General | Cluster Computing

Google and the Search Revolution

February 12, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

Image representing Google as depicted in Crunc...

Image via CrunchBase

Since the advent of the Internet, a revolution in reference has occurred. No longer are we relegated to libraries or time-consuming microfiche to scan, search or find dates and information. With just a few keystrokes we can access unlimited amounts of data and no other website has contributed more towards this revolution than Google.

Google has revolutionized search in such a way that Google is no longer just a search engine. In fact, Google is so synonymous with gathering information on the Internet that it is listed as a transitive verb in several dictionaries. In the Merriam Webster dictionary, its definition is listed as “to use the Google search engine to obtain information about (as a person) on the World Wide Web.”

Google’s rise to such an esteemed status is largely due to its unbelievable accuracy in providing relevant information. Many other search engines provide your needed reference in the second, third or fourth page in a returned search if at all. Google’s huge popularity is attributed to the fact that it always seems to provide the relevant information people need.

Even with this huge popularity and its recognized excellence for providing relevant results, there a specific Google tweak that you can incorporate to get a more refined list of websites relevant to your chosen topic. For example, if you are looking for property management sites, you will surely get the proper result should you Google the term. However, if you require information regarding a specific area, you should include more detail in your search such as “Scottsdale property management.” This will get your required results to you quicker.

With an estimated six out of 10 search engine inquiries using Google, it is by far the most used search engine on the Internet. There are dozens of search engines on the Internet. Some are flashier and others have been in existence longer, but none can rival Google’s excellence in providing relevant information.

Filed Under: General, Technology Tagged With: Google, Google Search, Web search engine

Why Cluster Computing is So Flexible

January 29, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

One of the biggest expenses of running a business can be the cost of computers, networking and IT. After all is said and done, what may seem simple and affordable in the beginning can end up being very expensive. Purchasing a mainframe computer is a good example of that. It is not always necessary to start large, and there is a lot more flexibility with cluster computing.

Quite often, new owners are tempted to go all out on their IT systems, but that can get very expensive. At the same time, it is not actually known by them yet if an extensive IT system is going to be required. One of the great things about cluster computing is that it provides the ability to start with the exact system needed and build upon it as the office needs grow.

Computer clustering is so flexible that the IT system may never need upgrading to a mainframe. As more processing power is needed, more personal computers can be added to the system to supply it. This can be done many times over to satisfy whatever requirements come about.

The opposite is true as well. Sometimes an office needs to be downsized. If a mainframe is being used, it cannot be downsized. However, a computing cluster with twenty computers linked together can be trimmed to fifteen, ten, five or however many computers are needed to accommodate the system.

Good business owners keep a tight check on all aspects of the company. Cutting spending and carefully controlling money is one of them. Before an entrepreneur even opens the doors to the office, he should have a good idea what his IT is going to cost. In many cases, starting with cluster computing rather than using a mainframe computer is like putting money in the bank right away.

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Computer cluster

Save on Interest With Prepaid Credit Cards

December 10, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

: Image by Getty Images via @daylife

No matter what your spending habits are like, you may on occasion find yourself turning to your credit cards. This can be both frustrating and stressful. You know very well what the interest rate on those cards is, and it’s not pretty. But sometime, you just can’t help it. Maybe an emergency happened, or maybe you just need to get that one last Christmas present. No matter the reason, pulling out a high interest credit card is not a fun situation.

Because of this, many people today are turning to prepaid credit cards. These cards don’t have high interest rates. In fact, since they are prepaid, they don’t have any interest at all. You are able to use as much money as you allot to the card, and load on to it. You can’t use more than that, so you can’t go over your spending limit. This is also a great thing for many people, who have a bad habit of spending just a little too much.

Because of this, many families are giving these cards to the teenagers in the family. This can help them to start understanding budgeting and how to use a card, without killing the family budget. The child knows exactly what they have to spend, and can even track their spending online. Gaining a little Independence and a lot of responsibility is a great way to learn.

A prepaid credit card can be used anywhere that a normal credit or debit card can be used. This means that you can use it online or in a store. So, next time, instead of pulling out that high interest, high stress credit card, make sure that you have your prepaid card on hand. It will save you tons of money, and even more stress.

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Credit card, Debit card, Stored-value card

Choosing a Computing Setup

December 8, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

A little bit of forethought and planning can go really far in helping you achieve the right computer network setup. When it comes to cluster computing, a little bit of planning and forethought is going to make it possible for you to achieve the desired results that you seek without having to stop and re-appraise your progress along the way.

Cluster computing is only one of the types of computer networks available. Just as there are different types of car insurance, like motorcycle insurance, truck insurance and classic car insurance, there are also different types of computer networks as well. Cluster computing means arranging or linking the computers in different ways so that all of the computers are sharing the same hard drive and all of the computers are also sharing a single common directory.

In cluster computing, all of the computers in the cluster are also sharing the same network, and as such they can run all of the same programs. Additionally, all of the computers in the cluster computing network naturally trust one another, and so they do not need to be verified. The process of creating a cluster computing network can be simple if the network administrator already knows what he or she is doing. If more computers need to be connected, then the setup process can become more complicated as well.

Cluster computing often makes sense but is not for every computer networking situation. As such, it becomes necessary for you to consider all of the various options that are available to you before you begin working on setting up any kind of network. Choosing the right network setup is going to help make sure that you get the most out of your network and do not end up spending time or money on a networking setup that is not going to work for your home or office.

Filed Under: Cluster Computing, Computer, General Tagged With: Amazon EC2, Amazon Web Services, Cloud computing, Computer cluster, Computer network, Graphics processing unit, High-performance computing, Insurance

Still Unpacking

December 7, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

We have been in this house for over a month now and we still do not have all of our boxes unpacked. I really do not like unpacking. It amazes me how much we can live without!

One thing I can’t live without is our emergency credit card. Nobody is quite sure where the card was packed, and I needed it yesterday. While I wait the two business days it will take our credit card company to send me a new card, I had to go to paydayone.com to get some cash to fix the car. It was a little problem, but you know how car repairs go. At $60/hour for labor and a 200 percent mark-up on parts, a ten minute, $10 repair will end up costing us $300.

Back to what we can live without. So, I know that I was convinced at the old house that we needed everything that we had out. Anything sitting around must have been something we used from time to time at least. Now that we are in the new house though, half of our boxes are still packed and I almost never wonder where to find something.

If I wasn’t such a worrier, I would consider throwing the boxes out and not bothering with the stuff. Our house is certainly cleaner with half of the boxes still packed up!

As I do get a few opened up, my daughter is loving the boxes. I let her color all over the outside of one, and then I cut a door and windows into it. I even cut a hole in the top and set a flashlight over the hole to give her a reading light. The box house was a big hit!

It does make me wonder though, if our daughter will be one of those kids at Christmas who love the boxes more than the gifts!

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Business, Christmas, Credit card

Buy Online Anywhere in the World

December 5, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

: Image via Wikipedia

Many people today purchase items online. It doesn’t matter if you live in Bohol or anywhere else in the world, you will find that buying online can be a lot easier, and a lot less stressful than going to a traditional brick and mortar store. You don’t have to worry about the crowds that you would have to push through at a store, and you are frequently able to find better deals online. This is not to say that you can’t find great deals in stores, but having the entire Internet at your fingertips makes it easier to find discounts and coupons.

Many companies, when tracking social media, are able to find out quite a bit about their customers, and therefore tailor to their needs. For example, many online stores are able to find out what parts of the world their customer base is from. This allows them to tailor their ads and products to exactly what these people may want.

With the option to purchase items online, you never have to worry about not being able to find what you want. In fact, you can find almost anything on the Internet, and usually it doesn’t even take very much work to find exactly what you are looking for. This is a great convenience for most people. Running from store to store can be frustrating and difficult, and there is no guarantee that you will even end up with what you want by the time you are done. On the other hand, if you have internet access, you will most likely find what you need in just a few minutes. Sure, it will generally take a little bit of time for shipping, but this way you don’t have the uncertainty of whether or not you will find your items.

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Bohol, Brick and mortar business, Online shopping

What is Cluster Computing?

October 18, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

: Image via Wikipedia

Cluster computing is a type of computing where a group of several computers are linked together, allowing the entire group of computers to behave as if it were a single entity. There are a wide variety of different reasons why people might use cluster computing for various computer tasks. For example, cluster computing combines the computing capability of all the involved computers, helping people who cannot afford a single computer with those capabilities to still be able to take advantage of that level of computing power.

Cluster computing is also used to make sure that a computing system will always be available. It is unknown when this cluster computing concept was first developed, and several different organizations have claimed to have invented it. Some people suggest that cluster computing was probably developed independently by several different people in order to meet their unique computing needs a long time before the technique was ever applied to an industrial setting.

A common application for the cluster computing concept is to host websites such as large-scale websites or top affiliate programs. The cluster distributes the load of the website’s traffic or visitors across a wide range of different computers so that the website can accommodate more visitors at any one single time. Cluster computing is also widely used for the creation of gaming servers when large groups are gaming and want to be able to avoid login problems and issues relating to server lag.

One type of cluster computing is HA or High Availability Cluster Computing, which is used to create a redundant network that all users can access all the time. Fail-safes are generally put in place in case a part of the cluster should happen to break down. There are also load-balancing cluster computers that address large loads of simultaneously incoming requests, coordinating those requests in such a way that both efficiency and usability will be maximized.

Filed Under: Cluster Computing, Computer, General Tagged With: Beowulf, Cloud computing, Cluster, Computer Science, Distributed Computing, High-performance computing, Load Balancing, Parallel computing

The Benefits of Cluster Computing

October 8, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

Have you ever needed access to a co-worker’s files? Maybe you have a project due and you need to verify a statistic in an Excel spreadsheet saved on your co-worker’s hard drive. If you are in the same office, you may be able to pop over to your co-worker’s cubicle and transfer the needed information to a flash drive. Or, you may send an instant message, and your co-worker will email you a copy of the document you need. But, what happens if you co-worker isn’t available?

This is a common occurrence, and it may put your project in jeopardy. Companies who often pair co-workers as teammates may want to consider a better solution: cluster computing. With cluster computing, a company eliminates the issues caused when employees store data on their own hard drives. It does this by setting up a central hard drive for the entire company.

As soon as your co-worker saves the Excel spreadsheet to the hard drive, you can log in on your computer and access the file. If your co-worker is sick, you still have access to the files you need. Plus, anything you save to the hard drive is accessible for your colleagues. That means you can head home at the end of the day and know you won’t get a phone call to email copies of your files.

Other benefits to cluster computing include sharing a common directory, having access to the same programs as everyone else, reducing the need to verify a document from another computer (which can reduce the number of flagged security alerts), and sharing a network.

Cluster computing makes it easier to do other things, as well. Instead of having to search for free download software for each machine, your boss can download and save the program to the hard drive for everyone to access. Boy does that save time!

Filed Under: Cluster Computing, Computer, General Tagged With: Hard disk drive, Hard Drives, Hardware, High-performance computing, Microsoft Excel, Spreadsheets, Storage, USB flash drive

Basic Email Security Tips

September 1, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

As email becomes more mainstream and a part of our everyday lives, people need to be aware of basic steps they can take to ensure that their computers are secure and their information safe.

Opening Attachments
Never open an attachment that has come in an email unless the sender is well known and the attachment is expected. Viruses and malicious programs can hide in attachments on an email and infect a userâ€™s computer as soon as it is opened. Since email can be the target of hackers and viruses, it is important to be sure that the message has really been sent from the person it states, as a virus can infect a computer and send emails out to everyone on their contact list. If the message does not seem like something the contact would send, just delete the email or get in touch with the person to be sure that they did send the email.

Clicking on Links

When an email comes in that instructs the user to click on a link, it is always advisable to just go directly to the internet and type the site address into the browser. Sometimes, an email will come in that states it is from someone who it actually has no affiliation with at all. When the user hovers over the link in the email without clicking on it, it will bring up the actual address that that link is directed to. This is a common tactic used to get sensitive information because when the user clicks on the link directly, it will take them to another site that may or may not look like the real one. If the user needs to log in with a password, it will record that information and be able to use it. These emails often say something about being from the userâ€™s bank or credit card company, and they need them to log in to check on security or some other â€œproblemâ€.

Being careful while reading and opening emails can prevent a host of future problems with both sensitive information, and the userâ€™s computer itself.

Filed Under: General, Security Tagged With: Credit card, email, Password, Security