Everything you need|Tip and trick|software|News|games: Computer-hardware

Breaking News

Showing posts with label Computer-hardware. Show all posts

Thursday, March 20, 2014

A dual-OS Steam Machine from Origin PC

(Credit: Origin PC)
Boutique gaming PC-maker Origin PC is one of the companies throwing its weight behind Valve's new Steambox initiative, showing off a small form factor system that runs the new Steam OS.
Origin PC is planning two versions of its Steam Machine (as this first round of boxes is being referred to), both part of the company's existing Chronos line of smaller gaming desktops -- a standard edition and a dual-video-card SLI edition with up to a pair of Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan graphics cards and liquid cooling for the CPU.

Unlike some of the other Steambox hardware that's been announced from other PC makers, Origin PC's Chronos will be highly customizable, with options for CPU, graphics, and storage, and these machines will dual-boot into either Windows 7 or 8, and Steam OS, allowing you to use them as powerful gaming desktops, or living room Steam consoles.
(Credit: CNET/Sarah Tew)
The Chronos Steam Machine will also include Valve's innovative Steam controller, which replaces thumb sticks with twin touch pads designed to mimic the control of a keyboard and mouse.

There's no firm release date or price yet, but we're hearing the first Steambox systems will launch in Summer 2014.

Razer Project Christine: A first look at a wild new vision for build-your-own gaming PCs

LAS VEGAS -- The new Mac Pro might be the beginning of a reinvention in desktop PC design, but Razer wants a say in it, too.

At CES 2014, PC gaming company Razer, always known to make splashes with unique design concepts, unveiled Project Christine on the show floor. It’s a prototype mock-up for the future of modular PCs, and it's a high-end gaming rig that will plug and play all sorts of modules.

(Credit: Scott Stein/CNET)

Razer has never made a desktop PC before, and only recently made PCs at all: the Razer Blade and Razer Edge were its first products, both showing a lot of design prowess. The design for Project Christine tops all that: what's on the show floor here in Las Vegas is little more than a metal chassis mock-up, but the design is incredibly cool to behold: a central rack holds plug-in parts that sprout from the sides, building a tower in any combination. It looks simultaneously far-futuristic and a bit steampunk.

(Credit: Scott Stein/CNET)

Even crazier, it’s cooled with mineral oil. A module in the bottom holds the cooling oil, while dual pressure valve systems in each module carry the oil through.

As for the modules, Razer envisions RAM, graphics, speakers, processors, Blu-ray drives, and even a visual LED control and maintenance module that could be ordered separately and upgraded as needed. Razer’s dream is for other manufacturers to build parts to the spec, too.

(Credit: Scott Stein/CNET)

Making that all work with be a tall order, but Razer has a history of following through on its promises: Project Fiona, shown off a few years ago, eventually became the very real Razer Edge gaming tablet.

It's a smart design, and one of the best-looking things I've seen at this year's CES

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Hardware Requirements for Running Lion Server

When writing the specifications for your Lion Server hardware, start with minimum requirements and then add on based on the number of users, type of use, and other specifications specific to your implementation. Here are the minimum requirements for running Lion Server:
Computer: A Mac. Although you can hack non-Apple hardware to run the Mac OS X operating system, it violates the user license agreement.

Hardware Requirements for Running Lion Server

Processor: A 64-bit Intel processor. The oldest 64-bit processor found in Macs that support Lion is a Core 2 Duo. Lion won’t run on Macs with an Intel Core Sole or a Core Duo, which was the first generations of Intel processors that Apple used. (Older PowerPC Macs are also not supported.)
RAM: 2GB RAM base. If you’re running Podcast Producer, you need an additional 512MB of RAM for each processor core. For example, if your Mac has two dual-core processors, you need 3GB minimum.
Hard drive space: 8GB of free hard drive space.
The processor is, for the most part, determined by the Mac model you use. Macs with a dual-core Intel Core 2 Duo are slower than Macs with a dual-core Intel Core i3. Quad-core processors, such as the Intel Core i7, are faster yet.
The Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors offered in the Mac Pro are faster than the Core i7. (Core i5s come in dual-core and quad-core models.) The Mac Pro has the option for a six-core processor. (Logic and Latin would dictate that this is a “sex-core,” but the tech industry is wise enough to stay away from that one.)
The gigahertz (GHz) rating is less important than processor model and number of cores. It has meaning only when you compare two processors of the same model and same number of cores. So a 3.2 GHz Intel Core i3 is faster than a 3.06 GHz Intel Core i3.
As a general rule, use more RAM in a computer than the minimum amount of RAM required by the operating system. Some Macs can hold several dozen gigabytes of memory, which is more than most people need.

For hard drive storage, you need as big a drive, or drives, as you have data to store. Hard drive storage is relatively inexpensive.

How to Share through Network Hardware

With a hardware device, all the PCs on your network can concentrate on their own work, eliminating the need to leave a PC running constantly as an “Internet server” as is the case if you choose to use Windows 8 Internet Connection Sharing.

(After all, a PC that’s capable of running Windows 8 at a decent clip is an expensive resource compared with an investment of $50–$100 (US) on a hardware sharing device.)

Wired sharing devices for your network

For PC owners who either already have a traditional wired Ethernet network — or who are considering building one — a device like the combination switch-firewall-DHCP-server-sharing-thing you see in the figure is the perfect solution to Internet connection sharing. (The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, or DHCP, feature allows your hardware sharing device to automatically configure IP addresses on your network.)

(Not even Google returns many results if you search for switch-firewall-DHCP-server-sharing-thing.)The illustrated device is actually a cable/DSL Internet router with a four-port switch.

Wired sharing devices for your network

For an idea of why hardware sharing is so popular, look at what you can buy — in one small, tidy box — online for a mere $50:

A built-in, four-port Ethernet 10/100 switch: You can plug in four PCs, to start with, directly into the router for an instant Ethernet network. You can also find routers with high-performance gigabit (10/100/1000) Ethernet ports for a slightly higher price.
A direct-connect port for your DSL or cable modem: The port can also be used as a wide area network (WAN) connection to hook the sharing device to an existing external network.
A DHCP server: It provides near-automatic network configuration for the PCs hooked into the device.
The hardware and software controls you need to block certain Internet traffic (both coming in and going out): You can also lock out individual PCs from Internet access.
An easy-to-use, web-based configuration screen: You can use it on any PC connected to the router.
Built-in NAT functionality.

How to Share through Network Hardware

Pretty neat, eh? Remember that this device is used in tandem with your existing cable or DSL modem, which is typically included by your ISP as part of your Internet subscription (but you might be paying more because you’re renting the modem).

You can get a similar device with all these features and a built-in DSL or cable modem. Because you aren’t charged a monthly rental fee for a modem, you can thumb your nose at your ISP and save money in the long run.

Naturally, the setup procedure for each device on the market is different, but here’s a sample of what’s in store when you take your new Internet sharing router out of the box. (Don’t plug your new toy’s power supply into the wall yet.)

If you’re running a typical standalone network switch, you can either unplug the existing Ethernet cables from all existing computers and plug them into the new sharing device or connect the WAN port from the existing hub into one of the ports on the Internet sharing device.

Plug the power supply from the sharing device into the AC socket.
Configure one of the PCs on your new network with the default network settings provided by the device manufacturer.
Run Internet Explorer on the PC you configured in Step 3 and use the web-based configuration utility to finish configuring the device.

That’s it! If you’re running a typical home network or home office network, you’ll likely keep the default settings for everything. Luckily, you probably don’t have to use any of the optional settings, but it’s good to know that they’re there.

Wireless sharing devices for networks

Most folks think that sharing an Internet connection over a wireless network must be harder to set up than a traditional wired network — and that it’s likely to be a tremendous security risk. Both preconceptions are wrong. Wireless connection sharing with a hardware device is as simple to set up as the wired device.

And you can make it very difficult (if not impossible) for someone to hack his way to your network or your Internet connection.

To see an example of a truly versatile all-in-one Internet sharing device, check out the device shown. Its antenna marks it as a wireless switch, but what you don’t see is that it also sports four 10/100 Ethernet ports on the back for your old-fashioned wired network.

Yep, you guessed it, this is just plain neat: It can accommodate multiple 802.11n wireless connections and four wired connections, all at the same time!

Wireless sharing devices for networks

As you might expect, the cost on this puppy, about $125 online, is significantly higher than the wired-only device. Another factor is the speed of the wireless connection; the older (and slower) 802.11g devices are rapidly disappearing from the market, so costs are dropping quickly on the faster 802.11n hardware.

(And yes, if you opt for a wireless-only network, you can find a cheaper wireless sharing device that doesn’t include any of those silly “antique” wired ports.) Wireless adapter cards (including the USB and PC Card varieties) are slightly more expensive than standard wired adapter cards, too.

Don’t forget to demand a wireless sharing device that offers Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA2) private encryption. Use anything less and your wireless network will be much easier for outsiders to hack.

For Seniors: Understand Laptop Hardware and Software

Your computing experience is made up of interactions with hardware and software. The hardware is all the tangible computer equipment, such as the body of your laptop containing the hard drive, keyboard, and touchpad for pointing at and clicking on items onscreen.

The software is what makes the hardware work or lets you get things done, such as writing documents with Microsoft Word or playing a Solitaire game. Think of the hardware as being like your television set, and think of the software as being like the shows that you watch on it.

The hardware on your laptop consists of

For Seniors: Understand Laptop Hardware and Software

A central processing unit (CPU), which is the very small, very high-tech semiconductor chip(integrated circuit) that acts as the brains of your computer. The CPU is stored in your laptop along with the other nuts and bolts of your computer.

A monitor, which displays images on its screen similar to the way your TV screen displays programs. Your computer monitor shows you, for example, the Microsoft Windows 8.1 Desktop, a video you watch at an online entertainment site, or a document in a software program. Today, some laptops sport touchscreen monitors, which allow you to use your finger on the screen to provide input to the computer.

A keyboard, which is similar to a typewriter keyboard. In addition to typing words and numbers, you can use a keyboard to give the computer commands such as selecting text or objects, copying, and pasting.

A touchpad, which you also use to give your computer commands, but this little device offers a more tactile way to provide input. You move your laptop cursor on the screen by using a built-in pointing device, which might be in the form of a touchpad, or a small button.

Slide your fingertip around the touchpad. This moves a pointer around onscreen. You position this pointer on an onscreen button or menu name, for example, and then click the left or side of your touchpad which causes an action.

You can also tap and drag your fingertip to select text or an object to perform an action on it (such as deleting a file or making a line of text bold). You also have the option of attaching a physical wireless mouse to your laptop; a small transmitter which you place in a USB port on your laptop enables the mouse input.

A webcam and speakers, and probably a microphone, are likely to be built in to your laptop. A webcam allows you to produce video images you can share during video phone calls and instant messaging sessions. Speakers play back sounds, and a built-in microphone allows you to record audio files.

Ports to attach peripherals, such as a printer or scanner. Your laptop comes with slots where you plug in various peripherals (additional hardware). The type of port you’ll use most often is called a USB port; it’s a small slot useful for plugging in small sticks called flash drives on which you can store data, or devices that typically sport a USB connector (such as digital cameras and smartphones).

Software (also known as programs or applications) is installed on your laptop hard drive, which resides in the laptop casing. Here are a few basics about software:

You use software to get your work done, run entertainment programs, and browse the Internet. For example, Quicken is a financial-management program you can use to balance your checkbook or keep track of your home inventory for insurance purposes.

Some programs come preinstalled on your laptop; you can buy and install other programs as you need them. Computers have to have an operating system installed to be of any use at all because an operating system runs all the other programs. Also, some programs are included with your operating system — such as WordPad, a simple word processing program. But you’re not limited to pre-installed software.

You can purchase other software or download free software programs from the Internet. For example, you can find Skype (a free program that enables you to make online phone calls using your laptop) in the Windows Store or on the Internet and install it on your laptop yourself.

You can uninstall programs you no longer need. Uninstalling unwanted programs helps to free up some space on your laptop, which helps it perform better.

Software programs called utilities exist to keep your laptop in shape. An antivirus program is an example of a utility used to spot and erase computer viruses from your system. Youroperating system (such as Windows 8.1) also includes some utilities, such as Disk Cleanup to free up wasted space on your hard drive or the Windows Defender program.

Windows Defender protects your laptop from unwanted intrusion by malicious programs calledspyware.

Wireless Network Hardware in Windows 8

After you install your wireless base station or WAP for your Windows 8 network, you’re ready to configure your PC for use on your network.

Before you install of an internal adapter card

Before you begin the installation of an internal adapter card, make sure that you

Read the manual. Even if you already installed an adapter card in your PC, take a few minutes to check the documentation that shipped with the card.

Gather the Big Four. Find a Phillips screwdriver, a plastic bowl to hold any spare parts, a good light source, and some sort of static-free cover for your work surface. (Newspaper always works well if I’m away from my workbench.)

Ground yourself. After you remove the cover from your PC, touch the metal chassis of your computer to dissipate any static electricity that’s stowing away on your body before it can cause damage to the card.

All manufacturers of wireless adapter cards (for desktops) and wireless PC Cards (for laptops) include their own installation and setup programs — which also create the necessary wireless connection automatically within Windows.

Wireless Network Hardware in Windows 8

After the installation of new wireless hardware

During the setup of new hardware (or the configuration of built-in hardware), keep these points in mind:

Choose between ad hoc and infrastructure. You might be prompted to choose between ad hoc and infrastructure mode. You want to choose infrastructure mode (where your laptop and PC workstations connect by using a base station or wireless access point) rather than ad hoc(where the devices talk directly to each other on a specific channel number that you determine, without a base station or WAP).

Note: If you’re trying to connect your wireless device to your existing wired network, you must use infrastructure mode.

Check your WPA/WPA2 encryption. When prompted for WPA/WPA2 information, use the highest level that the PC card supports. WPA2 is designed to automatically fall back to the encryption level used by your base station or WAP.

Assign your own passwords! Base stations, wireless routers, and WAPs use an administrator name and password to identify you, and often this information even allows remote control. (Read that term as hacker banquet.) Therefore, you should always assign your own administrator name and password while configuring your wireless network!

Check your SSID. You need an SSID (short for Service Set Identifier) that matches the SSID used by your base station or WAP. Remember: Change the SSID to the unique value that you used on your base station or WAP. For the best level of security, don’t use the default SSID!

Keep your drivers and firmware current. Check for the latest drivers and firmware updates from the manufacturer’s website every time you install new hardware — including wireless networking hardware.

Make the connection

Microsoft recommends that your wireless base station or WAP broadcast the SSID, as long as you’re using WPA/WPA2 encryption in infrastructure mode. This makes everything easier and more automatic, as long as you select an SSID of your own. (Don’t use the default SSID, or else you’ll leave a security hole in your wireless network.)

With a broadcasted SSID, connecting is as easy as plugging your wireless network card into your laptop — of course, with built-in wireless hardware, you don’t need to do a thing. Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 automatically search for and connect to your network. (The first time you connect, you’ll be prompted to choose your network and provide the proper password.)

If you’re using a desktop PC with a wireless card, this same process occurs when you log in to Windows. You see on the taskbar a notification icon letting you know that the connection has been made as well as how strong the signal is.

Compare PC Gaming Hardware with Benchmarks

Benchmarks — when it comes to comparing graphics cards, the gaming world seems to revolve directly around them. If you’re not familiar with a performance benchmark, it’s a program (or suite of programs) that you run on your PC to display the performance of a component, usually compared against some form of proprietary scale in completely proprietary units of measure.

(Which confuses the issue even more because there are a large number of benchmark programs out there.)

Many benchmarks are offered as freeware and shareware. Because this kind of computer programming is practically a requirement to learning how to address computer hardware in larger projects, most computer programming students have written at least one benchmark program in the past. Some benchmarks test the performance of your CPU, hard drives, and memory as well as your graphics card.

The whole idea sounds very scientific, and a large majority of gamers rely almost entirely on benchmark performance figures when they buy new hardware. But are benchmark programscompletely accurate?

Keep in mind that these programs can choose from a nearly unlimited combination of methods to test hardware (perhaps putting too much importance on one aspect of a graphics card, like memory handling, and not enough on texture mapping). Like statistics, take the results from a benchmark with a grain of salt.

Because your PC must “concentrate” on delivering the best possible graphics during a benchmark, it’s important not to run any other programs in the background while the benchmark is running.

How do benchmarks work?

All benchmarks tend to use the same measures to arrive at their results — for example, a graphics benchmark program will likely measure the same arcane technical features as other benchmarks, including polygons created per second, frames per second, memory throughput, number of threads, and the GPU speed rating. (Don’t worry, you won’t be tested on the behind-the-scenes stuff.)

A graphics benchmark program runs a series of 3D scenes — which, by the way, are pretty doggone awesome viewing in their own right. Each scene puts a specific type of effect through its paces, and the benchmark records the specifics on how well the card performed.

How do benchmarks work?

How do benchmarks work?

At the end of the testing cycle, the final performance figure is calculated and displayed, ready to compare with other systems (as shown within PCMark 7).

Compare PC Gaming Hardware with Benchmarks

The real result you’re looking for is the final performance figure — a card with a significantly higher benchmark figure should deliver better performance in your 3D games. Most benchmarks report their findings in a totally proprietary result, so you need the same program’s benchmark figures (run once using each device) to compare two or more different pieces of hardware.

Popular benchmark programs

Downloading and installing any of these well-known and well-respected independent benchmark programs (rather than a proprietary benchmark from a hardware manufacturer) is time well spent, especially if you’d like to squeeze every last frame from your hardware:

3DMark 11 from Futuremark Corporation: This is a high-intensity graphics benchmarking program for PCs using DirectX 11 (which is installed by default within Windows 8, but is not supported by all graphics cards).

3DMark 11 focuses specifically on your CPU and graphics card performance in a gaming environment, so it tends to be the common denominator online when discussing 3D game performance. 3DMark 11 will set you back $20. Visit the company website for more information. (The company also offers PCMark 7, which is a more comprehensive benchmark that tests your entire system.)

PerformanceTest 8 from PassMark Software: This well-respected shareware ($26) offering dates all the way back to Windows 98. PerformanceTest 8 benchmarks your entire system — not just the graphics card — and the detailed results are probably the best in the business.

Sandra Lite 2013 from SiSoftware: Sandra Lite is the freeware version of this classic shareware benchmark — the full Personal version costs $50. Sandra Lite benchmarks a number of PC features that the others don’t, including virtual memory performance and advancednetworking functions.

Kindle Fire HDX Hardware Features

Kindle Fire HDX comes in two sizes: 7 inches (see the following figure) and 8.9 inches. Improvements with the third generation HDX include a faster processor, longer battery life, and higher screen resolution in both models. The 8.9-inch model includes both front- and rear-facing cameras, and both models offer dual microphones.

Kindle Fire HDX Hardware Features

Looking for your Kindle Fire HDX speaker? With this latest model, it has been moved from the back of the device to the top.

The following table provides an at-a-glance view of Kindle Fire HDX features.

Kindle Fire HDX Specifications
Feature	Kindle Fire HDX Specs
Display size	7 inches or 8.9 inches
Processor	2.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor
Screen resolution	1920 x 1200 on 7 inch; 2560 x 1600 on 8.9 inch
Internal storage	16GB, 32GB, or 64GB
Battery life	11 hours, or 17 hours for reading only
Price	7-inch model is $229 for 16GB and $269 for 32GB, and $309 for 64GB; 8.9-inch model is $379 for 16GB, $429 for 32GB, and $479 for 64GB
Content	Amazon Appstore
Connectivity	Wi-Fi or 4G LTE
Ports	micro USB to connect to your computer
Browser	Silk
Camera	Front-facing HDX for 7 inch and 8.9 inch; rear-facing 8 MP for 8.9 inch only
Sound	3.5 mm stereo jack; dual stereo speakers, Dolby Digital Plus sound
Volume control	Physical volume rocker switch

Amazon Web Services (AWS) Hardware

Unlike most of its competitors, Amazon builds its hardware infrastructure from commodity components. Commodity, in this case, refers to using equipment from lesser-known manufacturers who charge less than their brand-name competitors. For components for which commodity offerings aren't available, Amazon (known as a ferocious negotiator) gets rock-bottom prices.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) Hardware

On the hardware side of the AWS offering, Amazon's approach is clear: Buy equipment as cheaply as possible. But wait, you may say, won't the commodity approach result in a less reliable infrastructure? After all, the brand-name hardware providers assert that one benefit of paying premium prices is that you get higher-quality gear.

Well . . . yes and no. It may be true that premium-priced equipment (traditionally called enterprise equipment because of the assumption that large enterprises require more reliability and are willing to pay extra to obtain it) is more reliable in an apples-to-apples comparison. That is, an enterprise-grade server lasts longer and suffers fewer outages than its commodity-class counterpart.

The issue, from Amazon's perspective, is how much more reliable the enterprise gear is than the commodity version, and how much that improved reliability is worth. In other words, it needs to know the cost-benefit ratio of enterprise-versus-commodity.

Making this evaluation more challenging is a fundamental fact: At the scale on which an Amazon operates (remember that it has nearly half a million servers running in its AWS service), equipment — no matter who provides it — is breaking all the time.

If you're a cloud provider with an infrastructure the size of Amazon's, you have to assume, for every type of hardware you use, an endless round of crashed disk drives, fried motherboards, packet-dropping network switches, and on and on.

Therefore, even if you buy the highest-quality, most expensive gear available, you'll still end up (if you're fortunate enough to grow into a very large cloud computing provider like, say, Amazon) with an unreliable infrastructure.

Put another way, at a very large scale, even highly reliable individual components still result in an unreliable overall infrastructure because of the failure of components, as rare as the failure of a specific piece of equipment may be.

The scale at which Amazon operates affects other aspects of its hardware infrastructure as well. Besides components such as servers, networks, and storage, data centers also have power supplies, cooling, generators, and backup batteries. Depending on the specific component, Amazon may have to use custom-designed equipment to operate at the scale required.

Think of AWS hardware infrastructure this way: If you had to design and operate data centers to deal with massive scale and in a way that aligns with a corporate mandate to operate inexpensively, you'd probably end up with a solution much like Amazon's. You'd use commodity computing equipment whenever possible, jawbone prices down when you couldn't obtain commodity offerings, and custom-design equipment to manage your unusually large-scale operation.

Network Server Setup: Hardware Requirements

You not only have to have a server computer on which to install the network operating system (NOS), the server must have sufficient resources to execute the software. Each NOS lists minimum hardware requirements supported by the operating system. For example, the following table summarizes the minimum requirements for the Standard Edition of the Windows Server 2008 R2.

Network Server Setup: Hardware Requirements

Always take these minimums with a grain of salt. Windows Server 2008 will crawl like a snail with 512MB of RAM; you shouldn't bother with less than 4GB, and 16GB is a more appropriate minimum for most purposes.

Minimum Hardware Requirements for Windows Server 2008 R2


Item	Windows Server 2008 R2
CPU	1.4 GHz
RAM	512MB
Free disk space	32GB

You should also check your server hardware against the list of compatible hardware published by the maker of your NOS. For example, Microsoft publishes a list of hardware that it has tested and certified as compatible with Windows servers.

This list is called the Hardware Compatibility List, or HCL for short. You can check the HCL for your specific server by going to Microsoft’s website at Microsoft HCL. You can also test your computer’s compatibility by running the Check System Compatibility option from the Windows distribution CD-ROM.

Exploring the Hardware That Makes Sound

It doesn't take any special equipment to play sound files. You probably already have the tools in your computer. But it's important to understand what makes the music happen.

Exploring the Hardware That Makes Sound

Processors and memory

The processor and memory in your computer make the whole thing run. They keep the programs running and working. They are the brain and the nervous system of your computer, and the old adage "bigger is better" is true here. In this case, you're looking for faster processor speeds and more memory (or RAM) to accurately reproduce music. The good news is that this isn't as big a concern as it was just a few years ago. Just about any computer you purchase today has more than enough speed and power to play back music.

This doesn't mean that you should try to play music, download a bunch of files, and burn a CD all at the same time. Computers with less memory or slower processors might balk at handling all of these tasks at the same time. Try reducing the amount of applications that are open on your computer to allow for better audio playback.

Sound cards

The sound card is the piece of hardware that makes the sound happen. Again, this piece of equipment has made huge leaps in the last few years. It is no longer a concern whether sound cards can accurately reproduce music. Now, it's a question of whether the sound is heard in stereo or perhaps more advanced formats, like 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound.

Sound cards are often not even "cards" anymore. The components that computers use to reproduce music or other sounds are often included right on the main circuitry of the computer itself (the motherboard). This can be both a blessing and a curse — if you like the sound of the computer, everything's wonderful. However, because the sound is built in, you're stuck with it unless you disable it and install something new. It's not as complicated as it may sound, but it's still extra effort.

Speakers

Speakers make the air move and create the sounds you hear. Most computers come bundled with a set of speakers that connect to the sound card (or internal sound). That's not always good enough, because these speakers are rather small and can't always faithfully reproduce the music. (Bass speakers are big for a good reason — they need to be!) Depending on how your computer's sound is set up, you may want to consider getting surround-sound speakers (which include a main speaker, smaller satellite speakers, and a subwoofer for bass).

This assumes, of course, that the music you're playing has been designed for multiple speakers. Most standard recordings today are mixed to stereo, or two channels. Running a stereo recording through a surround-sound setup still only gives you a stereo sound output. You start hearing the differences when the audio has been specifically encoded for surround sound, like in many video games and movies.

Portable audio players

Portable audio players are popular ways to listen to music. Portable sound started with the Walkman, which allowed people to take cassette recordings with them. Now, you can take CDs, DVDs, or your audio files with you wherever you go. Your length of enjoyment depends only on the amount of songs in the player and the juice left in your battery.

Hardware Needed for a Wireless Network

As long as you have all the hardware, you can quickly set up any wireless network. Here is everything you need to know about the hardware you need to have in place before you use Windows to configure the wireless network.

There are two types of wireless networks: infrastructure and ad hoc. The infrastructure network is most likely the type of wireless setup you have in your home or office. It’s laid out similarly to a wirednetwork, but without wires.

Hardware Needed for a Wireless Network

The basic wireless, peer-to-peer network consists of these components:

Wireless router: The heart of the wireless network is the wireless router. Like a wire-based network, the hub is a central location that all computers connect to, providing the computers with network access.

The wireless hubs now available also serve as routers. Well, officially, wireless hubs are gateways, not routers, but they're called routers. They’re also called access points, so get used to that term as well.

Despite the nomenclature confusion, all you need to know is that the hub/router/access point is a smart little beast that helps manage wireless connections and also helps connect your wireless network to the Internet.

Wire-based connections: Almost every wireless router I’ve seen has one or more standard, wire-based Ethernet port. One port is used to connect the router to a broadband modem. Other Ethernet ports might be also available, allowing you to connect standard wire-based networking to the wireless hub.

Wireless NIC: Your computer needs a wireless network information card, or NIC, to talk with the wireless router. A laptop comes standard with a wireless NIC, but for a desktop PC you have to get a wireless NIC as an option. It’s installed internally as an expansion card, or you can use one of the various plug-in USB wireless NICs.

That’s pretty much it for the infrastructure type of wireless network.

The ad hoc type of wireless network is basically a group of wireless computers connected with each other. An ad hoc network has no central hub or router. Instead, all its computers can directly access the other computers’ files and shared resources. They may or may not have Internet access, but that’s not the point of the ad hoc network.

One of the beauties of a wireless network is that you can mix in wired components as needed. If you need more Ethernet ports, for example, simply add a switch to the wireless router.

Despite the wireless nature of wireless networking, you still need an Ethernet cable (a wire) to connect a wireless router to a broadband modem.

Another advantage of a wireless network is that it’s portable. It’s far easier to pull up stakes with a wireless network than to pack up all the bits and pieces of a wired network. If you live in an apartment, or just move around a lot, a wireless setup a good option.

The term access point is often abbreviated AP. Don’t be puzzled when you see the words wireless AP — it simply refers to the access point, not to the Associated Press.

A wireless network is often called a WLAN, for wireless local-area network.

A wireless network is also referred to by the term Wi-Fi. It stands for wireless fidelity.

Ad hoc networks are often used by computer gamers to gather in a single location to play games with each other.

Home Networking Hardware Requirements

Although setting up a home network isn’t necessarily an expensive or difficult project, you will need a few basic pieces of hardware to connect your computers, printers, gaming consoles, and assorted gadgets and do-hickeys to each other — and to the Internet.

Home Networking Hardware Requirements

Need	Purpose
DSL or Cable Modem	A DSL or cable modem connects your computer to a high-speed DSL or cable Internet connection. Although dial-up modems are still available for slower dial-up Internet connections, the connection speeds are far too slow for a home network.
Wired or wireless router	A wired or wireless router connects your DSL or cable modem to your home network. Many DSL/cable modems now have built-in routers that allow you to connect your network directly to your Internet connection.
Wired or wireless network adapters	A wired or wireless network adapter is the device in your computer (or printers, gaming consoles, and other networking equipment) that connects your computer to your network.
Ethernet cabling	Ethernet cabling is used to connect your wired network adapters to a router or network switch. Even if you are using a wireless router, you will need at least one Ethernet cable to connect your wireless router to your DSL or cable modem.

Windows 8 Hardware Requirements

If you want to upgrade to Windows 8, your computer probably won’t complain; the hardware requirements remain about the same. Windows 8 should run without problem on any PC currently running Windows 7 or Windows Vista. In fact, Windows 8 may run faster on your old PC than Windows Vista did, especially on laptops.

Windows 8 Hardware Requirements

If your PC runs Windows XP, it may still run Windows 8, but probably not at its best.

If you have a technogeek in your family, have him or her translate the following table, which shows the Windows 8 hardware requirements.

The Windows 8 Hardware Requirements


Architecture	x86 (32-bit)	x86 (64-bit)
Processor	1 GHz
Memory (RAM)	1GB	2GB
Graphics Card	DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver
HDD free space	16GB	20GB

In common language, the table simply says that nearly any computer sold in the past five years can be upgraded to Windows 8 with little problem.

Windows 8 runs nearly any program that runs on Windows 7 and Windows Vista. It even runs some Windows XP programs, as well. Some older programs, however, won’t work, including most security-based programs, such as antivirus, firewall, and security suites. You’ll need to contact the program’s manufacturer for an upgraded version.

Shopping for a new PC to run Windows 8? To see how well a particular showroom PC can handle Windows 8, point your mouse at any screen’s bottom-left corner and click the right mouse button. When the menu appears, choose System. The Windows Experience Index appears. It has already tested the PC and given it a grade ranging from 1 (terrible) to 9.9 (extraordinary).

Don’t know what version of Windows runs on your current PC? Go to the Start menu, right-click Computer, and choose Properties. The screen that appears lists your Windows version.

(If your Start menu fills the screen with a bunch of colorful tiles, you’re already running Windows 8. If so, right-click in the bottom-left corner, choose System from the pop-up menu, and the System window’s Windows Edition section says which version of Windows 8 is running.)

Network Performance: Hardware Bottlenecks

One of the most common network bottlenecks are your server hardware. Your servers should be powerful computers capable of handling all the work your network will throw at them. Don’t cut corners by using a bottom-of-the-line computer that you bought at a discount computer store.

Hardware Bottlenecks

The following are the four most important components of your server hardware:

Processor: Your server should have a powerful processor. As a general rule, any processor that’s available in a $500 computer from a store that sells TVs and washing machines as well as computers is not a processor that you want to see in your file server. In other words, avoid processors that are designed for consumer-grade home computers. For optimum performance, your servers should use server-class Itanium or Xeon processors.

Memory: You can’t have too much memory. Memory is cheap, so don’t skimp. Don’t even think about running a server with less than 8GB of RAM.

Disk: Don’t mess around with inexpensive SATA hard drives. To be respectable, you should have nothing but SCSI drives.

Network interface: A $9.95 network card might be fine for your home network, but don’t use one in a file server that supports 50 users and then expect to be happy with the server’s performance. Remember that the server computer uses the network a lot more than any of the clients, so equip your servers with good network cards.

Identifying Cloud Computing Hardware

Costs for your cloud computing data center hardware will vary dramatically depending on the type of workloads you support. Data storage is an excellent example of this variation. When your company is establishing a cloud data center, think about the hardware elements in a different way.

Identifying Cloud Computing Hardware

Cooling hardware for cloud data centers

Cloud data centers have the luxury of being able to engineer the way systems (boards, chips, and more) are cooled. When systems are cooled via air conditioning, they require tremendous amounts of power. However, purpose-built cloud data centers can be engineered to be cooled by water, for example (which is 3,000 times more efficient than air in cooling equipment).

CPU, memory, and local disk equipment in cloud computing centers

Traditional data tends to be filled with a lot of surplus equipment (either to support unanticipated workloads or because an application or process wasn’t engineered to be efficient). Surplus memory, CPUs, and disks take up valuable space and, of course, they need to be cooled. The cloud data center typically supports self-service provisioning of resources so capacity is added only when you need it.

Data storage and networking in cloud data centers

Data storage and networking need to be managed collectively if they’re going to be efficient. This problem has complicated the way the traditional data centers have been managed, and has forced organizations to buy a lot of additional hardware and software. The cloud data center can be engineered to overcome this problem. The cloud knows where its data needs to be because it is so efficient in the way it manages workloads. It’s actually engineered to manage data efficiently.

Redundancy in data center hardware

Data centers must always move data around the network for backup and disaster recovery. Traditional data centers support so many different workloads that many approaches to backup and recovery have to be taken. This makes backing up and recovering data complicated and expensive. The cloud, in contrast, is designed to handle data workloads consistently.

Software embedded within the data center

There’s a lot of talk about software in the context of applications, but a considerable amount of software is linked at a systems level. This type of system level software is a big cost in the traditional data center simply because there are so many more workloads with so many operating systems and related software elements.

Cloud data centers have fewer elements because they have simpler workloads. There are some differences in how software costs are managed depending on the type of cloud model. Cloud providers understand these costs well and design their offerings to maximize revenue. It will help you understand pricing by understanding the cost factors for each of the models.

General PC Hardware Troubleshooting

There are a few standard things you should check before you get your elbows greasy and end up with screws and computer parts strewn all over the floor. Review the items in this list first to determine what’s wrong.

General PC Hardware Troubleshooting

Is it plugged in?

Is it connected?

Is it turned on?

Press and hold down the Power button for five seconds to turn off any computer.

Hot things cause trouble. Ensure that the console’s air vents are unobstructed and that the fan is on. Touch a power supply brick to ensure that it’s not too hot. If it is hot, disconnect the power supply.

Check the Device Manager for conflicts detected by Windows.

Swap out questionable hardware with hardware that works to help pinpoint the problem.

The printer must be on and online or selected before you can print.

Computer hardware: Basic PC Hardware

Your PC is made up over pieces of hardware. Although you’ve probably seen all of this hardware before, you need to know which computer hardware piece is which and what the proper hardware terms are:

Computer hardware: Basic PC Hardware

Console: The main computer box is the console (shown in this figure), although it may also be called the system unit (geeky) or the CPU (incorrect). It’s a box that contains your computer’s soul, its electronic guts. On the outside, the console sports various buttons, lights, and holes into which you plug the rest of the computer system.

Monitor: The monitor is the device where the computer displays information.

Keyboard: It’s the thing you type on; it’s the primary way you communicate with the computer.

Mouse: No rodent or pest, the computer mouse is a helpful device that lets you work with graphical objects that the computer displays on the monitor.

Speakers: PCs bleep and squawk through a set of stereo speakers, which can be external jobbies you set up, speakers built into the console or the monitor, or perhaps even headphones.

Printer: It’s a device that gives you the computer’s printed output, also called hard copy.

You may find, in addition to these basic items, other things clustered around your computer, such as a scanner, a digital camera, a gamepad, an external disk drive, a high-speed modem, and many, many other toys — er, vital computer components.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Desktop buying tips

Purchasing a home or business computer can be a big and sometimes costly decision. Below is a listing of helpful suggestions on what to look for and what to ask when purchasing a new computer.

Desktop buying tips

New vs. refurbished or used

If you're looking to save money buying a used or refurbished computer can save you a lot of money. A refurbished computer is a computer that has been returned to the company has been checked out as good but cannot be sold again as new. All major computer manufacturers will have a refurbished section showing all their available refurbished products. Buying one of these computers instead of a new computer can save you hundreds of dollars.

In addition to refurbished computers individuals and companies for various reasons will also sell their used computers. When buying these look out for the following.

Verify it has no physical damage by inspecting the ports as well as the inside and the outside of the case.

Make sure you're getting what you pay for. See the below scams section for additional details.

Make sure computer comes with any CD's for the operating systems or programs that are promised to be installed.

Realize that many computer manufacturers will not transfer the computer warranty from the old user to you.

Mac vs. PC

The decision between buying a Macintosh and PC computer running Microsoft Windows is always a heated debate. See our Mac vs. PC document for a list of advantages and disadvantages of both of these systems if you're still not decided.

What to look for

When purchasing a computer it is likely that you will have a general idea of what you may like in the computer or how you would like to configure the computer. Below is a listing of the various components likely to be found in a computer and recommendations and tips when considering any of the below components.

Case

The case or chassis is often overlooked when buying a new computer. Below are some things to think about regarding the case.

Do you want a desktop or tower case?

Will the case fit on top of or below your desk?

Will the drives be accessible or will they be positioned the way you wish them to be positioned?

Does the case support the standards of motherboards, for example, the ATX motherboard standard? This is important if you wish to upgrade the computer in the future.

Case buying tips page.

CD media

Most newer computers today have an included disc burner in the computer. If you wish to make your own CD's or DVD's make sure the computer supports it.

Standard CD-ROM buying tips

CD-R or CD-RW buying tips

DVD buying tips

Hard drive

The hard drive will be the destination of all your files and information. Make sure you get a hard disk drive that will have plenty of available space and will run at speeds that don't slow the overall computer down.

Hard drive buying tips

Memory

Memory is one of the more important purchasing decisions on a computer. The more memory in the computer, the more efficient the computer will run.

Memory buying tips

Modem

Depending on how you plan on connecting to the Internet the Modem may not be that important of a buying decision. Most users today are using broadband Internet, which does not require a modem. However, if this is not available in your area make sure your computer includes a modem.

Modem buying tips

Network card

Almost all computers today have a network card or network option on the motherboard. The network card is what will allow you to share files between computers in your home and connect to a broadband Internet connection.

Network card buying tips

Processor

The computer processor is and will always be one of the most important considerations when purchasing a computer. Today, with multiple CPU/Processor manufacturers, it may be more confusing as well as more cost efficient to look at all options for computer processors.

CPU and processor buying tips

Sound card

Today, the standard sound cards that are included with a computer are sufficient for almost all computer users. However, if you plan on doing sound editing or mixing make sure to look at the sound cards capabilities.Video card

For computer gaming the video card has become one of the most important factors behind memory and processor. If you plan on gaming with your computer make sure your video card GPU and video memory meets the requirements.

There is no such thing as a computer manufacturer who has a perfect history with all its users. Therefore when it comes to recommending one brand over another it would be impossible for us to say who's better than the other. Instead we'd suggest relying off the below considerations.

Add-ons

All computer manufacturers will give you the option to buy additional accessories when buying a new computer. Keep the below in mind before buying these add-ons.

Documentation

Most manufacturers today are reducing the amount of documentation included with their computer and substituting that documentation for online documentation. Make sure the documentation found online appears to be sufficient and that software and driver downloads are available if needed.

Hardware

As mentioned in the above above what to look for section, make sure the hardware included with your computer meets your needs.

Return

If the computer is purchased at a local retail store, can the computer be returned if unsatisfactory to that store or does it have to be sent to the computer manufacturer? If the computer is purchased online or through a mail order can it be returned if unsatisfactory?

Service

Is the service onsite, meaning a technician will come to your location to replace or fix a bad component. If the service is onsite, is it for the complete time of the warranty?

If onsite is not offered, what is and for how long?

Can the computer be taken to a local service center? If yes, what is the closest authorized service center?

What is the time frame the service takes to occur? For example, if the computer has a bad component, what is the time it will take for a technician to come onsite and replace that component, or if sent in how long does it take? Finally, if that time frame is not acceptable, what is the company willing to do, for example, are they willing to provide you with a loaned computer.

Software

Does the software include Microsoft Office or Corel Suite? These packages allow you to have a word processor and a spreadsheet. For the most users this should be an important consideration.

Is it the full versions of the software or is the software a demo, trial, or shareware? Many companies will include programs that will expire after 30-90 days and require you to purchase the full program.

Support

While you can always contact Computer Hope for support, manufacturer support is also a very important consideration as if an issue arises with the computer you must be able to contact a support representative.

Is support open 24 hours, 7 days a week? If not, what are the hours?

Is support open on holidays? If not, what days are they closed?

What support options are available? Phone? E-mail? Web? Chat?

Upgrade

While this option may not be considered at first when purchasing a computer, it is an important consideration. When purchasing a computer make sure the hardware you may want to upgrade can be upgraded. Common upgrades for most users today include: Memory, Video card, and Sound Card.

Warranty

Finally, does the computer manufacturer offer a warranty? How long is the warranty? Does the warranty cover both hardware and software issues?

We highly recommend that a computer only be considered if it has at least an one-year warranty. Many cheap computers will only come with a 90-day warranty. Meaning if a part goes bad, you will have to pay for the part as well as the service. This may not be an issue for users who just need a cheap computer and are willing to replace parts and service the computer themselves.

Scams

Unfortunately, like anything, it is possible to be tricked or for computer companies to scam you. Watch out for the below common scams.

Get what you pay for - Make sure you're getting what you paid for. A common tactic is to overclock the processor, memory, or other component. This can be done by anyone with a little computer knowledge. For example, you may buy a 733MHz processor but instead get a 500MHz.

To determine the processor speed, open the computer and look at the processor itself. Do not look at the processor through a software program or through BIOS as these values can be changed or tricked.

Legal software - When purchasing a computer, make sure it was legal purchased and the CD or other disc and its CD-KEY is included. Many end-users or small computer companies who build or sell computers may not provide you with legal copies of the software, which is illegal and may leave you with a fine or the inability to get updates.