Why should I use a NAS?
A NAS is a device that sits on your home network, and it allows your to have a centralized location for all your files to sit. NAS stands for Network Area Storage, and that’s exactly what it does. It is a self contained box that plugs into your home netowrk, normally into your switch or router, and it provides a place to dump common files.
People use NAS devices for storing Photos, Music, Movies, and other programs. Some NAS devices will allow you to have access to the files from remote locations as well.
These devices can be used in a variety of configurations, and normally hold atleast 2 Hard Disks. They will allow for RAID configurations, such as:
RAID 0 – Striping – Faster Data access as data is written across both disks.
RAID 1 – Mirroring – copies the files from Disk 1 to Disk 2
RAID 5 – Striped Disks with Parity – Copies the information across the disks, but keeps one for parity information. Requires 3 disks at a minimum.
RAID 1+0 – Mirrored Data Set which is Striped – Minimum of 2 Disks needed.
Most NAS devices will only allow for 2 Disks (drive bays) to be added to the unit, but there are 3 disk versions which are normally a lot more expensive.
Having a NAs in your network is a great way to not only share files across multiple computers, but also to have a place to store files, so they are not residing on your personal pc. The best application is to use the NAS to store images of your hard drive, so if you ever experience a crash, your data can easily be recovered.
So what do you use your NAS for? Do you have a favorite manufacturer?
A NAS is a device that sits on your home network, and it allows your to have a centralized location for all your files to sit. NAS stands for Network Area Storage, and that’s exactly what it does. It is a self contained box that plugs into your home netowrk, normally into your switch or router, and it provides a place to dump common files.
People use NAS devices for storing Photos, Music, Movies, and other programs. Some NAS devices will allow you to have access to the files from remote locations as well.
These devices can be used in a variety of configurations, and normally hold atleast 2 Hard Disks. They will allow for RAID configurations, such as:
RAID 0 – Striping – Faster Data access as data is written across both disks.
RAID 1 – Mirroring – copies the files from Disk 1 to Disk 2
RAID 5 – Striped Disks with Parity – Copies the information across the disks, but keeps one for parity information. Requires 3 disks at a minimum.
RAID 1+0 – Mirrored Data Set which is Striped – Minimum of 2 Disks needed.
Most NAS devices will only allow for 2 Disks (drive bays) to be added to the unit, but there are 3 disk versions which are normally a lot more expensive.
Having a NAs in your network is a great way to not only share files across multiple computers, but also to have a place to store files, so they are not residing on your personal pc. The best application is to use the NAS to store images of your hard drive, so if you ever experience a crash, your data can easily be recovered.
So what do you use your NAS for? Do you have a favorite manufacturer?
Related posts
Students can get a discounted copy of Windows 7
By now you would probably know that I am a supporter of the new Windows 7 Operating system. This is the best OS that they have made sine they released XP for home users. They have had a few flops in the home markets namely Windows ME, and Vista (until they made patches for the OS.)
I have liked this OS since I have had time to try the first versions of Public Beta, and I am still using the pre-release on my main system now.
I have a special bit of news for all you students out there. I know that times are tough and that you need to pinch every penny so you can get by, but for a limited time Microsoft is offering a full license of Windows 7 Home Premium for $29.99 USD. A full operating system for under $30! Can’t complain about that one.
You will need to provide your College/University email address in order to qualify. If you qualify, they will send you an email with purchase details, then you will be able to download the software.
If you are not sure if you can run the new OS on your older laptop, here is a link for your to run the windows upgrade advisor which will let you know if it will work.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/upgrade-advisor.aspx
Want to know if your school is included in the list of acceptable institutions? Here is a link for you to check out your schools information as well.
http://windows7.digitalriver.com/store/mswpus/ContentTheme/pbPage.Schools
If your school is not listed you will need to provide information to Microsoft about your course, and they will ask some information and add your school if it meets their criteria.
Sadly this site doesn’t say anything about Canada or any other country, but I have learned that they will be eligible but not until Oct 22nd. No prices have been set for these countries yet.
This is great news for students. I know that I will be purchasing a full version of Windows 7 soon.
By now you would probably know that I am a supporter of the new Windows 7 Operating System. This is the best OS that they have made since they released XP for home users. They have had a few flops in the home markets namely Windows ME, and Vista (until they made patches for the OS.)
I have liked this OS since I have had time to try the first versions of Public Beta, and I am still using the pre-release on my main system now. So I thought I would let you all know about a special offer that Microsoft has on right now.
I have a special bit of news for all you students out there. I know that times are tough and that you need to pinch every penny so you can get by, but for a limited time Microsoft is offering a full license of Windows 7 Home Premium for $29.99 USD. A full operating system for under $30! Can’t complain about that one.
You will need to provide your College/University email address in order to qualify. If you qualify, they will send you an email with purchase details, then you will be able to download the software.
If you are not sure if you can run the new OS on your older laptop, here is a link for your to run the Windows upgrade advisor which will let you know if it will work.
Want to know if your school is included in the list of acceptable institutions? Here is a link for you to check out your Schools information as well.
If your school is not listed you will need to provide information to Microsoft about your course, and they will ask some information and add your school if it meets their criteria.
Sadly this site doesn’t say anything about Canada or any other country, but I have learned that they will be eligible but not until Oct 22nd. No prices have been set for these countries yet.
This is great news for students. I know that I will be purchasing a full version of Windows 7 soon.
Related posts
Categories: Computers, Software Tags: Operating System, windows, Windows 7
What do I do if I get a pop-up that says I am out of memory?
What do I do if I get a pop-up that says I am out of memory?
Periodically, while operating your computer, you might get a popup from Windows that says “Insufficient Memory” or something similar to this.
This is a general system error that your computer is letting you know that you may have 1 of 2 conditions happening. Either your PC doesn’t have enough RAM to open the applications that you want to run, and hence you might have too many running at the same time. The other option is that you might have some old processes still running from applications that were shut down already.
Depending on the amount of RAM that you have in your computer is normally what will dictate how often you get this error. To check on the amount of RAM you have in your PC, read my other post here. If you have a very small amount of RAM, you might want to purchase more for your PC, if you have enough space to install it (slots for it to sit in on your motherboard).
If you have RAM that is not being freed when you close applications, this can be due to a memory leak or a rogue process that is not shutting down correctly. There are 2 ways to get rid of this message. The first is to simply do a cold boot of the machine, so all memory is wiped clean. A cold boot is done by shutting down the system and waiting 10 or more seconds before starting it again.
If you have applications running that you can’t shut down at the moment, yet you need to get some RAM back, you can “kill” the process that is causing the issue.
***WARNING*** terminating processes that you are unsure of, might lead to data loss in applications that are open.
Let’s start shall we?
First open the Task Manager for Windows. Right click on your task bar and select Task Manager
Image
when the task manager launches select the Performance tab
image
If your system is running out of resources the second graph will be very close to the top.
image
select the Processes tab and sort by memory used
Here you will be able to see which applications are using the most RAM on your system. You can select the application, and select end process.
This will terminate the application, and get you back some of your RAM. Remember if you don’t know what the process is, it might not be safe to terminate it.
Periodically, while operating your computer, you might get a popup from Windows that says ‘Insufficient Memory’ or something similar to this.
This is a general system error that your computer is letting you know that you may have 1 of 2 conditions happening. Either your PC doesn’t have enough RAM to open the applications that you want to run, and hence you might have too many running at the same time. The other option is that you might have some old processes still running from applications that were shut down already.
Depending on the amount of RAM that you have in your computer is normally what will dictate how often you get this error. To check on the amount of RAM you have in your PC, read my other post here. If you have a very small amount of RAM, you might want to purchase more for your PC, if you have enough space to install it (slots for it to sit in on your motherboard).
If you have RAM that is not being freed when you close applications, this can be due to a memory leak or a rogue process that is not shutting down correctly. There are 2 ways to get rid of this message. The first is to simply do a cold boot of the machine, so all memory is wiped clean. A cold boot is done by shutting down the system and waiting 10 or more seconds before starting it again.
If you have applications running that you can’t shut down at the moment, yet you need to get some RAM back, you can “kill” the process that is causing the issue.
***WARNING*** terminating processes that you are unsure of, might lead to data loss in applications that are open.
Let’s start shall we?
First open the Task Manager for Windows. Right click on your task bar and select Task Manager
when the task manager launches select the Performance tab
If your system is running out of resources the second graph will be very close to the top.
select the Processes tab and sort by memory used
Here you will be able to see which applications are using the most RAM on your system. You can select the application, and select end process.
This will terminate the application, and get you back some of your RAM. Remember if you don’t know what the process is, it might not be safe to terminate it.
Related posts
Categories: Computers, Software, Tips and Tricks Tags: Memory, RAM, System Error, Task Manager
