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Friday, November 30, 2012

Determining the need for high availability cluster

If you have critical applications then you most likely require a high availability cluster. This is because if you do not have the cluster then you won’t be able to ensure that the applications remain available even when there is a crash. In other words, if the server that you are using to run the applications crashes then consequently you will have to deal with unavailability of the applications. Of course, if you try to fix the server then it will take some time. In the meanwhile, if your applications continue to remain unavailable then you will have to incur losses as far as your business is concerned.

Interestingly, if you have the high availability cluster with you then you won’t have to worry about the aforesaid situations. Just to let you know, the cluster won’t be able to prevent your server from crashing. However, if it is reliable then it will certainly succeed in detecting some of the relevant faults related to hardware as well as software. Of course, timely detection will give you some time to prepare for situations where applications may be unavailable. Nevertheless, the cluster won’t only detect faults but is also likely to restart the applications. Surprisingly, the applications can be easily restarted without any administrative intervention. 

Furthermore, if the cluster is good enough then it can easily take full advantage of another system for restarting the applications. Interestingly, for ensuring that your applications continue to remain available, the cluster may have to configure some things. For example, it might happen that the applications that have stopped running because of the crashed server will only run if some supporting applications continue to run as they were running before the crash. In such a situation, the cluster should do everything that is required for keeping the applications up and running. The bottom line is that without the cluster, your critical applications are unlikely to help you with your business. 

Anyways, if you want that the applications should be continuously available then you’d also have to give some thought to replication. For this, you may start looking for a solution that is not only efficient as far as replication is concerned buy also ensures that your TCO gets reduced. Perhaps if you look for a solution that has the capability of replicating such data and applications that are considered to be a part of shared storage cluster then you’d be able to achieve what is desired or expected.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

How to shop for some of the best laptops?

With the rise in competition among different companies, choosing the HCL laptops that can satiate your requirements in a seamless manner is not really easy. Almost all the laptop manufacturing companies use the best technologies and skills to create a design that would surely be liked by the customers. With so many different brands, models and styles of laptops it’s easy to buy too little or too much computer for your requirements. Moreover, it is also important to understand your requirements for this device and ensure that the laptop model you are purchasing fulfills all your requirements. Once you get your list narrowed down, you can simply read what others say about the models that you are considering to purchase.

Internet is considered to be one of the best sources to search for different types of laptop models and understand the features offered by different brands at the comfort of your house. You can also go ahead and read some online reviews of different laptop computer brands and models. Ensure that you read the expert as well as professional reviews and also the user reviews about laptop computers. Experts or professionals would simply give you a clear picture of the features that are offered by different brands to assist you to judge the best according to your requirements. If you go through the reviews that are offered by the laptop users, you can simply get an idea on how well the laptop performs over the long term.

It is also important to consider the size and weight of the laptop.Choosing a small, ultra-portable, lightweight laptop is beneficial when you are on the go, but at the same time it is also important to understand that it would have a smaller keyboard and display along with a slower processor, less RAM and a smaller hard drive as compared to a larger laptop. However, if you are considering larger laptops, then they can be a good piece for gaming, entertainment, video editing and graphics processing, but at the same time also more expensive and difficult to carry.

Apart from the features and styles that are offered by different laptops, it is important to shop around to search for some of the best laptops. There are many computer stores that offer discounts on some of the popular laptop brands. In fact there are also various online stores that assist you with some of the best laptops in the domain without burning a hole in your pocket. However, since all options on the table do not promise the same level of efficacy, it is imperative to ascertain the proficiency of the chosen provider.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Finding some reliable business continuity solutions

When you are trying to ensure that there is continuous uptime, you cannot afford to solely focus on high availability. As a matter of fact, business continuity solutions should be equally good at handling replication. This is because if the solutions do not enable you to replicate data then you will find it tough when something goes wrong or there is a disaster. The main problem that you are likely to face is that you won’t be able to resume normal business operations. If you do succeed even then you’d be able to resume operations only after struggling for hours.


Anyways, the bottom line is that business continuity solutions should take care of both the aspects, i.e. availability and replication. As far as availability is concerned, the solutions should help you in determining whether or not your systems are responding the way they should. In other words, the solutions should offer granular visibility into the health of your systems. Just so you know if any such provision is not there then even if the systems simply keep on running, you’d never get to know. Furthermore, even your IT stack will be at risk. As you already know, your IT stack includes applications, network infrastructure resources and a lot more.

So, if you want that your IT stack remains protected then you should ensure that the awareness offered by the solutions is extended to all of the components of the stack. Specifically, you can always look for application protection especially if your applications are critical to your business. Nevertheless, you should not have to pay a heavy price for protecting your applications as well as other important components of your IT stack. For saving money, you have to be careful when finding solutions and must choose only the ones that require no expensive hardware.