Reasons to Buy the Best NAS

Gone are the days when floppy drives are enough to address the storage needs of many computer users. With the arrival of MP3 files, digital images and electronic documents, bigger and more suitable storage devices are a necessity. The Network Attached Storage or NAS has been the popular choice of many individuals and small business owners. This is because of the faster access, dependability, ability to accept more hard drives and ease of use of the best NAS:

Faster Access
Because the best NAS is installed using its own network address, it allows faster access to files. This is a lot better compared to the other storage devices, which offer slower speed. This is because they are connected to the main computer, which serves applications to all network users that fight for similar processor sources.

Dependability
Storage capacity is the very reason most people think of purchasing the best NAS available. It increases their storage spaces for their personal or business-related needs. This is especially useful for individuals who love to store movie, video and image files and for businesses that require higher storage space for their office data. In addition, files are secured with the best NAS even during hard drive failure; nothing will be lost. This is because of the RAID system, which enables the reproduction of data and its storage to several hard drives.

Ability to Accept More Hard Drives
If users require the use of more hard drives because of its huge electronic documents and presentations, they can easily do so because the best NAS accommodates the addition of hard drives. This eliminates the need to transfer all data to a larger drive. Just simply insert the additional drive and the storage capacity is increased.
Ease of Use

For those who are worried on how to use and install NAS, fret not. The best NAS is very easy to install. In fact, some of these devices automatically connect to the accessible Ethernet port. It is also easy to set it up to obtain access to Internet. In addition, it does not require a specific computer dedicated to its use. Because it is attached to the network, anyone can have access to it.

So, if you have several computers connected to the network, you are in dire need of buying NAS. This will make your life easier. However, do not just jump into the first device that you will see. Of course, you should have done your research first. It is better if you know the best NAS available in the market by asking friends and computer experts.

Why I Like Cisco Products

When I get asked why I like Cisco products, the answer I give is for several reasons.
First of all, Cisco has long been a leader in the computer industry and its products have dominated the market for as along a time. They have their hands in making everything important technologically. Cisco WLAN controllers are some of the best on the market, as are the classic and sturdy Cisco routers. They are now involved in a wider range of new products including video monitor software, VoIP phones, and switches for small business needs. There is always a Cisco machine at the core of the server devices that any large business I have worked with was running. They are reliable and consistent components for any level of networking.

Another reason is that Cisco is a name that I have come to trust. That is not something to be taken lightly in this market today. It also means a lot when I think of the future stability of any company economically. Cisco has already seen its way through the first few decades of the information age. It has shown itself to be grounded and continually growing as the decades have passed.

With Cisco expanding its products to a wider base of customers in the small business market, it is setting itself up to take on new opportunities in the global marketplace. If it can gain a real share of the new profits in this arena, then it will show more growth in the coming few years. Cisco has always had reliable products and it is one of the few companies that you can get honest tech support direct from the company. This is something that I know from experience in my earliest dealings with them, but you don't see that in many reviews about them in the major press. If anything Cisco may have been a little more costly than other competitors in the same technologies, but if you compare the quality and durability of their products you can see why. There is no comparison to the way their hardware is built. It is made to last longer, so the slight difference in cost is justified.

When you ask me why I like Cisco products, I wonder why I would buy anything else. The relationship I have built with Cisco is one that has lasted nearly a lifetime, and will continue further.

The Benefits of Using Switches Over Hubs

It's very much possible to create a computer network based only on hubs, but there are a few reasons why this is not recommended, despite the fact they're cheaper than switches. Switches are essentially the same as hubs, but just a little bit smarter. This article discusses the small difference between hubs and switches, as well as the benefits that using switches instead of hubs brings.

Hubs are widely thought of as dumb peices of networking equipment. They do their job of forwarding information across a network, but that's all they're capable of doing. The way they forward information is very wasteful, in terms of adding traffic onto the network. If you have 10 PC's connected to a 10 port hub and the PC connected to port 1 wants to talk to the PC connected to port 5, the hubs' only option is to broadcast the information down all of the ports, so every PC is sent the information despite it only being addressed to the PC on port 5. You can see how wasteful this is.

A switch is slightly different, they are more intelligent; the switch maintains a table, called an ARP table (Address Resolution Protocol) of all PC's connected. The table cross references each port on the switch with the hardware address, also known as the MAC address, of the device connected to that port. Using the example above, if the PC on port 1 wants to talk to the PC on port 5, it sends the information to the switch including the MAC address of the PC on port 5, the switch then looks up the location of the the PC based on the ARP table and the MAC address provided; the switch knows to forward the information to port 5 only. This uses up less resources and creates less traffic on the network.

Sure you could have a small network of 10 PC's running perfectly fine using a hub, but that's missing the point. As a network grows, the more important it becomes to manage the amount of traffic on the network. This is a fundamental concept of network design. We should understand from this that a network design based on hubs suffers from poor scalability. Another benefit of using switches instead of hubs is that they virtually eliminate collisions; a collision occurs when two computers try to transmit information on the same wire at the same time, both sets of information are lost because they crash into each other. The bigger the hub based network, the more likely that collisions are going to happen, everything else being equal. When information is lost due to collisions, the two computers have no choice but to resend the lost information, which means that it's likely to take longer sending a piece of information using a hub rather than a switch.

There we have it, switches take less time to transmit information when compared to a hub, they use less resources, create less network traffic, are more intelligent and far more scalable. So when your boss asks you to look into networking all the PC's within your company together, you can explain the many reasons why it's worth spending a little bit more and going with switches.

The Importance of Network Security in 2011

It's very much possible to create a computer network based only on hubs, but there are a few reasons why this is not recommended, despite the fact they're cheaper than switches. Switches are essentially the same as hubs, but just a little bit smarter. This article discusses the small difference between hubs and switches, as well as the benefits that using switches instead of hubs brings.

Hubs are widely thought of as dumb peices of networking equipment. They do their job of forwarding information across a network, but that's all they're capable of doing. The way they forward information is very wasteful, in terms of adding traffic onto the network. If you have 10 PC's connected to a 10 port hub and the PC connected to port 1 wants to talk to the PC connected to port 5, the hubs' only option is to broadcast the information down all of the ports, so every PC is sent the information despite it only being addressed to the PC on port 5. You can see how wasteful this is.

A switch is slightly different, they are more intelligent; the switch maintains a table, called an ARP table (Address Resolution Protocol) of all PC's connected. The table cross references each port on the switch with the hardware address, also known as the MAC address, of the device connected to that port. Using the example above, if the PC on port 1 wants to talk to the PC on port 5, it sends the information to the switch including the MAC address of the PC on port 5, the switch then looks up the location of the the PC based on the ARP table and the MAC address provided; the switch knows to forward the information to port 5 only. This uses up less resources and creates less traffic on the network.

Sure you could have a small network of 10 PC's running perfectly fine using a hub, but that's missing the point. As a network grows, the more important it becomes to manage the amount of traffic on the network. This is a fundamental concept of network design. We should understand from this that a network design based on hubs suffers from poor scalability. Another benefit of using switches instead of hubs is that they virtually eliminate collisions; a collision occurs when two computers try to transmit information on the same wire at the same time, both sets of information are lost because they crash into each other. The bigger the hub based network, the more likely that collisions are going to happen, everything else being equal. When information is lost due to collisions, the two computers have no choice but to resend the lost information, which means that it's likely to take longer sending a piece of information using a hub rather than a switch.

There we have it, switches take less time to transmit information when compared to a hub, they use less resources, create less network traffic, are more intelligent and far more scalable. So when your boss asks you to look into networking all the PC's within your company together, you can explain the many reasons why it's worth spending a little bit more and going with switches.

Top Tips For Computer Maintenance

If you want to enjoy smooth and hassle-free computing, you must keep your PC in good working condition. But it is common seen that most of the computer users neglect this maintenance job and ultimately end up spending hundreds of dollars to fix the issues. You can save your hard earned money and increase longevity of your computer just keeping some simple maintenance tips in mind. You can get help from a remote computer support provider in this regard. In this article you will get some vital computer maintenance tips to increase the life of your hard disk and computer.

It is commonly seen that the computer users switch off the power button in order to turn off the computer. This should never be done as it may damage the hard drive or other PC components. You must remember that the PC must never be shut down other than through the Shut Down menu provided with the operating system.

Don't think that restarting and resetting are same. You can restart your computer as many times as you want. But when it comes to resetting, it must be done only when all other options fail to restart the computer. If the computer has frozen, and even Ctrl-Alt-Del does not seem to work, then resetting is the ultimate option.

Remove unwanted clutter from your PC on a regular basis. Over time, the hard disk of the computer gets filled up with unwanted folders and files. These files make your computer run slowly and can also cause damage to the disk. Identify these files and folders and remove them for keeping your hard drive free. There should be at least 100 MB free space on your PC.

The Temp folder also needs to be cleaned. Whenever you are working on any application on your PC or while you use the Internet files are stored in the Temp folder. Over time, the number of these files becomes huge and it forces the computer to perform slowly. So visit the Temp folder and clean out these files.

You must also keep your computer free from malware. Many malicious programs are there that create a connection between your PC and the host server. And they pass on your personal and sensitive information from your PC to the host server. Spyware programs mainly perform this task. To fight against viruses and spyware, good antispyware programs are to be used. You can download one search software program from the Internet and install it on your PC.

There should be a good firewall program installed on your PC. Firewalls are regarded as the prevention. After installing a firewall program, you need to configure it. Computer help providers offer assistance for firewall configuration. Once the firewall is configured you can block intruders from accessing your network and computers.

8 Ways To Improve Your PC Performance

PC processing speed mainly depends on the speed of processor of a computer. But there are more external factors that affect the performance of your PC. In order to improve PC performance, someone must put more effort in system maintenance such as scheduled defragmentation of computer drive and clean up of temporary files stored in PC. From here, I will reveal some tips on how to improve your PC performance without the help of others.

1. Defragment
For your information, data that stored in the computer are arranged in a specified way. Whenever a software is uninstalled, the data will be erased from the system in which an empty space is generated from the action taken. The empty space will be later occupied by new data when new software is installed. The newly installed software will not arranged in a group but separated into few different data group which this process is actually slowing down computer performance. Defragment is meant to rearrange the fragment of data into a proper manner which fetching of data from system become smoother and faster. Schedule defragmentation is recommended for computer users especially those who interested in software testing.

2. Scheduled Clean Up
Cleaning up the dust within the computer will improved the performance? May be true for desktop but totally not for laptop. Scheduled clean up in this case means the elimination of junk files in your computer. Normal internet surfing activities will generate variety of files such as cookies that are used to facilitate internet browsing. Accumulation of these files will eventually slow down your PC.

3. Avoid Installation of Memory-Consuming Monster
Your computer performance may decrease due to some memory-consuming monster installed in your computer. These monster consist of antivirus program especially internet security package, out-of-date internet browser, pps (online video streaming) and professional drawing software. Antivirus program is the most common source of memory-consumption program that probably slow down your PC. One of the recommended way to improve your computer performance is to install light antivirus program likes Avira Antivir Personal or Avast. The security level of these software could be sufficient for normal daily use of computer unless you are dealing with high risk illegal download.

4. Uninstall Unwanted Program
There will be a moment when you keep all the unwanted program in your PC and await for the next format in order to eliminate those program. This could be a very bad habit for PC maintenance which these unwanted program will definitely consume the limited memory resource. Perform a scheduled removal of these program along with the cleaning up of junk files. You can easily perform the removal using Windows Clean Up feature for Windows users.

5. Turn Off Unwanted Background Application
Every time you turn on your PC, it would take less time to boot if these are not much application running at the startup time. As you install more software in your PC, there will be more application being activated during startup time which is actually slowing down your PC even after PC boot. These application run in background mode and consume part of the PC memory. In order to avoid memory consumption by these background application, someone can turn off these application by following the steps below:

• click Windows Logo + R
• type msconfig in search box
• uncheck the unwanted program

6. Turn Off Sidebar
Windows users may experience slow startup due to the running of sidebar feature. Windows Sidebar provide easy-access to certain application and also a clear picture of the date & time notification. At the same time, sidebar feature used up around 100 Mb to keep these application running. It is recommended to turn off sidebar to avoid decreased computer performance.

7. Add More RAM
Besides of processing power, size of RAM is another important criteria that determine the computer performance in term of speed. RAM acts as the temporary storage for data used to open certain application. More RAM installed in your PC eliminate the need of fetching data from the system everytime you open an application and this will improve the PC performance.

8. Format
Final solution for bad performing computer is to undergo format. After format, your PC will free from all problem such as virus infection and slow performance. In order to keep your PC perform well, kindly follow the steps as described above.

The Basic Ways I Clean My PC Quickly

If you happen to be a computer owner, you might've probably wondered about how to clean your own PC quickly once you've been using your computer for quite some time. Most computer owners will be wondering about the same thing when their computers are beginning to go through a little bit of a 'meltdown' in terms of its performance after some period of time. The 'meltdown' that your computer is experiencing is actually a 'slowdown' and it can be extremely frustrating for any computer owners like you. You will find processes getting a little slower, thus it'll be crucial for you to spare some time and learn the multiple techniques in cleaning your computer.

When you learn the right way of cleaning your troublesome computer, you will have your computer functioning back to its normal speed again (or even faster). The first thing that you could do to clean your computer quickly is to install an anti-virus program (plus, this is also the most basic part in cleaning your PC quickly). The anti-virus program is specially designed to provide solid protection to your computer against spyware, malware, worms, and viruses. Since these 'attacks' will tremendously cause a negative effect on your computer, you must install a specific program that is compatible with your system in order to prevent from any further damages done by the attacks.

You should see some good changes once you've gotten rid of the attacks, such as an improvement in your computer performance and that your computer is working on its usual normal speed or even faster. Meanwhile, you could also clean your PC quickly by defragmenting your system. Defragmentation is highly necessary as it really helps when your computer's hard drive is fragmented along with a few numbers of broken files (which is the main reason for your computer to slow down). When you're dealing with this kind of situation, it's recommendable that you defragment your computer system for at least twice a month.

Other sure-fire ways to clean your PC quickly is to upgrade the RAM of your computer and remove any unnecessary files or programs that you no longer need. Bear it in mind that some computer programs will need a large RAM space just to run, and your computer will probably fail to function if the memory is reaching its maximum limit. You'll notice about this when some applications begin to slowly respond.