Centralized Storage

Ever try to pull up a file and then you find out it’s on your other computer? It is very frustrating when you have multiple computers and files spread over many of your computers. This too is often the case with many small businesses with 3-5 machines onsite. Many times to simplify the operation, one machine will be used to hold all the information and the other computers will map a network drive to the machine in order to share the files. This machine is really acting as a makeshift server and is really the only option for a small business who is not ready to migrate to a server.

With all the pressure on IT solution providers to provide solutions for homes and small businesses who are locked in this model, many IT companies are jumping into action to provide a solution. The solution its self is a very simple one, centralized storage. Many OEM’s are coming out with storage solutions that will be able to be accessed via the Internet or through a local network. Even Microsoft is jumping on board with it’s upcoming release of Microsoft Home Server. A platform that will manage this exact situation, allowing users to securely access their data centrally from an attached data storage medium through their local network or the Internet.

Recently, Dell has just purchased EqualLogic for $1.4 billion, showing exactly how important this game is becoming. With such a large investment in a successful storage company by the big guy in home computer sales, we will begin to see Dell offering solutions to solve the problem. One such solution already in the works is desktops without hard drives who access a central data storage device which will act as a server managing all the data centrally.

Of course the story can’t be all green pastures… There is always the issue of security. In an ever growing day and age that security is a growing concern in IT and personal data is at a prime, many are scarred to implement such a solution. Many people are afraid to place all of their data in a box that will be accessed by a separate devices or even the infamous cloud (Internet). I do agree that many people should be concerned, but it is no different than securing your computer. Although there is added risk since the data will always be accessed remotely, it will be ever critical to make sure the data is encrypted and protected by multiple levels of protection.

I know we are really just talking about NAS (Network Attached Storage) here, but the importance is that it is starting to become mainstream even for the home user. I personally favor the centralized data model and I am happy to see OEMs and operating systems going towards the same model. It will be great in the next few years to migrate from having data spread all over to devices accessing centralized data devices. I am ready, are you?

Can’t We All Just Get Along?

More and more, buzz words like net neutrality, muni-wireless, convergence, are coming up. Why? Because of the need for convergence. We are at the tipping point of various technologies hitting their development phase of implementation to the end-user. All back-boned by wireless technology, we have now scene WWAN (satellite internet cards), muni-wireless (municipal wireless services), hybrid service phones (the ability of a cell phone to switch between a wireless internet signal and its primary phone signal), and VOIP (internet telephone). So how do these all come together and why is it important?

Think about it. In a perfect world there would be a wide area wireless coverage from a mutual system of WWAN, muni-wireless, and private wireless systems. Provided, all these systems provide neutrality (do not control the internet, allow for open access, as most people get the internet now), we will be on the right path. Then imagine that the cell phone carriers allow for your phones to use hybrid technology so that they will switch between the carrier signal and the internet based on a traffic demand? Then take that a step further, you have only one phone number. Based on a tree hierarchy, the call can be sent via VOIP to any device that you choose so that you can receive the call at multiple locations. Based on location of the device, you will receive the call from a multitude of signals. Pretty crazy stuff…

However I do not see this happening anytime soon. Although we see these technologies individually, we will never have convergence because everyone wants there own land with a castle they can be king in. Although a backbone of a free-market economy, I think everyone can still have a castle and work together. Just someone has to set up the meeting….

Biggest Evolutions in Computers in YEARS!!!

We are in the era of the biggest evolution in computers since the PC was introduced in the early 80s. However this time it is not one object that is making it so revolutionary, it is multiple that have allowed us to finally reach the potential of computing and the Internet. All designed to allow us to easily enjoy our life’s and to easy interact with each other. More than ever we can do this with a handful of new technology that have been released from about 2002 to now. These technologies are so revolutionary I am naming this the biggest evolution since the car, lol. Well maybe not that big - but close…

Number 4. Gigabit, Now 10Gigabit (10G), Even 100Gig Wired The theme of this article really seems to be everything in the industry is growing exponentially and like wireless, wired networking is no different. Although wired networking is not as interesting of a topic as wireless, it is here to stay. Wired is much more secure and reliable than wireless, it will take years for wireless to reach this point. So what’s the big news in wired, 10G baby!!! For years the 10/100 MBits/sec transmission rate was the standard of the industry. Then in 1999, 1000 MBit/sec or Gigabit Ethernet was released. A major change for a slow changing segment of the industry. Although it has not become popular until recently, it is now the standard on even average computer NIC cards. Then last year, 2006, 10GBit/sec was released. As of last month, Feb 2007, I have only heard of it being considered in server use as a backbone to the network. As everything it should be adopted throughout the industry in the next couple of years as long as 100gig doesn’t beat it out! Thats right 100GBit/sec is now in its preliminary discussions as the next Ethernet, still another 2 years away atleast.

Number 3. Wireless N - 802.11G has been the staple for wireless communication of wireless devices, however that is about to change. The much needed upgrade for wireless will be the new 802.11N or Wireless N, which has just reached Draft 2.0 on March 14th. With the release of this draft, most likely the last before the final standard is released, this technology has finally become usable. The Wireless N devices with previous drafts were nothing but problems, however Draft 2.0 has appeared to correct most of these issues. PC Mag reports that one final draft, Draft 3.0 will be released later in 2007 to early 2008 and the final release of Wireless N will be in 2009, however Draft 2.0 is more or less the bulk of what Wireless N will be ( PC Mag Article - Draft 2 of 802.11n Standard Sails Through ). So what is the big benefit with Wireless N, really just a major increase in distance and bandwidth - much needed in today’s day and age. Wireless N components will get a range of 165 feet with a bandwidth of 130 to 200 MBits/s compared to the 2003 release of Wireless G, the industry standard as of now, with a range of 82 feet with a bandwidth of 25 to 54 MBits/s.

Number 2. The Hybrid, Soon to Be Fully Flash Hard Drive - SanDisk is taking the lead with helping the computer industry with the computers biggest drawback, the hard drive. A hard drive is the computers biggest drawback not because of capacity, hell we can fit a terabyte of data NOW!, but speed. Mechanical components are the slowest operation with a computer and the only mechanical component left in a computer is the hard drive. Present hard drives require disk spinning 5,000 upwards to around 10,000 times a minute read by a arm. Although this seems fast, actual computer memory (RAM) is memory stored via electricity and transmitted the same way. So computer memory, AKA Flash memory is a million times faster than a hard drive. The writing was on the wall with Flash memory, AKA solid state memory, that it would one day replace the hard drive and change computing forever. Well that time is now with SanDisk now offering a 2.5-inch, 32 GIG drive for just $350 and soon will be offering a 1.8-inch, 32 GIG drive for ultra portable laptops for the hefty price of around $700! Now I know 32GIGs is not that much space and for $300-$700! This is just the start and soon we will be seeing near 100GIG drives that will be in every laptop. In the meantime, companies are now offering hybrid drives or drives that combine flash with a traditional Hard Drive so that frequent files are in flash memory and infrequent files are on the traditional drive, a good start to 100GIGs!

Number 1. Multi-Core Processing - It seems everyones eyes were on the Intel and AMD battle to make the fastest processor. They have gone from mhz to 2Ghz, then it hit 3Ghz, I wondered how many gigs they could possibly pack into a processor, while continuing to make it smaller. From pumping out 60mhz at a whopping 5 Volts in 1993 to 3.73ghz at a little above a volt in 2006, the single core Pentium seemed incredible! Then in spring 2005, it finally came the first multi-core processor, a processor die with multiple processors embedded on it allowing the processor to multi-task large task through individual processors. Intel released it’s “Smithfield” dual core processor as the Pentium Extreme Edition. The processor featured the first two in one processors with its hyper threading technology, or virtual dual processors. Packed with two physical and two virtual cores or processor, the extreme started at a whopping $1,000! Now dual core is the standard, shipping on just about 75% of computers sold. Last year was marked with Intel’s impressive Core Duo, Intel’s first low power dual core processor ideal for laptops. The processor was released in January 2006 and pumped out up to 2.33ghz at less than 25-watts. On top of that it was sized with Intel’s new and smallest processor size ever of 65 nm! It was so revolutionary it was the first processor to end the Pentium line of processors in existence since 1993! This years big hype was the Core 2 Duo, an even bigger improvement. The Core 2 increased the standard by bumping from the traditional 32-bit to the 64-bit. It also was the first quad core processor out, another leap in the industry. The “Kentsfield” Processor is the first true quad-core processor with a whopping 2.4Ghzs. I have really only seen them offered in servers so far, but expect them in the PC real soon! So what’s down the road in the next 3-5 years. Intel says a 45nm processor will be next years big release, then it will be about packing cores and shrinking the processor. By 2011 we can be looking at a 32nm or even 22nm processor packing in either 8 or a very big maybe of 16 cores! POWER BABY!

I know there is so many more advances in computers to talk about and offer my wisdom on such as Windows Vista, large LCD screens, and so much more; however with three busy jobs it is tough to go on. So I will soon follow up with a part II with these other big evolutions in computers. Have a happy and safe day.