Storage Systems

Small business and small office and home companies often look for hardware solutions that offer performance without a high price tag, but do they also want machines that can deliver high-quality media and entertainment as well? Supermicro Computer, based in San Jose, Calif., is betting they do.

Recently the company announced the introduction of its 5046A-XB desktop system and its SuperServer 5035L-iB server/storage solution that the company says is truly optimized for SOHO applications, including media, entertainment and gaming. Both of the single-socket systems operate at low noise levels and offer SOHO customers energy-efficient operation.

The 5035L-iB server is based on Supermicro's X7SLM-L single-processor serverboard with a long embedded chipset lifecycle. Supermicro says the platform delivers data security, reliability and performance with RAID support for up to four SATA (3.0 Gb/s) drives for up to 6TB of storage.

The X7SLM-L supports an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 and a PCI-Express x16 graphics connector, and the motherboard a PCI-Express x4 (in a x8 slot) and two legacy PCI slots, an IDE connector, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, and eight USB 2.0 connectors.

The SuperServer 5035L-iB's newly designed mini-tower chassis also includes design features for easy installation such as a toolless side panel and drive bays, 90-degree pivoting hard disk drive cage, and stamped motherboard support. Besides four 3.5-inch internal drive bays, the system also supports two external 5.25-inch bays, four I/O expansion slots, a toolless rear 9 cm pulse-width modulated fan for cooling and Kensington lock security to safeguard the system. Supermicro says its small footprint makes it perfect for office or home installations.

"These single-socket platforms combine industry-leading quality and energy efficiency to deliver the best possible value to our customers," said Supermicro president and CEO Charles Liang. "Our performance-optimized 5046A-XB system supports dual high-performance graphics cards via two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots to deliver superior performance for the most demanding image processing and visual applications. The SuperServer 5035L-iB is a truly optimized SOHO server and storage solution that brings enterprise-level quality and features to SOHO customers at a highly affordable price point."

The company is also touting the appliances’ energy-saving features, which have become a more powerful selling point thanks to focus in recent years on “green IT.” The 300-watt power supply in this SOHO server/storage solution is 80-Plus Bronze level certified, which means it achieves 85 percent or higher power efficiency. Besides being “earth-friendly” Supermicro says this energy-efficient system saves electricity and reduces end-users' TCO (total cost of ownership) by hundreds of dollars.

HP's Mini 1000

Netbook computers remind me of travel toothbrushes and portable air mattresses. You use them only when you need to move a lot, like when you're on the road or camping or running around at a trade show. They're just not nearly as functional or comfortable as the at-home version.

But when you're on the move and you need a real keyboard, a real Web browser and a full PC operating system, a netbook will save you no small amount of agony.

I put a new HP (NYSE: HPQ) Mini 1000 to the test while covering the Consumer Electronics Show this month. It's an event that had me and tens of thousands of others constantly running from one end of Las Vegas' massive convention center to the other, or hitching rides to other host locations miles away.


I have a 17-inch laptop that I suppose is technically "portable," but I generally consider it my "nice" computer, and it weighs something like 10 lbs. Taking that to CES would be kind of like carrying around a small, well-behaved baby. And the thought of composing full-length articles on an iPhone hurt my brain (if only Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) would make a wireless keyboard for it ...).

So for four days, the HP Mini 1000 became my constant companion.
Big Enough for Human Hands?

While it's possible to cram a much more robust machine into a tiny form factor, the Mini and other netbooks like it focus on delivering a small amount of power in a small footprint for a small price. The 1 GB version I have retails for $425 on HP's Web site, though it can sometimes be found for less on other sites and at retailers like Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) .

For a lot of users, the physical smallness of a netbook will be more of an obstacle than the computer's processing power. With that in mind, I chose the Mini over other netbooks on the market mainly because of its keyboard. I didn't want to hunt-and-peck using my index fingers. Some other netbooks -- Dell's (Nasdaq: DELL) Mini 9, for example -- have a slight bezel around the keyboard, which looks like a waste of space where the computer needs it the most. The HP's key layout, however, makes use of just about every millimeter of the 10.3 inches of width the Mini has going for it. The company says that results in a keyboard that's 92 percent as large as that of a standard laptop.


That missing 8 percent is noticeable at first. Each time I set fingers to keys and started typing, there were several missed strokes. But once I'd been at it for more than 10 seconds at a stretch, my hands would learn the space they were working in and adjust. Beyond that, typing was comfortable.

The Mini is available with two widescreen options: 8.9 inches and 10.1. The colors are clear, and the LED-backed brightness is powerful enough to use in daylight conditions. The Mini has no VGA or HDMI port, though there is a proprietary dock connector. Also, the screen unfortunately does not extend past about 120 degrees. That's fine if I was sitting at a table, but if the Mini was on my lap or I was trying to make do with a clear spot on the floor -- really quite common at CES -- then I couldn't get a comfortable viewing angle.

The speaker below the screen had no trouble working up a decent volume level, albeit with a fair amount of distortion. The built-in webcam seemed to require a surprising amount of light in order to display a good image. Even in a fairly well-lit room, the view was murky.

The touchpad below the keyboard is responsive, though its tiny size let my finger wander into the scroll zone a lot. It's also easy to accidentally touch the pad with your palm while you're typing; fortunately you can shut off the touchpad with one button.

Design-wise, the worst crime the Mini commits is placing the touchpad buttons to the sides of the pad rather than below it, something that a lot of netbook makers besides HP do. It's supposed to reduce size, but it raises frustration levels. My right thumb kept poking for buttons that weren't there, only to ask my left index finger for assistance. I don't usually have that tap-the-pad-for-a-left-click feature turned on, but I trained myself to use it on this computer, while my middle finger took the role of right-clicker. It all felt very awkward.
Processor: Think Kia, Not Maserati

Like just about every netbook computer that went on sale in 2008, the Mini relies on Intel's (Nasdaq: INTC) Atom processor. That's good for power -- the Atom is designed for efficiency, meaning it won't kill your battery after an hour of general use.

If fact, the battery on my Mini never left me high and dry at CES, though I did take along its tiny power brick and plugged in whenever I got a chance. For a more controlled test, I started with a full battery and set it to play video on maximum screen brightness. It lasted about 2 hours and 20 minutes.

The processor pulls Windows XP along nicely; booting up to the point at which I could launch the video player took a little over a minute. Most netbooks don't have the horsepower to run Vista, thus the older operating system. Some come with the option to have a Linux distro as your out-of-the-box OS. The Mini 1000 doesn't offer that option, but another model, the Mini Mi, has similar tech specs plus a Linux OS that HP calls "Mobile Internet." HP's warning: The Linux command line interface is disabled on that edition.

As the name of the category implies, netbook computers are built to surf the Net, usually a fairly light task for a PC. Other applications like video playback, OpenOffice and iTunes got along fine on the Mini, though stuff like advanced 3-D games and Photoshop just aren't going to happen.

The most basic Mini comes with 8 GB of solid-state disc space, but I recommend paying $25 more for the 16 GB SSD or 60 GB HDD. After adding programs like Firefox, OpenOffice, VLC Media Player and iTunes, I'd already racked up over 6 GB of baggage in total, which would leave little room for music, videos or other documents if I'd gone with the basic configuration. A portable external HDD may be a wise investment.
True Portability Costs Extra

At CES, I needed a notebook that would get me online, let me type for long stretches in reasonable comfort, get photos from my camera into an e-mail, and keep running between stops at power outlets, all without sending me to a chiropractor after schlepping it around for several days.

The HP Mini was up to the job, and at no point can I say I really missed having a full-sized notebook. However, what I did miss was something I couldn't solve simply by carrying a bigger laptop: ubiquitous connectivity. There were wireless connections available here and there in the convention center, but I didn't like having to resort to my phone to check the Web when I had a PC right next to me.

A netbook is built for Web surfing, yet everywhere you go you need to either hunt down some WiFi or pay a monthly fee for an aircard a smartphone tether. For some, that last solution might be worth it.

Intel News

Intel and Citrix Systems are looking to combine their virtualization and hardware management technologies into one overall offering that will make it easier to secure and manage multiple virtual machines running within one corporate client.

Citrix and Intel are planning to announce their joint development agreement Jan. 21. The collaboration between the two companies will combine Intel’s vPro technology – a chip bundle that makes managing and securing a laptop or desktop easier – along with Citrix’s virtualization technology, including the Xen hypervisor and other products such as Xen Desktop and XenApp.

The result is a desktop or laptop that can run several virtual environments that are secure and isolated from one another. At the same time, the IT department can manage the desktop image and software and operating system updates from a central, secure location, while allowing the user to benefit from the performance and graphics capabilities of their PC.

The key to this development is a hypervisor – the piece of software that makes virtualization possible – that resides bare metal within the PC’s firmware.

“What we are really trying to address are some of the core challenges and some of the core barriers that have kept client virtualization models and solutions from being adopted in the past,” said Gregory Bryant, vice president of Intel’s Business Client Group.

“What we want to offer are support for mobile and support for local execution of virtualization on the client so that the user experience is better,” Bryant added.

While Intel and Citrix announced their collaboration Wednesday, executives from both companies declined to discuss any specific products or road maps at this time. Citrix, which is developing the technology needed for client virtualization under the codename “Project Independence,” does not plan to offer specific products for the IT market until the second half of 2009.

While Citrix and Intel are working on their efforts to enhance client virtualization, VMware – still considered the leading provider of x86-based virtualization technology – is also working to offer a similar set of products for corporate clients. Later this year, VMware plans to offer similar technologies through its vClient and VMware View products that will not only offer client virtualization but also bring those same types of capabilities to other devices such as smart phones.

While many IT vendors have been talking about VDI or virtual desktop infrastructure solutions and products in 2008, what Intel and Citrix are offering is different but it does combine some aspects of what is found in VDI.

In the VDI model, the desktop image and applications are virtualized, managed and stored within a centralized data center and the image and applications are then transmitted or streamed to a thin-client PC or another device that sits on a person’s desk. While this model offers security and centralized management, it is difficult to access data when a user is not working within the corporate network. At the same time, employees lose out on the full desktop experience when it comes to processor and graphics performance.

In the model that Intel and Citrix are developing, the hypervisor sits bare metal within a PC’s firmware, which allows for better security since the different virtual machines are isolated from one another within the physical hardware. At the same time, a user can take advantage of the graphics and processing power of a fully functional desktop or laptop.

What Intel and Citrix are offering will also allow a user to work within a virtual machine that is no longer connected to the network. This is an important step since many enterprises are focusing more on mobility and allowing more employees to use laptops, which allows them to work from home or a remote location. When these remote users then reconnect to the corporate network, the information is synchronized and the IT department can then update the desktop image and run any necessary software or security updates.

The Citrix and Intel model uses some aspects of VDI by allowing the IT department to manage all the desktop images and applications within a centralized data center where the servers are also virtualized. At the same time, the IT department can bundle the operating systems and applications into a virtual appliance and send those resources out to the clients when needed.

The IT department can also set different polices, such as not allowing a laptop or desktop to access USB memory sticks.

“What you have is a virtual machine that is personal to the user and they can run whatever application they like,” said Ian Pratt, vice president of Advanced Products and Virtualization and Management at Citrix. “The second virtual machine, which is supplied by the company, is run by the IT administrators and kept separate.”

Since the hypervisor resides within the vPro chip bundle and the firmware of the individual PC, a company employee can keep a totally separate virtual machine that has personal information and that virtual environment is totally separate from the corporate desktop image. This allows employees to use their personal laptops for work, while create a more secure environment for bringing these outside notebooks within a corporate network.

This also allows Intel and its OEM partners to sell more expensive laptops that use the pricier vPro chip bundle. (Intel first began selling its vPro technology with desktops in 2006 and then began offering the chip bundle with laptops in 2007.)

The Citrix platform that will sit on top of the Intel vPro chip bundle will use the hardware hooks and capabilities that Intel has built into that platform as well as Intel VT virtualization technology. Intel and Citrix did not indicate if any PC vendors have signed up to offer these technologies within their corporate clients. However, Intel and Citrix both indicated that they hope to move the technology to handheld devices, such as smartphones, in the future.

In a discussion with reporters before the announcement, Intel did not indicate if another virtualization company wanted to develop virtualization on top of its vPro platform.

Maksimalisasi Baterai Ponsel

Ponsel dengan beragam fitur di dalamnya pasti memerlukan sebuah daya untuk dapat menghidupinya. Baterai berperan sangat penting bagi ponsel. Oleh karena itu butuh perhatian khusus agar ponsel anda dapat bekerja secara optimal, khususnya perhatian anda pada saat pertama kali membeli ponsel maupun baterai baru. Sayang jika ponsel dengan fitur yang komplit namun tidak dapat dimaksimalkan karena kendala baterai yang suka "ngedrop" atau cepat rusak dan tidak mampu bertahan lama. Sering charging dalam jangka waktu yang singkat secara tidak langsung membuat baterai anda cepat aus apapun jenis baterainya. Perlakukan baterai dengan baik untuk kualitas baterai yang handal. Dibawah ini tipsnya dan telah di uji pada berbagai merek ponsel dengan jenis baterai litium ion dan lithium polymer sesuai masing-masing spesifikasi ponsel dari vendor.
Dengan diawali kata bijak "SABAR itu BAIK, RIBET/RUMIT BUKAN BERARTI JELEK"

1. Saat pertama kali membeli unit ponsel ataupun baterai baru, baterai sudah terisi daya, namun tidak dalam kondisi full. Gunakan ponsel hingga daya menipis atau kurang lebih 10% segera matikan ponsel. Jangan langsung di charging, tunggu hingga 10-15 menit. Hal itu karena dimungkinkan karena masih adanya sisa putaran arus antara katoda dengan anoda.
2. Charging ponsel dalam keadaan mati selama 4 jam(minimal) atau 8 jam (maksimal) dan usahakan baterai dapat menyuplai daya ke ponsel setelah proses charging tersebut untuk mampu bertahan selama 2-4 hari untuk menjaga kinerja baterai dan menghindari dari ke-aus-an dini akibat charging pada jangka waktu yang singkat (tidak mengunakan fitur multimedia maupun jaringan(3G) ponsel yang ada secara berlebihan,matikan fungsi jaringan 3G jika tersedia)
3. Pada saat melakukan charging yang ke-2 sampai ke-4 ulangai langkah 1 dan 2. Hanya beda pada lamanya charging. Cukup 2.5-3 jam atau sesuai buku petunjuk manual.
4. Pada masa antara charging ke-1 hingga ke-4 lebih baik hindari dulu untuk melakukan koneksi dengan kabel usb yang memiliki fitur charging melalui kabel usb tersebut. Hal ini akan menyebapkan baterai mengalami charging yang setengah-setengah dan dapat merusak molekul dalam baterai, karena pada masa itu baterai ponsel anda tengah dalam proses maksimalisasi kinerja molekul-molekul yang ada.
5. Langkah berikutnya, patuhi apa yang tertera dalam buku petunjuk manual dalam hal menjaga dan memelihara baterai maupun ponsel milik anda (seperti ; hindari dari benturan, jatuh dsb)

Sekarang ponsel anda aktif dan terjaga kualitas penyuplai dayanya. Selamat