SSDs vs HDDs : WHO is GOOD?

1. Off late few notebook manufacturer's have been seen promoting their product for being the first to introduce SSDs. Now at the first glance they really seem to be promising since they offer less energy consumption, less weight, no mobile parts and also offer better speed in some ways than regular hard disk drives. But the question is whether they are strong enough to deliver the performance through out their life span. This puts a question mark????????????

2. If you have just bought a shiny new SSD, it isn’t likely to continue performing at blazing speeds after some usage. An empty drive will always perform better than one written to. The good news is that after an initial dip in performance, SSDs tend to level off. Even if they do drop in performance over time -- undercutting a manufacturer’s claims -- consumer flash drives are still vastly faster than traditional hard drives, because they can perform two to five times the input/output operations per second of a hard drive.

Why does performance drop?

3. Unlike a hard disk drive, any write operation to an SSD requires not one step, but two: an erase followed by the write. When an SSD is new, the NAND flash memory inside it has been pre-erased. But, as data is written to the drive, data management algorithms in the controller begin to move that data around the flash memory in an operation known as wear leveling. These algorithms are used to more evenly distribute data across flash memory so that no one portion wears out faster than another, which prolongs the life of whole drive. Even though wear-leveling is meant to prolong the life of the drive, it can eventually lead to performance issues. SSD performance and endurance are related.

4. Generally, the poorer the performance of a drive, the shorter the lifespan. That’s because the management overhead of an SSD is related to how many writes and erases take place. The more write/erase cycles there are, the shorter the drive’s lifespan. Consumer-grade Multi-Level Cell (MLC) memory can sustain from 2,000 to 10,000 write cycles. Enterprise-class Single- Level Cell (SLC) memory can last through 10 times the number of write cycles of an MLC-based drive.

What Matters ?

5. ALGORITHM : A read-modify-write algorithm in an SSD controller will take a block about to be written to, retrieve any data already in it, mark the block for deletion, redistribute the old data, then lay down the new data in the old block.

6. Some manufacturers use algorithms that combine writes to more efficiently use NAND flash memory space; others use cache to store writes in order to lay them down more efficiently.

7. BUGS : Bugs Can Cause Slow-Downs, Too Intel’s X25-M SSD had a firmware bug that led to major fragmentation problems that dropped throughput dramatically . But what’s clear is SSDs need more development to address these long term performance issues.

8. Thanks PC WORLD!!!

FREE UPGRADATION - ONLY A TRICK!!!

1. This trick comes for those who wish to upgrade their processors in the respective computers for free.......(only the name)

2. Start -> run -> type regedit.exe -> press ok

3. In registry editor -> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\CentralProcessor\0

4. On right Pane Select ProcessorNameString and change the value to Pentium 5 or as you desire!!

Note: For those PC bugs only who just use the machine and don't worry of whats inside?Of course,they can be content with the name they give....viz an old celeron be renamed to QUAD CORE......and so on!!!!

5. Thanks again to http://www.technotips24x7.co.cc/

WHO ESPIED MY COMPUTER?

1. How many times would you be able to know who logged in or who used ur computer in your absence?NOt much most of the times!!!An easy to find out the details is a one liner solution......

2. So,here is the trick for that ..Simply type as given below in the RUN bar ie

Start - Run - TYPE eventvwr.msc

3. All details of login will be in front of your eyes.SIMPLE!!!!!!!

4. Thanks http://www.technotips24x7.co.cc/

DATA STORAGE IN BACTERIA : ASTONISHING-MUST READ

1. I had read about this about 2 months back but could not get any thing rock solid about what is the concept like actually?Although still not much detail is available,the crux from various sites is reproduced below for one to just imbibe the idea.

2. Artificial DNA with encoded information can be added to the genome of common bacteria, thus preserving the data. The technique was developed at Keio University Institute for Advanced Biosciences and Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus. So now what would happen to those USB flash memory "thumbdrives" which is claimed as being small!!

3. The technology aims at the succesful development of a DNA memory utilizing living organisms. The researchers proposed a method to copy and paste data within the genomic sequence of a living organism, Bacillus subtilis. Since microbs such as the Bacillus subtilis are very small and they keep gene information for generations, they can be applied for extremely smaller-size, larger-volume memory media that can store data for a longer period of time, compared to electronic or magnetic media including CD-ROM, flash memoryand hard disc.

4. According to researchers, up to 100 bits of data can be attached to each organism. Scientists successfully encoded and attached the phrase "e=mc2 1905" to the DNA of BACILLUS SUBTILIS, a common soil bacteria.The Bacillus itself creates new copies of the data every time it reproduces itself, thus making it an ideal archival storage system.

5. While the technology would most likely first be used to track medication, it could also be used to store text and images for many millennia, thwarting the longevity issues associated with today's disk and tape storage systems -- which only store data for up to 100 years in most cases.It is also claimed by the inventor that unlike optical/magnetic storage, data would be safe for thousands of years!!!

6. However, DNA sequences gradually change as their generations advance and that has been a hurdle in the research of biotic memory media. Changes in the DNA arrangements would make recovery of the stored data impossible, provided that no error correction techniques found at magnetic or optical storage media is available. The research group said its latest development indicated a possible resolution for this problem.

7. The technology proposes a method to copy and paste data within the genomic sequence of a living organism, Bacillus subtilis, thus acquiring versatile data storage and the robustness of data inheritance. Two or more different DNA molecules which carry the encoded data were duplicated into multiple genomic areas for data storage. The encoded data is then retrievable by complete genome sequencing and searching for duplicated coding regions using multiple alignments of all the possible decoded bit-data sequences of the genomic DNA. Therefore, even if the recorded information is partly destroyed, the original correct information can be restored.

8. Thanks http://www.technovelgy.com

HDD DOCKING STATION

1. In a typical IT savvy home,one would expect a desktop and a laptop today.So do Ihave that.I got my present desktop about 6 years back and have been since upgrading as and when I find an opportunity to make up with the race of not being left in obsolesence.Thus today I have about 6 IDE/sata based hard disks at my home that bear the back up and confine themselves to the shelves till they are required.

2. Once required,I attach them with the easily available USB to SATA or USB to the typical IDE port.Now when I do this,the table that I work on becomes a horde of wires with keyboard, mouse,power cable of this conversion kit ging bank intermingling with each other.To make this neater a new thing that I recently came across is the HDD DOCK STATION.More below :

3. The plug-n-play ready, high speed HDD Docking Station provides the user with flexibility, portability and performance. The unit supports both 2.5” and 3.5” SATA drives up to 1TB in size. The docking station is also hot-swappable using the USB2.0 and eSATA interfaces so it can be moved from computer to computer with ease for all your backup needs. If data integrity is your habit, then the HDD Docking is the perfect solution for you.

4. The dock is compatible with Windows and supports HDD upto 1 TB.

5. Thanks http://www.sunbeamtech.com

PC IN A FLOWER VASE : ECS's MING VASE

1. One Taiwanese computer maker has come up with a novel way to camouflage a computer made for your living room: give it the shape and color of a Ming Dynasty vase.

2. Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) put the small blue and white vase-shaped computer on display by a large-screen LCD TV at Computex Taipei 2009, to the effect that it really looked like Chinese art work rather than a gadget.

3. Inside the shapely plastic covering includes

(a) Home media computer complete

(b) A Blu-ray Disc player offering full 1080p high-definition video quality

(c) Intel Atom N230 microprocessor

(d) Nvidia Ion graphics chips and a

(e) 2.5-inch hard disc drive.

(f) Bottom of the vase reveals plugs for an HDMI cable, an Ethernet cable and USB ports.

4. See all this in the pictures in set....really amazing!!!

EYE-FI : GETs YOUR CLICK UPLOADED

1. What's the route from the moment you click any pic from your digital camera or your camera phone to the time you upload the selected few.It involves clicking the pic followed by Booting-up your computer, plugging in your camera, uploading pics to the hard drive and finally choosing what to send to the web !!!that has started becoming annoying now...since the number of pics a camera freak clicks is huge....so he generally shams it out and let them remain in the stoarge media by default.

2. SOLUTION : EYE-FI Memory Card. The Eye-Fi camera memory card (Pic in set) not only provides memory as usual for your pictures, but uploads the snaps as you take them.

3. The procedure involves just sync the card to a hard drive or Wi-Fi network, and getting it plugged into a digital camera and start snapping away. Pics are then routed to the hard drive or to one of 17 photo vendors (like Facebook or Flickr.) The card's software deftly handles scaling and compression while privacy settings at the individual sites allow you to filter what gets published. The software handles scaling and compression as well as privacy settings.

4. The Wi-Fi chip uses 70 percent less power than competing products, allowing it to be comfortably nestled in a standard SD card.

5. Thank you http://www.technovelgy.com

E-WASTE : DEPOSIT & GET PAID

1. In an earlier post I discussed about the consequences of e-waste and how few organisations were involved in controlling the issue.

2. Recently I came to know of this site at www.techshop.in/e-cycle which claims to recyle e-waste in a real economical manner.They pay you for the trash that you deposit.More details mentioned below.

3. MGA & Associates is a major organisation for the recovery & recycling of electronic equipments and components based strategically in the deep sea port area of Kandla India. MGA & Associates plans & carries out the collection, transportation, processing & recovery of all base materials from electronic equipments. They offer an environmentally sound and compliant route for organisations for their end of life and obsolete electronic equipments & components with the best available techniques. All MGA & Associates processes and daily operations are backed up by ISO 9001 and ISO 14001Quality & Environmental management systems certified by Bureau Veritas.

4. MGA & Associates was formed in 2003 by a group of dedicated & professional individuals with over 60 years of collective experience in recovery and recycling of electronic equipment and components and is one of the largest professional processors of this type of equipment.

5. Your e-waste can be sent or deposited in person against which you get the coupons at the following locations:

(a) Polytela e-Commerce PVT. LTD.

25, Gaurav Industrial Estate, Bail Bazaar,

Kurla (W), Mumbai 400070.

Tel.: +91 9920213743 , +91 9323699901

Fax: +91 2264501259 E-mail: support@TechShop.in

(b) MGA & Associates

Factory Site

Plot No. 262/263, Sector 4, Kandla Special Economic Zone,

Gandhidham - 370 230, Gujarat, INDIA.

Tel.: +91 2836 252225, +91 2836 253930

Fax: +91 2836 252522 E-mail: info@mgaind.com

(c) Logix Express

37/1945 Om Karam CHS ltd. Gandhinagar. Bandra E. Mumbai. 400051.
Tele: 022 26510708/26510687.
M- 09833175486.
Contact Person: Mr. Abhishek.

(d) DELHI

Logix Express
8908/2 Multani Dnada. Opp. Rangoli Guest House.
Pahargung. 110055.
Tele: 011 32617289.
M- 09999796936.
Contact Person: Mr. Govind.

(e) AHMEDABAD

Logix Express
Block No. 71 to 76, Sagar Estate Part 3.
Opp. Ekta Hotel. Sarkhej Bavala Road.
Sarkhej- Ahmedabad. 380210.
Contact Person: Govind.
Tele: 079 26890419.
M- 09979865961.

(f) HYDERABAD

Logix Express
C/o Fast Freight Courier
1-10-9/3, Airport Road, Opp. IBP Petrol Bunk,
Begumpet, Hyderabad-500016.
Contact Person : Mr. Anil Reddy
M- 9848017335

(g) CHENNAI

Logix Express
13/Devsigamani Street.
Chulaimedu.
Chennai.94.
Contact Person: Mr. Silverraj.
M- 09841418946.

(h) BANGALORE

Logix Express
C/o Ever Green Logistics
6, 4th Cross, 5th Main,
S R Nagar, Bangalore-560027.
Contact Person : Mr. Ravi
M- 09845836058.

(i) PUNE

Logix Express
Survey no 755, Kalpana warehouse.
Opp. Hotel Ram kamal, Pune Nagar Road.
Katkewadi, Wagholi, Dist. Haveli
Pune-412207.
Contact Person: Mr. Raja Ram.
M- 09850604994/09730073535.

(j) SURAT

Logix Express
Ground Floor, Swagat Complex.
Kadodara Chokdi.
Surat.
Contact Person: Jayendra.
M- 9979865968.

6. GOOD WORK...SO FREE PUBLICITY!!

KYPS : HELPS AVOID BEING VULNERABLE!!

1. In an earlier post when I had discoursed how much prone are you at any cyber cafe or at some other non friendly computer when u surf web on a holiday outside or when u dont have your own laptop,how prone you become to keylogger!!I had given out given out few suggestions in form of using mobile/portable browser etc. that was at http://anupriti.blogspot.com/2009/06/are-you-secure-at-your-friendly.html

2. Not a new thing but I tried this for the first time yesterday ie KYPS that stands for Keep Your Password Secret.Now for the understanding of this I will write a small step by step instruction.

3. BACKGROUND

How to avoid typing username and password at the outside or malicious looking cyber cafe computer.?

4. SOLUTION

(a) Register at http://kyps.net/home/

(b) Get a set of codes at your email id

(c) Register those username/passwords site that u intend using sometime later at some other computer.

(d) Now when u wish to access the email account at the cyber cafe you simply have to log into the site of KYPS and site will help you reach and access the e-mail without using the username and password,but by using the one time codes that I had mentioned earlier.

5. EXAMPLE

(a) You register your email id abc@yahoo.com at KYPS.

(b) Once you register,a set of codes will be mailed to you.Qty will be decided as per your choice.Say 80.

(c) These codes will look some thing like :

100 9?nRQuJ8p 110 DzobNpk?M 120 Xg1Z2kXsL 130 maXXcACKV

101 x0Ivy4XsB 111 jcK8p7JRl 121 WqJ6GXDz4 131 XfjKVH65p

102 ilKzybBE0 112 /nvspLbmr 122 VoaX7yI1 132 5ILuG5ddN

103 tXaRNJwk? 113 lcMEO?GN? 123 MjpXow3CI 133 vBbKpkXiT

104 lAJNJnfcZ 114 Lf?U7Zzyn 124 VX71za0+J 134 KGXkxsVc

(d) You go to a Cyber Cafe.Log into the KYPS site with your e-mail id.

(e) Select which e-mail you would like to access.

(f) Once selected, KYPS will ask you the equivalent code of 100 ie 9?nRQuJ8p

(g) and you log into the email page to access your mails.

(h) DONE.That's it.

6. RISK

The only risk you build here is that since you rely on KYPS which has your info in their server but they claim is never stored.So one risk closed is one risk open......thats the funny side of SECURITY

AMD : The Launch of ISTANBUL

1. I really wonder whats going to be the end of MOORE's Law.Where did the thing start from and whats going to be the conclusion or is their really going to be any?First it was the pentium, then pentium 2,then 3 ,then 4,then Core 2 duo,dual core,then it was Quad Core and now comes the launch of SIX PACK ABS .....sorry..I mean Six Core Processor,the first of its kind from the AMD,to be known as the ISTANBUL Processor.Why so named is still a question?

2. The good thing is that these processor can simply be used to replace and upgrade the existing lot of Quad Core processors ie the Opteron Series without investing again into the motherboard and making it obsolete.

3. Istanbul comes with a powerful DDR2 memory architecture and the AMD virtualisation technolgy.Just to be clear these are 6 distinct physical cores, just as the Shanghai processors contained 4 distinct physical cores. Each core comprises 512K of L2 cache and 128k of L1 cache. The L3 is a 6MB cache shared by the six cores.

4. This also comes as an answer to the Intel's "Nehalem" Xeons.I assume that with the launch of ISTANBUL,now the quad series of the AMD is heading for a conclusion and a farewell from the exisiting motherboards since Istanbul can simply fit into the same slot as the Quad core's.

5. So next after Istanbul will be ?????.......Afghanistan!!!!ha ha ha....long and fast lives the MOORE's Law.

USB DHAMAAAL!!!

1. The world of USB based gadgets is in for some real surprising things.Two of the recent ones that surprised me really are mentioned below.

2. USB Beverage chiller : The name says it all.

Features:

• Works w/ Soft Drinks, Coffee, Tea, and More
• High Efficiency - Works in Just a Few Minutes after Plugging into USB Port
• Draws Power Directly from USB Interface
• Plug and Play (No Driver Required)
• On Board Button to Switch from Warm to Chill
• Weight : 440 gm
• USB Cable length : 1.1 m

3. USB Mini Fridge : Again the name says it all.The features include :

• Powered entirely via your computer’s USB port
• Internal blue LED illumination
• Keeps one 12oz can of beverage chilly cold
• No batteries required

4. Where are we heading this way?

Check your ANTIVIRUS'es Loyalty : EICAR Way

1. The world of bloggers is increasing at an astonishing pace and there are lots and lots of good of them with loads of beneficial and estimable info. Recently I came across one good one that introduced me to "The European Institute for Computer Anti-Virus Research" (EICAR).

2. Now this was able to provide me a real cool trick that of testing the reliability of the antivirus being run. I tested the same on two computers. One with a antivirus loaded and the other one badly infected. I will now share the cream instead of minting words.

3. It is just a matter of simple cut & paste.Just do the following steps and the matter of how reliable your antivirus is will be taken care of.

(a) Open Notepad and paste the code given below

X5O!P%@AP[4\PZX54(P^)7CC)7}$EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!$H+H*

(b) Save the notepad with the name eicar.com

4. If ur Anti-Virus is powerful , it will stop u from saving .. Or atleast trap it few seconds after saving.

5. That’s it!!!!!So simple.So my infected computer was able to save the same and the F - secured one caught the moment I tried saving it and deleted it too!!!!!!!!Screen shot in set

6. Thanks EICAR and http://www.technotips24x7.co.cc/