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As a CCNA candidate, you most likely have some background in PC hardware and workstation support. If so, you’re already familiar with loopback interfaces, particularly 127.0.0.1, the loopback address assigned to a PC.

When you’re learning all about the different physical interfaces for your CCNA exam - serial, ethernet, and BRI, among others - there’s one logical interface you need to know about, and that is - you guessed it! - the loopback interface.

What isn’t as immediately apparent is why we use loopback interfaces on routers and switches to begin with. Many of the Cisco router features that can use loopbacks are intermediate and advanced features that you’ll learn about in your CCNP and CCIE studies, but these features all come back to one basic concept: If the loopback interface on a router is down, that means the router is unavailable as a whole.

In contrast, a physical interface being down does not mean the router itself is out of commission. A router’s ethernet port can go down, but the other physical interfaces on that router are still operational. Since a loopback interface is logical, there’s nothing physical that can go wrong with it.

As I mentioned, you’ll learn different Cisco router and switch features that utilize loopback interfaces as you climb the Cisco certification ladder. There’s one misconception about Cisco loopback interfaces that you want to get clear on now, though. You’re probably familiar with loopback interfaces on a PC, and may even know that the address range 127.0.0.0 is reserved for loopback addressing.

Note that this reserved address range does not apply to loopbacks on Cisco devices, however. If you attempt to assign an address from this range to a Cisco loopback interface, you get this result:

R1#conf t

Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.

R1(config)#interface loopback0

R1(config-if)#ip address 127.0.0.2 255.255.255.0

Not a valid host address - 127.0.0.2

R1(config-if)#ip address 127.1.1.1 255.255.255.0

Not a valid host address - 127.1.1.1

The range 127.0.0.0 is reserved for host loopbacks (such as PCs), not routers or switches. The most commonly used address from this range is 127.0.0.1 - if you can’t ping that on a workstation, that means you can’t ping yourself, which means there’s a problem with the TCP/IP install itself.
Keep these details in mind on the exam and in the workplace, and you’re on your way to CCNA exam success!

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage, home of free CCNA and CCNP tutorials, The Ultimate CCNA Study Package, and Ultimate CCNP Study Packages.

You can also join his RSS feed and visit his blog, which is updated several times daily with new Cisco certification articles, free tutorials, and daily CCNA / CCNP exam questions! Details are on the website.

For a FREE copy of his latest e-books, “How To Pass The CCNA” and “How To Pass The CCNP”, visit the website and download your free copies. You can also get FREE CCNA and CCNP exam questions every day! Get your CCNA study guide from The Bryant Advantage!

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Cables are electric conductors covered with insulating material. They are used to connect different components of a system such as connecting a DVD player with a TV. Cables are being used in almost every area of human activity. Cables of different make and uses are now available in the market.

Different types of cables like data cable, network cables, high voltage electric cables, fiber optic cables etc. are being used today. The use of these cables has changed the way information is transferred from one source to another. Data transmission is now faster than it used to be and this speed has helped with the growth of the information technology and telecommunications industry.

Household items such as TVs, refrigerators, and air conditioners need an electric cable to function. Electronic items, like personal computers, digital camera recorders use data cables to transfer images, pictures and sounds. Internet service providers and telecom companies have also laid thousands of miles of high-density data transmission cables. These cables have enabled people to connect with each other through Internet and telecom services. Industries are also making use of this high-speed connectivity to expand their business and improve profitability. The cable manufacturing industry is also growing every year and new improved products are being launched regularly.

In the past, cables were primarily used for electricity distribution, but now they are being used in every sphere of human activity. Cables have indirectly helped people, companies and communities separated by distance to share information, ideas, news and views. Cables have certainly helped in making this world a global village.

The demand for cables is increasing every year. The market is also witnessing a parallel growth in wireless technology. TV and Internet broadband are now available through wireless technology. Though the technology is new and relatively expensive, it is certainly hassle free and expected to grow. The competition between cable and wireless has just started, but the market is huge and there is enough space for both to exist in near future.

Cables provides detailed information on Network Cables, Cables, Computer Cables, USB Cables and more. Cables is affiliated with Cable Modem Reviews.

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At the recent E3 gaming Convention, Sony gave the world a first look at the new Playstation 3, Sony’s contribution to the next generation gaming consoles. Much like the news surrounding the Nintendo Revolution, the Playstation 3 has been immersed in mystery and controversy for the last several years.

Due sometime in spring 2006, the Sony PS3 will out perform it’s predecessor in every way imaginable. Powered by the “Cell” processor, which Sony proudly claims makes the machine 35 times more powerful than the PlayStation 2, tops the list of the new incredible features. So, what else can we expect from Sony this time around?
What we know

Initially, even the name of the new gaming console was still very much unknown. With teasers, billboards and misleading posters with the very recognizable font “Prepare for Chang3,” advertisement had gamers guessing. However at the E3 convention, it was announced that the name of the new console would in fact be “Playstation 3;” much to the dismay of many online blogers and game forum members.

Sony also confirmed the PlayStation 3 will use Blu-ray discs as its media format. The discs can hold up to six times as much data as current-generation DVDs. This will essentially open the doors for game developers to produce higher quality games without having to worry about disk size limitations.

Sony also unveiled the PS3’s graphics chip, the RSX “Reality Synthesizer,” which is based on Nvidia technology. The GPU will be capable of 128bit pixel precision and 1080p resolution, (some of the highest HD resolution available anywhere). The RSX also has 512MB of graphics render memory and is capable of 100 billion shader operations and 51 billion dot products per second. The new Playstation 3 graphics chip also has more than 300 million transistors, larger than any processor commercially available today.
Below is a full “official” spec breakdown of the new Playstation 3.

Playstation 3 Specs
CPU
Cell Processor
PowerPC-base Core @3.2GHz
1 VMX vector unit per core
512KB L2 cache
7 x SPE @3.2GHz
7 x 128b 128 SIMD GPRs
7 x 256KB SRAM for SPE
* 1 of 8 SPEs reserved for redundancy
total floating point performance: 218 GFLOPS

GPU
RSX @550MHz
1.8 TFLOPS floating point performance
Full HD (up to 1080p) x 2 channels
Multi-way programmable parallel floating point shader pipelines

Sound
Dolby 5.1ch, DTS, LPCM, etc. (Cell- base processing)
Memory
256MB XDR Main RAM @3.2GHz 256MB GDDR3 VRAM @700MHz

System Bandwidth
Main RAM 25.6GB/s
VRAM 22.4GB/s
RSX 20GB/s (write) + 15GB/s (read)
SB< 2.5GB/s (write) + 2.5GB/s (read)

System Floating Point Performance
2 TFLOPS

Storage
Detachable 2.5″ HDD slot x 1

I/O
USB Front x 4, Rear x 2 (USB2.0)
Memory Stick standard/Duo, PRO x 1
SD standard/mini x 1
CompactFlash (Type I, II) x 1

Communication
Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) x 3 (input x 1 + output x 2)

Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR)

Controller
Bluetooth (up to 7)
USB 2.0 (wired)
Wi-Fi (PSP)
Network (over IP)
AV Output
Screen size: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
HDMI: HDMI out x 2
Analog: AV MULTI OUT x 1
Digital audio: DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL) x 1

Disc Media
CD PlayStation CD-ROM, PlayStation 2 CD-ROM, CD-DA, CD-DA (ROM), CD-R,
CD-RW, SACD, SACD Hybrid (CD layer), SACD HD, DualDisc, DualDisc (audio side), DualDisc (DVD side)
DVD: PlayStation 2 DVD-ROM, PlayStation 3 DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD-ROM,
DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW
Blu-ray Disc: PlayStation 3 BD-ROM, BD-Video, BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-RE

As you can see the new Playstation 3 is going to be an incredibly powerful system, offering stunning graphics with the new Nivdia chip, as well as incredible multiplayer potential with up to seven Bluetooth controllers. With enormous horsepower, stunning graphics and a slew of multimedia elements, the Sony Playstation 3 is going to revolutionize the way we play games. The only issue that needs to be addressed now is, how much will the system cost?

For more great gaming information and discussion visit our Sony PS3 site for more informatino on the Nintendo Revolution visit http://www.nintendorevolution.ca

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Buying Your PC

Buying a PC that’s right for you and your family is not all that simple task. More so if you’re going to buy an unbranded or an assembled one. But branded or not, you have to get you facts right before you shell out your money. First, why do you want to buy a PC? Is it because almost every one has one these days, or that you have the money to spare. If these are the reasons are that you want to end up spending a lot of money on something you’re unlikely to use. But if your reasons are that you want it for home based business, or for your kids for their education, or to work at home, or that you want to surf the net, you are on the right track. Now let’s get down to specifics.

What do you need it for?

Take a piece of paper and write down what all you need to do with the pc.

Spreadsheets, Word processing, Surfing the Web, sending e-mail, playing games. Running multimedia, Watching movies, playing music ,CAD drawings, graphics designing, Web designing. Programming and Online learning.

Make your list. Why? Because different needs need Different PCs. You really don’t need the latest computer if all you’re going to do is browsing, no matter what the vendor tells you.

When you make your list be sure to look a little ahead and see what all other things you might be using the computer for. For instance, do you think you are likely to take up graphics designing? Or will the kids start playing all those high-end games?

How much money do you want to spend?

Get hang of the money you can spend on the PC. Then you have to look for the PC that suits your needs and your budget. This may need some balancing even, if your requirements are huge and the budget isn’t. This will also decide if you should go for branded PC or an assembled one.

Brand or assembled?

This is a question that has gone on for a while now. A year ago, branded ones. We recommend that you go for a PC for which you can get assured service and support. Fort a more detailed analysis, catch our July story called Branded or Not?

What is it?

This is the part that has the computer’s basic circuitry and components. The processors, meomory, BIOS, expansion slots, etc all go on the motherboard.

What’s available?

Right now you have two broad choices for a motherboard. The motherboards based on Intel 810 chipset have the graphics and audio capabilities on to the board itself-that’s what they mean by integrated graphics and audio onboard. In case you’re looking for better graphics (say, you will be moving to high-end games, or graphics, or CAD or need better sound environmental audio, sound-editing), you’ll have to get some high-end video and audio cards. Which such a motherboard won’t support. You could, in such cards.

What to ask the vendor :

What are the upgrades possible on this motherboard? Which processors are supported? How much are the upgrades going to cost?

What is it?

The brain of the PC. You don’t always have to go for the fastest. And just having a processor that’s fast won’t do. The rest of the system has to keep up with it.

What’s available?

Among the low-end ones available are Celeron, AMD K6.2 and K6-3, and now AMD”S Duron. They are available in different clock speeds-go for the one you can afford. A Celeron 600MHZ. Among the high-end processors are Pentium III and AMD’s Anthon. A PIII 667 MHz.

Also remember that a processor alone can’t make the PC zip. For instance, A PIII on an 810 motherboard that doesn’t have much graphics capability isn’t of much use.

How much do you need?

If you are going to work on office application like word processors and spreadsheets, and some browsing, a Celeron or an AMDK6 series, or Duron would do. For work that needs more processing power you have to go for a Pentium III or an Anthon. You’ll find some Pentium IIs in the market but Intel Doesn’t makes them anymore.

What is it?

This is the place where all your program and data will b stored on the PC. Your PC’s performance will depend upon the rate at which your hard disk can read data and give it to the other parts. The speed of a hard disk is measured in rpm. These days most hard disks come with a speed of 7200 rpm. And some other available in hard disk 7.5 GB, 15 GB, 20 GB, and for more on how to take care of your hard disk, check out The Hard Disk Guide in this issue.

How much do you need?

Most PCs now come with 8-10 GB of hard disk space. With fat OSs and fatter office suites and games, you’ll need some bit of space. 17 GB is quite common, now even 30 GB doesn’t raise eyebrows. So do take those offers of 1GB with a huge bag of salt.

What is it?

The place where information is stored for a while so that the processor doesn’t have to keep hunting for it on the hard disk.

What’s available?

The more you have the better it is. A lot of PCs still come with 32 MB RAM-we advise you to go for 64MB at the very least. If you’re a gamer or into heavy graphics, you’ll need 128 MB.

How much do you need?

The more you have the better it is. A lot of PCs still come with 32 MB RAM-we advise you to go for 64 MB at the very least. If you’re a gamer or into heavy graphics, you’ll need 128 MB

What is it?

This is a card that carries out the processing for all that’s related to the display. You could have a fast processor, lots of ROM and hard disk that keeps pace with it all. But if the display can’t match all this-the speed at which the things have got processed will take ages to show up on screen. The card has its RAM- called video RAM (VRAM).

What’s available?

As we said earlier, some motherboards have this function inbuilt, but others need you to have a graphics card for this. You get a range of cards now.

How much do you need?

If you’re into heavy gaming and graphics and CAD and 3D modeling, you need to have a card with at least 8 MB VRAM, 16MB if you can afford it. For other purpose, 4 MB VRAM is good enough.

All software comes on CDs. A lot of computers magazines that teach you how to use computers come with CDs. So a CD-ROM drive is a must. Now you have the option of going for CD-RW drives or even DVD drives. And some vendors have the check to see PCs without them.

Higher X ratings-such as 48X, 52X for a CD drive doesn’t mean that the drive will run at blazing speeds. In fact for routine things opening a CD tray, making a CD auto run-an 8X will do just fine. But if you were to rip songs from your audio CDs to convert them into MP3s you would need a faster drive.

A DVD drive is great if you are going to be watching a lot of movies on your PC- but make sure video card and sound card and speakers match up to it.

Go for a CD-RW drive if you are going to be burning a lot of CDs-keeping backups, making MP3 CDs, and so on.

The basic PC:

For running productivity applications: word processors, spreadsheet, presentations, Surfing. Using e-mail, using personal information mangers. Play music and videos, some light games and multimedia CDs

Specs:

• Celeron 550 MHz or above/AMD K6 series or Duron 550 MHz or above

• 64 MB RAM

• 15″ color SVGA monitor

• 10-12 GB ATA/66 hard disk

• On board video abd sound

• 48 x or higher CD-drive

• 101-keys Keyboard

• 3-button mouse

• 56 kbps modem

The high-end PC -

For heavy gaming, graphics, multimedia creation, sound editing

Specs:

• Pentium III 700 MHz/ k-7 700 MHz or higher

• 128 MB RAM

• 17 GB ATA/^^ hard disk drive

• video card with 32 MB VRAM

• 101-keys keyboard

• on board sound (for those into sound editing and composing, a high-end sound card like Creative SoundBlaster Live is needed)

• 17″ monitor

• Scroll mouse

• 56 Kbps modem

Sound card and Speakers:

The sound card processes the sound that you hear on your PC. These days sounds cards not only make multimedia application sound great, they also let you compose record and edit your own music.

Monitor:

14″ monitors are out. You can get in your some other type of the monitor in 15″, color monitor, 16 inches and 17 inches monitor are available in the market.

PORTS -

Ports are where you plug in peripherals. The mouse and keyboard go into their respective ports. Serial ports take in modems. Parallel ports take in printer, scanners, etc, There are now USB ports for USB printers, scanners, digital cameras, etc. Now there are Fire Wire ports t00-but these are useful for those into video-editing and such tasks that need a lot of data to be transferred in a shot.

Keyboard and Mouse-

There is a range of mice to choose from Look for one that you fell comfortable working with. There are different types of keyboards. Again look for one that doesn’t require you to thump hard to type, feels ergonomic. You could also go for devices go for devices that have programmable buttons/keys.

Software-

You need an operating system-the common one is of course, Windows 98. Now the latest version of Windows for the home is Windows Me.

You need an office suits, or at least programs that do word processing, spreadsheets and presentations. You need a browser to the Web, and an e-mail program. You’ll also need an antivirus, some system diagnostic tools, some graphics programs, and some useful things like media players (to run your movies and play music), file compression tools like WinZip. Then of course, there is a world of games and multimedia titles to explore.

About The Author

Pawan Bangar,
Technical Director,
Birbals,
(Hbirbals,Seobirbals,Ebirbals,Ibirbals)
Cell:91-175-3150734
Cell:+91-98153-52253

email: pawan@ebirbals.com
Yahoo Messenger:pawanishappy@yahoo.com
MSN messenger:ebirbals@hotmail.com

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If you’re using a wireless network with Windows’ built-in Internet Connection Sharing, you’re probably quite happy with it — but there’s a problem. The problem is this: the computer the modem is connected to needs to be turned on before any of the other computers can get Internet access! It’s alright for a while, but it gets annoying really fast. I had one of these annoying setups at home for years and the moment I upgraded to using a router was like a breath of fresh air. Now my son does not complain every time I need to reboot or do extensive maintenance periods. His machine could not care less weather my machine is active or not.

So what should you do about it? Well, a wireless router is the answer to your problem.

What is a Wireless Router?

A wireless router is basically a small, low-powered computer dedicated to nothing but providing Internet access to your wireless network. Once you’ve got a wireless router, you can connect any of the computers on your network to the Internet anytime, regardless of which other computers are switched on! Because this is the only thing the wireless routers do, they don’t usually need any configuration to get started.

Choosing a Wireless Router

When you’re choosing a wireless router, you should consider the same things as you would with any other wireless equipment: range, speed and standards. Remember, though, that speed is far more important with a router than it is with other equipment — the router might be providing Internet access to more than one computer at once, meaning that it needs to have enough speed to share between them. When it comes to standards and range, on the other hand, it is pointless to get anything better than your current wireless equipment has — you won’t see any improvement.

It’s probably worth noting here that the Linksys WRT54G router is fast becoming a standard. It’s the most popular router out there, and it’s the easiest to use out of the lot. It’s not as cheap as some of the others, though, so it’s still worth shopping around. As ever, the most important thing is to read as many reviews of what you’re buying as you can.

Installing a Wireless Router

Wireless routers are designed to work easily out of the box: in most cases, it should be a matter of plugging the router into the power supply and then connecting it to your cable, DSL or other modem. That’s it — in 99% of cases, you’re ready to start using your wireless Internet.

Sometimes, though, there might be more things you need to do. The most common problem is that your ISP uses special software to confirm who you are before giving you access to the Internet. This is called PPPoE, which stands for Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet. It’s basically a way giving you broadband access while still requiring you to enter a username and password first, and you need to go through a short process to use a PPPoE connection with a wireless router.

Most routers support PPPoE, but you’ll have to read the manual and do some fiddling. You may also have to download an update for your router’s firmware (on-board software) from its manufacturer’s website.

Problems with Wireless Routers

Wireless routers generally solve more problems than they cause — but there are still some problems that you may need to work around.

One that a lot of people run into sooner or later is that there are some programs that require a direct Internet connection for some functions. Using a wireless router instead of Internet Connecting Sharing at least lets you use these functions if you configure it, but it can be a pain. Wireless routers have built-in firewalls that only allow data through on certain ports (for example the web port, 80, and the email port, 110), while keeping all the others closed.

Although programs that require you to open ports become rarer every day, you might need to do it at some point. Your router’s manual will tell you how to do this if it comes up.

I hope you enjoy your new wireless router — I know I enjoy mine!

Written by Troy Davies from DetectiveAgents.com
Suppliers of all your Investigative and PC Security Software

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The recent FIFA World Cup Finals 2006 at Berlin brought Football Buffs at one place. Crores of people leaned over their TV Sets and watched the FIFA World Cup being played in Germany. They watched for the style and follicular foibles of Zidane, Ronaldo, Beckham, Rooney and many others. They came to see Zidane’s head butt on Marco Matterazzi and to see the emotions of the Football Players.

But, the one they see in 2050 will not be similar to this one. Artificial Intelligence Researchers are trying to build fully autonomous Robots to take on World Cup Champions, as Robocop 2006 showed. They are not nimble footed as their Human counterparts but they can score a goal or two. They are quite awkward when it comes to tackling opponents and are hardly aware of what a foul is. They don’t have much of a following either because they don’t have technical finesse to show off. They don’t have any kind of style or follicular foibles to attract Football Buffs. They only have Technological aficionados as their supporters who believe that these Hi-Tech Players are slowly making great strides towards challenging real Soccer Champions of the Game by the end of 2050- somewhat like the Computer Deep Thought taking on Chess Grand Masters like Gary Kasparov and Vishwanathan Anand.

While people across the world were busy wowing the artistry of the likes of Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane and David Beckham, these Humanoids or Robots had a field day fighting for the Robocup 2006in Bremen, Germany. The 10th Annual Soccer Championship for Robots held at the Bremen Exhibition Center, from 14th June to 20th June , had 440 teams from 36 Countries including the US, China, Japan, Portugal and France . While the FIFA World Cup threw out one Victorious Team the Robocup had 33 Winners. 11 of them were German Teams. Though there were no Headers and no players ripping of jerseys after a win, some of the other trappings of the game were definitely seen- blocked shots, penalty cards, to name just two.

So, indeed human teams need to have more practice and skills to defeat the AI Robots in Home-Robocup 2050. If not then it might be after 2050 we take up Robots as our own heroes. There might be a Robo-Zidane and a Robo-Beckham who would be the Soccer Icons then. Well, if you are a Spectator at the Homo-Robo Cup 2050 then you might find in the stadium sitting with you other Robotic Fans cheering up their own Robot Teams.

Chandrajit Rudra

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You never know when disaster might strike. If one happens, the first thing on your agenda as a staffing business owner or manager, after assuring the health and safety of yourself and others will probably be: “How are we going to do business?”

The lifeblood of any staffing business is information. Your client data, orders, assignments, employee information, payroll and billing data, and more. Information that’s locked securely away in your software and systems, unless they are destroyed in some kind of disaster. While you can’t anticipate when or if a disaster might occur, you can prepare for the possibility of such an event.

How do you get started? There are essentially five steps that must take place in order to protect your hardware and software investment from a natural disaster:

• Create a Disaster Recovery Team
• Develop a Disaster Recovery Plan
• Test the Plan
• Communicate the Plan
• Implement the Plan

Let’s break these five steps down one by one to provide more specifics:


Create a Disaster Recovery Team — Disaster preparedness and recovery is a team effort. There must be a group in place that has been briefed on what procedures and protocols to follow should an event take place. This team should be made up members from four organizational components of your firm:

• Information Technology — the team member that is most critical to success
• Operations — your customer liaison
• Administration — the finance side of the business
• Management — Buy in from the top is critical

Each member of the team is important but look to your IT representative to pull the whole plan together and make it work.

Develop a Disaster Recovery Plan — Now that you have pulled together a team, it is time to put your plan down on paper. Remember that your plan should be flexible enough to handle different types of disasters, everything from a simple power outage all the way up to a major incident. The plan should include three phases, which are:

• Preparation phase — what are you going to do before the event to ensure that you are ready?
• Implementation phase — now that the event is upon us, what do we do?
• Post audit phase — now that we have implemented our plan, what needs to change?

Input from all business unit representatives on your team is critical. While building the plan each team member should be considering three basic questions:

• What could my group do to prepare?
• What will we do to keep the business running in the event of a catastrophic situation?
• What dependencies upon other groups do I have, and have I spoken to those people about their ideas, suggestions, and concerns?

You’ll probably want to gather some additional information to assist you in developing a comprehensive plan that’s right for your staffing business. Then, assemble the following information:

• Organization chart showing names and positions
• Staff emergency contact information
• List of suppliers and contact numbers
• List of emergency services and contact numbers
• Operations and Administrative procedures
• Asset inventories
• IT inventories
• IT system specification
• Copies of critical software
• Communication system specification
• Copies of maintenance agreements and service level agreements
• Off-site storage procedures

Test the Plan — Once the plan is developed and documented the next step is to test it with a dry run. This will take a detailed level of coordination among the Disaster Recovery Team members. The idea is to keep this test as realistic as possible. That may mean that it happens in the middle of the night and the group has to assemble and report into the team leader. It is better to test it when you don’t need it instead of finding out at crunch time that there are holes in the plan.

After completing the test, there will surely be some modifications. These changes will be uncovered once the team has a chance to sit back and review each phase of the plan in detail. You should test your plan at least once a year and then update it as needed. Open communication is important to successfully modifying the plan so it will work for your company.

Communicate the Plan — Now that you have a tested plan that you’re confident in, don’t keep it under wraps! Let your entire company know that you have a plan, that a team of representatives from each department was involved in the creation of the plan and that if disaster should strike — you will be ready. There should be a representative from each of your business units that is responsible for communicating the plan to their peers. The plan should be well-documented, including contact information for the primary and secondary stakeholders, and then distributed to the entire company.

Don’t forget that communication of your disaster plan extends to your clients, candidates, and associate employees as well. Letting them know that you have a plan in place gives them the assurance that you’re thinking of the business relationship you have with them and that you will do everything possible to maintain it.

There is an added bonus to this complete and thoughtful level of communication. This will give your staff an increased feeling of confidence and preparedness. It may also encourage your staff to take this ‘plan before you need it’ approach in their daily work lives.

Implement the Plan — When the time comes, don’t panic, implement. You have prepared, documented and tested — now put it into action. Remember, this event wasn’t scheduled, so be as flexible as possible in a time of crisis. You have been proactive in your planning but implementation is a time to also be reactive to the current situation. Also, remember to perform a post audit after the dust settles. Constant evaluation of your plan based on what you learn will ensure that is up to date and as efficient as possible.

Each of these five steps is critical to the success of the overall goal of being prepared. Your company and your situation are unique but the guidelines detailed above offer a blueprint for preparedness should a disaster occur. With a strong plan in place before any disaster, you’ll be able to get your business running with the least possible impact.

SIDEBAR: One staffing firm’s Disaster Recovery Plan.

Hurricane season hit Florida hard in 2004, and Britt Landrum III, Chief Technical Officer of Landrum Staffing Services in Pensacola, knew that he was lucky to have survived without significant damage to his business. He was determined to implement a disaster recovery plan for their information systems so that he would have greater peace of mind in the future.

Britt considered setting up an offsite environment in Pensacola to house another server to support their staffing software for emergency purposes. Exploring his options to this plan, he spoke to his staffing software vendor, VCG, about housing his server in VCG’s state of the art facility in Atlanta.

For his plan to work, Britt needed to have a parallel computer hardware/software environment ready on a moments notice so that his business would experience minimal interruption in the event of a disaster. VCG has a reliable history of hosting multiple environments for their customers, so they were quickly able to come up with a solution tailored for Landrum Staffing’s needs.

VCG’s proposal was elegantly simple. A ’snapshot’ of Landrum’s data (changes to the data made that day) in Florida would be made each evening and then downloaded to the server in Atlanta. The server, the staffing software, and the data would then be instantly available to Landrum’s staff should they need it through a remote connection.

In addition, VCG would take care of all the day-to-day management of the server in Atlanta. VCG would charge a fixed monthly rate for the disaster recovery services, just as they would for an ASP or Managed Services customer.

Britt Landrum was quick to point out that, “VCG’s continuous commitment to our relationship and the way that they support their products were the driving factors behind our partnering with them on this project“, said Britt. “We have a long history with VCG as clients since 1978, and they have always been there to support us when we needed them.”

About VCG, Inc.

Our focus is your success. Since 1976 staffing firms have counted on VCG, Inc. for staffing software solutions that help them improve the productivity and profitability of their operations. Founded by staffing professionals and technologists intimately familiar with the business of staffing, VCG is the staffing industry’s largest and most experienced dedicated staffing software development firm. VCG solutions today power hundreds of successful staffing companies and 12,000-plus staffing professionals throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Australia.

For more information regarding VCG, or our WebPAS and StaffSuite products, visit VCG Staffing Software or call 800-318-4983. VCG, C-PAS, StaffSuite, TempWare-V, WebPAS, StaffSuite WorldLink, and WebPAS WorldLink are registered trademarks of VCG Inc.

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David McCullough is Director of Operations for VCG Inc., the most experienced developer of staffing software for the industry.

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Wireless technology has literally changed our lives. This up and coming method of communication has literally changed the way we live. Many of us cannot imagine a day without using a wireless device. In fact, we use them so much, that we barely recognize them as wireless anymore.

Telephone lines were originally designed to send news reports. Ever heard of getting something over the wire? Journalists still refer to their Associated Press reports as coming over the AP wire, though they most likely travel through the air like all other pieces of information. The invention of the radio demolished the idea of news sent over a wire. In fact, it completely destroyed the concept of the telegraph and eventually the landline telephone.

Computer networking works in a similar manner. Who would choose an immobile stationary system over a wireless one? Why would you choose to actually be chained to a desk when you could move freely about, accessing the internet and other files on a network from the comfort of a couch, a recliner, or a coffee shop. Additionally, while many believe that wireless costs more, this price too is going down, and soon anyone will be able to afford a wireless connection.

WiMAX, short for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is steadily making its way unto the wireless market. Its biggest advantage lies in the distance that it spans. Instead of a wireless connection reaching a few meters, it will reach kilometers. Currently some of the strongest WiMAX network reach over 30 miles. It literally spans the length of metropolitan areas, and thus with WiMax, you’ll no longer have to search for hot spot sign. Check out wimax.weblongsinc.com for more information about this up and coming form of wireless technology.

Bluetooth has become a mysterious wireless term to non-geeks, but its quickly becoming a household word thanks to its technology in cellular phones. Bluetooth basically is a way to connect hardware. The hope is that instead of seeing a mass of cords behind your television, you’ll just have the necessary blue tooth hardware, a wireless connection that connects your DVD player to your television. Everyone hates those mass of wires, or any mass of wires that threatens to ruin the aesthetics of a room, and Bluetooth has the potential to improve the look of just about any system.

Eventually wireless technology will make life simpler. We’ll be able to do things in places that we never imagined before. After all, who would think that you could contact a person from across the globe while sitting in a cafe across town, with no cost to either of you. Grandparents in California can talk to their grandkids in Florida while soaking in the rays on the beach. I predict that not only will wireless make life simpler in the future, but that we’ll function with it so smoothly, that we won’t even notice the wireless technology.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about this as well as high speed internet at http://www.wirelessandhighspeedinternet.com

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When a wireless signal hits an object it dosen’t just stop or bounce straight back it could turn, bend, breakup, slow down, or even turn a corner. If you don’t take into account these possible senerios your wireless network could have large big issues that could plague your network.

Scattering: Scattering will take place when a wireless signal hits an object that has many irregular angels causing the signal to shoot off into many directions. This could happen when a signal hits a mountain side, hills or large buildings.

Reflection: Reflection happens when the signal just completely bounces off the object. This can be a good thing and a bad thing. Reflection can be good because clients don’t have to rely of LOS (Line or Sight) service. Signals can be trasmitted and bounced off large buildings to a client. Reflection can be bad of it causes signals to bleed into a uneeded area.

ReFraction: Refraction is the bending of your wireless signal as it goes through a medium of higher density than its origin. If you signal has to travel throught industrial areas with smoke stacks valleys with warmer air pockets this will produce refraction.

Absorption: Shoot your signal at a larger brick building and your signal might be sucked up and disappear.

Diffraction: THis is often mixed up with refraction. Diffraction occurs when your wireless signal hits a very large object, slows down and actually turns around the corner. This is great if you want your signal to bend around the corner but if you don’t it sucks. Plus it slows down your signal making it weaker.

If you are having problems with weak signals or clients being dropped from the WLAN you could have an Interference due to the above signal behaviors. Also knowing that your signal can reflect or turn corners will help you avoid possible security threats.

Join the most popular wireless networking newsletter on the internet. Receive the inside scoop on wireless technology for the home and office http://www.wirelessninja.com

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EWG’s have two jobs one is to keep the roaming wireless user connected and second authentication. Use will use a Enterprise wireless gateway in medium to enterprise level work place. Wireless gateways reduce administrative over head my managing wireless access points from a central location. They also reduce security risks by the use of thin wireless access points instead of Fat wireless access points.

Administrator of a wireless network with FAT wireless access points can be a huge cost and high security risk. Each wireless access point carries your wireless network key and can end up being used against you. When deploying a wireless network with FAT wireless access points you need to configure each wireless access point individually. Also if you need to change the form of encryption or authentication you will need to configure each access point one by one. A wireless enterprise gateways will let you configure all or some access points to your needs. This makes your company more dynamic and can adjust its security needs to each situation. If you are having a company meeting and have guest who will need wireless access then you will be able to adjust quickly. Or if you have a perceived wireless attack you can disable wireless access points quickly and efficiently…

When a user roams between two Fat access points there is usually a battle between AP on who is now going to handle this user. With a wireless enterprise gate the third party switch will now act as a traffic cop and tell the AP what to do. This is important because if the user needs a constant connection the slowness of a FAT wireless access point hand off can limit the user ability to work.

Wireless enterprise gateways utilize many security features such as VPN’s which further encrypt wireless traffic. They also use NAPT or Network Address Port Translation which hides the interior clients from everyone else. Wireless encryption gateways like any switch can utilize VLANS or virtual lans which segment the wireless users form the wired users.

Wireless enterprise gateways will reduce security risks and administration. The reduced administration cost combined with flexibility to react to your changing business environment makes the benefits out weigh the cost of the gateway.

Spend Ten minutes at http://www.wirelessninja.com and you will have a wireless network that is ten times more secure, ten times less administrative overhead and ten times less of a head ache. Simple and secure wireless networking by the wireless ninja.

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