Microsoft Helps IT Pros Achieve “Stellar Clusters”
Microsoft partners with hardware vendors to ensure that server configurations are compatible with Windows Server 2008 failover clustering technology
REDMOND, Wash., June 19, 2008 – Of all the responsibilities borne by IT departments, ensuring the availability of mission-critical applications, services, and data is arguably both the most important and the most challenging. One technology that helps IT organizations meet uptime requirements for their essential systems is failover clustering (FC), in which servers are linked together so if one node fails, another in its cluster can pick up its functions.
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| Bob Visse, senior director in the Windows Server Marketing Group, Microsoft. |
Until recently, the implementation of failover clustering has been a kind of “dark art” that required a high degree of IT expertise to implement. So although the concept of clustering has been around for decades, until now it has been practical only for organizations that had extensive IT resources to administer and manage.
Microsoft has changed that picture in two important ways:
| • | The simplified failover clustering management capability of Microsoft’s recently released Windows Server 2008 operating system makes FC practical and easy to implement for a wider set of customers, including organizations with fewer than 250 computers. |
| • | By establishing the Failover Clustering Configuration Program (FCCP), under which Microsoft partners with key cluster vendors to ensure that pre-configured cluster configurations are strenuously tested for efficacy and ease of installation. |
Clustering for the Masses
With Windows Server 2008, businesses of all sizes can ensure business continuity by implementing failover clustering for critical line-of-business services, applications and servers, reducing both unplanned and planned downtime. It even supports geographically dispersed clusters, which is critical for multi-site business continuity.
“Windows Sever 2008 makes clustering simple to set up, deploy, and manage,” says Bob Visse, a senior director in the Windows Server Marketing Group at Microsoft. “It features enhancements that simplify the entire clustering workflow—increasing cluster security, providing enhanced stability and facilitating easier setup and management.”
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| The Windows Server 2008 Failover Clustering MMC (Microsoft Management Console) user interface. |
| Click image for high-res version |
Failover clustering improvements in Windows Server 2008 include:
| • | A built-in validation toolset and configuration validation Wizard |
| • | Improved cluster setup and migration |
| • | Simplified management interfaces |
| • | Support for multi-site clustering |
| • | An enhanced quorum model |
| • | Improved support for storage area networks (SANs), and |
| • | Improved stability and security, resulting in increased availability. |
”By reducing the learning curve associated with the setup, deployment, and maintenance of Windows Server clusters, Microsoft’s new approach to optimizing and automating the deployment of high availability (HA) clustering software — as embodied in Windows Server Failover Clustering — can be expected to reduce operational expenses for customers who are leveraging HA software to protect Windows business applications on both physical and virtual servers,” wrote IDC analyst Jean Bozman in her April 2008 report, “Microsoft Automates Cluster Services in Windows Server 2008 Failover Clustering” (IDC report 211794).
Ward Ralston, group product manager for Windows Server, explained how the product addressed the needs of IT professionals: “We went through the records of calls to our Customer Support Services hotline for the past several years relating to problems setting up clusters. We discovered that more than 55 percent of misconfigured clusters were the result of IT pro error. So we created a cluster configuration validation wizard for Windows Server 2008 that tests all the nodes in a network for proper configuration before they can be set up as a server cluster.
Simplified Hardware Selection
“One of the other aspects of failover clustering that can be daunting, especially for organizations that are creating their first clustering solution, is the selection of hardware such as the shared storage and networking equipment that is used between the nodes and the clusters,” says Ralston. “That’s why we instituted the FCCP — so you can eliminate that last level of complexity by ordering a pre-configured and tested clustering configuration from one of our partners.”
Under the FCCP, Microsoft is partnering with vendors to ensure that systems designed to support failover clustering are tested, validated and easy to implement. To be part of the program, manufacturers must put their products through strenuous testing.
In the past, individual components that were approved for clustering under the Windows Server 2003 platform were recorded on a Cluster Hardware Compatibility List (HCL). With the advent of Windows Server 2008, the Cluster HCL is being discontinued in favor of this validation program for entire configurations. Complete configurations might include servers, interconnects, storage adapters and controllers, firmware and drivers.
Among the vendors participating in the FCCP are orignial equipment manufacturer Dell and storage vendors NetApp and EMC.
“Businesses today require information and resources to be available as reliably and securely as possible,” said Judy Chavis, director of marketing and business development at Dell. “Our strong partnership with Microsoft, coupled with Dell’s existing methodology of providing support for customers with fully tested and validated high-availability clusters, ensures that our customers’ mission-critical applications, data and services are always available and capable of scaling to meet their growing needs.”
“This program enables our mutual customers to deploy highly-available Windows server configurations, and lets them easily locate, select and receive support for NetApp-tested Windows Server 2008 Failover Clustering configurations,” said Patrick Rogers, vice president of solutions marketing for NetApp.
“EMC is dedicated to providing customers with integrated, reliable and easy-to-deploy solutions that enable IT organizations to quickly respond to changing business demands,” said Paul Brown, vice president of integration and interoperability at EMC’s E-Lab. “Joint customers can be confident that EMC solutions for Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Failover Clustering have been rigorously tested in the EMC E-Lab to deliver the high availability that is required in today’s Windows Cluster deployments.”
For the first time, any customer can achieve mission-critical business continuity, regardless of its size. The Hillsboro, Ore. school district is one example of this new type of high availability customer.
“We depend heavily on Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Failover Clustering technology to maintain our systems’ resiliency,” said John Goucher, senior network engineer for the Hillsboro School District. “The enhancements deliver higher availability and reduce our administrative overhead. In addition, with hardware requirements to build a cluster being complex, the new Failover Cluster Validation Program will help to ensure we are purchasing systems we know are fully supported by the hardware vendor.”
Souce : Microsoft Presspass
Popularity: 2% [?]
Imagine Cup 2008: Web-based Screen Reader Wins Top Accessibility Prize
Student designs technology that makes any computer usable by people who are blind.
REDMOND, Wash. – June 18, 2008 – When Jeff Bigham started developing a Web-based screen reader for people who are blind, he had no idea his work would bring him international recognition as one of the brightest young stars of computer science and accessible technology. He was just trying to help people.
Bigham, 27, and a Ph.D candidate in computer science at the University of Washington, won the first-ever Accessible Technology Award for Interface Design in the 2008 Imagine Cup technology competition sponsored by Microsoft. The award includes US$8,000 in prize money and a trip to the Imagine Cup world finals in Paris, July 3-8, where Bigham will demonstrate WebAnywhere, the winning technology solution he designed, and have the opportunity to share information with other outstanding Imagine Cup competitors.
“WebAnywhere, and the other excellent entries for the Accessible Technology Award, show that students around the world can be inspired to design innovative, accessible technology,” says Annuska Perkins, senior accessibility strategist at Microsoft and captain for the Accessible Technology Award.
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| Jeff Bigham works on WebAnywhere, a technology solution that makes any computer usable by people who are blind. Seattle, June 17, 2008. |
A Screen Reader for Every Computer
WebAnywhere makes it possible for people who are blind to access information over the Internet from almost any computer. They don’t have to carry their own computer with them everywhere or install expensive screen-reader software. All they have to do is visit the WebAnywhere Web site (www.webanywhere.cs.washington.edu), which provides a screen-reader interface that translates Web-based text to speech and reads the content aloud.
Because of the cost of most screen readers — often $1,000 or more — and the difficulty of providing ongoing support, few public computers come equipped with the software, effectively making them unusable by people who are blind. Most public computers are locked down to prevent users from installing new software. As a Web-based application, WebAnywhere doesn’t require the installation of additional software, and Bigham’s screen reader is designed to work with any browser or operating system.
“One of the primary advantages of everything moving to the Web is that people can access information and applications anywhere, at any time, and from any computer,” Bigham says. “For people who use their computers in different ways — whether it’s a blind person who uses a screen reader, or someone with low vision who needs to see things magnified, or someone with a learning disability who requires information to be presented in a specific format — that advantage doesn’t exist.
“WebAnywhere solves that problem for people who are blind, and it’s easy to imagine how the technology could provide personalized views of any computer for people with other disabilities or preferences,” he says.
Founded by Microsoft in 2003 to encourage young people to visualize a better world enabled by technology, and to realize that vision by using their imaginations and technical skills to solve real-world problems, Imagine Cup is now the world’s premier technology competition for college and high school students. In 2008, students from more than 100 countries are competing for US$180,000 in prize money in nine invitational divisions, ranging from Software Design and Embedded Development to Photography and Short Film.
According to Perkins, with an increasing number of communities and governments around the world disseminating information and providing services online, having technology and Internet access at home, work, and in public places is becoming more critical for everyone. By giving people with visual impairments a new way to access information, WebAnywhere can help them make better informed decisions and take advantage of essential services.
“One of the scenarios we included in our submission was the idea of using WebAnywhere to look up the status of the next bus to arrive,” Bigham says. “In Seattle, we’re fortunate to have real-time online tracking of public buses. Knowing not only the bus schedule but also whether the bus is on time or delayed makes public transportation much more usable and, therefore, more likely to be used. With WebAnywhere, people who use screen readers can access this information from libraries and public kiosks, just like everyone else.”
Serious about Accessibility
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Bigham says his Imagine Cup experience has inspired him to continue working on accessible technology and to find new ways to help people.
“The biggest thing I took away from the Imagine Cup is that it’s really cool they have this award at all. It shows that Microsoft is really serious about accessibility,” Bigham adds.
“I think it’s great that Microsoft gives students an opportunity to express themselves in a forum where they can compete and practice developing software. The Imagine Cup gives people an opportunity to be creative and imaginative. That’s great.”
After he receives his Ph.D next year, Bigham hopes to become a professor at a research institution. Meanwhile, he is planning to make WebAnywhere publicly available beginning this summer.
“My goals in the future are to continue doing research and working with students, and also to keep doing things that actually help people,” Bigham says. “That has been one of the cool things about this project: it’s not like we just did the study, learned some things, and that’s it. With WebAnywhere, we’re actually taking it to the next step and getting it out to people who need it.”
Popularity: 1% [?]
Innovation Fuels Passion in Next-Gen PC Design Competition : Microsoft
Designers go beyond the beige box to dream up groundbreaking new PC designs that enable people to pursue their passions.
REDMOND, Wash. – June 16, 2008 For industrial design student Avery Holleman, the inspiration for his award-winning entry in this year’s Microsoft-sponsored Next-Gen PC Design Competition struck late one evening as he chewed over prospective form factors for his design concept.
He Says : “When I started the Next-Gen PC Design project, I laid out every idea I had about current and future technology and how it could influence the design of the PC,” recounts Holleman, a senior studying industrial design at California State University, Long Beach. “From there I put together several conceptual models, including one that used wireless connections to separate the interface from the PC.”
“I had an idea about a system where the user would be able to interact with any number of interfaces connected to the same network.”
“I felt I had good ideas. But they needed a package.”
While contemplating a square he’d drawn out as the display for his device, the form it should take suddenly took shape before his eyes. “I realized it looked like a napkin.”
“That moment the idea came together,” he recalls. “What if all of the technology I had been thinking about was packed into a napkin or into many napkins, and they worked together like my original idea? That became the Napkin PC.”
In popular imagination, the humble napkin is, of course, much more than an absorbent piece of tissue for dabbing one’s mouth between the main courses of a restaurant meal. It’s an impromptu idea pad for sketching out business plans, design blueprints and other creative endeavors over strategic dinnertime conversations. Holleman knew he was onto something that would resonate widely with creative professionals.
“I loved the idea because everyone knows about napkin sketches, so I knew that it would be easy to immediately connect with the concept.”
One person it struck a chord with was Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, who knows a thing or two about business plans. In addition to being awarded first place by the Next-Gen PC Design Competition’s distinguished panel of expert judges, drawn from the ranks of leading international industrial designers, Holleman’s Napkin PC concept also earned the distinction of winning the Chairman’s Award, handpicked by Gates. Holleman received $20,000 in prize money for both accolades.
Now in its fourth year, the Next-Gen PC Design Competition, endorsed by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) and the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID), throws down the gauntlet to budding industrial designers and seasoned professionals working in the field worldwide to apply their ingenuity, design prowess and creative flair and vision to the task of not merely give existing computing form factors a superficial makeover, but fundamentally rethinking the PC as we know it from the ground up.
For Microsoft, the competition affords an invaluable opportunity to identify fresh design talent and foster dialog and collaboration between design professionals and the PC industry – interaction that is increasingly important amid the emergence of user experience as a key driver of technology adoption.
This year’s competition issued an open call to entrants to dream up futuristic PC designs that give a new lease of life to people’s passions, such as travelling, music or photography. Contestants were challenged to come up with groundbreaking designs, not only featuring eye-catching aesthetics, but melding cutting-edge hardware with the latest software to empower people to follow their passions.
The Next-Gen PC Design competition was founded on the idea that the next wave of computing is all about experiences,” explains Dave Fester, general manager of Worldwide Product Marketing for the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) division at Microsoft. “This years’ competition taps into people’s passions and connects with them on an emotional level because these designs are about enabling users to easily do the things they love.”
The competition certainly captured the imagination of the design community, receiving 120 submissions from 32 countries. One common denominator across some of the different designs was a “Eureka moment” for their creators – just like Holleman’s – when perspiration met inspiration and an idea suddenly came into sharper focus.
For the third-place team of Zhongren Zhang, a second-year graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Chun Yang, a graduate student at China’s Nanjing University of Science and Technology, their Backpacker’s Diary PC design was the product of just such a moment during a backpacking expedition the two made to Germany last year.
The burden of the laptop and sheath of paper maps that Zhang was lugging around with him in his backpack prompted him to pose the question, “’how can the advantage of traditional paper maps and books be integrated into a PC to make it easier to travel?’”
But in seeking to combine such functionality into a portable, convenient form factor for travelers, Zhang knew an “all-in-one box with merely a nice shape” wouldn’t cut it.
“Instead, we tried to find inspiration from some traditional sources, so the device would be intuitive to use for backpackers,” Zhang relates.
Then came the flash of insight that crystallized precisely how they could turn their vision into elegant reality.
“One day I saw Chun adding some new pages into her notebook, which has a clip on its spine. An idea suddenly popped into my mind: why not assign each function to a page and make it like a ‘book’. We did some research on the technology of flexible materials and developed the concept.”
Zhang and Yang plan on plowing their winnings into a design studio they’ve set up with other partners, and longer term, Zhang is hoping the exposure he’s gained from the competition will help him land a job “with a company like Microsoft” when he graduates next year. “I hope this award will raise my profile with companies. I’m looking forward to working in interdisciplinary teams and helping turn exciting new design concepts into reality.”
Entrants in next year’s competition will gain even more recognition when it is folded into Microsoft’s Imagine Cup. Starting in July 2008, the Next-Gen PC Design Competition will integrate with Microsoft’s Imagine Cup, giving entrants the ultimate platform of the world’s largest student technology competition, which in 2007 drew more than 130,000 entrants from 100 countries.
In the meantime, Holleman credits the competition with expanding his horizons about what he can accomplish in addition to giving him an invaluable springboard into the profession.
“Winning this competition has changed my plans greatly. Instead of rushing out and taking the first job offer that comes my way, I am using this opportunity to really think about what I want to do and where I want to be. What I do know is that I love design, technology, and innovation, so whatever I do must include these three things.”
“Innovation, problem solving and creation are my passions, and there is nothing I would rather do,” Holleman adds. With the Napkin PC and other groundbreaking designs, the entrants in this year’s Next-Gen PC Design Competition hope that their passion can ultimately fuel the passion of others.
source : Microsoft Presspass
Popularity: 2% [?]
Nvidia Geforce 7900GT – Vista Problem (Solution)
As many of you already know that Nvidia Geforce 7900GT gives scrambled lines in Windows Vista Operating system, Till date there has been no solution to this problem.
Cause: GPU speed mismatch
Description: Whenever anyone tries to upgrade the graphics driver from 158.24 to above the screen gets vertical lines and your computer gets in a bad shape and you get frustrated, several more things are there as, when you try to run a game or even when you sake up from standy by and many more.
There is a common solution to it all : you just need to reflash your BIOS , the question is HOW ?
No need to worry as its completely safe :
Steps: Download Nibitor , NVFlash , prepare a USB with fat or fat32 Filesystem ( if possible make bootable), if not then have a windows 98 or me bootable CD or floppy ready…
Instructions: Set your Boot Device in BIOS to Automatically boot from Cd, floppy , USB and then HDD ..
Boot to windows and install NIBITOR Run Nibitor, click on options and then read BIOS into file, save the file as ori ( so that you can remember that its an original BIOS) , now on the main page of nibitor change the clocks to -2 (minus) in 3d ( primary and secondary) , now just save the bios with the name : new
close Nibitor and extract nvfalsh and its files to the USB Pen drive and the new & ORI bios files, ( in case you screw up you will need ORI ), now reboot your system in DOS mode and type : nvflash [filename] press enter it will tell you that the version and all is same , continue and it will say successfull. NOTE: Do not restart your machine until it says the process is successfull.. after that restart your machine if the display seems to be ok then you are done.. if not then as said above you will boot into the boot device, DO NOT PANIC , just type nvflash [filename] (by filename i mean ORI(the original BIOS file)) . Press Enter, just by imagining the last time you did the thing press if pressing Y is needed.. the dispay if curropted will get stagnent after a minute or within seconds. restart and your system should be back again..
NOTE: Even i was a noobie just reading and studying and I did it in first step only… but yeah my BIOS too got curropted as i installed another BIOS from other card.. DO NOT TRY THAT…
PS : I do not take responsiblity that this thing will work for everyone.. nor i take responsiblity for any damage.. do it on your own RISK…
Nibitor and NVFLASH are copyright by their owners.. thanks to MVKtech and guru3d.com for downloads
Popularity: 23% [?]
Review: Microsoft Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000
If you ask just for a keyboard mouse, don’t really go for this one. This thing goes with some passion and grace. When i first ordered the set from Microsoft company store i was excited to use the product, after using it i became a fan. The Bundle comes up with a keyboard – 4 batterries for it ( yeah 4 batterries )(but these 4 batteries work atleast 1.5 year on a hectic schedule like mine) , A Laser mouse with a rechargeable Battery, a Rechager, a bluetooth dongle (works with every hardware), and product drivers and manual.
Well Microsoft’s Bundle is awesome too, so on pluging in it usually starts running without even trying to press the connect button, that means a true plug & play . but the bluetooth wont start working unless you install proper drivers for it.
The Product runs on 2.4Ghz Bluetooth (v.3.0), which is pretty smooth, it actually works till my garage so about 25m , Both Keyboard and mouse are equipped with a battery status indicator that blinks red when the battery needs replacement or recharge. When it comes to working this things combines with Xbox, N70, N95 ( the ones tested ) , The Mouse supports 4 way scrolling and two extra buttons to configure ( pre onfigured for back and magnify ) , The Laser technology gives mouse a great accuracy and freedom over optical to work on any surface and it never fails.
Talking about keyboard, Slim, sleek and ergonomic , the keyboard is equipped with a navigation pad (scratch pad) , a windows call button , media center key, gadgets button, windows live call button, Media button, My fav. hot keys and many more. plus all the function keys and esc button are touch (just incase you need a some more class), the keyboard measure 1/4 inches in cube… Comes with a 3year limited warranty.. and a great satisfaction of using a superior thing….
price: $149 (may vary) INR. 4500( as suggested by local vendor)
Pros : Latest tech. bluetooth and laser technologies, slim, sleek and cool.
Cons: lacks effecieny on rugged basis
for info : here
Popularity: 9% [?]
