Congratulations and much happiness to all. How would you like to be graduating from college into this economy/job market? Let's all hope the economy has hit bottom and will start to come back, and we can all continue watching IT grow and change. Here's some growing trends for the midmarket:
1. Cloud computing. This gives smaller companies access to the same software.
2. Virtualization. Virtualization essentially lets one computer do the job of multiple computers, by sharing the resources of a single computer across multiple environments.
3. Notebook/Netbook. Small, portable, and, with the capabilities of full desktops just a couple of years ago.
4. Open source software. Most open source software is available as a free download.
5. Online Social Networking. Surprised by this one? Think free, and think marketing. Good way to build an online audience for your company and products.
These are listed for the midmarket – think they don't apply to large companies as well?
Keep up – and keep in touch.
Here's the schedule or you can view the complete schedule on our Website:
CSTA Web sessions:
June 17, 18
July 15, 16
August 12, 13
UITJ (Understanding IT Jobs) Web sessions:
July 16
TR Web sessions:
July 8
The Cloud Web sessions:
June 24
July 29
August 26
Keep in touch and keep up with technology!
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Individual Computers
It used to be either a PC or a Mac, and the current ad campaign from Apple still talks about that choice. Now, however, we have many choices – both for consumers and corporations – and the choices define both processors and storage. Beyond that, the actual type of computer now has new options.
Processors
Computers are now built with multi-core processors, where a single piece of silicon holds two or more processing cores. This speeds up processing. With multiple processors, multiple instructions can be executed at the same time. For individuals, this is important with functions including gaming and multi-media. For example, you execute a lot of instructions when providing animation and sound, and handling these separately works. Dual-core architecture, building two processing cores on a single chip is now common on individual computers, and quad-core (4 processors) is growing, octo (8) exists and Interlagos processors with between 12 and 16 cores on a single chip are planned for release in 2011 by AMD.
Storage
Storage is another area with new technology. We all know disks are important, and both size and speed are part of the decision. Size is again something that's important for gaming and multi-media. You need a lot of storage for graphics – photos, animations, film, etc. Speed is also very important in these instances, but speed is always good. The latest innovation in storage is SSD - solid-stage disks. This is a semiconductor system which is electrically, mechanically and software compatible with a conventional (magnetic) hard disk, but contains no moving parts. The advantages are faster access time and better resilience to vibration and temperature. The disadvantages are higher cost (more expensive per megabyte than disk drives) and larger size. Currently SSDs are used in "hostile" environments such as a factory with vibration and power fluctuations, any environment with high and/or low temperatures, etc. and for systems with multiple users and performance issues. Toshiba introduced a notebook with a 512GB (GigaBytes – billion of bytes) this May.
Computer Types
We're all used to desktop computers, the standard "PCs" or "Macs," and to notebook (also called laptop) computers. The notebook arena has added Ultrathin Notebooks - computers that weigh 3 lbs (plus or minus a few ounces) while maintaining approximately the size of a regular notebook with a full size keyboard. Some have disk drives, but this too is something that is often left out. Most of us also have PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants). These handheld systems were mostly used in the corporate world until now. Smartphones are PDAs, they just combine the cell phone with the computer. The introduction of the iPhone actually solidified the evolution of cell phones to smartphones, and that's today's common purchase. We're used to these three types of computers, and there is now a fourth.
Let's talk about the new kid on the block – the netbooks.
Netbooks
A netbook is an individual computer that is smaller than a notebook and larger than a PDA. Its size is usually around 10 inches by 8 inches and its weight around three lbs. They have wireless capabilities, usually both WiFi and Bluetooth and some of them have phone capabilities. Their most important functions are accessing the Internet and email. They were designed for business travelers and the vendors intend that business men and women carry them while on the road and leave the laptop at home and the desktop in the office. PDAs just aren't big enough to comfortably use the Internet. These systems have many names. MID (Mobile Internet Device) is a name often used for comsumer devices while similar computers aimed at the corporate world are called UMPCs (UltraMobile PCs). They're also called ultraportables, subnotebooks, mini-notebooks, and ultrasmall laptops.
There are four types of computers: desktops; notebooks; netbooks; and PDAs. Today's business men and women typically have three of these – a desktop at work, a notebook at home, and a PDA everywhere and all the time. And, many have moved on to picking up a netbook. Have you?
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1. What are BigDog and Asimo?
2. An android is a robot resembling a human being, so is Google's Android similar to Asimo?
3. What's SMART testing for disks?
4. What's the latest version of WebSphere?
5. What's the term for multiple users from different companies (or customers) using the same instance of executing software?
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Repeating CSTA - At A Discount |
This actually comes up quite often, and has ever since we first presented Computers: Systems, Terms and Acronyms. Some people feel that they miss a lot of the information and really want to hear it again – soon. These are people new to IT (Information Technology), and we absolutely acknowledge that the material can be overwhelming. If this describes you, you would like to repeat the seminar, and you attended within the past year: you can do so at a 50% discount. Most of our customers know that they can receive this discount when attending a different seminar, but we just found out that not everyone knows that the discount also applies to repeating CSTA.
Most people come back after two or more years and, while we have not previously provided a discount for this, we've now changed our policy. If you attended CSTA more than a year ago and want to repeat, you can do so for $500. This will really help people who have moved in and out of IT, or who have changed jobs to a company with a different focus on IT, or anyone who's just plain behind with the constant changes in this field.
Think about it. We have someone who took CSTA five years ago who's taking advantage of this discount. Think about how much IT has changed in that time; think about getting an organized and current presentation on today's IT.
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Middleware
Middleware, the software that allows software running on different systems, to communicate is absolutely a given with today's online applications. In client/server – including the Internet – the front-end talks to the back-end. With cloud computing, vendors post APIs (Application Program Interfaces) telling developers how to access services running on different systems. And on…
API (Application Programming Interface) Communications software. A set of routines, protocols, and other tools used to integrate two pieces of code to provide the interface between application programs and support programs: operating systems, database management systems, and communications software. Programmers write calls according to the rules of the API to use services such as data access and screen displays. Each specific operating system, or support software has its own APIs, and this can cause problems if, for example, a program had to access data from two different databases. Therefore, in addition to specific APIs, general APIs have been written to provide cross-platform and multi-database connectivity. ODBC and JDBC are examples of APIs that have been written to provide access to many different databases, and software that is "ODBC compliant" can access multiple databases. In addition, APIs play a major role in Web 2.0, in that many software vendors publish APIs for various content and functions. For example, Google provides the API for Google Maps, which allows anyone building a Web site to include the content and functions from Google Maps on their own site.
EAI (Enterprise Application Integration) Communications. Middleware products that integrate products from different vendors and different applications. It includes middleware, messaging, and database software, and provides the infrastructure for ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), especially when building ERP from different vendors. It's used on the Internet to connect Web browser front-ends to e-applications and legacy systems. Provides a tightly coupled, proprietary interface and the opposite of ESB (Enterprise Service Bus) which provides a loosely coupled, service interface and is used with SOA (Service Oriented Architecture).
ESB (Enterprise Service Bus) Communications. Application integration technology which can be used to integrate disparate applications across different platforms. An ESB is based on industry-standard specifications such as SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) or JMS (Java Message Service). It combines messaging, basic transformation, and content-based routing. ESBs are used with SOA (Service Oriented Architecture ) and are comparable to adapters and brokers in EAI (Enterprise Application Integration) middleware. ESBs provide loosely coupled, service integration, while EAI provides tightly coupled, proprietary integration.
MOM (Message Oriented Middleware) Communications. Middleware that lets applications on different platforms and networks exchange data. Works with mainframe, Unix and Windows by having each platform send data to message queues, where they are held until another application accesses them.
ORB (Object Request Broker) Communications. A form of middleware used in object-oriented systems that locates, loads and executes objects. Creates interoperability by letting objects connect regardless of platform. Also, objects created in different environments (C++, Smalltalk, Objective C) cannot work together without some form of intervention. Object request brokers supply the commonality.
publish/subscribe Communications technology used with object-oriented networks. Form of middleware that enables diverse systems and applications to communicate without even being aware of each other. Many sources can subscribe to published objects, i.e. an EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) request can obtain customer's name from a billing system that is unaware of the EDI functions. Developed by Sun Microsystems.
RPC (Remote Procedure Call) Communications. Middleware. Technology where one program "calls" another with a request for a service and waits until the request is handled. RPCs are used when the calling program cannot continue until it gets the results it requested and could be used for functions such as checking passwords. Contrast with MOM (Message-Oriented-Middleware) where the requesting program makes its request – perhaps for a data conversion – but continues on with other functioning until the called program has the results available.
TP Monitor A type of communications system that has a centralized host system running the communications system and handling transactions. Used to control online business applications. A transaction processing monitor is the system that directs commands and data requests over a network and provides features such as load balancing, security routines, and error detection. Can handle large volumes of transactions. Also host-based processing.
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1. These are robots – this area of computers is growing. BigDog is a four-legged robot being developed by Boston Dynamics and funded by the U.S. Armed Forces. Its purpose is to move supplies and it can carry more than 340 lbs., run up to 4 mph and climb 35-degree slopes - giving United States" troops a way to get supplies in remote combat outposts in Afghanistan where the landscape is deadly and insurgents routinely target supply routes. Asimo is a humanoid robot that can climb stairs, run 4 mph, and may someday help care for elderly and disabled people. It's been in the works for over 20 years, and can walk forward and backward, avoid obstacles, and actually works as a tour guide in museums and as a greeter in high tech companies in Japan.
2. Not in the least. Google's Android is an operating system and development platform for mobile devices. It includes an operating system, HTML Web browser, middleware, and SDK (Software Development Kit) and applications. It's available under the Apache open source license.
3. Or, as is often stated: S.M.A.R.T. which stands for: Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology. It's used to detect and report on various indicators of reliability in order to anticipate failures. The purpose of S.M.A.R.T. is to warn a user or system administrator of impending drive failure while there is still time to take preventative action, such as copying the data to a replacement device. Approximately 64% of failures can be predicted by S.M.A.R.T.
4. Just released in May: WebSphere Application Server, Hypervisor Edition. This version provides performance based deployment and development software used to build, reuse, run, integrate and manage SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) applications and services within virtualized environments. Runs on top of a hypervisor, e.g., VMware ESX, and supports the Open Virtualization Format (OVF).
5. Multi-tenancy. This is an important concept of cloud computing so you'll be seeing more of it.
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