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Computer Components February 7, 2025

64-Bit Operating System

64-Bit Operating System

The 64-bit operating system is one that is capable of storing information in memory that is at least 64 bits or 8 bytes wide. They are also based on registers, address buses, or data buses of that same size. A bus is a subsystem that transfers data or power between computer components inside a computer or between computers. The bus is controlled by a device driver similar to those that control outside peripherals like a mouse or printer.

64-bit CPUs have existed in super computers since the 1960’s and work stations and servers since the 1990’s. While this architecture has been around for awhile, 64-bit operating systems are relatively new concepts in the computer world. Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Mac OS X Tiger are all 64-bit operating systems.

The advantages to 64-bit operating systems are far-reaching. They are more powerful and more reliable than the 32-bit systems. The 64-bit operating system can address more memory directly without using complex indexing or register-addressing schemes. Because internal memory is several orders of magnitude faster than storage, combining a 64-bit processing architecture with more RAM lets a processor pull more data into memory and operate on it directly, increasing performance manifold.
A 64-bit file system also can improve disk management. Rather than having to take a large disk, such as a 9 GB storage module, and segmenting it into 32-bit addressable chunks (2 GB each), you can address the entire disk. That can help, for example, both in database performance and the performance of the operating system itself.
64-bit operating systems are great for user who need to access very large data stores. The system is valuable in industries such as CAD (computer aided drafting), science and engineering, human resources, and financial modeling. Users working with these computer-intensive applications will probably see immediate improvement with 64-bit machines over 32-bit machines running at the same clock rate and with similar memory configurations.

There is a simple analogy that can help explain the difference between a 32-bit operating system and a 64-bit operating system. A 32-bit addressing environment can keep track of the name and address of every person who has lived in the United States since 1997. A 64-bit environment can keep track of the name and address of every person who has every lived in the world from the beginning of time. That’s a powerful system!

The advent of the 64-bit operating system is technology that has been sorely needed for some time. Users notice a marked improvement in performance, storage, and much more with these new, powerful 64-bit operating systems.

Computer Components February 1, 2025

Buying Into Japanese and German Exporters

Buying Into Japanese and German Exporters

With the euro down nearly 15% this year and at a two-year low against the U.S. dollar, the world’s largest exporting nation is worth a good look. So is another country that has thriving exports in spite of a stronger currency. We’re talking about Japan and Germany, respectively, the world’s second- and third-largest economies.
The top lines at leading German industrial companies are rolling in with impressive numbers for an almost zero-growth economy. Quarterly sales at Siemens rose 13%, the fastest since 2003. BMW’s sales rose by 11% in the third quarter, although high raw-material costs and pricing pressure resulted in weak net profits. A bright spot is Asia, where BMW expects to sell 150,000 cars per year by 2008.
Overall, German exports are up for the third-straight month and sales to countries outside of the European Union rose 18% annually from a year earlier. Clearly, the Germans are good at making stuff and selling it to the world, and the weaker euro is helping spur growth. Germany’s DAX stock index is taking notice and is up nearly 20% year-to-date.
Meanwhile, U.S. exports are up a paltry 2% since 2000. Although exports to China are up 35% during this same period, Americans are now buying seven times more from China than we are selling to them. A good reason why is that, according to research by Morgan Stanley’s Stephen Roach, consumer spending represents 71% of America’s gross domestic product. The figure is 42% for China and 55% for Japan.
Speaking of Japan, the aftermath of the financial bubble has obscured the fact that it too, remains an exporting powerhouse, despite a currency that has risen more than 20% since 2002 and 13% this year alone. Just look at Japan’s current account surpluses over the past three years: 3 billion in 2002, 6 billion in 2003 and 2 billion in 2004. China is a major market, and despite political difficulties, bilateral trade between China and Japan now exceeds trade between Japan and America.
A majority of Japan’s exports are manufactured goods and components. Fifty percent of its exports to China in 2004 were electrical equipment and machinery, and its top exports to the world include autos, electronic components, optical instruments, imaging equipment and computer parts.
Much is made over China’s huge trade imbalance with America, which reached 6 billion in the first eight months of this year. No doubt a sizable share of Chinese exports to America are chock full of Japanese components. While some of these components were made in offshore facilities, many were made in Japan, which has been able to hold on to its industrial base better than America.
How do they do it? First, the Japanese are continually moving up the value-added curve and are careful to keep the R&D and manufacturing of sophisticated components close to home, while outsourcing the low-end to low-wage countries.
Secondly, even though China’s wages are about 5% of Japan’s, factory automation has lessened the importance of labor costs. For advanced high tech products, it accounts for only 10% to 15% of total costs. Having manufacturing closer to home also shortens new product lead times and increases cooperation between R&D and production teams leading to a crucial edge in staying ahead of its nimble competitors. Supply lines of 2,000 miles can be problematic.
Perhaps most important, there is the critical issue of protecting intellectual capital. Having research, development and production closer to headquarters better protects proprietary technologies.
Canon, Sharp, Hitachi, NEC and Toyota are all good plays on Japan’s manufacturing edge, while Sony will continue to lag until it boosts its R&D and catches up in product development.
The iShares MSCI Japan Index exchange-trade fund is an attractive option, since it has about 50% exposure to Japan’s manufacturing sector with an annual expense ratio of only 0.59%. Similarly in Germany, the iShares MSCI Germany Index is loaded with that country’s top exporters and would be an excellent proxy for overall German export growth.

Computer Components January 29, 2025

Understanding the Parts of a House Network

Recognizing the Parts of a Residence Network

House networks are coming to be extra typical. If you have actually never ever listened to network terminology tool names like router, hub, etc might appear confusing. This write-up describes what composes a house network.
House networks are becoming more common. People wish to be able to share a single broadband Internet link to numerous computer systems in your home. There are lots of different devices that you can use to compose your house network. If you have never heard network terms device names like router, hub, etc may appear complicated.
The objective of the majority of these devices are to manage how the network passes around details. This information is sent in the form of “packets”. I will describe the term package numerous times in this article. It just means the data that the network is carrying. I will certainly currently describe the objective of the major parts of a home network.
What is a Center
A center is a tool that has a number of Ethernet ports on the back of the tool. One of these ports will likely be identified “Uplink”. This port allows you to link numerous hubs with each other, if you run out of ports on your hub. If you do not have an uplink port on your center, the center can not be easily extended if you run out of ports.
A hub is a tool that connects several computers on an Ethernet network. If you have a number different computers that you want to connect with each other, you could attach each to the hub. Any packet that is sent out by any computer system on the network will right away be sent to the other computers. Each computer will certainly figure out if the packet was really planned for it, as well as strain packages that were meant for other computers.
You actually ought to not utilize a center in a modern-day residence network. You must constantly utilize a button instead of a hub. Switches will be gone over in the next area.
What is a Switch over
A switch is a device that has a number of Ethernet ports on the back of the gadget. One of these ports will likely be identified “Uplink”. This port allows you to connect multiple switches together, if you lack ports on your switch. If you do not have an uplink port on your button, the switch can not be easily prolonged if you lack ports.
A button serves the exact same feature as a hub. It allows you to link numerous computers together, to make sure that they can exchange packets. However, a switch is far more efficient than a center. A button will only send Ethernet packets to the computer that the package was intended for. Due to this you must always use a switch instead of a center.
What is a Router
A router is a tool that has a number of Ethernet ports on the back of the gadget. One of the ports will be labeled WAN. You must link the WAN port to the Ethernet link on a broadband source, such as a cable television or DSL modem. The various other ports on the router can be linked other computers or switches/hubs that will certainly share the WAN link.
Routers permit you to share your broadband connection with multiple computer systems in your home. Instead of attaching your computer system straight into your wire or DSL modem you connect the router to the cable or DSL modem. Now any type of computer that you attach to the router will certainly have access to the Web.
If you run out of ports on your router you can always attach an extra button to the router. To link a button to a router simply link the switch’s “uplink” port to among the routers Ethernet ports. Obviously, do not connect to the router’s WAN port. The WAN port should only be attached to something such as a cable or DSL router.
Some routers feature additional attributes mounted. Many routers also include a firewall software. Firewalls are discussed in the next area. Some routers will also consist of a cordless accessibility factor (WAP). The WAP enables you to make use of wireless tools, such as cordless laptops, with the Internet.
What is a Firewall
A firewall software controls traffic circulation in between your network and the Net. A firewall can be either hardware or software application. Windows XP SP2 or higher includes a software firewall program. A hardware firewall is consisted of with the majority of routers.
A firewall is a very great suggestion. It can safeguard you from inbound infection efforts. By inbound virus effort I mean various other computers that will attach to your computer system as well as attempt to infect your computer. You do not wish to run a computer system directly connected to the Net, without a firewall. There are just also lots of other computer systems out there that can attach and contaminate you without you also noticing.
What is a Network Attached Storage (NAS).
A network connected storage device is s gadget that permits a hard disk drive to be shared across the network. This hard disk drive is NOT connected to any one of your computers. It is merely made available by the NAS. This can be a convent means to add a hard disk that can be accessed by numerous computers on your network. The other usual means to add a network hard disk drive is to simply share a folder on among your computer systems. Nonetheless, with the NAS, you do not need to keep one of your computers on in any way times.
There are 2 kinds of NAS typically available. The initial kind features a construct in hard disk drive. The 2nd accepts a USB or Firewire exterior hard disk drive. The benefit to making use of a USB or Firewire hard disk drive is that you can upgrade the hard disk drive if it ever before were to end up being as well small.
What is a Publish Server.
Much like you can acquire a tool to permit you to share a hard disk, you can do the exact same with a printer. A print web server links directly to your printer. Your printer is after that shared to every one of your computer systems on the network. This is convent due to the fact that you do not require to leave the printer hooked to a computer system, which should be transformed on to print.
Verdicts.
As you can see there are various elements. Possibly the final part that I have yet to point out is the cable. These components are linked with each other with CAT5 Ethernet cable television.
You are currently ready to pick out the parts for your residence network!