The label network hardware is generally given to any piece of equipment with the task of moving data. Common categories of network hardware include: Routers Switches Network Interface Cards         Routers             A router is a network device with interfaces in multiple networks whose task is to copy packets from one network to another. Routers operate at Layer 3 of the OSI Model, the Network Layer. A router will utilize one or more routing protocols to create a routing table. The router will then use the information Read More

DES (Data Encryption Standard) is a symmetric cipher defined in Federal Information Processing (FIPS) Standard Number 46 in 1977 as the federal government approved encryption algorithm for sensitive but non-classified information. DES was developed by IBM and was based upon IBM’s earlier Lucifer cipher. DES utilizes a 56-bit key. This key size is vulnerable to a brute force attack using current technology. Triple DES A variant of DES, Triple DES, provides significantly enhanced security by executing the core DES algorithm three times in a row. The has the effect of Read More

A multi-search engine combines many search engines into one unified search engine. It is a fast and comprehensive way of casting a wide net on the Word Wide Web. There are thousands of search engines on the Internet. Although some are quite good, none of them is comprehensive. Some may use a small database to create your result set, some may not be updated regularly, and still others may be quite slow. Thus, you may need to use several search engines to ensure an all-inclusive search result. Multi-Search engines may Read More

GPS – A Short Introduction GPS, which stands for Global Positioning System, is a satellite navigation system that can ascertain the latitude and longitude of a GPS receiver device on the Earth.  The GPS consists of more than two dozen global positioning satellites orbiting the earth. Each satellite transmits radio signals, which can help determine the location, speed and direction of travel of users equipped with GPS receivers. To ensure that the whole world is covered by the constellation of the GPS satellites, they are so arranged that four satellites Read More

A dial-up connection is any connection that is connected through a regular phone line. When that phone line is connected to a modem and then configured to dial a specific number, a user can access the Internet. It is the slowest form of Internet connection, but that is a result of also being the most inexpensive–if not free–form of Internet access available to users. According to a Pew Internet and American Life Project conducted in 2008, only about 10% of Americans were still using dial-up either because of remoteness or Read More

PXE (Preboot eXecution Environment) is a boot environment that Intel created. The PXE allows a workstation to boot up by using a network interface before it boots the operating system from the local storage devices such as the hard disk. When hard disk boot failure occurs, the computer will not boot up and a message saying “PXE-E61: Media Test Failure, Check Cable” appears. The error may also read “PXE-M0F: Exiting Intel PXE-ROM” or “Boot Failure: System Halted.” This error message repeats each time one attempts to start up the computer Read More

Overclocking is the process making a computer component run at a higher speed than that specified by the manufacturer. The components that can be overclocked include the CPU, the memory and the video cards. Although there may be many different reasons for overclocking, the most common reason is to increase hardware performance. For example the AMD Athlon 2500+ processor which normally runs at a CPU clock speed of 1.83 GHz may me made to run at a clock speed of 2.20 GHz or the GeForce 6800 cards may be converted Read More

A rubber stamp is a ubiquitous item. Almost every office has one. They are the perfect tools for administering to forms, making a signature for a check and helping to advertise your company. While the regular stamp and ink pad has been around it seems forever, the newer self inking stamp is definitely a practical innovation. Besides a date stamp, most stamps are static, the text or image never changes and combining the two components of the stamp and the ink has made for an effective and efficient product. Self Read More

Autorun is a feature that has been included in the Windows Operating System (OS) since the deployment of Windows 95. The utility program will automatically launch media such as DVDs, CDs, USB devices, and memory sticks in order to let the end-user automatically view, manipulate, or run programs stored on the devices. The application uses the atorun.inf file that is stored in the rood directory of the media which contains a list of commands for Windows to execute when the device or drive is opened. Although Autorun is designed to Read More

Routing and Remote Access Service Overview The Routing and Remote Access service (RRAS) is a multi-protocol software router integrated in Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 that provides connectivity for remote users and remote offices to the corporate network. RRAS make it possible for remote users to perform their tasks as though they are actually physically connected to the corporate network. A remote access connection enables services such as file and print sharing to be available to remote users. To access network resources, remote access clients can use standard Windows Read More