Archive for the ‘Hardware’ Category
Notebook battery life is an important for the mobile computer user. There’s nothing worse than really needing to access you notebook only to have it switch off due to low battery. There are certain things that can help to prolong battery life.
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New computer technology comes out continuously. As a computer consultant you probably want to keep up with all the new computer technology that comes along. You’re most likely in love with technology – always looking for a new intrusion protection product to play with or another border-gateway protocol. What you have to realize is that your small business clients aren’t experimenting with new computer technology and so you shouldn’t be wasting your time investigating it.
New Computer Technology Distractions
New computer technology is a distraction you can’t afford. It’s easy to get caught-up with keeping-up, but, no one is paying you for your raw technical knowledge. They aren’t paying you for knowing the latest new computer technology, they are paying you for knowing the technology they are using.
If you’ve been in corporate IT for a long time you’re way ahead of the average small business anyway. The average small business is going to be at least six to twelve sometimes even 18 months behind the new computer technology you see in the average enterprise IT shop.
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Businesses have been using tape to back up their data since the early days of computing. Tape has its limitations, but it was much cheaper than the alternatives, so its use continued.
Today, the situation is changing. The price of disk storage has come down dramatically and the performance, longevity and use characteristics of disk are far superior to tape. As a result, many businesses are looking to move away from tape for their backup and disaster recovery needs.
The key requirements of an ideal backup scheme are:
• It must be economical. Large amounts of data need to be accommodated (due to the need to keep multiple versions of the data), but in many cases the data will never be accessed. Its contribution to the company’s bottom line only comes if the data is needed, otherwise, it is an unnecessary expense.
• It must be reliable over the long term. Some data must be stored for long periods of time, perhaps decades in some situations, to meet regulatory and business needs. If that data is ever needed it must be readable and accessible. When tape sits unused for a long period, it gets brittle and is prone to breaking and data loss.
• It must be quick and easy to set up and operate. Back-up windows are getting tighter as the hours of operation increase and the amount of data continues to grow. As a result, the speed of the backup is critically important. If the backup process can be automated, human errors and costs are reduced.
• Restoring data, either individual files or a whole system, must be quick, easy and reliable. Today, it can take a long time to retrieve tapes from their offsite storage. Data on tape is stored sequentially so access to specific records can be cumbersome. Reading the tapes can be problematic if the tape is old, brittle or distorted. All this uses precious IT resources that would be better spent elsewhere. Disk storage has none of these issues.
The NAS Approach
With prices in the $2 per GB range, Network Attached Storage (NAS) systems are rapidly becoming the ideal, cost-effective back-up solution.
• Disk-to-Disk data transfer speeds far exceed those of writing to tape, so more data can be backed up in less time.
• Disk storage has greater longevity than tape, so the data is going to be there and accessible when you need it.
• Random access to data on disk saves time when trying to restore specific files.
• NAS devices are independent, complete systems that connect directly to your network so they don’t impact your other systems.
• Tape rotation schemes are possible with disk-based systems and sophisticated ones can eliminate duplicate files for more compact storage.
• For smaller amounts of data, removable disk drives mounted in hot-swap enclosures can provide a competitive alternative for offsite data storage.
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TELE-PAPER produces a comprehensive range of paper rolls from conventional single-ply wood free to carbonless (NCR) multi-ply paper rolls. Our products are designed to deliver high performance and compatibility in all common transaction printers while minimizing the user’s operational cost. We deliver products that maximize the reliability of OEM made dot-matrix (impact) and inkjet printers.
Advantages:
- Single and multi ply rolls available at very attractive prices.
- Bright white papers.
- NCR rolls available on yellow, pink, blue and green.
- Clean printed image on NCR rolls that are dark, sharp and clear.
- Black and blue images available on NCR.
- Custom made sizes and printed rolls available.
- Well stock with various sizes.