built on top of SANs do provide data abstraction known as SANFS(SAN filesystem) or shared disk file.

#Uses:
of a SAN include provision of transactionally accessed data that require high-speed block-level access to the hard drives such as email servers, databases, and high usage file servers.

#Benefits:
*Sharing storage usually simplifies storage administration and adds flexibility(cables and storage devices do not have to be physically moved to shift storage from one server to another).
*Ability to allow servers to boot from the SAN itself.
*Enables more effective disaster recovery processes.
*Since IP WANs are often the least costly method of long-distance transport, the Fibre Channel over IP (FCIP) and iSCSI protocols have been developed to allow SAN extension over IP networks.

#SANs in media and entertainment:
Video editing workgroups require very high data transfer rates
sometimes referred to as Quality of Service (QoS), is especially important in video workgroups as it ensures fair and prioritized bandwidth usage across the network.

SAN can be implemented on two types of technologies,they are:
1)iSCSI SAN.
2)Fibre Channel SAN using(FCoE:fibre channel over ethernet).

overviews:

1)iSCSI SAN(Internet Small Computer System Interface):gives 10 Gbps bandwidth.

*iSCSI is an Internet Protocol (IP)-based storage networking standard for linking data storage facilities, developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). By carrying SCSI commands over IP networks, iSCSI is used to facilitate data transfers over intranets and to manage storage over long distances. The iSCSI protocol is among the key technologies expected to help bring about rapid development of the storage area network (SAN) market, by increasing the capabilities and performance of storage data transmission. Because of the ubiquity of IP networks, iSCSI can be used to transmit data over local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), or the Internet and can enable location-independent data storage and retrieval.

*How iSCSI Works:
When an end user/application sends a request, the operating system generates the appropriate SCSI commands and data request,
then go through encryption procedures. A packet header is added to IP packets are transmitted over an Ethernet connection. When a packet is received, it is decrypted and disassembled, separating the SCSI commands and request. The SCSI commands are sent on to the SCSI controller, and from there to the SCSI storage device. Because iSCSI is bi-directional, the protocol can also be used to return data in response to the original request.

*iSCSI is a great option for environments that need networked, block-level shared storage to support applications such as databases [Oracle and SQL], Exchange or deployment of server-based file sharing systems.

*It continues to find new market and deployment opportunities co-existing with other tiered storage networking technologies, including shared SAS, Fibre Channel(FCIP) and Fibre Channel over Ethernet(FCoE).

*iSCSI storage was so simple, so inexpensive and so easy to use.

*iSCSI protocol fits best with VMware.

2)Fibre channel SAN(1988):gives 8 Gbps bandwidth.

*FC SAN is a gigabit-speed network technology primarily used for storage networking.Fibre Channel is standardized in the T11 Technical Committee of the InterNational Committee for IT Standards (INCITS), an ANSI–accredited standards committee. Fibre Channel was primarily used in the supercomputer field, but now, has become the standard connection type for storage area networks (SAN) in enterprise storage.Fibre Channel signaling can run on both twisted pair copper wire and fiber-optic cables.

*Fibre Channel Protocol (FCP) is a transport protocol (similar to TCP/IP networks) which predominantly transports SCSI commands over Fibre Channel networks.

*HIPPI (HIgh Performance Parallel Interface) used a massive 50-pair cable with bulky connectors, and had limited cable lengths.ths was replaced by Fibre Channel, started to compete for the mass storage market its primary competitor was IBM's proprietary Serial Storage Architecture (SSA) interface.Fibre Channel was primarily concerned with simplifying the connections and increasing distances, as opposed to increasing speeds. Later, designers added the goals of connecting SCSI disk storage, providing higher speeds and far greater numbers of connected devices.

*Fiber Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) is an encapsulation of Fiber Channel frames over Ethernet networks. This allows Fiber Channel to use 10 Gigabit Ethernet networks (or higher speeds) while preserving the Fiber Channel protocol.The FCoE protocol specification replaces the FC0 and FC1 layers of the Fiber Channel stack with Ethernet. By retaining the native Fiber Channel constructs, FCoE was meant to integrate with existing Fiber Channel networks and management software.

*Many data centers use Fiber Channel for storage area networks (SANs). With FCoE, Fiber Channel becomes another network protocol running on Ethernet, alongside traditional Internet Protocol (IP) traffic. FCoE operates directly above Ethernet in the network protocol stack, in contrast to iSCSI which runs on top of TCP and IP. As a consequence, FCoE is not routable at the IP layer, and will not work across routed IP networks.
*FCoE provides enhancements to the Ethernet standard to support a priority-based flow control mechanism(low frame loss).

*Computers connect to FCoE with Converged Network Adapters(CNAs)[contain both FC Host Bus Adapter and Ethernet(NIC) functionality].

*Fiber Channel required three primary extensions to deliver the capabilities of Fiber Channel over Ethernet networks:

    1)Encapsulation of native Fiber Channel frames into Ethernet Frames.
    2)Extensions to the Ethernet protocol itself to enable an Ethernet fabric in which frames are not routinely    lost during periods of congestion.
    3)Mapping between Fiber Channel N_port IDs (aka FCIDs) and Ethernet MAC addresses.

*Application of FCoE:
    reduce the number of network interface cards required to connect to disparate storage and IP networks.
    reduce the number of cables and switches.
    reduce power and cooling costs.

FC SAN and iSCSI SAN: Pros and Cons:

FC SANs are dedicated storage networks,that requires specialized host bus adapters(HBA),specialized FC switches and FC storage arrays.these FC components are costly and adds a layer of complexity,so makes firms unable to afford much for every server in the enterprise.

iSCSI SANs are based upon Ethernet technology, which is well-understood and inexpensive to implement and maintain and easily be connected to any server.Recent advancements in iSCSI initiators and TOE cards have made dramatic improvements in iSCSI performance(QOS). With 10 GB Ethernet becoming more pervasive.

compared to both above SAN types iSCSI SAN will be efficient and future SAN network technology.

Due to all companies using old FC SANs.difficult to integrate iSCSI SAN with stock FC SAN still both are using same block level SCSI commands.

This limitation has recently been removed with the introduction of intelligent network switches that could extend existing FC SANs with iSCSI connectivity. By placing the network management intelligence in the network switches, enterprises can now have the benefit of iSCSI connectivity to the servers, while still making use of all the benefits of FC connectivity at the storage side.

High speed SLC Flash storage device using SSD.

2011-07-25T01:51:00.000-07:00

The RamSan-6300 offers 140TB of SLC(single level cell) Flash storage and provides 14,000,000 IOPS and 140 GB/sec of sustained, random bandwidth.

It is directly connected to real time servers using SAN(Firer optic).

It uses 3 layers:
first layer:is an ECC circuit that detects and corrects single bit errors.
second layer:is the use of a modified RAID-5 algorithm to ensure that the failure of a Flash memory chip does not result in data corruption.
third layer:Active Spare, protects against a card failure.

The RamSan-6300 can connect directly to servers or through Storage Area Networks (SAN) using Fibre Channel or InfiniBand interfaces. By leveraging direct attached and SAN architectures, the RamSan-6300 offers some important advantages, such as:

    Shareability
    Redundancy
    Ability to provision the exact SSD capacity that an application requires
    Centralized management.

Specifications:

Storage:

    Capacity (Usable): 140 TB
    LUNs: 14,336 LUNs
    Storage Medium: SLC Flash

Performance:

    Maximum Bandwidth: 140 GB/s
    Read IOPS: 14,000 K IOPS
    Read Latency: 250 microseconds
    Write IOPS: 14,000 K IOPS
    Write Latency: 80 microseconds

Interfaces:

    Expansion Slots: 70 slots
    Fibre Channel Ports per Card: 2 ports/card
    Fibre Channel Speed per Port: 8 Gb/s
    InfiniBand Channel Width: 4 X
    InfiniBand Channels per Card: 2 channels/card
    InfiniBand Data Rate Standard: QDR
    InfiniBand Speed per Channel: 32 Gb/s

Management:

    Supports Browser Management
    Supports SNMP Management
    Supports SSH Management
    Supports Telnet Management

Power:

Typical Power Consumption: 7,000 W

CPU(central processing unit.

2011-07-23T03:37:00.000-07:00

As we know cpu is a brain of a computer system.that carries out the instructions of a computer program, and is the primary element carrying out the functions of the computer or other processing device.carries out each instruction of the program in sequence, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system.
CPU is housed in a single chip called a microprocessor.The CPU is inserted directly into a CPU socket, pin side down, on the motherboard.CPUs also have an attached heat sink and small fan that go directly on top of the CPU.
Two typical components of a CPU are the arithmetic logic unit (ALU), which performs arithmetic and logical operations, and the control unit (CU), which extracts instructions from memory and decodes and executes them, calling on the ALU when necessary.
The cpu understands only (0's and 1's).
while our program(high level language) execution results to machine level language by compilers is given as input to CPU.then CPU by processing those instructions using ALU,general registers results back to high level(human understandable language).

OPERATIONS:-
There are four steps that nearly all CPUs use in their operation: fetch, decode, execute, and writeback.

fetch:-involves retrieving an instruction from program memory. The location in program memory is determined by a program counter (PC), which stores a number that identifies the

current position in the program. After an instruction is fetched, the PC is incremented by the length of the instruction word in terms of memory units.

decode:-the instruction is broken up into parts. The numerical instruction value is interpreted is defined by the CPU's instruction set architecture (ISA).one group of numbers in the instruction, called the opcode, indicates which operation to perform. The remaining parts of the number usually provide information required for that instruction, such as operands for an addition operation. Such operands may be given as a constant value, or to locate a value: a register or a memory address, as determined by some addressing mode. In older designs the portions of the CPU responsible for instruction decoding were unchangeable hardware devices. However, in more abstract and complicated CPUs and ISAs, a microprogram is often used to assist in translating instructions into various configuration signals for the CPU. This microprogram is sometimes rewritable so that it can be modified to change the way the CPU decodes instructions even after it has been manufactured.

execute:-various portions of the CPU are connected, an addition operation was requested, the arithmetic logic unit (ALU) will be connected to a set of inputs and a set of outputs. The inputs provide the numbers to be added, and the outputs will contain the final sum. The ALU contains the circuitry to perform simple arithmetic and logical operations on the inputs. If the addition operation produces a result too large for the CPU to handle, an arithmetic overflow flag in a flags register may also be set.

writesback:-executed results are written to some internal CPU register for quick access by subsequent instructions. In other cases results may be writen to cache(contains frequently used data) and then to RAM. Some types of instructions manipulate the program counter rather than directly produce result data. These are generally called "jumps(conditional)" and facilitate behavior like loops, conditional program execution, and functions in programs.Many instructions will also change the state of digits in a "flags" register. These flags can be used to influence how a program behaves, since they often indicate the outcome of various operations.
ex:if(a>b)....then flag=1(true) or flag=0(false).

the entire above process repeats, with the next instruction cycle normally fetching the next-in-sequence instruction because of the incremented value in the program counter(PC). If the completed instruction was a jump, the program counter will be modified to contain the address of the instruction that was jumped to, and program execution continues normally. In more complex CPUs than the one described here, multiple instructions can be fetched, decoded, and executed simultaneously(multiprocessing).
the technology called PIPELINE is used to run >1 process parallely each other independently using >1 CPU(multiprocessor).
ex:intel's core2Duo,core2Quad,i3,i5,i7 and AMD's phenom,opteron...(allows more than one process(also threads) to run at a atime parallely without any malfunctioning).

CACHE memory:-
a component of CPU that transparently stores frequently used data so that future requests for that data can be served faster. The data that is stored within a cache might be values that have been computed earlier or duplicates of original values that are stored elsewhere. If requested data is contained in the cache (cache hit), this request can be served by simply reading the cache, which is comparatively faster. Otherwise (cache miss), the data has to be recomputed or fetched from its original storage location(RAM), which is comparatively slower.

To be cost efficient and to enable an efficient use of data, caches are relatively small and fast. Nevertheless, caches have proven themselves in many areas of computing because access patterns in typical computer applications have locality of reference. References exhibit temporal locality if data is requested again that has been recently requested already. References exhibit spatial locality if data is requested that is physically stored close to data that has been requested already.
cache memory available capacities are:
L1 cache:16 KB to 32 KB.
L2 cache:512 KB to 3 MB.
L3 cache:2 MB to 8 MB.

The placing of CPU into its socket of motherboard as:-:

Hard Disk.

2011-07-20T05:37:00.000-07:00

Hard disk contains all the files we stores including operating system files.during booting(starting a computer) the operating system files from hard disk is loaded into RAM.
As we know hard disk is a permanent storage memory.It will be installed inside a cabinet.

From above fig we can see two connections are made.left cable is SATA cable and right cable is power cable.

->We use 2 types types of wires to connect to motherboard.

1:Internal Crossover 7-pin Signal Cables SA-X/x(new type):-
ex: SA-X/1: 1 Meter Crossover SATA cable.

the above one end is connected to board and other end to hard disk.

2:hard-drive-ribbon-cables/IDE(DAS:direct attached storage)(old type):-
This helps the connections between a number of hardware components, especially disk drives.these ribbon cable may avail in 34-wire, 40-wire and 80-wire.
ex:

this cable also connected to hard disk and to mother board using SCSI interface or IDE interface.

the inner portion of hard disk views as:

Hard disk contains actuator arm which moves left and right side of platter(magnetic disk) as shown to search a file that a user requests to read/write/execute any files.this process is known as seeking.at same time platters are also rotated by spindle to help actuator arm to click to correct track,sector and cylinder where a file is stored(burned).It uses DMA of 32 MB as temporary memory between DISK to RAM.

The best available hard disk's manufacturers are:samsung,western didital(WD),seagate...

capacity available: 64GB,250GB,320GB,500GB,1TB,2TB...

RAM(random access memory)

2011-07-19T20:42:00.000-07:00

RAM is a primary memory,volatile memory,temporary memory also called as L4(level 4) cache.
now we are using sdram.the types of RAM available are:
DDR1(old),DDR2(old but running),DDR3(new,fast).
the more frequency of RAM you get the more the systems performance for multitasking.
frequency:DDR2:-400Mhz667Mhz,800Mhz.
DDR3:-1333Mhz,1066Mhz,1600Mhz...
by seeing the slot differences in below fig.you got that we cant place all types in single mother boards.we should buy new mother boards for DDR3.

If FSB(Mhz) provided by mother board(ex:800 Mhz).Then we should use (<=800Mhz) RAms.if we use (>=800Mhz) RAMs the extra Mhz will not be used by cpu.
The more RAM(Mhz) u choose the more system performance u get.
If 2 or >2 RAMs are placed make sure about both(all) RAMs having same frequency(Mhz).
present RAM technology is using DIMM(dual inline memory module.)

comp b/w DDR2-DDR3:
DDR3 memory provides a reduction in power consumption of 30% compared to DDR2 modules due to DDR3's 1.5 V supply voltage, compared to DDR2's 1.8 V or DDR's 2.5 V. The 1.5 V supply voltage works well with the 90 nanometer fabrication technology used in the original DDR3 chips. Some manufacturers further propose using "dual-gate" transistors to reduce leakage of current

how to place RAM into mother boards slot:-

as shown above take your RAM near to slot provided in board and see whether the pin gap fits from right side or from left side.then

press ur RAM by pressing equal force from both end sides of RAM into slot.after RAM was totally pressed the locks(white) present both side locks towards your RAM.and your new RAM starts working...

Hardware.

2011-07-19T10:32:00.000-07:00

Mother boards:buying mother boards is important considerations.because whole systems performance will be boosted by this mother boards.it has buses to connect each of devices.so bandwidth of flow of data should be fast. DMA also main part of mother board should be more.this mother board has:
2 to 4 RAM ports.
1 processor port.
PCI slots.
1 GPU port.
1 IDE controller.
1 SCSI interface.
2 to 6 usb ports(2.1 and 3.0 are available).
2 to 4 sata ports.(3 GBps to 6 GBps).
1 parallel port(for printers).
key board AT style port.
mouse PS/2 port.

INTEL, ASUS ,NVIDIA are some of good producers of motherboards...