In the strictest sense; the term “mainframe computer” is generally regarded as meaning those computers that are compatible with the IBM System/360 series first introduced in 1965. Other very high-end computers that are not compatible with the IBM System/360 series are usually referred to as “servers”.

Now however; the term “mainframe computer” is typically used to refer to that group of high-end self-contained computers which incorporate copious numbers of built in “hot swap” capable redundant systems to provide added robustness as standard fare, as opposed to less well endowed server class computer systems.

The latter group includes collectives of grouped and associated computers known as server farms that may provide additional resilience through duplicated systems but on the whole do not provide the critical total internal system component redundancy of the mainframe computer.

If one feature or aspect of a mainframe computer was selected to be its defining characteristic then it would undoubtedly be reliable uptime. The vast majority of mainframe computers have provided continual service measured in years and in many instances decades of non-stop functionality.

Redundant Engineering

The major engineering feature of the modern mainframe computer that delivers this degree of reliable service is their considerable amount of redundant internal engineering. This is what gives mainframe computers their high reliability, tight security, extensive input/output facilities, strict backwards compatibility for older software, and high utilization rates (very little processing idle time) to support their characteristic massive throughput capabilities.

Hardware Servicing and Upgrades

In order for a mainframe computer to operate non-stop (run) for many years without interruption all repairs and hardware upgrades can and do take place during the normal operation of the mainframe computer. Once again this is another benefit that the inclusion of internal redundant hardware engineering makes possible.

Performance

Supercomputers; such as those at NASA's Columbia Advanced Computing Facility have their performance measured in terms of the number of floating point operations per second (flops) of which it is capable.

The standard yardstick by which the computational performance of a mainframe computer is measured and subsequently compared with itself at other times or against other mainframes is the number of sustained Millions of Instructions Per Second (MIPS) that it is capable of. As with supercomputers and flops performance the SI prefix system (Mega, Giga, and Peta etc) is also used when stating a mainframes MIPS performance to make these numbers more “human friendly”.

The smallest System z9 IBM mainframes today run at about 26 MIPS while the largest IBM System z10 mainframes can perform approximately 30,657 MIPS (or 30.6 Kilomips).

To give some idea of real world experience, a single mainframe may execute the equivalent of 10 to 100 or even more distributed processors' worth of business activity, however this is highly dependent on the workload. Merely counting processors to compare server platforms is extremely inaccurate.

Multiple Concurrent Operating Systems

Another aspect of the mainframe computer platform that I will only briefly touch on here is their ability to run or host not just one operating system at a time, but many. In this way a single mainframe computer can replace tens or even hundreds of smaller servers. In so doing administrative and management costs are greatly reduced yet at the same time still providing for superior scalability and reliability.

Processing Tasks

Mainframe computer processing has always tended to focus on problems which are limited by input/output and reliability ("throughput computing") as well as solving multiple business problems concurrently (mixed workload). In marked contrast to the supercomputer; which uses massive parallel processing to work on a single highly complex task, the mainframe computer generally makes use of its parallel processing capacity to simultaneously run multiple different less complex concurrent tasks.

Times haven't changed much as the types of tasks that mainframe computers usually perform today still revolve around the so called “mission critical” operations that require much repetitive or parallel processing such as correlation of data collected during a census or a survey, statistical processing and analysis, financial transaction processing (banks) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP).

Mainframe Computer Design and Performance Optimization

One of the major critical factors in mainframe processing performance is due to the very nature of the types of tasks that it performs because these tend to involve considerable use of external data sources (input).

Thus; in order to optimize performance, mainframes are built with designs that incorporate numerous ancillary “service” processors whose job it is to supply the main processing core processors with a regulated, steady and persistent stream of data to process and then to service the subsequent output requirements of the main processing core processors processing.

Some of these service processor tasks include cryptographic support, I/O handling, monitoring, notifications, logging, authentication and memory handling. The result is that the total processor count of a mainframe is much higher than would otherwise be obvious from many purely MIPS-based benchmarking measurements as the MIPS-based measurement generally does not include those instructions executed by the ancillary “service” processors just the overall machines productive throughput/output.

One side-effect of this is that adding processors to a mainframe computer will speed up the entire machine's performance over its entire workload transparently.

Fuzzy Marketing

In recent times there has been some blurring of the term "mainframe," with some PC and server vendors referring to their systems as "mainframes" or "mainframe-like." This is somewhat misleading as it is widely recognized by the larger players in the mainframe computer industry and academia alike that mainframe computers constitute a class of computer genuinely demonstrably different from all other classes of computational platforms.

Mainframe Pricing

Historically mainframes have earned a reputation for being rather expensive but this is no longer the case. It is now possible to buy and configure a complete IBM mainframe system (with software, storage, and support), under standard commercial use terms, for about $50,000 (U.S.). The price of z/OS starts at about $1,500 (U.S.) per year, including 24x7 telephone and Web support while z10 BC systems start at around $100,000 US.

In addition; many vendors including HP Unisys, HP, Groupe Bull, Fujitsu, Hitachi, and NEC now primarily use commodity Intel CPUs rather than custom processors. This has dramatically reduced their development costs and many have also cut back on their commitment to mainframe software developed for similar reasons some time back and the current economic climate will only add further pressure to continue this trend for sometime into the near future.

Combined these factors all point to a competitive if somewhat stagnant development climate for the mainframe computer with the only real impetus being supplied by IBM who has its own large research and development organization designing their own new, homegrown CPUs; including mainframe processors. IBM is currently expanding its software business; including its mainframe software portfolio.

The company takes the view that with a dramatic reduction in effective competition from its rivals it's open season for them with regards to mainframes. From a future perspective I guess IBM believes that things will improve and when they do they will be in such a dominant position they will not have anything to fear from any potential competition no matter what form it takes.

Conclusion

Above all else it is their reliability that defines and identifies the mainframe class of computer platform with uninterrupted service histories measured in many numbers of years. Many of the current IBM mainframe computers have been working non-stop for over a decade now. Not bad value for the dollar.

To begin with, try right clicking the toolbar at the bottom. Then, click properties. This will bring up the taskbar properties screen. Here you can make changes, like hide the clock or lock the task bar in place by clicking the boxes.

Also, try selecting the adjacent tab. The start menu tab will allow you to select from two, the default and a classic style, which will be more like older versions. You can also select the customize button which will allow for further customization. You can change the icon sizes, make the smaller by selecting that option or reduce the number of programs on the start menu.

A simple short cut key, to access the start menu is on the keyboard. Usually it is located on left side and has a window icon on it. Press it, and the start menu will appear for you.

To get to the display properties quickly, first right click on the desktop. Then, on the small menu you can click on the properties tab. This will present the various display tabs and options available.

I would recommend you try downloading some skins. This will change the appearance of the desktop, and icons, like switching to the classic style. Try a Vista skin, to make XP seem like a more recent version!

At any rate, you can try out some effects by using the appearance tab, in the display box. Visit the display properties again, and select the appearance tab. Here, clicking on effects will bring up a few options that can be checked. Try changing the font to clear type. Alternatively, you can change the transition effects for menus by using the effect options available.

Another tip, make use of the system restore. For example, if you end up accidentally uninstalling an application of some sort. Instead of installing the whole program again, just restore the system to when it was installed.

There are of course, many more tips, tricks and short cuts available. There are a number of keyboard shortcuts that will access menus of some description, which you can try. The final tip, you can use the help guide on the OS to get more tips on customisation and shortcuts (windows key + f1). Overall, these are a few that you can use, to customize some aspects of the windows and desktop.

I think I installed most of the popular "flavours" of Linux at the times, such as SUSE, Mandrake (now mandriva), Red Hat, Knoppix, debian, freeBSD and others

However, recently after a year or two of not trying any Linux distributions and having only the super insecure Windows XP on my laptop, I decided that with the many constant frustrations, including the bloated feel of Windows, to test out a version of Linux.

Deciding which one to try came down to SUSE, Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Puppy Linux, Knoppix, Mint, PCcentos.

OpenSUSE 11.0 desktop.

I was considering Puppy Linux as I have read it to have good hardware support, but I decided against it because I want a fully fledged operating system, not one that is designed for portability.

I decided against Mint or PCcentos because I didn't like the default MS Windows desktops styles, which I know they can be fully customised, but I was feeling shallow like that. However, I am considering trying out one of these, if they have Live-CD's.

Linux Mint 5.0

My final decision came down to either Ubuntu with the gnome desktop environment or it's KDE brother Kubuntu. In the past I had always been a fan of KDE due to it's customisability and general feel, and on the one occasion I tried gnome out, I didn't like it. But for some reason, at the last minute I decided to download the Live-CD and try out Ubuntu.

Ubuntu 8.10

On loading Ubuntu from the live-CD, I was impressed with the slickness and feel of the desktop, and programs such as the nautilus file manager amongst other things. Also, researching things, I was impressed by the support and community for Ubuntu on the Internet.

After, playing around I decided to install Ubuntu. Initially, I had some problems trying to resize my Windows dominance of the hard-drive, and had to download and use a freeware partition tool in Windows. But this worked, and I partitioned my hard-drive giving the majority of space to Ubuntu. I decided to keep Windows XP, just in case of problems.

Installation was great and easy. The only problems being with my ATI Radeon graphics card and the lack of support from ATI, which means the proprietary driver doesn't work as good as it can, but I can still play 3D games in Linux, maybe it's a mixture of my laptop being a few years old and also the ATI driver.

Advantages:
1. Security, the lack of Linux viruses means I don't need a virus scanner, and also even though I have installed a firewall (Firestarter) it's not really needed, especially with a hardware firewall.
2. Speed, I find that booting up, and especially loading the desktop is sooo much faster, the Windows XP was taking extremely long to load the desktop and all the items in the taskbar, even after I had changed many settings and tried to improve performance. I have improved the performance of Ubuntu even further by changing the booting options, such as removing bluetooth support (my laptop doesn't have it) and changing the start-up programs. The open-office software did initialy take a few more seconds too load than I wanted, but after changing the softwares memory and java options, it loads in a matter of a few seconds.

Also, loading programs like Firefox is extremely quicker.
3. Support, the ubuntuforums are very helpful and friendly and there are also many other websites I have visited for news, tips, help and ideas.
4. Choice of software. Ubuntu comes with many default programs installed for every type of activity, but thousands of more programs are available from the Ubuntu repositories.
5. Cost, Ubuntu and the software is free and open source.
6. Customisability, unlike Windows, which gives you one desktop environment, where the only customisation that can be realistically done, is change a few colours. Ubuntu and Linux operation systems allow you to change ANYTHING about it. There are many website that offer various items to change gnome, from the login screen to the panels (like the star bar in Windows) to how gnome works. Don't like the gnome desktop? why not remove it and install another one like KDE or one of the other ones designed for speed.
7. Ease of use, Ubuntu has been designed to be user friendly, for example searching and installing new programs is as easy as running a program (Synaptic Package Manager) which lists thousands of programs available, and choosing which one, the the software will automatically install it for you as well as any other needed files to run it. Very easy.

For me, a semi-power-user, the only disadvantages for me personally, are the lack of video/audio chat for MSN messenger, as I use MSN messenger in Windows to talk family back home in the UK, but this is really the fault of Microsoft and not Ubuntu or Linux, so maybe I will try out Skype. Also, the lack of dvd, mp3 and video playback could be considered a disadvantage, but this was fixed in a matter of a few short minutes, by quickly opening up the package manager and selecting install restricted drivers.

Example:

We can compare the operating system with our soul. All of us have soul. Without the soul we all are dead like that operating system is the soul for the computer hardware. Our soul does a lot of internal functions but we are unaware of it. Likewise OS does a lot of internal functions in the computer hardware.

Functions of Operating System:

Like mentioned above Operating System does a lot of functions (internally) to maintain the computer systems stability. We can able to classify the functions into 4 categories.

1. Memory Management
2. Process Management
3. Device Management
4. File Management

(1) Memory Management:

Memory is one of the important parts as far as the computer is concerned. It is a temporary storage. The contents of the memory will be available as long as the power is switched on. When the power goes off the memory looses the contents available in it. Some people have the doubts regarding the difference between memory and storage. Memory is temporary whereas the storage is permanent. Storage retains its contents even though the power is switched off. OS performs the memory management by adopting various memory management algorithms. Its main objective is to manage multiple programs in the memory during their execution.

Example:

In the real time, black board can be regarded as a main memory. We can use chalk or marker to write contents in the black board. Once we are done, it can be erased and cleaned up, like the memory.

Paper can be regarded as storage. If we use ball point pen to write in the paper then the contents written in the paper remains for a long while. It is one of the real time examples for the storage.

(2) Process Management:

The central processing unit is the most important part of the computer. It is like a traffic controller. The control of the whole system is done with the help of CPU. The major function of the operating system is to maintain and manage central processing unit. OS uses various algorithms like LRU, FIFO to manage processes.

Example:

We can take traffic controller standing in a traffic signal as a good example for Process Management. The job of the traffic controller is to process all the traffic without any traffic jam or accident. Likewise the job of the process management is to process all the processes without any collision or deadlock.

(3) Device Management:

Device Management deals with Hard Disk which is the main storage as far as computer systems are concerned. In this the operating system plays a vital role in storing, manipulating, retrieving data from the Hard Disk. All these are attained by Operating System by using various Disk Scheduling Algorithms.

Example:

We can take store keeper in any normal stores as an example for Device Management. The job of the store keeper is to store the things which are given to him, whenever needed he picks up the things from where he kept and delivers to the customer. Likewise Device Management stores the data to the hard disk, and retrieves them as and when needed.

(4) File Management:

File Management deals with creating, manipulating, editing, modifying, deleting of files. Almost everybody who uses the computers for their work uses files. So it becomes one of the vital functions for Operating System to carry out these functions in an efficient and effective manner. The File Management does it effectively.

Example:

Take Clark or any Executives as example, their primary work will be to create and manipulate important files, Submit them to the high authorities as and when required. Likewise File Management manages files and returns to the user as and when needed. It uses several algorithms for storing and retrieving files from the storage.

All the functions which are mentioned above are core functions of an operating system, except these OS does many more functions. In a single word we can describe an Operating System as a “Supervisor” which supervises all the activities which occurs in any computer systems. Now a days Operating Systems are used in Robots, Cell Phones and many other areas. It delivers optimum service wherever it is used.

R. Rajesh

Microsoft has recently released a new version of Windows, Vista, (released on January 30, 2007) that has been making people rethink whether they should stay with the Windows operating system. Although there are many pros and cons to Vista, there seems to be more pros than cons this time around. The first con is, the operating system itself takes up a large amount RAM, which means that programs won't be able run as quickly or efficiently. The second con is, Vista crashes a lot and there are incredibly slow loading times, especially during the startup. One pro, is that there is a completely new interface that is more attractive and easier to use. Although this is clearly a just an aesthetic change, it is number one on the list because it is always great to have something prettier to look at. The second pro is… well there really isn't one. There aren't very many pros to Vista and the cons far out weigh the pros.

Apple may be most famous for there iPod and most recently the iPhone, but what most people don't realize is that they have an awesome computer line as well. The current Apple operating system OS X, has many good things and many bad, but it may be just what you are looking for. First, there is the entertainment aspect of computing. If you have a large amount of videos, music, or any other media, OS X makes it very easy to organize it and use in the way that you want. Then you can play them all in iTunes very easily. Second, there is the lack of third-party software. Although there are very good applications made by Apple, not as many companies are programing for Apple. Since Microsoft has been more widely accepted by the work and home community, more programs are available for the Windows operating system. More developers are slowly making software cross-platform for both Mac and PC. Finally, there is that fact that there are absolutely no viruses in OS X. I am not sure how Apple has been able to keep viruses out of there systems, but there is no way at all to get a virus. Unless you use Boot Camp to install Windows on your system, then it is possible. (but why would you want to do that?)

Windows may have been on top for a while, but as time goes on it seems that Apple has begun to move its way up. Apple has a great way of arranging your various media and there are no viruses. Yet, all the Microsoft has is a new GUI. Microsoft may still be better in the workplace, as it has always been, but as a home entertainment system, many people should consider switching.

Step 1: Partitioning Purposes

Most of the desktops or laptops are available in preinstalled partitions as in Windows, Linux, and other operating systems. However, the partition is almost always fixed as one huge Drive C, or two partitions of Drive C and D which will take up most of the hard disk spaces.

Before beginning to partition your PC into several portions that you desire, make sure that you know how many partitions you need, how much space to allocate for each of them and what you want to use for the partitions.

You may want to separate the operating system files from other files such as MP3 folders, data files, Internet Downloads, image folders, audio files, or game folders. Or you may want to have multiple copies of the same operating system, or you just want to create a multi-boot system with different operating systems.

For your information, you can create up to four primary partitions in each hard disk. If you use an extended partition combined with logical partitions, you can create as many as 16 partitions. Nevertheless, in most cases, two or three partitions are just more than enough for most computer Geeks.

Step 2: Preparing for the Partition

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Prior to partitioning, let's do a bit “stock clearing” to make things easier. Firstly, you should use the Scandisk tool to scan the partition (say Drive C or Drive D or both drives) in your PC for errors. To do this, click Start, Run and then press the Enter button. In the Open box, type sfc/scannow and click OK.

Secondly, you should ensure that there is enough free space in your PC. To achieve this goal, you can start by eliminating or archiving all unnecessary or unwanted files by uninstalling them.

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Next, run the Disk Cleanup tool to free up more spaces. To do this, click Start, Run and press the Enter button. Now, type cleanmgr in the Open box and click OK. To clear up all junk files, you should delete items in Download Program Files, Recycle Bin, and any other items which are labeled as “temporary.”

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After the third step, now proceed to run Disk Defragmenter so that you can consolidate the partition's free space. Click Start, Run and press Enter. In the Open box, type dfrg.msc and click OK.

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Take note that if you're in Windows, you should alert with the size and volume label of the partition that you will plan to shrink. Click Start and My Computer to obtain this info.

Step 3: Backup your Existing Partition

At this step, you should know that the idea of using partition software such as Parted Magic is to avoid you from the hassle of deleting your existing partitions or formatting the hard disk. However, you should take notice that either shrinking partitions or partitioning a disk will involve a degree of a risk. Therefore, you are recommended to backup your important data or files prior to the partition. To know more about how to do step-by-step backup procedures for both Window XP and Vista, you can surf to this website here.

Step 4: Downloading and Creating Disc

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For you partition purpose, download Parted Magic software, which is the live CD ISO File, which is a bootable Linux-based image. You can download this software here. Look for its filename which is pmagic-2.2 iso and its file size is roughly 45MB. After you have downloaded the file, remember to locate this file in a separate folder, say, “c:\pmagic”.

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After downloading the iso file for Parted Magic, you must convert your newly acquired iso file to a bootable CD. You can create the bootable CD either using your existing CD burning software, or a freeware such as ImgBurn. Next, click Write image file to disk as shown above. Once this is completed, the CD should be removed to the bootable optical drive on your PC. You can download ImgBurn here.

Step 5: Disconnecting your Unnecessary Drives

Before carrying out this step, make sure you shut down your computer and disconnect all unnecessary devices and storage drives. These may include USB flash drives, external hard disks, card readers and extra hard disks. This step is essential to be taken in order to accelerate Parted Magic's boot time and its device detection process. Removing unnecessary drives are vital to prevent you from accidentally changing partitions on the wrong hard disks or drives.

Step 6: Booting Parted Magic CD

Photo credit: Kenny

Now, you should insert the Parted Magic bootable CD that you created in step 4 into your optical drive, and configure your system to boot from this drive. Just before the Windows starts, remember to hit the key sequence or the special key to access BIOS settings (you'll always be prompted on screen). Under Boot option, you should select optical drive or CD drive, and then exit BIOS.

Next, you'll see the Parted Magic Boot Options Menu at the beginning of the boot procedure. You should now select the Default setting (Runs from RAM/ Ejects CD) unless you've a system with less than 256MB of RAM. After you made your selection, the OS will copy itself into your system memory and boot into the front end interface. After some point, the CD tray will eject (that means you can put it away because it is no longer needed for the rest of the process) and is now fully operating from RAM.

Step 7: Launching GParted (Parted Magic)

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After completing the boot process, you should see the Parted Magic as shown above. Next, you should launch GParted by clicking on its icon, the one which looks like a hard disk (the first icon from its list of detected device). Then, you've to wait for a while as there'll be a little delay. This is because GParted scans for available devices before it is ready to use.

Step 8: Selecting your Task

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From the main window of GParted, select the targeted drive. Automatically, GParted will select the first storage device it detects. From the toolbar, use the drop-down list to choose the correct drive, if the drive is other than the default selection. After selecting the drive, a graphical view of its partition scheme will be displayed in the main window. Now, you can choose the partition that you want to shrink. This is the largest NTFS partition which is usually called /dev/hda1. Make sure its label and size matches the partition info from step 2.

Step 9: Resizing the Partition

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From GParted's toolbar, click the Resize/Move button, and the “Resize/Move/dev/” dialog box will open. The color-coded indicator guides you to shrink the partition. The yellow block marks the amount of data used on the partition. You're advisable to leave enough space to the right of this mark while choosing to resize the partition. In this example, we'll resize the NTFS partition from 38.1GMB to 20.5GB.

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Click the Resize/Move button at the bottom right, and you'll return to GParted main window. Notice that the graphical view of the disk has changed, and previously-grayed-out options on the toolbar are now enabled.

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The status bar in the window's lower-left corner will also report a “Operation Pending” message. To complete the operation, that is to resize the NTFS partition, choose the Apply button in GParted's toolbar. Before any actual operations take place, a window will pop up asking you to back up your data. You can click Cancel, or click Apply to continue.

Step 10: Creating New Partition

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The unallocated drive space is now available for partitioning after shrinking the main partition. Click on the unallocated remaining on the drive, and click on the New button to bring up the “Create New Partition” dialog box.

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In the new dialog box, choose Primary partition instead of extended partition in the Create as: section. You can also key in a volume label in the Label: section. The new partition will take up all remaining space on the hard disk by default, so you should resize it if you plan to add another partition. Click Add to complete this step and to return to GParted's main window.

Step 11: Exit Parted Magic

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Your new window is now updated with the new partition. At this point, you can exit Parted Magic and reboot into windows by clicking on the exit button at the bottom right corner.

Step 12: Rebooting into Windows

When you're in the boot process, Windows will warn about disk problems and run Chkdsk. Do not be panicked; instead, you just allow it to complete the tests and verify the partition. When completing the loading, Windows will detect the new partition and report “new hardware found.” Next, it will prompt you to reboot the system. After the reboot process, the new partition will appear in the list of storage devices in My Computer, in which it'll be assigned a new drive letter, typically E: or D:. Now, you've successfully partitioned your hard disk. And you can now use it just like any other hard disk.

"Tux" in geekdom implies penguins. And penguins in the computer world could only mean LINUX!

A "Distro" is an abbreviation of "Distribution" meaning one of either:

• 1) A package of the Linux kernel with a desktop interface and numerous programs
• 2) A set of software components, typically (but not necessarily) open source components, that have been packaged into a larger product or component

Dating Linux distros

I started out using a Linux distro called "Puppy". It was fun, fast, a very small download. I learned a little bit about Linux and became hooked. It reminded me of the good ol' carefree days of DOS. I lived in DOS, the pre-WINDOWS "Disk Operating System" that was the only way to do anything in a computer back in the day of i286 and earlier

I was liking it. Linux can be fun and you get a sense of "being involved" with what is happening with your computer.

I switched to "DSL" ("Damn Small Linux") for a while. Then, -what did I try next? I forget. I casually dated a few available Linux distros but I ended up almost going steady with a relatively newcomer, "PCLinuxOS". We had an off and on relationship for several months. More off-&-on, I'm afraid. My ex, -that's "XP" to most people, still had a strong hold over me.

Then, I switched to Ubuntu. I don't why or what inspired me to try Ubuntu. I just have this secret crush on Linux and good things were being said about Ubuntu. More than an anti-MS diatribe, the whole concept of "open source" appeals to me on some primary level and I wanted some. The same could be argued of any Linux Distro but the Ubuntu mantra of "It Just Works" appealed deeply and isn't that the Holy Grail of a computer's Operating Systems? That they "just work"?

Growing pains

But with Ubuntu I had this nagging problem that it returned errors on start-up trying to mount ("install drivers" for) my USB ports. It "searched" for about a minute to find an appropriate driver I guess before failing, returning an error message and then moving on to the NEXT USB port, etc. I have six USB ports. So, to boot Ubuntu took about 6 or 7 minutes it seemed (probably a bit less than, but easily 3X longer than XP!)

I could not really get any "help" with this, -even in the Ubuntu forums the best answer that anyone could provide was a sincere "...what a wonderful opportunity for you to learn something new!" And yeah, their glass really is half-full. I didn't really NEED my USB ports as much as I needed Ubuntu to start-up in under 7-minutes. That is what I needed.

These people were of course, completely and undeniable correct about the "you could learn" bit. But I wasn't after a learning experience, I wanted a faster boot and solving the USB error messages was how to achieve this. What I wanted (and let's be brutally honest) was a handout FIX. A "download this and run it" solver patch. Whatever. Even a "cheat sheet" would suffice. A 'do this, this and then do this, and voilá! FIXED!'

-Wasn't happening' folks. I should have figured this out. Yes, I may have missed an important opportunity to LEARN something useful. Ubuntu is an awesome distro but that it was not working right pained me too much. I wanted it to, well, keep it's vows and ...just work

Little sister Kubuntu

So, just over a week ago I switched to KUBUNTU. I have heard that is is very easy to learn, etc.

Well, the USB ports were now being recognized and the interface was pretty awesome, beautiful and pristine. Yet, it is seemed MORE confusing than even UBUNTU! There are just too many choices. KDE has been around longer than GNOME so there's more support for it just because there are more programs for it. But that isn't necessarily a GOOD thing, is it, -too many choices? (A rhetorical question. I am not expecting any challenges and they will go un-answered if there are any). It just felt to me that KUBUNTU has this "clunkiness" about it. That it seemingly struggled to do anything. For example, for two days I played around with the CD-player AMORAK trying to get something in the way of music out of my CD-player. Come to find out, it was working, -I just had to turn the sound up to 100% to actually HEAR anything! Rather faint, but there was sound. Granted, my sound card is a cheapie but it WORKS and it should be quite audible at even 50%...

So, in desperation, I found and installed old flame http://www.pclinuxos.com/ PCLinuxOS 2007. Okay... WOW!!!! They changed a LOT of things with PCLinuxOS! A new desktop, faster load-time, -a new attitude! The whole experience is slipstreamed

PCLinuxOS is still KDE, the "K-Desktop Environment" and while I am the most comfortable using the other environment "GNOME", this has a welcoming feeling about it. I can learn this

I have read that PCLinuxOS was originally based upon Mandrake 9.2 but later changed to Mandriva 2007. Maybe this is the notable change I mentioned? I'm pretty sure that this isn't the same distro that I used over a year ago. It is better!

More Praise for PCLinuxOS

It's very slick, smooth, -even more so than before. Easy to use, intuitive, almost sublime! For me it loads in about one-minute fifteen seconds to the "log-on" screen and another 15-seconds for me to type my phat-def password in and then, I'm using Linux again. A "under 2-minute start-up" beats Ubuntu/Kubuntu's 3 and 5+minute respectively start-up times!

In fairness, the faults here are probably all mine. Other people have not had the difficulty with the Ubuntu/Kubuntu distros as I have. Or, -maybe they have? I don't know. I have not been to the Ubuntu forum in awhile. But I'm definitely going to drop by the PCLinuxOS boards. I like my new Operating System. A lot

Instead of 'It just works' and "It just works, barely", I've gone back to "PCLinuxOS" and likely here I shall stay for a long, long time. They herald PCLinuxOS as "the distro-hopper stopper". I readily concur

The opinions expressed in this article, while biased and probably to be taken somewhat lightly, are free to become your own. That is "open source". I recommend anyone interested in trying Linux to give PCLinuxOS a chance.

How do you switch between programs and files in Microsoft Office? If you want to switch from word to any other program from the readings in Office 2003, it shows you that a person must click on the button labeled document on the taskbar. That is when the program will move in front of the last viewed document. If you wanted to switch back follow the same rules that was stated above. Simple format is just to click the icon on the taskbar with the name of the program you want to switch too. In office 2003 textbook it tells you how to switch program when you are in word and excel. You would click on the Microsoft excel book which will look darker than the other applications. Then you can click on the word application if the Name of the document is not visible. When you click on the icon on the toolbar the software will come to front. If you wanted to switch from to running files in the same program in the upper right hand corner is three boxes that tells the software what to do with the documents. If you click on the straight line that will make the document smaller, if you click on the box it will make the document larger, and finally if you was to click on the x which is some times read that will close the document. These functions are found in all of Microsoft applications underneath the software functions, which may be at the top of the screen. You must be careful not to click the wrong boxes because that may turn off the program. So make sure you stay in the program and click the second set of boxes on the upper right hand corner of the program.

What is a task pane? Provide examples of three different types of task panes. In most Office software the task pane is a window that provides access to commands for common tasks. There are many different types of task panes that offices uses to help you work through the software. One task plane is search results, where help topics can relate to entered keywords, which can enable you to initiate a new search. You also have the Clipboard plane, this allows you paste some or all of the items that have been cut or copied from any office program during the session you are working on. Office always has the help task pane that is available to search online and offline for help while using the office software.

What are the different methods you can use to obtain help in Microsoft Office? Why you are lost and need help with a certain application you can use the screen tips, which are fast and simple methods for someone to get the help they need. If a person was really lost they can use the help box and type in the question that they need to be solved. The help task pane is a pane that enables you to search for help. You can click the start button, then search results, and type in the problem and your P.C. will help find a solution.

What are the different types of Window controls? What is the purpose of each? There are many different type of window controls that affect all of Office Software, but here are some of them that you should find in most or all of Office software: New window, Split, and arrange all. When you click on the new window icon you are creating a new window to place more information on document that do not include the persisting documents. When you click on the split window option, you get a tool bar that will spit the document into two separate documents. Then the arrange option take and arrange the entire document that you created in order and save them.

Conclusion, these are simple functions to navigate your self through the Office Program. Where show you how do you switch between programs and files in Microsoft Office? What is a task pane? Provide examples of three different types of task panes. How do you navigate between task panes? What are the different methods you can use to obtain help in Microsoft Office? What are the different types of Window controls? What is the purpose of each?

Over the course of the next few days I will be presenting a series of articles dealing with the many and varied aspects, concerns, issues, strategies, policies, threats and countermeasures that constitute password security.

Many systems today, still rely on password only authentication. Thus, defending yourself and your organization against the ravages of breaches of password security becomes of heightened importance. Having a single point of failure/attack (the logon name/password combo) does leave one more exposed to the efforts of cybercrime.

Honesty - Being True to Yourself

If you are not going to assess your current password security status honestly then do not even bother. You will probably just waste a whole pile of blood sweat and tears on useless ineffective time consuming misdirected and most definitely misguided pies in the sky.

The type of honesty that I refer to is the kind of honesty that is so necessary to a realistic and accurate assessment of your current password security status. Assess yourself honestly. You do not have to let anyone else know the details of your dirty laundry.

So please, do yourself a favor and do this right. For, only after appraising your current password security status will you be able to identify areas of weakness that need prompt attention.

Hard Password Copies (Paper)

Maintaining a hard copy (paper) of your passwords and locking it in your desk is not as secure a practice as you might think. You cannot guarantee that nobody will attempt to break into your desk. The locks on most desks are merely a trivial inconvenience to those with a little know how.

An envelope opener and a matter of five to ten seconds tops is usually all that it takes to open the majority of desk drawers. Failing to lockup your desk compounds the crime. It may save damage to your desks lock but will do nothing to save your password hard copy.

Do not leave a hard copy of your passwords in close association and physical proximity to your computer e.g. on your desk or beside PC or monitor. It is a very bad idea. Leaving a hard copy of your logon and password details in open public view is worse. Then again, the practice of writing your logon name and password on a post-it-note and attaching the post-it-note to the PC or monitor is probably the worst of all.

Human laziness, carelessness and a casual attitude toward security, particularly where user accounts are concerned is one of the most pervasive issues facing security on an ongoing basis. It is no secret that over the years, post-it-notes along with other password hard copies have provided a profitable source of information to would be password attackers.

Recommended countermeasures concerning practices relating to hard copies of passwords and other authentication credentials should not be necessary since the best advice of all is that you should never maintain a hard copy of authentication details period.

Electronic, Magnetic and Optical Password Copies

While not as risky as maintaining hard copies of your authentication details considerable care needs to be taken when storing electronic, magnetic or optical copies of this information. You should always encrypt authentication data when storing it in an electronic, magnetic or optical format.

As with paper hard copies, any physical copy of any data is liable to additional risk of theft. Many thieves find it easier to steal physical objects compared to electronic objects. They may consider your PC to big to put in their pocket but CDs, USB flash drives, floppies disks and external hard drives are another matter all together.

Recommendations to help protect the electronic, magnetic and optical physical copies of your data will always begin with physical security measures such as using data vaults, lock and key and off-site storage etc. You should also only store this information in an encrypted format to increase your data protection strategies. Password locking files is also important.

Security-In-Depth

Using a security-in-depth strategy entails the implementation of more than one mechanism in your defenses. You can build defenses based around password authentication to open a channel after which you use additional passwords to gain additional access privileges.

Here is an example to illustrate the security-in-depth approach using password authentication systems. You log onto the network using one password, which in association with your logon user name will, once authenticated, allow you access to basic network assets, services and resources.

If some time later you need access to a resource requiring a higher privilege level, such as a database, you may need to supply another user name with a different password. In this way, we now have a two-tiered hierarchy of access privileges to specific resources. Still password-based but immeasurably more secure than just a one password accesses all system provides.

Now suppose you wish to gain access to sensitive information held within that database. In which case, you will need to supply another different user name and password. A third layer of password protection access has now taken place.

Your level of security has increased yet again and the best bit is that it is not going to cost you anything. Most operating systems, including Windows, Linux and Apple MAC along with specialty application software (MS Word, Open Office, security suites etc), will support this strategy natively out of the box.

A classic example of this would be your email account. Your operating system will supply the first password protected authentication level at logon. Your email service provider will require another password protected authentication when you wish to check your email.

WARNING: A word of caution however, most email password authentication processes occur unencrypted which is a very bad idea. Anybody with a “packet sniffer” utility can capture the traffic and view it in plain text at their leisure.

To overcome this you can configure more secure communications channels of use multifactor authentication systems, which I do recommend. They will be the topic of my next article.

Conclusions

NEVER disclose account information such as logon names and passwords. At all times and under all circumstances you must ensure that this type of information (authorization credentials) remains known only to your security, administration and support personal and then only on a need to know basis.

NEVER keep hard copies of passwords and other authentication details. It is a practice wrought with danger.

ALWAYS store data in an encrypted format

ALWAYS afford authentication credentials maximal protection and spare no effort in these endeavors, as they will deliver heightened levels of security across the board to your entire system/network

ALWAYS implement multiple layers of password-protected authentication. A security-in-depth approach is applicable to practically every system with a little careful planning.

Until next time when I will discuss multifactor authentication systems, enjoy!

The Server Computer Platform

Put simply a server is a computer that is running a network operating system (NOS) and other software that enables it to service requests from other computers known as clients. This is a two-way state in that the client and the server are determined at any point in time depending upon their relationship at that point in time.

A server computer may get a request from another computer (client) but in order to fulfill that client's request it may itself need to request services from another server computer and so becomes the client of the second server computer. Another paradox is that a computer can fulfill the role of client and server itself.

For example, suppose a network computer is running both a web server and directory services server software (such as Microsoft's Active Directory). The web server receives a request for a service or access to an asset or resources.

The web server software needs to verify that the entity making the request is entitled to have that request fulfilled before it (the web server) can fulfill the request. In order to determine the requesting entities authorisation and access status the web server software asks the directory services server software (running on the same machine) to perform the authentication verification service.

Thus, we have a machine that is at once both a server and a client. Essentially, a server is a computer much like any other in that it consists of two primary components: server hardware and server software. It is the exact mix and type of these hardware and software components that determine the capabilities of the server.

Server Computer Hardware

Let us begin by looking at the types of hardware typically found in a server class computer. As already discussed, any computer including a standard desktop PC can act as a server.

However, due to the nature of activities and functional behaviors expected from a server, the server is usually far better hardware wise endowed than a typical client workstation or general-purpose computers are. After all the server is expected to serve many clients and usually simultaneously at that.

Thus, servers typically tend to be more robust with higher-grade hardware components that are faster, larger, more reliable, have with fewer frills and eye-candy than is the case with the typical workstation or desktop PC computer hardware components.

Due to the nature and types of services that the servers are running it is generally the case that some of them will be classifiable as being “mission critical” from the perspective of those availing themselves of the server's services.

For these reasons, server platforms tend to have multiple redundant computer hardware systems built-in along with “hot swap” capabilities. The last thing wanted from a server is downtime. They also come with considerably more performance enhancing and service availability related computer hardware including:

• Multiple large “hot swap” capable hard disk drives (RAID arrays)
• Copious quantities of memory (RAM)
• Multiple CPUs - The more compute power the better
• Multiple redundant power supply units (PSU) tend to be the norm
• Multiple high-speed network interface cards (NIC) also are common depending on the intended functionality of the server for example as a firewall in an environment with one or more De-Militarized Zones (DMZ)

Computer Server Software

There are three classes of computer server software the Network Operating System (NOS), Server Applications and Administrative Software.

The Network Operating System Software

The Network Operating System includes features such as built-in support for; file sharing, print serving, backup, restoration and security are common to all network operating systems. Some may come with a web server or e-mail server built-in, others do not. Security features are included.

I have already covered the features offered by network operating systems in the article entitled “Network Operating System Features” so I will not reiterate here.

Server Applications Software

Traditional and new server specific software applications now often called Enterprise Class Applications. Many of these software applications are familiar to many users. For example, the Microsoft Office Suite, Adobe Photoshop, Multi-Media Applications, etc. are all software applications familiar to the majority of us.

The big difference between the stand-alone versions that we know so well and these “server/enterprise” versions is “optimization”. The server/enterprise versions of the software are “optimized” to run on the servers where they may be configured as a service (SaaS) or as a remote processing software application.

Today we are hearing a lot about Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Simply put this means that the user makes a processing request and the server performs all necessary tasks then delivers the result to the user. All data stays at the server computer side. This is all a bit like incremental updating.

Another aspect of this server/enterprise class of software applications is that of concurrent instances. Here is a capacity that allows many users to access the same software applications and run the same services concurrently with many other users.

Most of us are aware that a web server can service many hundreds of concurrent users but most are unaware that this applies to virtually all software configured and optimized to run as a service (SaaS).

Some very special instances even allow multiple users to concurrently, operate on the same file. A number of users could be editing the same word document for example. Yes, there are issues inherent in this but I will leave that for another article.

Administrative Server Software

Administrative server software provides the administrative support, management and tools that are necessary for the administration, management and evolution of the entire network operating system environment including all hardware, software, peripherals and network infrastructure devices.

They also allow for the distribution of software at various levels to various users all with different specific access rights, permissions and privileges. Centralized software distribution (administrator controlled) is the name given to this and it has the advantage of being available “on demand” such that only those users who will actually use a piece of software will have that software installed as and when they desire to use it.

The administrative group of server software includes as you guessed housekeeping and daily chores capabilities such as auditing, accounting and monitoring functionalities.

Network Operating System Support

Many server applications are operating system specific, That is; they are designed to run on a specific operating system such as Microsoft's Windows NT, Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server 2003, Novell NetWare and Linux to name but a few. They may or may not be compatible with other operating systems.

Server Benefits

While there are many different types of servers, they all contribute to providing benefits to network users such as:

• Optimization - Server hardware designed to serve requests from clients quickly
• Centralization - Files are in one location for easy administration
• Security - Multiple levels of permissions can prevent users from doing damage to files. Probably the most important aspect to a server, particularly in a client/server networking environment is the greater degree of granularity of security that is possible. Overall, the client/server network is much easier to secure and back up, greatly improving the reliability and confidentiality of an organisation's data.
• Redundancy and Back-up - Data can be stored in redundant ways making for quick restore in case of problems
• Assets and Resources Management - Processing workload is easier to manage in a client/server network environment.
• Flexibility - Servers offer far greater flexibility and potential for growth along with superior stability, security and automation. Then as network and network resource requirements increase one can simply add another server to cope with the extra load.
• Multi-Tasking - Many servers can run multiple concurrent applications and multiple concurrent instances of applications in order to serve a variety of needs.
• Application Requirements - Every application hosted on a server will have its own set of specific server requirements.

Next time we will have a look at the various types of servers running network operating systems in an article entitled “Server Types”. Until then enjoy!