You are using a computer, at your home or at work and now you want to use the computer to communicate with others, what can you do and use? Well, communication today has advanced greatly and computers assist us in doing it and even save us some cash :).

Naming some of the main communication techniques being used by computers: e-mails, VOIP (Phone conference calls),
phone calls, online chat messengers like Skype, Live Messenger, Yahoo messenger, etc… and more. So let’s focus on the techniques to expand and increase our knowledge of them.

E-mails: Well e-mails are no news anymore, I believe everyone is using e-mails. This is the way computers enable to pass letters from one another. You just type your message (attach any file, video, photo) and send your advanced letter to your friends, family, co-worker, etc… This technology is working and getting better as the years pass.

Phone calls: There are two main types:

1. Internet calls – which means you are calling another person, who is sitting on a computer, connected to the internet, and using the same program as you. Like Skype calls or Live messenger calls etc… where you use online chatting (typing your messages online) or just calling your friend, and using speakers and microphones or headphones with a microphone to conduct the chat.
2. Calling a regular phone from a computer – You can use the headphones with a microphone to call regular phones (Cell phones or landlines phones). This is doable by using a program that can connect you to those regular phone lines. Skype has such a solution (it is not free of charge), you can use “icall“, “evaphone“, “Google voice” (which is not open from any country), “tuitalk” or “freebuzzer“.

VOIP Switchboards: Well VOIP is a way to enable computer users to conduct phone calls using their
computers or the network. VOIP enables you to either use a VOIP client software that enables dialing out, using headphones with a microphone or just using an IP phone (Network Phone).

VOIP switchboards, are servers with a switchboard system, that enables you to use the network as your platform for making the phone calls. The VOIP switchboard enables a regular phone line to connect to the VOIP server, and the VOIP switchboard system can use those phone lines to conduct your computer phone calls. This is explaining what VOIP Switchboard is without getting too deep into it (this is not the purpose of this article).

Online chat messengers: Online chat messengers have been used for ages and they are getting better in time. They include a typing place, making voice calls between the messenger registers and enable to include your webcam while you chat or type your messages. These messengers enable you to talk over the internet which is, of course, free of charge. The catch is both of you have to be in front of a computer or maybe on a smart mobile phone, that has an internet connection (like iPhone).

I believe this covers some basic calling ways, using our computers, and I believe these methods will advance even more, and become cost-effective for international communications.

Skype is being considered in the IT world as a security threat. Mostly because you can use Skype to send and receive files (without supervision), use video chats (which might show your office and things that might not be allowed to be seen), and of course open online chats to the world with much difficulty to monitor and supervise.

Many organizations that value their privacy, and for security reasons might want to prevent this threat from opening a hole in their defense, so they might want to block Skype from accessing the internet.

What makes Skype such an elusive application. is that it can adapt and has a smart mechanism that enforces it to be able to reach an internet connection by any means. The outbound connection can be used on various combinations of TCP and UDP ports including the generally opened ports 80 (HTTP) and 443 (HTTPS) which of course are being used for internet browsing. Skype also has methods of hiding itself as an application by using STUN (Session Traversal Utilities for NAT) and

TURN (Traversal using relay NAT) to ensure communication can pass through the network and get the connection. Most conventional layers 3 & 4 blocking attempts will fail and most IDS & IPS (Intrusion Detection Prevention) tools will fail as well.

So what can we do – to block Skype?

1. Well, the solution is about recognizing Skype as an application,
   with application blocking systems/tools. There is such a solution to SonicWall in their UTM appliances which includes a singed-based IDP platform that uses a detection engine that can identify not only individual fingerprints but the sequence of fingerprints. This enables to identify the application from an unrelated sequence of traffic by collecting them into one recognized application. This enables a deeper packet inspection for more reliable recognition of the most elusive protocols, like Skype.
2. The other option is using Routers that support NBAR (Network-Based Application Recognition) protocols. NBAR enables the recognition of Skype packets and enables blocking them. There are some Cisco routers that support this technology. Most routers only look at layer 3, but NBAR the routers can look at Layers 4 to 7. This means the router can identify applications and you can decide if you want to give applications priority, drop packets (blocking it) or take other measures. The NBAR came with IOS (a package of routing, switching, internetworking and telecommunications combined into a multitasking operating system) 12.0 version, but the NBAR from version 12.3 is much improved with the use of PDLM (Packet Description Language Module) that covers more applications.
   • Tutorial: How to use Cisco MQC & NBAR to filter websites like Youtube
   • Info: How to block bit torrent on CISCO router with NBAR
   • Info: Cisco NetFlow NBAR Impacts Router Performance
   • info: Blocking Peer-to-Peer File Sharing Programs with the PIX Firewall
   • Info: What can Cisco’s Network-Based Application Recognition (NBAR) do for you?
   • Info: NBAR Reporting
3. WebWasher – by McAfee – Skype is also a VOIP type of an application. The WebWasher recognizes Skype by using a generic body filter, using the fingerprinting method based on Skype’s unique binary pattern. WebWasher also comes with an SSL scanner which can block Skype attempts to use SSL through ports 80 & 443.

So, now you have learned a couple of ways to block Skype from being used on your network, I hope this helps anyone who has contemplated solutions to this challenge.

Building a computer is not as hard as you think. There is some basic information that you need to be aware of and you can do it yourself. There are those who would like to build their own computer so they can save money, by buying the parts they need, for the most basic computer (not that this is necessary true always) but in some cases, it might work.

There are those who would like to build a supercomputer, a special computer with special features and capabilities that they desire, like a special gaming station, with powerful capabilities that will run any and every game or super graphical software there is on the market.

The base of it all, are the parts you choose for your computer. The computer is built on these basic hardware parts:

1. Motherboard
2. Processor (CPU)
3. RAM (Memory)
4. Video Card (Graphic Card)
5. Computer Case (Where it all will fit into – the Computer BOX)
6. Power supply
7. Hard Disk drive
8. Optical drive (CD/DVD Drive).
9. Keyboard
10. Mouse
11. Speakers
12. Sound Card (usually comes onboard the motherboard) but you can choose to have a separate sound card – maybe for advanced audio capabilities

When your intention is to build a cheap simple computer, you just need to select the suitable computer parts, do a survey, and choose simple parts.

When your intention is to build a supercomputer, well choose the best (or by your budget) parts there are there, and you will get a boosted supercomputer. The main parts that affect the performance of a supercomputer are the
Motherboard, CPU (Duo, Quad, i5 or i7 etc…), Large capacity of RAM, and a good Graphic Card, with at least 1GB of RAM on-board it.

Another issue that might really speed up your computer is a really fast Hard-disk drive, which is more expensive, but as we know the READ/WRITE operations are what effects the performance of the operating system and any software/game running on it.

The process of building a computer from scratch is explained well on this video I found on YouTube that shows the whole process of how to build a computer from scratch. Pictures are better than words they say 🙂 (Well the video is even better). The basic idea is, of course, connecting all of the parts and inserting them into the computer case.

• Build a Computer

When we want to work with a computer, we first need to purchase one :). So, how can we know what type of a computer to choose? there are so many types, so many different configurations?!

I am writing about PC’s / Servers computer and not laptops, but the basics are the same. The easier part of doing laptop purchase, is the models have an exact configuration, so you can see all of the parts that each laptop model is made from, and compare it to other price offers (exact configuration).
There are websites that conduct computer surveys, where anyone can submit his opinion, on different subjects. Those websites contain information from the people, where you can get some idea of what goes, and maybe get some recommendations.

Well, the basic answer is pretty simple and it breaks down to some basics:

1. What is the purpose of the computer: First, we need to know what do we need the computer for? what are we going to do with it, and for what purpose. Do we need it only for office use, meaning internet browsing, and office processing (those do not require a faster computer) or maybe we are gamers, or graphic designers which require us to purchase a stronger faster computer that can deal with the heavy graphic, demanding programs/games we use.
2. Computer made from hardware parts: All of the computers are made from parts (computer parts), the type of hardware parts we choose determine the price of the computer. When we want a simple computer just for internet browsing and some office use, we can take the simpler computer configuration, which will be enough for our purpose. When we need a stronger computer that will be able to run heavy and memory demanding applications, it will need faster more advanced hardware parts.
3. Operating system: Computers can come without an operating system, if you purchase software on your own (most organizations buy a large amount of software at one) so they need only the computer as it is or if you are using an open source Linux operating system that you will install by yourself. When you don’t have an operating system in your possession, you might want to purchase the computer with an operating system (mostly it will be a Windows OS) as a bundle.
4. Warranty: Computers should come with service warranty, most of the good known computers come with at least 3 years of warranty, and for any problem with the hardware you might encounter, they should fix on their expense (unless it was due to damage from misuse).

Now, after we figured out all of those basic things, we can start taking price offers, from different vendors. I would recommend you to take these steps, when taking computer price offers.

1. Find a dealer/vendor you trust, or that someone recommended you because he is working with him and knows he is a great guy to trust his opinions and recommendations. Then you can discuss with him about your needs, so he can offer you a proper computer configuration and a price offer that best fit your needs. Make sure the price offer specify in full all of the parts that builds the computer, like the motherboard, hard disks, memory types and capacity, graphic card, power supply etc…
2. After you get the first price offer by this dealer/vendor, send the exact configuration from that price offer you have received to some other dealers/vendors (without the prices of course), to get a price offer for the exact computer configuration, only then you will be able to compare between the price offers and negotiate/argue for a better price.

Now that you have some price offers, you can also compare them to what goes in the market, by finding a common comparison website, and see what type of prices are out there for a computer that resemble the computer you requested.

Example websites for comparing prices:

• http://www.consumersearch.com/laptops/reviews
• http://www.google.com/products
• http://reviews.cnet.com/laptop-reviews/?sa=all&tag=centerColumnArea1.0
• http://computershopper.com/
• http://hothardware.com/category.aspx?cid=10
• http://www.trustedreviews.com/laptops/

We might have heard the term, “Chat Room”, a room online (on the internet) that enable many people to chat online with each other. You might also have heard the term IRC (Internet Relay Chat) which is the protocol for those online chat rooms. There were many different programs that were used for the chat client-side, to be able to connect to an IRC server and Login to a chat room. The most common chat client program since the beginning was called “mIRC” which I am sure it is still being used today.

The purpose of those chat rooms where, well… they had many purposes, but mostly a way to connect anyone from anywhere in the world, into one arena of a chat room, that enabled everyone to talk to everyone. There were other rooms being created, separating by age, or purpose, like to get to know each other for dating purposes, for business purposes, for getting technical advice, etc…

This was a great way to communicate with others around the world, it was free, and you didn’t need to see anyone, only look at the nickname they choose, start a chat, and discover other people around the world. The debate about politics, or the weather or anything you might want to talk about. You could convey the chat where everyone can see, in the general room, or just open a private session with the person you want to talk to. We are
familiar today with chats like the messengers (MSN, Yahoo, Google, etc…) which more features, like using a WebCam, transferring files, and using funny icons to make the chat more enjoyable.

But those IRC chat rooms where the core of communication between computer users, when there were no cell phones, and long distant regular phone calls were too expensive. These IRC chat rooms enabled a way to contact anyone in any country, in any language (even though the most common one was English) and at any hour.

I know of some people that got to know each other using IRC chat rooms, fallen in love, and got married 🙂 so you can understand that before the dating websites, and the communication chats we know today, IRC chat rooms where the arena for global communications.

There are IRC chat programs for any type of operating system, like Linux, Windows, MAC, etc… some can be used using the browser.

Browser IRC chat programs:
•    Chatzilla – This is built on the SeaMonkey add-on addition feature on the Firefox browser.
•    Smuxi – This is a program designated to the Gnome desktop of the Linux OS. This is a flexible IRC client for advance users.
•    Pidgin – This program is joining into it, many different chat applications, which means you can connect to almost any familiar chat messenger program and include it into this program, and an IRC client feature as well.
•    Mibbit – This is a web based ajax IRC client feature.

Windows IRC clients:
•    mIRC – The most popular IRC client, being used by many for almost 20 years. Today this is a shareware program, giving 30-day license which needs to be purchased for using it further.

Photo – http://www.aliendownload.com/files/screens/2228_mirc.gif
•    Vortec IRC – A Dedicated IRC client. It has multi-server support.
•    IceChat – This IRC chat client can run on any Windows OS platform, including 64bit versions.
•    XChat – This is an IRC chat program, that runs on Windows and Linux OS. You can use it to join multiple chat rooms at the same time.

Linux IRC Clients:
•    XChat – The most common IRC client for Linux. It is mostly comes pre-installed on the Linux distribution operating systems.
•    Konversation – This is another popular IRC client on Ubuntu OS. It usually comes with the Kubuntu OS version.

MAC IRC Clients:
•    Colloquy – This one is a free and open-source IRC client program.
•    Ircle – This version requires the “Tiger” 10.4 OSX or higher.
•    Snak – Using this program is not free, you can use PayPal for purchasing it.
•    Linkinus – this program enables a rich social IRC experience, this program has a 15 day trial period, then you will have to purchase it.

So we found that there are many programs out there for IRC use, and you can find good ones for any type of operating system. So just try them out, and experience the worldwide chat arena for meeting people from all around the world 🙂 enjoy.

Computer accessories are actually just tools to improve or make the use with your computer more comfortable, more efficient and easier.

Some tools improve your computer efficiency other just give you the type of tool you need to make a certain task workable. There are those accessories that keep your computer safe, some of them just keep your data safe. So there are many such computer accessories that will just make your computer tasks doable.

Many computer users know the most basic accessories that are commonly being used, and they are the Mouse and Keyboard. Those are accessories that can be used by desktop computers and Laptop computers when you’re at the office. There are many types of Mouse and Keyboards out there, and you will certainly find a set that will match your need and desires. Laptop computers even have flexible keyboards like this one “Flexible Keyboard” which is easy to fold into your laptop bag, and connect and unfold when you need it. The laptop mouse are usually called “Mini Mouse” since they are either wireless (Logitech Cordless Optical Mouse , Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse 4.0, many other types) or have a cord that you can fold around the mouse, to make it portable and easy to use when needed.

Communication Accessories: Since computer communication has entered a phase where everyone is using a computer to contact others, either with a chat, or a software that uses voice or even a video chat. A video chat will require an accessory called a webcam (Logitech Webcam Pro 9000, )  . The webcam enables computer users to call other users and see them while they conduct their conversations. Since the network ability and internet speed has increased the video calls quality have improved greatly.

Game Accessories: Computer gamers are using many different computer accessories, like Joysticks, flight sticks, special keyboards, mouse with extra buttons etc… Those accessories like the joystick assist them in playing flight simulator games, or some prefer playing racing game using their joystick instead of playing with the keyboard keys.

Backup accessories: The backup accessories are mostly built from external hard disks, which are cheaper today, and you can get a huge amount of disk space, for a low price. There are many backup software out there that use external hard disks as their backup drives. You can also use USB flash drives, which are getting larger in capacity every day and decrease in price. Their advantage is in being very small, that you can hang them on your key chain.

Sound accessories: Every computer usually uses sounds, like error beeps or playing music, or playing movies, and in order to listen to those sounds you can either use head-phones or a set of speakers that can boost the computer’s voices and sounds into the room at great quality.

Laptop accessories: Laptop accessories are used to ease the use of the portable computer – the laptop. Since you are using your laptop mostly on the road, you might need accessories to attach to your laptop, but you also need them to be easy to carry. So laptops have great accessories like laptop speakers, laptop mice, laptop cases, laptop security kits, laptop stands, travel adapters, flexible keyboards, wireless devices to avoid the use of cords and cables. In short there are many accessories for laptops that can ease their use.

I know it is a bit presumptuous to try and define the best computer applications or make such list, but as I see it, the best application in my opinion is defined by the user itself, each one has its own opinion on what is the best application for him. So, since it is an individual opinion I will make my own list of best computer applications.

My List of best/recommended applications:

Soluto – This program helps to boost the booting process, and make it shorter. Basically it enables to choose some of your applications that are loading on the start-up to be moved after the crucial system applications. This enables you to be able start opening applications before all of your applications are loaded. This application even shows you how much time you have saved. Mostly it will boost the boot time in half. This application is recommended, for any of the Windows users.

KMP-Player – This is one of the best Video/Music players I have ever had the pleasure of using. It will play any type of movie you want, including High-Definition (720p, 1080p etc…) ones. When you get used to the shortcut keys of this application, you will find it very usable and easy to use. Check it out, you will not be disappointed.

XBMC – XBMC Media center –
This is the best media center application I have had the pleasure of using, it is a great application to watch movies, listen to music and use other free applications like weather forecast etc… The application will collect all of your Video, Music within compact organized screens, with easy access to them all, and all of that will be running on your TV in case you choose to connect your computer to your TV. The application is very easy to use, using just your Mouse and Keyboard. This is one of the best I have tested, and I believe you will like it too try it out.

AxCrypt – This is a much recommended program in case you need to lock you files/folders with a password, so only you will be able to access the files. The use is very simple, right click the file, and encrypt it using a password. The file will then be locked, and you will be able to unlock it only if you remember the password, so don’t forget it (Write it down somewhere).

Foxit PDF reader –
This is a simple; small sized and mostly supports any type of PDF documents you might have, so if you’re tired of the heavy complicated Adobe Reader application, you might want to consider this recommended efficient application.

There are many anti-virus options out there, different types of programs that can protect your computer from viruses, and harmful threats. How do we
choose from the list of anti-virus programs out there? What to look for? How to choose the most suitable protection for our computer? I will try and give you a review good enough to help you make a logical decision, which anti-virus program suit you best.

Free Anti-Virus programs:
There are some anti-virus programs which are free. They might be enough for you to use.

• AVG – AVG anti-virus program, is a freeware program (costs nothing). This anti-virus program is well known and most usable for the home user, simple to manage. Anyone who wants basic protection of its computer can trust this anti-virus to have good protection for your windows computer. This is one of the most recommended anti-virus for a client computer.

• Microsoft Essentials
  – Microsoft Essentials anti-virus program, is a free program, by Microsoft for registered operating systems, with a valid registered key. You will be able to download the program and install it, and after validating that your operating system is genuine, you will be able to enjoy the Microsoft anti-virus program for free. Using this anti-virus it seems to be working just fine, so you can give it a try.

• AVIRA – AVIRA Anti-virus program, is a freeware program, less known by most users, but this anti-virus includes child control by Parental Control, which can block unwanted websites, and protect our children from accessing harmful websites. You might give this anti-virus a try, and see if it suit your needs.

• AVAST – AVAST Anti-virus program, is a freeware program, that most home users tend to use. This Anti-virus program gives good protection against viruses, it gives protection against harmful website browsing, it has firewall protection against hackers while hiding your identity, and has mailbox protection against spam.

• BITDEFENDER – “BitDefender” anti-virus program, is an online anti-virus scanner that can let users scan their computer, without installing anything. The benefit on online scanning are a bit minor against programs which are sitting on your computer and protect your computer locally, but it might solve an immediate threat in case you don’t have an anti-virus yet, you can let it scan your computer and see if it can find the virus that might resident on your computer.

Anti-Virus programs that are not free:
Anti-virus programs that can protect you from viruses and spyware threats are:

• McAfee – McAfee anti-virus program, is a well-known anti-virus which is used by many. The McAfee anti-virus is a TSR program, that takes quite a bit of computer resources, and might not be usable for week computers. You might consider having at least 4GB of RAM, to use this anti-virus program. This program has Malware protection, it has a fast scanning engine, and has a user-friendly management interface.

• NORTON – Norton anti-virus program, is one of the oldest anti-virus programs out there and it used to be the most common anti-virus for home and organization users. I have to say I used to use this program a long time ago, and since then better anti-virus programs have been published, and I lost interests with this anti-virus. The new version might be a good one, but I didn’t check it yet, I still prefer other anti-virus programs. You can choose to check it out, it has a long history, and they might have learned from the historic experience and improved their anti-virus engine, so check it out.

• TrendMicro – TrendMicro anti-virus program, is a great anti-virus, it has a very reliable virus engine, a good solution for organizations, less recommended for home users (it is a bit heavy, in terms of performance). Their organization management center is a great solution to master the spread and prevention of viruses across the organization. The center enable automatic installation and updating of any client across a Windows domain network. I have to say the anti-virus client-side, requires many resources, and might slow down the performance of a weak computer. This is a very recommended anti-virus program for an organization, no matter how large it is, the IT manager will thank you for implementing it in your organization.

• ZoneAlarm – ZoneAlarm anti-virus program, used to be a well known and used home anti-virus. It greatness went down in time. I haven’t checked their latest anti-virus program, but when this software was a freeware many home users loved to use it, it had a pretty easy to use management console, in time it became a shareware program, and you have to pay for full coverage.

This is not the whole list of anti-virus programs since there are many other options, but I chose to give a review of some of the most known ones that I know are more common among home users and organizations. You don’t have to follow my recommendation, you can just choose to test some of the others, and maybe some of the anti-virus program I have mentioned here, and maybe you will have a different opinion than mine. I am just giving my opinion.

The most scary event we all want to avoid are computer crashes, malfunction, damage or any type of a serious disaster with our computers. Either the computer at home who stores all of our private information, maybe our most secretive data, maybe just photos of the whole family, over a 2 year period or any type of important information we would like to keep and never lose on our home computer or it is our server computers on our organization who holds the whole of the company’s operations, important info, accounting data, secret passwords, web applications, e-mail servers etc… which if for some reason we won’t have them operational, will cause us to lose our business, damage our income, and create losses to the organization, will be a great disaster. This is a scary thought.
The only solution is called “BACKUP“. It can be a backup server for servers who need to be online 24/7 and in case one falls the other is taking it place while the one who crashed is being services and gets back online and to a working state or it might be just a backup of a whole server, to avoid the process of installing it from scratch, which takes time and might cause us down time of important systems for a long period of time (usually such backup will be created at the end of the first installation of the server, after seeing it is working perfectly and before it starts storing data), such backup is called an “Image” of the server and another solution will be just data backup, which might contain data information, database data, configuration files, or any other data information that needs to be kept, and stored safely, so in case of a crash that
data can be restored.

After giving such thorough description of the problem, let’s go over the solution options, that we can take:

1. Online Servers: There are two basic options to make your server be in high availability (keeping it online at all times).a. Creating two servers (physical ones), with exactly the same hardware and the same software, and create a sync process between them, when one of the is defined as master and the other as slave, where the master is the server who is being used, and the slave is the backup server. The master keeps updating the slave with any change of data, and so we have two running servers who are at all times exactly the same. There is also a mechanism that knows to switch between them, in case the master is not accessible due to network issues, server has crashed etc…b. The other option is to place the server on a VMWARE server. Those VMWARE servers, if they contain a VMOTION mechanism, have high availability on them, so if the server is not accessible or the VMWARE server has a problem, all of the servers on that VMWARE are moving to a new VMWARE server in seconds.
2. Creating an Image of a computer: The Image creation is actually taking a “Photo” of your hard-disk, with all of its operating system and data, and creating an IMAGE of it, the image is an actual freeze of the whole hard-disk, and in case of a crash, we can replace a hard-disk, restore the image, and we get the exact operating system and data that where on that hard-disk, from the exact moment we took that freeze photo of it state. Mostly it is being used, after the installation has been finished, when all of the drivers (in windows) have been installed properly, so in case of a crash, the restore of the IMAGE takes a couple of minutes, instead of a whole installation process that takes hours.
   • NORTON Ghost: The most common IMAGE solution for a Windows operating system is the NORTON GHOST, which saves the IMAGE of drive “c:\” (complete copy of it) onto any type of storage you might choose (external hard-disk, NAS etc…) and in case of a restore request, that GHOST image can be restored and get us back to a working status in no time. There are other IMAGE taking solution, but they will be detailed in another article.

    

   • ACRONIS True Image: This tools enables IMAGE creating backups, with a user friendly windows application interface, it creates a full image of your hard-disk operating system, and enables easy restore capabilities.

1. Backup of data: Well, there are many solutions for data backups, some are suitable for a windows operating system, some are for a Linux operating system and of course there are backup solutions for AS/400 or UNIX etc… but I am concentrating on Linux and Windows operating systems.

Windows Backup Solutions:

• SyncBack – This is a backup/synchronization solution – which has a freeware/Shareware options – that enable you to save/sync your Windows files onto any drive, either an external hard-disk or a shared folder on a NAS.
• Carbonite – This solution is an online backup service. Carbonite installs a small program onto your computer, you configure it on what you want to backup online, and it always searches those folders, and updates automatically any change in data and added files.
• Windows backup system – Windows operating systems include an internal backup mechanism within the operating system, so if you satisfied with it, it can be sufficient as well. You can find it at the “Control Panel” of your Windows.
• MozyHome – This is another online backup service, that enable you to store all of your files onto an online storage space. You get a 2GB
  storage space for free, extra space is for extra charge.

Linux Backup Solutions:

• Bacula – This is one of my favorite organization’s network backup solution for a Linux environment, and the added benefit is that it can backup your Windows computer as well. On the clients you install the client side application, both for Linux & Windows clients (or a Windows Server too). Bacula works great, and you get an e-mail messages to your mailbox with the status of the backups that where done on the daily schedule. Usually the night process is being used for servers, and the daily process for clients on your network. You can use it with external USB hard-disks
  or NAS.

• CronJobs – Most Linux backup procedures are based on the Cronjob mechanism built in the Linux OS. Usually it will run the processes of a shrinking tool, like the TAR (tar.gz) shrinking program. The cronjob creates the schedule,
  and on the cronjob you are placing the command that you want to run at a certain schedule. The catch is that if you need to backup other servers on the network, or servers outside of the organization, you will need to switch ssh keys, between the servers, to enable automatic ssh access to enable automatic backups.

There is no real age for starting to learn computers, you can decide at an early age, that you want to learn computers, of you, can decide that you want to learn computers when you’re a senior citizen and after you already achieved your goals in life, you want to get to know computers better. There is also the fact that there is no exact time that you need to start learning computers, since you can just decide you want to learn computers better, and you can start. We all use computers, some of us are not trained in the computer art, we haven’t learned computers from scratch, the way they built, creating programs using programming languages, or just implement a computer network connecting a bunch of computers together to be able to share resources.

So, now that we know we can just decide we want to learn computers, and we can go to it and start learning, let’s see what are our possibilities and what areas of computers are out there, so we might decide which area interests us better, and learn that area of the computer.

We have a couple of computers basic subjects which create the base for computers:

• The hardware:

• We need a box to contain our hardware different units, and of course, the hardware devices that actually create our computer, which include the Motherboard, CPU, Memory, Graphics Card, Hard-Disks, DVD-R/W, Communication sockets (USB, FireWire, etc…).
  • [ We can learn computer engineering – hardware ]

• The software:

• When we actually want the hardware to perform in some way 🙂 we will need a software that can connect all of the devices, and create for us a work environment tools, that can enable us to use the computer, use its software application, so we need to develop software programs that will suit us.
  • [ We can learn to become computer programmers ]

• The Network:

• The network enables us to connect our computer to other computers and network devices to our home network or at work. Today every computer is going out to the internet, so it needs to get connected through a router & modem to enable internet connection. We can create a network for a working place, that will enable all of the computers on the network (our employees) to share resources, get the organization’s programs, etc…
  • [ We can learn computer networking – design a computer network ]

• The Security:

• Now, we are connected to the internet, and so we are now exposed to security breaches, as the internet is a source of information, that also creates openings, since our computer is connected to the world using the internet, and we can say that the door to our computer can be accessed. The best security is to just disconnect the computer from the internet, but that wouldn’t assist us since our computer wouldn’t be able to browse the web. So we are building firewalls, using anti-virus programs, anti-spy-ware, ad-removes, etc…  to enable security against harm.
  • [ We can learn computer security ]

These are the basic pillars of computers, knowing all four subjects, can give you a very solid base to use and learn computers. But, since it depends on when you’re starting to learn computers? for what purpose? how fast do we need results? etc… Those types of questions can guide us on what do we want and need to learn about computers.

• If we need to just learn some basic computer issues, so we can understand what computers are, and how we can use them, then we can just take some basic courses.
• If we want to work with computers, we will need to choose the subject we like/to prefer and study that, then get experience in it. The choices are based on those four basic subjects, and in the area that interests you. Example: If I want to build/design websites, I will choose computer programming, but with web development programs, like PHP, HTML, MYSQL, Domains, Hosting, IP, etc….
• If we just want to know how to use a computer, then a basic computer course, will assist us, and teach us how to use a computer? how to turn it on? how to open the applications? how to use the web and browse web-sites?, how to write letters? and send them by e-mails, etc….

Learning Resources and Options:

1. Learn at a course teaching place. (places that pass
2. Learn a degree in university – computer science.
3. Learn just by browsing the internet, finding all of the information, free of charge (you just need to know what type of materials you need for the subject you want to learn).
4. Learn by reading books, there are many books that can teach you anything about computers, at any subject. You can also find books that will prepare you for computer exams – that are being performed at the end of the professional courses.

Computer cases, are the envelope that holds all of the computer parts. We can call it the housing of all of the parts that computers are built from. Computer may come in many different forms, but the core of it all, is that the computer case, is containing all of those parts that a computer is built from, and no matter what the computer case shape is, those parts need to be strapped well and get cooled enough to prevent damage.

The computer basic parts are:

* Motherboard
* CPU
* Memory
* Hard-Disk drives
* Graphic Card
* Sound card
* Network Card (internet/network connections)
* Power Supply (Electricity)
* CD/DVD Drive
* Cooling devices – Fans, CPU coolers etc… (to keep the computer from heating).

These are the basics that when combined together creates a computer. Now since we need to hold all of those parts within something, the box that holds them in is called a “Computer Case“. Now you can say that you don’t mind what type of a computer case it will be, just get me any of them (cheap one) that will hold all of my computer parts in, and let me work.

Now basically you will be right and a basic computer case will be fine. But depending on the purpose of your computer and some people use heavy application on their computer, the choice of which computer case you are using, might affect the amount of heat your computer parts reaches. We all know that the materials the computer parts are built from, might be effected by heat, if it will be too hot, the metal or parts might get damaged or change their original form, distort or curve in such a way that will get the part useless.

Computer case might be chosen due to its cooling abilities, or due to it’s amazing design, flashing blue lights etc… Some might just enjoy those. Also, you might want a computer case that you can add more hardware into it, so it has to have more space for more hard-disks, more DVD drives etc…

So anyway, lets talk about our options, what can we find out there? which brands ? what to look for and how to choose our next computer case. Just to remind you that you can buy a computer with the case the seller offers as a package, or select your parts including the computer case, to fit your desires. You can also decide your old computer needs an upgraded computer case, since it gets too hot.

Selecting a computer – by design
I can’t say I really made an effort to find a crazy designed computer case, but I have collected some info for you just to let you know how many computer design options are out there, and there are of course many more.

* There are crazy computer case designs out there, here are some links so you can get some idea of how wild you can go with the Computer Cases designs

1. http://www.envador.com/
2. http://www.mashie.org/
3. http://sixrevisions.com/design-showcase-inspiration/30-beautiful-custom-pc-case-designs/

Selecting a computer – by Performance
I can say that as a “Gamer” I like the computer cases by “Antec”, they are very quiet (no machine noise – and if you will keep the fans clean, you will not hear the computer works). I like the computer case to be solid and simple, but large in size, and very cooled without going too crazy (since the sky is the limit). But there are many other good companies who design computer cases, which you might like.

Those who are famous in good cooling systems, are “ZALMAN“, “ANTEC“, ” THERMALTAKE“, “COOLER MASTER” and there are probably more, but those are the most famous ones. So, just think of the purpose for your computer, how much you are willing to invest in the computer case, and just go through those companies, and the computer chassis they are offering, and you will be on your way to a better and cooler computer, that will preserve more since “COLD” is good for electric parts/devices.

The “all in one” computer is a computer that includes all of our needs in one computer. This means that if we need a good screen (for games or accurate graphics, and to show movies in HD (high definition)) this computer can enable us to do so on it. When we need performance to run anything, including high-performance games, this computer will have the correct configuration to achieve these needs. When we want internet speed, and the high rate of traffic transferred through its network card, it will have the appropriate devices/tools to achieve it. In short, all in one computer serves all our needs in one box.

When computers were not as powerful as we know they are today, we used to have a couple of them for different purposes. Graphic designers would use only the MAC computer for their graphic design tools and now they can use the same powerful graphic design tools on a regular PC with a windows operating system. We used to have servers to run server designated applications, to be able to use large databases and server operations and now we can do all that on a regular PC. So when we look at things from the point of the progress view, today’s computers have the power to become an all in one solution.

We know that we would prefer to use one device that does it all, instead of using a couple of devices for each purpose, this solution saves us space to place all of those separate devices, and we get all of their functions in one device, that stand on our desk, and does it all, like an all in one printer, which includes fax, scanner, printer, etc…

Now, we want to know if we can use all in one computer to do all of our needs. The answer, in my opinion, is that we can have it all in one computer. We can install a VMware server on a regular computer, and install on it several of our operating system needs. We can include the Linux operating system, and Server operating system, and a regular desktop operating system like Windows XP or Windows 7, and be able to run them all together at the same time.

The only thing we might need is an enhanced regular PC, which has more memory (8GB RAM and more), quad CPU, larger hard-disks, depending on how much hard-disk we would like to allocate for each instance (instance is each operating system we choose to install on a VM platform since the computer itself is the VM server).

Those enhancements are not as expensive today as they used to be, and for quite a reasonable price you can get all of the operating systems you need running on one computer.

So an all in one computer can definitely be done today.

The need for a home computer has become a real necessity. So if we do not want to invest too much in buying the best computer there is today since all we want is a computer that will enable us to connect to the internet and enjoy the enormous public library of information that there is out there, we can invest on a simple computer at a very low price.

As computers have advanced and there are so many of them out there, with different configurations for different purposes, we can find a computer that suits only the things we need, only the things we define we want the computer to do. There are many second-hand computers out there at people who might want to upgrade to a newer faster computer, but their old computer might have all of the qualifications you need for simple use.

Since the computer designers know that there is a need for simple computers at cost-effective prices, they design computers in a way that enables them to save production costs and produce a computer package that can be sold at lower prices. There are laptops that are cheaper than other laptops, since they are used for the audiences who need simple tasks, without sophisticated applications that require a lot of resources to be able to run properly. The simple tasks require very little. Even old computers can surf the internet, it is all about our choice, what do we need and how much do we want to pay for it.

So how can we find cheap computers? Well, we just need to decide first if we want a new computer or a used one. We can find on the internet many used computer ads, that offer second-hand computers, and there are many good offers there, from people that took great care of their home computers, and they just want to move forward to new computers, maybe for their kids game playing desire or just to be able to run more sophisticated resource-consuming applications that they need (like graphical designing programs).

We can find cheap laptop computers, like the 10 Inch laptops, that have been produced lately and mostly for students, who need low weight, small-sized laptops to be able to type the lectures, or any other information during a lesson. Those are cost-effective and have the basic needs for such tasks.

Just inquire for a computer after you have defined your needs, and you will be able to get a price offer for a computer that is cost-effective for your demands, at the best cost, since it will have only what you really need.

We always want to be in control and some of us have information at home that we might want to be able to access remotely. Accessing the home computer remotely means that you connecting to the internet and want to be able to access your home computer and perform certain operations. Those types of operations have some effect on which tool to use since some of the tools enable a certain type of access and some take control of your own computer, so you could see the same screen of your home computer as if you are standing in front of your computer.

There are certain security measures that need to be understood. When we open access from the outside to our computer we actually open a door for someone (hacker) to access our computer, or to be able to do so. If the door would be closed and shut with a brick of the wall, then it is closed. But if we decide to make an opening, an external person can reach that opening, and might, of course, use it to do some harm, see our materials (in case they are confident – it might be risky) or spy on our actions, and maybe if we do not pay attention to see some important information like when we log-in to our bank account from home or place a credit card number on an online website to purchase something. If your computer is breached all of those actions and more can happen to your home computer.

The remote access tools are being divided to online programs, software programs. The online programs are programs which are using internet technology to enable the remote connection like the LogMeIn, GoToMyPC, TEAMVIEWER, WEBEX PCNOW, some of the support people use WEBEX technique to gain access to your computer, seeing your screen, with your permission of course (you initiate the session) and you can see everything the support person does on your computer. The software programs are tools that open access and enable the end-user (remote person) to take control of your home computer. Some of these programs are TightVNC, RealVNC, Symantec PCAnywhere, LAPLINK and there is a built-in application in Windows XP, called remote desktop (you can run it by typing on the start–>run MSTSC).

Some programs might require you to set a permanent IP (called Static IP), which means that you will need to ask your ISP for a permanent IP to your computer. The ISP will give you an IP, and you will need to configure your home computer’s firewall NAT (network address translation) which means you will have an internal IP translated to the IP the ISP gave you. The only IP a remote person (or anyone outside of your home) will be the ISP IP, which protects your internal IP (no one will know what your internal IP is they will only know the external IP that you set on your home computer firewall. That IP directs to your computer, and so there is a way to access it, with the correct tools, and of course only by knowing the access password.