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Is a Local Area Network (LAN) as safe as you think?

December 10, 2010 by Leave a Comment
TCP/IP stack operating on two hosts connected ...
Image via Wikipedia

It’s one of the most asked questions when it comes to transporting data, especially through the internet. It’s not really that expensive to construct a LAN, but connecting to another LAN, in a safe and private manner is time consuming and expensive. So, how can a individual, business, or corporation, create these connections to another LAN without leasing (public) internet lines?

Bridges are built to connect LAN’s to each other. It is like using a “leased” line, but with much more security and is certainly more dependable and reliable. Now, if two businesses need to connect over a large distance, the cost could be too great to generate this length of secured line.

But let’s discuss the value of using a VPN with-in a smaller geographical network connection. This VPN is a secure, dependable, fast, and able to expand as your business grows. Each remote office or location is able to send or receive data back and forth and know that it’s a safe path. The name for the growth is ”Scalability”. If a VPN is properly configured, some of the technology and terms recognized would be: Encryption, Firewall, AAA Server, and IP Sec. Let’s talk about each one for a brief moment.

“Encryption”is where all of the data sent from one computer to another or vice versa, is encoded into a manner that is only readable by the other computer.

“Firewall” is your safeguard barrier or a wall between your private network and the Internet. They can be configured to restrict ports, what types of data are allowed to pass through the Firewall.

“AAA Server”stands for Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting. Basically, the AAA Server checks who you are, what you’re  allowed to do, and what you actually can do. This is perfect for auditing the use of the PC on the network and provides a greater secure entry into the VPN.

The IP Sec is the Internet Protocol Security gives an enhanced level of security to provide a better encrypted algorithm and more detailed authentication.

VPN’s are a smart, safe, and more secure way of connecting people, PC’s, and businesses together.

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Filed Under: Local Networks, Networks Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Advantages of Having a Mac Computer

November 28, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Apple Mac computers have become some of the most best selling products in recent years. The popularity of Apple and their devices has meant that Macs sell by the millions. If you are thinking of buying a new computer and are unsure what type to get, there are a number of advantages to buying a Mac computer.

One of the best things about having a Mac is the safety involved. Macs are essentially free from viruses and bugs, with all types of malware and dangerous computer programs are developed to work on PCs. One of the reasons why this is the case is that a lot fewer people use Macs than PCs. People who are designing malicious computer programs want their viruses to infect as many people as possible and designing them for Macs is a little redundant.

Macs are often seen as being more reliable than other computers. This is because the operating system of a Mac is designed to work specifically on Mac hardware. While there are thousands of different computer and hardware types for PCs, the Mac hardware is only made by one company, Apple, meaning it is all the same. This makes the computer run more steadily and more accurately than PCs tend to do.

Macs are also useful because they fit in well with a lot of other popular products in today’s society. Apple is the firm responsible for making iPods, iTunes and other best selling gadgets such as the iPhone and iPad. Apple designs its products to align specifically with each other – anyone who has used an iPod knows they need iTunes to work it. This puts Macs at a distinct advantage to PCs because the hardware of the computer is already aligned with other devices. This provides a much steadier experience for the end user.

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Filed Under: Computer Tagged With: ,

Using Free Software Download Backup Programs

October 8, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Image of a Western Digital 250Gb SATA Hard Dri...
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Possibly the most important and useful software utility you need for your computer is a software backup program. Regardless of the operating system (Windows, Linux, or Mac) or the network you operate on (public or private), there are plenty of free software backup programs you can choose from. These backup systems and utilities also offer many features and benefits that fit your computing needs perfectly. If you’ve been thinking about finding free backup software for download, now is the time.

There are many features and benefits benefits of free software backup programs. They handle special files. Some files exist on your hard drive, but they’re hard to find. As a result, there are several backup programs on the Internet that will handle these types of files on your computer. For example, some backup programs will handle books. They exist as files on your hard drive but do you don’t really know where they are.

The filter your files. Most backup software programs come equipped with a file filtering system that allows you to include specific types of files when you do a backup. For example, you could backup all of your Microsoft Word files in your C: directory, or backup everything on your H: drive except graphics files.

They allow for disc spanning. Many computer users have a lot of data to back up that won’t fit on a single CD or blank disk. If you have a lot of data to backup, it probably isn’t going to fit on a single blank disc. Several software backup programs are designed to separate your data into smaller chunks, and then save it onto multiple disks and/or drives.

They help in case of disaster. Everyone needs a backup system that allows him or her to prepare for situations when the computer breaks down or you simply can’t boot up. Many backup packages let you to prepare for these types of situations.

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Filed Under: Hardware, Local Networks, Networks, Private Networks Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Micro Computers

October 4, 2010 by Leave a Comment
A Cray-2 supercomputer at the Musée des Arts e...
Image via Wikipedia

Micro computers, so small that they fit into the palm of your hand,well, almost. They save about 45% of desktop space, but at the same time provide close to 95% of the performance of a regular PC. They do not weigh much and they are suited for desktop computer users that want to be on the go, but do not like the laptop compact keyboard, and limited performance. The funny thing is that these small computers weigh less than most laptops (especially the old dinosaurs), can fit into a briefcase (as long as you do not plan to carry much else), and provide quick hook up for point-to-point mobility. Many of these units can provide most of the same capabilities as a normal tower PC system along with many of the sophisticated operations. One of the clues to how these little guys can perform so well is, of course, miniaturization, but more importantly, they are most often “made to order”. This means they have been created with the exact specifications aligned directly to the purchaser’s needs and none of the “stuff”or “fluff” that would not help to achieve the goals of the user. Which are both good ideas – but also expensive.

Some manufactures claim to have the “smallest computers in the world.” We all know what they mean is the smallest available to the consumer- there are a lot smaller computers, but they are not available (at least at this point) to the consumer. These really small computers are on work benches all across the world and in research labs and in government usage. The smallest size commercially available is about 6.5 x 6.5 x 2.0 inches. That is pretty impressive and as you may remember, about the size of a DVD burner drive! The small size gives more room for a monitor and/or a printer on the top of your desk.

So, pack it in the brief case along with a few cables and a folding keyboard and borrow a monitor when you get to where you are going and you are all set!

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Filed Under: Hardware, Software Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Computers 101

October 2, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Image representing Microsoft as depicted in Cr...
Image via CrunchBase

There are eight basic parts to a computer:

1. Power supply for providing electricity in a managed and controlled fashion.
2. Heat sink for cooling the processor.
3. Mother board for routing and directing all of the computer functions.
4. Graphics card(s) for translating the computers workings and operations into an interface that can be viewed.
5. External drives like CD-Rom, DVD-Rom, and diskettes or floppy disks for transferring information to the computer or receiving information from the computer onto physical media.
6. Hard drive for storage and operations of data and programs.
7. Memory – There are various kinds if memory offered. You can get as little or as much memory on your computer as you wish. But it’s best to get more memory than you will ever use.
8. Printers, Scanners, Cameras, etc., and all the other peripheral stuff that is seemingly endless in it’s creation.

Today, most of the aspects of our lives have related computerized components. Everything including vacuum cleaners and toasters have microprocessors. A personal computer is a technically advanced tool that is built around a small, thin chunk of plastic (a processor) with LOTS of microscopic electrical pathways etched or burned into a finely layered piece of metal on the surface. This is where the “thinking” is done. It has a big heat sink and a fan (or liquid cooling) connected to it because all of that thinking heats it up.

Personal Computers started back in the 1970s. Most people were surprised when they actually took off. The original thinking of, “We have a typewriter, why would we ever need a computer?” only lasted about four years. A couple years after the original introduction of the computer, Apple Computers came on the scene and the home computer industry started to take-off incredibly. Soon, companies like Commodore, Atari and Texas Instruments were producing their own versions of the personal computer. Then IBM blasted into the market and soon the competition was defined between Apple on one side and IBM with Microsoft software on the other. These two have, from that point on, led the industry.

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Filed Under: Hardware, Networks, Software Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Different Types of Computers

September 18, 2010 by Leave a Comment
A Cray-2 supercomputer at the Musée des Arts e...
Image via Wikipedia

The most used electronic device which most cannot go without even for a day is the computer. It is one of the most luxurious inventions of human civilization. It provides many advantages to mankind in their day to day life. Computers are doing critical jobs within a second with 100% accuracy. With the advancement of technology, computers are now available in different shapes and sizes depending on the demand. The computers which are being used nowadays are quite different from the computers used in the early years.

Computers can be of various types depending on the size of the components and the processing powers. On the basis of the operational principles computers can be divided into two categories, such as analog computers and hybrid computers.
Analog computers are almost at the verge of extinction today. This type of computer can perform several mathematical computations at a time. Analog computers use continuous variables to solve mathematical operations and use electrical and mechanical energy. However, hybrid computers are a combination of both analog and digital computers. Hybrid computers converse the analog signals to digital ones by using the digital segments.

Apart from these two types, there are other important types of computers such as mainframe computers, microcomputers, desktops, laptops, PDAs, minicomputers, super computers and so on. Mainframe computers are used for ERP and bulk data processing. Usually large organizations use this type of computers. Mainframes can host multiple operating systems and control them as a number of virtual machines. So, the mainframe computers can be used as an alternative of several small servers.
Microcomputers are computers which have a microprocessor. With an addition of a keyboard and a mouse this computer can be called a personal computer. Desktops, laptops and PDAs are varieties of personal computers.
Desktops are a type of personal computer which is intended to be used in a single location. These are usually popular and convenient for using in households and workplaces. Laptop computers are miniatures of desktops and can be carried anywhere. PDAs are also known as palmtop, which is even a more mini version of laptop.

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