The heat of August certainly is not just a saying this year. It's hot! So is technology. I'm used to new technologies and products appearing regularly, but this is really extensive. Just look at the new platforms.
New smartphones: Motorola's Droid X, Sansung's Galaxy X, and Apple's iPhone 4.
We've even got a new mainframe: IBM's (of course) zEnterprise.
Operating systems are new again: iPhone OS became iOS with new enhancements, Microsoft produced an operating system for smartphones, WP7 (Windows Phone 7), and IBM enhanced zOS with extensions to manage servers and server blades along with the mainframe.
Makes you wonder – what's new in the rest of IT. Check out Keep Up later in the newsletter.
Here's the schedule or you can view the complete schedule on our Website:
CSTA Web sessions:
August 25, 26
September 29, 30
November 3, 4
December 15, 16
UITJ (Understanding IT Jobs) Web sessions:
September 30
December 16
TR Web sessions:
August 18
October 13
December 1
Keep in touch - I love hearing from you - and keep up with technology!
Back to top
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4G Embedded Systems
Embedded systems are all around us, and we know it. We completely accept the fact that computers are now part of many of the things we use – from microwaves, in many if not most toys, and in our cars. In fact, how many computers are embedded in our cars? The word "embedded" simply means "built in." And the word system means the computer/software combination that provides functionality. While we spend a lot of time talking about general purpose computers that run payrolls and accounting systems (and all the rest of the business software), it's worth spending some time talking about the specific functions built into so many devices through embedded systems.
That's the main definition of embedded systems – the entire system is built to accomplish a single task, or a related group of tasks. Microwave ovens give us a great example. The related tasks include popping corn and baking potatoes, and the device is controlled through instructions (programs) burned into a chip that becomes part of the microwave. We need programmers to build these systems, and they have a different skill set and knowledge base than do the business programmers we're more familiar with.
These techies need to know both the hardware and the software, as both must be programmed. They are much more likely to be engineers (real ones) than computer science, information management, or MIS degree holders. They need to know all about computer chips.
Memory Chips
While general purpose computers contain lots of RAM (Random Access Memory) to hold the ever-changing programs and data, with embedded systems both are burned into the system and therefore embedded systems use ROM (Read Only Memory) With ROM, information is burned into memory with high voltage electricity so it is retained even after power is shut off. Variations of ROM include PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory. ROM is typically only used in general purpose computers to hold start-up procedures and time and calendar functions, and all else is stored in RAM (which means it disappears when power is turned off) .
Processing Chips
These fall into three basic types, but then there are further definitions for the chips turned into embedded systems. The chips themselves are:
MCU (MicroController Unit) Computer chip that contains a processor and both RAM and ROM on a single chip. Often called computer-on-a-chip. Used in consumer devices, industrial robots and equipment, automobiles, etc.
MPU (MicroProcessor Unit) Computer chip used in desktop systems. Contains the processor which defines the instruction set of the computer. Microprocessors are defined as RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) or CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computer). Also called the CPU (Central Processing Unit).
DSP (Digital Signal Processor) Processor which works with digital signals created from analog signals such as sound or video. Often used in consumer products instead of, or in addition to microprocessor or microcontroller chips. Includes features designed to support high-performance, repetitive, numerically intensive tasks.
Embedded Systems
The completed chips are referred to with other terms.
SoC (System on a Chip) is a single chip that's built with processing elements and embedded software, memory, and additional hardware. Once the chips are designed and manufactured, they cannot be changed.
The term you'll probably hear most often is ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), a microprocessor chip designed for a specific application. These chips are built by connecting an existing circuit building block collected from a library. Once the chips are designed and manufactured, they cannot be changed.
CSoC (Configurable System on a Chip) This one can be changed – remotely. For example, in security systems, the data encryption functions could use CSoC chips. Encryption systems require the ability to change the key to the code, so this technology could let users change encryption keys and download them to the CSoC chips.
So, the knowledge of hardware is critical. The concentration on building a specific system for a specific task make this way different from general purpose programming. This is a growing area, however. My favorite fact remains – Chip making equipment is expected to grow 104% in 2010! The market did drop in 2009, but that's more than a make-up. Think about it. What's the last device or toy you bought that didn't have an embedded system (or two) as part of its functionality?
Back to top
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. What does Spot On mean in the networking world?
2. Which of the following does not belong:
Bluetooth
HiperMAN
LTE
WiMax
WiBro
3. Google dropped the Nexus One smartphone – but what other software vendor is moving in that way?
4. Big, broad question – what's new in mainframes?
5. What's the thinnest smartphone available??
Back to top
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm going to review advice I freely give to everyone because I think it's so important. Technology is so dynamic and can be overwhelming. When business men and women are first introduced to the field, it appears massive, confusing, and impossible to understand. We all know that's not true, it's just the first impression.
We learn the technology (usually by attending CSTA, of course) and we're in great shape. We've got it all down, and when we hear of something new we head for TechRef to research. But then things change. We go on temporary assignment, or take a leave of absence, or change jobs and no longer work with IT. So we're no longer hearing the terms and learning the new technologies as they appear (as they regularly do).
Six months later we're back with technology and can hardly believe what's happened. We no longer understand what's going on in the field. So here comes the advice part, and it's the title of this piece - Keep Up.
Please spend a little time on IT no matter what you're currently doing. It's never wasted time because you'll always be hearing about, and working with IT. IT is now part of lives – both at work and at home.
Specifically:
Keep reading TechConnections. In fact, recommend it to your friends no matter what their job is. If they want to be added to our mailing list, call us at 800.860.2179.
If you don't follow me on Twitter – do! I only tweet about current happenings in IT, and only about those things that affect us all. And, again, pass this on to your friends.
These two simple things will keep you current. I still regularly shake my head in amazement when new technology and products appear. It's actually fun to Keep UP!
Back to top
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Data Storage
Now that companies are maintaining terabytes of data (trillions of bytes), and now that the cloud is becoming more and more popular, it's time to take a look at data storage. Lots of new terms and technologies!
clustered storage Storage technology. Clustered storage is created by linking multiple storage servers to form a redundant ring of storage devices. Clustered storage systems typically perform multiple read/write requests through parallel access lines to the requesting computer. These systems can scale I/O (Input/Output) for data-intensive applications, they provide simple management as access is through a single system, and users can buy storage as needed and performance and capacity scale as needed. Clustered storage is part of some NAS (Network Attached Storage), SAN (Storage Area Network), and other storage systems and has grown in popularity and passed 50% of the storage market early in 2006. Rackable Systems, Isilon Systems, Exanet, Hitachi Data Systems and Network Appliance are the leading cluster storage vendors.
data grid An architecture for data access that uses a middleware layer and metadata framework to give connected end users a centralized view of information, no matter where it's stored. Data grids are mostly used to pool financial or research data by a single company, but can be established across companies to share data.
data tiering Data management technology. Refers to moving data among various types of storage media as demand for it rises or falls. It means moving older or less frequently accessed data to slower, less expensive storage such as SATA drives or even tape can reduce hardware costs, while putting the most frequently accessed or most important data on faster, more expensive Fibre Channel drives or even solid-state drives (SSD). Automated data tiering means this is accomplished by software rather than manually as is the current norm.
deduplication Data integration technique of eliminating duplicate data by merging together duplicate information. Data can be found as duplicate by matching on operators including phonetic, direct word match, telephone/fax number and name initials. Using just a text operator, many duplicates will be left in the data collection. Once duplicate data is found, records can be merged into a folder, file, or record preserving the context and specific unique data facts. Data deduplication examines data on the block level and eliminates redundant blocks and can achieve a 20-1 reduction in the amount of storage needed. File deduplication examines only files, or CAS (Content Addressable Storage) yields a 3-1 or 4-1 reduction. Data deduplication obviously includes file deduplication.
thin provisioning Technology used in storage management. Uses virtual pools of storage that can be applied to the demands of all applications as needed and lets IT administrators limit the allocation of actual physical storage to what applications immediately need. . This is opposed to fat provisioning, which assigns an entire pool of storage to a specific application. Thin provisioning can also provide Over-Allocation, also known as Over-Subscription. Over-allocation allows server applications to be allocated more storage capacity than is reserved on actual disks. This allows leeway in growth of data without having to accurately predict which storage volumes will grow by how much.
tiered storage Storage technology. Refers to assigning different categories of data to different types of storage media in order to reduce total storage cost. Categories may be based on levels of protection needed, performance requirements, frequency of use, or other factors. Tier 1 data can be, e.g., mission-critical data, the most recently accessed data, or top secret data. Tier 2 could then be financial, seldom-used, or classified data. Tier 1 data might be stored on expensive and high-quality media such as double-parity RAIDs (redundant arrays of independent disks). Tier 2 data could be stored on less expensive media in conventional SANs (storage area networks).
Virtualization Systems technology. Pooling together resources throughout the entire enterprise into a single unit that can be managed from a single point. This allows resources to be assigned to a user only as needed, and returned to the pool when free. The resources most commonly affected are storage and servers. Disk Virtualization software manages many physical disks as a single unit. This allows devices to be added without shutting down the system, handles disks from different vendors that have different sizes, speeds, and vendors, and provides the most efficient use of the physical resources by creating virtual devices, e.g. if a system needs more storage, unused space from another disk can be used. SANs (Storage Area Networks) provide storage virtualization. Server Virtualization software builds a pool of servers that can be allocated to tasks, applications, databases, or the Internet as needed. Virtualization software defines virtual machines which allow multiple operating systems to run in one physical machine. This increases the flexibility of the total enterprise.
Back to top
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. SPOT (Smart Personal Objects Technology) is the beginning of futuristic technologies (personal jet packs, wrist communicators) from Microsoft Research. It implants always-on wireless connectivity in simple accessories from watches to pendants and will update your watch with the local time and weather wherever you are via a unique identifier in each device. The first products will debut this fall and will be watches from Citizen Watch Company, Fossil, and Suunto Corp.
2. a. does not belong. All the rest are versions of WiMax, or one of the 4G networking technologies. HiperMAN is European, and WiBro is the Korean version of WiMax and LTE is the 4G alternative technology offered by Verizon and AT&T. Although to be perfectly frank, I see very little of the terms HiperMAN or WiBro any more. Just wanted to remind you of the growing popularity of 4G – WiMax appearing now and LTE to appear late in 2010 the through 2011.
3. One of Google's main competitors - Microsoft. Microsoft is not actually going to make phones though. Various vendors are making phones for WP7 (Windows Phone 7), Microsoft's operating system for smartphones just released in February.
4. This is actually big news. IBM's just released zEnterprise which is defined as a system of systems. Companies can manage not only their mainframe world, but also servers and server blade systems from the new operating system, which means they can manage pretty much the entire data center from a central point.
5. Should be out this summer – Samsung's Galaxy S. It's called by various names for different networks (Samsung Vibrant on T-Mobile and the Samsung Captivate on AT&T) and not only is it small and light weight, but has a great display.
Back to top
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SemCo Enterprises, Inc. respects your privacy. We do not sell, rent or share your information with anyone.
|
Forward to a Friend! 