In the past few years I’ve been playing with and occasionally preaching virtualization but is it really worth it. Companies like VMWare would have you believe so, I get the feeling they stand to profit from your decision though. In my personal opinion it’s a mixed bag. There are several reasons to virtualize and there are several reasons not to. In this post I will explore some of the benefits and shortcomings of virtualization.
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Believe it or not the entire concept of the Internet is built on trust, certain factors help build that trust, but every time you surf the web you’re taking a huge leap of faith. Lets focus on the Domain Name System (DNS), this seemingly simple concept is the key to simple human interaction with the web. Without DNS the web would work quite a bit like the telephone, dial a number to get to the site you want. http://en.wikipedia.org/ might become http://208.80.152.2:80/ where IP addresses work like phone numbers and ports work more like extensions connecting you to a specific website on the server.
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This is by no means a complete set of my thoughts on the issues of server security rather it is intended as a means to get people thinking about what can be changed in order to improve the quality of service they provide. With the wires cut and the world becoming more and more dependent upon constant connection there are of course people out there who would take advantage of all that valuable information floating out there on the air waves. But are average users the only ones taking unnecessary risks?
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Website analytics tracking has become all the rage of the online community; it may be our natural desire to compete or just a way of boosting our ego that sparks the process but in the end making use of that data can be a bit tricky. With means of tracking analytics ranging from programs that passively analyze server logs such as AWStats to complex systems that take a more active approach such as Google Analytics. While most of these suites provide similar information, knowing what information you need and how you’re getting it is the first step in figuring out what works best for you.
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So I’m setting up a low-budget production use web based application. This means web servers, database servers, file servers with the smallest possible footprint, the lowest possible cost, and the greatest level of reliability. These can be tricky things to manage and while there are plenty of solutions available finding one that fits your needs may prove to be difficult.
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I have recently been involved in several discussions regarding the use of technology in the classroom. This conversation first started with a discussion of Google Wave, a product that is still in its very early stages of development but has great potential, then moved to the iPad, and eventually found its way to all technology. We discussed everything including the obvious technology such as student laptops and response clickers to web applications and LiveScribe Pulse pens. So the question is what is useful and what is just to much?
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