Over the past decade, higher network bandwidths and processing power has resulted in a significant increase in the demand placed on storage requirements. Plunging storage media costs and the mission-critical nature of data have both spurred the implementation of redundant data storage, or better known as storage replication to ensure higher availability of reliability of stored data.

Another important concept which has evolved alongside storage replication is storage virtualization. Simply put, storage virtualization allows a user or an application to access a storage volume as if it were connected physically to the host computer or server, where in fact, the physical storage device is residing on a set of one or more network connected servers.

Typically, storage virtualization is achieved using one of three implementations, namely host-based, storage device based and network based. Host-based virtualization has been around in operating systems for a long time. To illustrate with a simple example, a single 2 TB hard drive can be partitioned into multiple logical or virtual drives of smaller sizes. Users and applications utilize the logical drive as if it were an actual physical storage device. The operating system or host handles and interprets the I/O requests which are translated to the physical level.

Storage device based virtualization is best explained with RAID devices where a set of physical devices can present themselves as a single abstracted storage location to the host computer or server. Besides virtualization, disk arrays can also provide cloning, snapshots and remote replication.

Network based is the third and most popular implementation of storage virtualization, and is achieved using high availability storage software. In this implementation, existing server and network resources are utilized to create networked SAN typically utilizing iSCSI or FC or Fibre Channel technologies. Fibre Channel technology requires storage servers to be connected using dedicated Fibre cabling which is expensive but guarantees high data throughput. iSCSI Storage is the more popular implementation which is also known as SCSI over IP. This technology allows organizations to leverage existing server and network infrastructure to create highly available and reliable Storage Area Networks or SANs.

StarWind Software is the developer and vendor of StarWind 5.0, an SAN Software utilizing iSCSI Storage that turns any industry-standard server into a highly reliable and highly available enterprise-class SAN or centralized storage. StarWind 5.0 works extremely well as a centralized storage system for Server applications such as Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft Sharepoint Server or any other data-driven server application.

Additionally, StarWind 5.0 is also well suited for use in conjunction with application server virtualization platforms such as VMWare, Microsoft Hyper-V R2, creating robust, high-availability virtual servers, minimizing downtime and maximizing productivity.

On either implementation scenarios, users are provided with an entire suite of features which include Synchronous Data Mirroring, Automatic Failover, Failback with Fast Synchronization, Remote/Asynchronous Replication, CDP & Snapshots, Server Clustering and Thin Provisioning.

If you would like to maximize your IT infrastructure utilizing iSCSI Storage, StarWind 5.0 from StarWind Software is your platform of choice for high availability storage software.

To download a trial copy and to obtain additional information, visit StarWind Software.

In today’s post I am going to share with you how to get a free upgrade on your new Dell Laptop. This is based on my personal experience, so if you are intending on purchasing a Dell Laptop anytime soon, now is a good time to do it, since I will show you a loophole to get a free upgrade

This is what happened. I placed an order for two Dell Inspiron 1420 laptops on the Dell Online Store at www.dell.com.my. The order completed successfully. However,  the next day, a Dell sales personnel called me to tell me that the Dell Inspiron 1420 is out of production, and they will give the exact same specifications but on the Dell Studio 14 laptop for the same price!

I did a quick check and with the same specifications as the Inspiron 1420, the Studio 14 was costing about RM 500 more. So here I was being offered a free RM 500 upgrade! I asked the sales personnel if the model was out of production, then why still offer it online? That’s when she explained that Dell Online store is actually beyond their direct control and the offers they place are for 3 months at a time.

So, ladies and gentlemen, what we have here is what I call a window of opportunity! I just checked, and the Insipiron 1420 is still being offered at RM 2499 with a Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz processor, 3GB RAM, 320GB HDD, WiFi, Bluetooth, 2 MP Webcam, DVDRW Drive, the works! And the best part is that if you order, they cannot deliver it to you since its out of production and you will get these specs in the Studio 14 laptop.

So, if you want a free upgrade to your brand new Dell laptop, now is the time to grab it!

A friend and his wife came over last weekend seeking for advice on a new Flat Screen TV for their new home. There are many technical variables which need to be considered before deciding upon a flat screen tv, but perhaps the most hyped feature is screen resolution. This is commonly marketed as HD-Ready or Full-HD 1080p.

If you were to go to any electronics store in Kuala Lumpur, you would notice that most sales personnel would try to sell you the latest Full-HD screens, whether or not you really need it. The reason? Higher commissions. Full HD screens have driven the prices of lower resolution screens down, which is an excellent thing. Unfortunately, if you are not fully aware of the technical details, you may get influenced by the sales pitch and end up with something that does not mactch your needs.

When deciding on which resolution to go for, the first thing you will need to know is the type of content you are going to watch on it. Chances are, like most people with basic entertainment requirements, you will be primarily watching Astro and an occasional DVD movie. This is considered medium to low resolution content with a typical resolution of about 500 horizontal lines. If you were to watch this on a high-resolution flat-screen TV, the content is going to pixelate. What this means is that the picture is going to look very blocky (like the image of the eye below). This is similar to what would happen if you took a photo with your digital camera at a low-resolution (such as 2 megapixel) and printed it at a large size.

If on the other hand, you are an avid gamer, and have an Microsoft Xbox 360, or a Sony PlayStation 3, you should get a Full HD screen to enjoy the breathtaking detail which videogames today have to offer. Another thing which would justify a Full-HD screen is if you are going to watch high definition video, which comes in either Blue Ray or HD-DVD formats. A Sony PlayStation 3 also doubles up a Blue-Ray player, so you can watch high definition movies.

Personally, if all you are going to watch is Astro and DVD videos, I would recommend that you try and source an older Flat Screen TV with a low resolution of about 1024×768 pixels. You may be able to get this set at a bargain and it will produce a smoother image compared to the newer Flat Screen TVs if you are watching Astro and DVDs.

So the next time you are at the electronics store, with breath-taking images being displayed on the Flat Screen TVs, ask the sales assistant to show you what the screen looks like with Astro or a normal DVD. Do not be surprised to see a pixelated image. But hey, its better to see it at the shop than once you take it back home with you.

In today’s post I would like to share my experience with the Linksys WRT54GX ver2 router. Granted it is based on 802.11G MIMO technology which has been superceded by Draft N technology, it does have some excellent points which make it a strong contender and the subject of this post.

I have experimented with a few Draft-N wireless routers from Level One and Belkin and have discovered they stop short of delivering the promised range on the box especially in multi-storey houses and buildings.

The Linksys WRT54GX on the other hand is able to broadcast a strong signal through several concrete walls despite being placed in less-than-perfect locations, such as below staircases and nooks and corners.

This router has given me excellent service all these years, with hardly any need for power-cycling or resetting, while being paired with a simple TMNet Billion modem. So recently when this router began giving me some trouble I immediately took a trip to Low Yat to purchase a new unit of this exact model, given its reliability in the past. My trip turned out to be a disappointment when I found out this model had been discontinued and replaced with N routers. Given my not-so-fantastic experience with Level One and Belkin N routers, I decided to give the Linksys N routers a skip and went home and decided to perform a thorough examination of the router to determine what was wrong.

Upon further checking, I discovered the router was working well when I connected to it through a wired connection, but the wireless portion was not working altogether. In fact, it was worse, the status screen on the web interface indicated there was no wireless module installed at all. The wireless light on the router failed to come on as well. I decided to upgrade the firmware to version 2.00.20 and it was still the same. Every setting seemed correct and I was beginning to wonder if the wireless module had malfunctioned.

That’s when I performed a search on Google for “WRT54GX wireless MAC missing”. It is amazing what the correct keywords can do for a query. It can really mean a world of difference between getting the results you need and sifting through pages after pages of irrelevant results.

Anyway, the search results lead me to this page on the Linksys forums which was a post by hameluck from the United States with the exact same problem I was facing!

The best part was that he had discovered a solution to the problem, and the reason why the wireless module was not working was that the wireless daughter card in the modem had become loose from its connector. Without wasting anytime, I unscrewed the device and sure enough I saw that the wireless card had become loose from its connector. I pushed it back in, powered the router back on and voila! the wireless module was functional again.

As mentioned above, the router is placed below a staircase and despite all the concrete, it is still able to send a strong signal across an entire double storey house, right up to the very corners of the house. Despite all the marketing hype, I have yet to see an 802.11n router perform as well as this router can.

Someone requested me to recommend a laptop for casual computing (surfing, word processing, etc), and I immediately fired up the browser and navigated to Dell, my favorite laptop manufacturer. When I checked out the laptop deals on offer in conjunction with the upcoming Chinese New Year celebration, I was amazed!

One offer I found irresistable was the Dell Vostro 1400 Notebook, configured with the following specifications:

• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5270 (1.4GHz, 2MB Cache, 800 MHz FSB)
• Windows XP Home Edition
• 14.1″ Widescreen WXGA Display (1280×800)
• 2GB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM
• 80GB SATA HDD
• 8X DVD+/-RW Combo Drive (Dual Layer)
• Intel Graphics Accelerator X3100
• Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 Dual Band 802.11a/g 54Mbps Wireless Mini Card
• 1 Year NBD Warranty
• 6-cell 56Whr Lithium Ion Battery
• Dell Lightweight Nylon Case
• Microsoft Works 8.5

Belive it or not, a brand new Dell Vostro 1400 with the above specifications can be yours for only RM 2317.00. As with any Dell system, you are free to tweak the specifications to your preference and the new price will be calculated automatically on-the-fly. But hurry! This unbelievable offer is only available until 01/02/2008.

To check out this and other Dell laptop offers, visit : http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/notebooks_better?c=my&cs=mybsd1&l=en&s=bsd&~ck=ticker&~lt=popup