Mike Pav

Austin, Texas-based startup Spanning has embraced the concept of cloud computing so much that its product is a backup service for Google Apps — completely hosted and run from Amazon Web Services. The idea of backing up one cloud service via another was intriguing enough that I asked Mike Pav, the VP of engineering at Spanning, how he does it.

Spanning charges people or businesses a year to back up Google Apps, including email and documents, against the user somehow deleting or losing them. Google will support users if it loses their data, but it won’t go searching for your files if you mess up.

Spanning CEO Charlie Wood is confident enough that Google won’t get into extended services like backup that he’s sticking with this, although he’s also looking for new lines of business as the company continues to grow. To that end, the company is seeking its next round of funding after having raised a million Series A round last April.

Building a backup cloud in the cloud

Building a cloud-based backup for a cloud service requires a devotion to reliability and planning for worst-case scenarios. Creating a backup service in Amazon Web services is never done, said Pav, as he explained some of the techniques he’s used to support Spanning while also trying to keep costs in line. “For example, a single point of failure for us was our database, but we just finished up a big project to partition our database,” Pav said. “We have to focus on the path and not the destination, because as far as scalability is concerned, we’ll never be done. That’s our real barrier to entry.”

The Spanning engineering team.

Spanning adds terabytes of storage each month, and it uses Amazon because it makes automatic scaling seamless. “It would be terrible if we had to rack our own drives into an array to deal with that,” Pav says. Spanning stores all the content on S3 because it guarantees high reliability, but the getting the data to S3 can be slow. To address this, Spanning uses parallel access, which helps address the speed of S3, but also provides an added benefit in terms of scalability and reliability.

Designing messaging so dying VMs won’t take out your data

Spanning uses Amazon SQS to queue work to a pool of virtual resources that grows and shrinks based on load. Pav’s team has set up Spanning’s application to track the incoming flow of data to EC2 and make sure each time the system is about to back up new content, it checks to see if the EC2 instance is about to shut down. If it is, the in-progress backup requeues its work-in-progress so another server can pick up this work when AWS adds another server from the pool. That way, the backup doesn’t have to start all over again.

This is important when dealing with potentially large sets of data. Pav says Amazon offers several different models for queue management, but simplicity and scalability are the driving features for Spanning. “When you’re dealing with large data sets for a large number of users, you can’t afford to do anything twice.”

Don’t do anything Amazon will do for you

From storing papers to storing packets.

Spanning uses Amazon Relational Database (RDS) for its persistent database storage, although it does impose limitations on how much data Spanning can store and the throughput it can support on any single database instance. Pav admits this limits his partitioning strategies, but he’s willing to work within those limits, because it cuts his need to support and build his own data store.

“We want to get out of the business of spending time managing these things. We can solve this problem at the application’s architectural level to make sure it scales,” he said. “RDS may not be the highest-performance option, but we are able to reduce investment into something that’s not core to our business and by making good application level architectural decisions we can render the RDS performance issue moot.”

Amazon has changed not just the economics of building an IT service, but also helps make his product better and faster at less cost to him and his team. Pav notes that because of the reliability of Spanning on Amazon and his confidence that user data won’t be lost, he deploys new code when features are ready, and often in the middle of the day when his team is fresh. This is a big shift from the older days of waiting until late at night when theoretically fewer users are online to feel any disruptions.

Of course, with a large customer base all over the world and a growing one in North America, Pav points out that in today’s distributed world, there really is no more middle of the night.

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The HP TouchPad has become quite elusive, essentially selling out in the U.S. over the weekend. Much of the reason is due to what you get for this price: a color Kindle reader that doubles as a great web browser, email manager and cloud device with 50 GB of storage from Box.net. But for the tech savvy, you get even more for your money. It turns out that the TouchPad supports an Ubuntu build of Linux, which adds a whole new dimension to the now tabled tablet.

Brad Linder’s Liliputing blog has a detailed listing of the process of installing Ubuntu on the TouchPad, which was built out over the past several weeks by PreCentral forum users. Since many Ubuntu applications are compiled for x86 processors instead of ARM chips, like the one in the TouchPad, not all Ubuntu software will run on the slate. For now, Firefox, Chromium, and LibreOffice appear to be working, in addition to TightVNC for remote access to other computers, just to name a few.

That could change over time, however, and it opens up the door to many more potential programs on the TouchPad; at least when it’s running Ubuntu. That’s the other side benefit here: Ubuntu will run on a separate partition, meaning that the device can still boot into webOS as needed.

I’d expect the end result to be too much work for most TouchPad buyers, and I’m not going to take the Ubuntu plunge myself: I have other options for both tablets and laptops, so for me, it’s not worth the effort. But it’s still a neat little project that’s likely to see further development and support, which could add even more value to a tablet.

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Sun Microsystems’s new UltraSPARC T1 and T2 series of microprocessors has revived Sun’s position as one of the few third-party manufactures capable of contesting with the huge 2 processor companies who currently dominating the processor market. Sun fell behind for one or two years as their flagship processor, the UltraSPARC IV series, hit its performance boundaries. But they have reentered the competition with their new UltraSPARC processors, completely re-designed from the ground up, and capable of new degrees of power and flexibility.

The UltraSPARC T1 is the first processor produced by Sun that is both multicored and multithreaded. It first became available in 2005 with from four to eight CPU cores. Each core is literally capable of handling four threads at the same time. This suggests the processor as a whole is literally capable of handling anywhere from sixteen, 24, or even 32 threads simultaneously.

The UltraSPARC T1 is the 1st SPARC-based processor whose multiple cores can be partitioned. Several cores can be grouped together to work on a single task or set of jobs, while the leftover cores deal with the remainder of the processes and threads. Furthermore, the UltraSPARC T1 supports the Hyper-Privileged execution mode, meaning that it can partition its cores into as much as 32 logical domains ( one for each thread in an eight-CPU system ). Each one of these logical domains could run its own operating system example ( generally Solaris ).

The sole flaw to the UltraSPARC T1 is it’s only available in uniprocessor systems, which boundaries its vertical scalability in large business networks. The UltraSPARC T2, released in late 2007, addressed his problem amidst many other advances and enhancements.

The UltraSPARC T2 is in a number of ways a souped-up T1. It contains eight CPU cores, and each core is able on handling eight threads each, for a total of 64 threads being handled concurrently. This is double the maximum capacity of the T1, which toped out at 32 concurrent threads. Also like the T1, the T2 supports Hyper-Privileged execution mode. Whereas the T1 could only partition its cores into 32 logical domains, the T2, with more cores available, can partition them into 64 logical domains. Furthermore, a two-way SMP T2+ system can be partitioned into as many as 128 logical domains, each capable of running an example of Solaris.

In addition to doing everything the T1 does ( only better ), the T2 also had a couple of new features. Among other things, it had increased thread scheduling and instruction prefetching, allowing it to achieve a higher single-threaded performance. It also increased the processing speed for each thread from 1.2 for the T1 to 1.4 GHz. While the T1 has a Jbus interface, the T2 has a PCI Express port. The L2 cache on the T2 was increased to 4 MB ( versus the T1′s three MB ). It has four dual-channel FBDIMM memory controllers, and eight encryption engines. In early 2008, Sun released a new UltraSPARC T2 and processor, which is an SMP-capable version of the UltraSPARC T2.

Sun MicroSystems‘ UltraSPARC T1 and T2 prove that, in spite of rocketing competition from Intel and AMD, Sun is still in the processor race, particularly in the high-end server processor market. Sun’s designs continue to be cutting edge and, as the core partitioning system demonstrates, flexible.

“My computer is slowing down” – we do hear such sentence lots of time and many times it is coming from our relatives or friends. This sign means our computer system is getting troubles. But other causes can be behind that too. As a consequence, we should know more about what causes a slow computer, how to prevent this to happen and what solutions to use in case the prevention step didn’t work.

Here are two different reviews regarding the same Top Rated PC Optimization application.The following site is recommended PC Health Advisor Review and this PC Health Advisor.

What causes results that lead to us saying “my computer is slowing down”?

- When you do install programs you don’t know a lot about them: like the installation of new games, or any programs you think might help you for some tasks. You should always be sure they are 100% secure for your system. Many problems you can get with your computer are because you did install something that was recommended online and now it is damaging your operating system.

- Rogue programs can be another cause for low performance. You cannot easily avoid them since a while because of the growth of the Internet. They are very dangerous considering that they do not only affect your PC, but they also easily spread to other computers as well.

- Here are 2 simpler ways that can also compromise how performing your system will be: first if you don’t have enough space on the partition where your OS is residing, and second if you do not defragment your system once in a while.

Besides what we just said, you can find even more points that can affect your PC system, and in some situations the only answer to “why my computer is slowing down and how to solve this problem?” is to use a professional tool. That will allow you to troubleshoot and to resolve easily any problems you have by choosing one of the Top rated (and reviewed) PC Optimization Tools. Rather than using manual repair for your system, it is recommended to use professional repair since you will avoid less and new damages to your PC during the process.

Irrespective of whether you think of yourself as being an amateur photographer, budding professional, or you only intend to make the best family photos, there’s a lot of – simple – things that can be done to have an immediate improvement…Keep an eye on the studio backdrop, fill the frame with your subject, prevent camera shake and so on. Here’s some painless ideas to employ the next occasion you head out with your film or digital camera.

Even a beginner can shoot pro-looking photographs!

1. Be Organized

Keep all your photo paraphernalia ready for use. Collect everything you will require into only one area.

There is nothing worse than needing a specific item without being able to locate it.

A camera bag is ideal; since it keeps all your gear all together and allows you to take everything with you.

The whole thing in its place.

A good quality camera bag will let you organize a miniature tripod, spare batteries, memory cards, etc. – including a plastic bag or rainproof housing to safeguard your camera in wet weather.

2. Hold Your Camera Steady

Unclear photographs are almost always the result of camera movement. This is frequently known as camera shake.

It could be the result of the breeze, protracted shutter speeds, vibrations of near by cars…any quantity of stuff! Merely your own shakiness, can cause the camera to shake enough to blur the photos.

Brace yourself plus your camera before you shooting the photograph.

Fix your feet securely upon the ground as well as fold your elbows in close to your sides.

Instead of working with the liquid crystal display viewer on the rear of the camera (the most horrible practice EVER), brace the camera against your forehead and frame the photograph with your camera’s viewfinder.

It’s also possible to brace the upper body through leaning alongside a partition or perhaps a tree.

Pressing the shutter’s release overly fast could pull the camera towards the side or downward. Visualize it just like the soft squeeze of a trigger in firing a rifle; gently squeeze the shutter’s release in a single steady motion. They don’t call it “shooting” an image for no good reason!

Otherwise entirely eradicate the issue of camera shake by working with a tripod.

3. Move Closer To Your Subject

One distinction regarding “snapshots” and genuinely magnificent photographs may be the composition of the photograph.

Unless you are photographing a panoramic, outdoor landscape, it is possible to perk up most pictures merely through moving nearer to the subject.

Based upon the situation, you’ll be able to actually get nearer to your subject, or else use the zoom option on the camera (or lens) for an identical outcome.

Aim to get close enough to the subject matter so you can eliminate most of the backdrop. Controlling the photo backdrop can make a major difference. Fill the frame with your “star!” You’ll be happy with the improvement

4. The Portrait Backdrop – The Experts Undisclosed Weapon

For the most immediate and dramatic improvement to the photos – get some pro Studio Backdrop.

They’re simple to put together, cost no more than pennies on the dollar over buying them and will give your images a refined, studio look. A good studio backdrop is a missing link for most novice photo shooters.

You’ll want some “Old Masters” design studio backdrop as well as a pure white plus a pure black. For more easy instructions, take a look at my website.

It is amazing that so many people still do not know that their own PS3 is one of the worlds best super PCs.  Generally folk don’t realize because they only use it to play games.  But with the power of the Linux Operating System your PS3 can be three times as powerful as your house computer.  Even with the installation process of linux being really easy, a number of PS3 owners are hesitant to take the leap.  Here is some benefits of installing Linux on your PS3.  So how to install Linux on PS3?

The method is quite easy.  After you have backed up all of your saved files, you can go on and format your hard drive.  Go to ‘System Settings’ then ‘Format use’.  You will be asked whether you want to format your drive.  Select ‘Yes’.  Now for the partition setting choose the ‘Custom’ setting.  This will permit you to distribute ten gigs to another operating system.

Yellow Dog Linux was specifically designed for your PS3 so this distribution should be the first one you need to look at when deciding on turning your PS3 into a home PC.  the majority of the Linux distributions, the most popular ones such as Yellow Dog Linux, Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSUSE, and Gentoo, will work fine with your PS3 console.  They will all offer home, office, and server applications, web browsers, email clients, and lots more.  Actually, the Yellow Dog Linux distribution comes with over 2,000 packages for you to enjoy.

Go forward and insert your Yellow Dog ISO disk into your PS3.  If you haven’t downloaded it already, just search the web and burn it to disk using something similar to Daemon Tools.  On your PS3 menu, go to “System Settings” once again then there should be an option to “Install Other OS”.  Clearly this is the option we want!  The system will then scan for Operating System images, and will find the disk.  All you’ve got to do is follow instructions provided on the screen.  If you want further help visit Linux PS3
.