It's a hard drive gonna fail

Ever wonder what makes a hard drive suddenly give up the ghost? In almost every situation that the "heart" of a computer goes south, I am amazed. It is not unlike people who have atherosclerotic heart disease. One minute they appear healthy and robust and the next minute they have keeled over suffering from a myocardial infarction. As any schoolchild can tell you (and you can never find one when you need one), a hard disk drive (or HDD) is a collection of spinning disks that revolve at very fast speeds, typically from 5400 to 7200 rpm (revolutions per minute), for most consumer models to extremely fast enterprise models that cruise at 10,000 rpm or more. Because of the stability of hard drives and for processors to be able to read and transfer data to them, the most modern computers demand larger hard drives and faster speeds to be able to access the data more readily. The faster the disk drives spin, the more heat is generated and the greater the demand for cooling inside. Except for a small hole designed to vent the pressure that rises inside, hard drives are sealed. Most people have never seen the insides of these marvelous devices, but they are exquisite in the simplicity of their design. But therein lies the rub. The simplicity of their design belies the complexity of technology that make hard drive disks perform so well. There is a motor that physically spins the disks and a very light head that reads them as they spin. Oftentimes the motor will fail due to an electrical short or the arm that holds the head may fail to find its "landing spot" and may score the platters, which are very similar in appearance to CD ROMs or DVDs. Hard disk drives have evolved through the years from SCSI (small computer serial interface) types to PATA types (IDE and EIDE drives) to the more recent ATA and SATA (Serial ATA) types. Yet, they are all remarkably similar. When they fail, they fail abruptly, many times with no advance warning. It boggles the mind what it is. If RAM (memory) is too low for an operating system, it may result in excessive paging to the hard drive. This extra overhead and the physical constraints of having to keep paging files on the drive have often contributed to hard drive failures that I have seen. One unfortunate fellow replaced his hard drive three times before I insisted he upgrade the memory in his Windows 2000 computer to 1GB RAM. He hasn't had any problem with his hard drive since. An occasional defragmentation of a hard drive is a good practice, but with the larger drives that abound today, less defragmentation seems to be the rule. Windows XP and Vista operating systems analyze drives prior to defragmentation and more times than not don't recommend drives to undergo defragmentation. Deleting unnecessary and temporary files is also a good rule to follow to get hard drives to work at optimum speed. One of the best things to do to maintain a hard drive, though, is to get a good surge protector. More times than not a small surge through an AC line will jump the power supply and the motherboard and kill the hard drive. Don't ask me why. Suffice it for me to say it just happens. The main rule to remember, though, is backup the data regularly. Like the humans that invented them, hard disk drives are all destined to die one day. It's not if it will fail, it's when. Remembering to upgrade RAM, using a good surge protector or UPS (uninterruptible power supply), and performing occasional deletion of files and defragmentations are all good starts. Keeping your fingers crossed is also highly recommended.

Three weeks

With only 21 days until the elections, the frustration levels seem to be reaching near capacity for most voters to deal with the two presidential candidates and their respective campaigns. Whether Democrat or Republican, a lot of voters have been shaking their heads and wondering aloud if there weren't some better choices for the nation and the Free World. Ironically, in a race where both candidates bellow they are instruments of change, most voters I talk with grudgingly wish they could change the candidates. If we were to believe the polls, Barack Obama is as far ahead as 11 percentage points. That's an incredible swing when one considers that McCain and Obama were in a virtual dead-heat a month ago. But that was before the stock market started to slide and before the world went into economic crisis. If the economic crisis deepens, Obama could certainly maintain a double digit lead over McCain. It really is fish or cut bait time for both of these presidential possibilities, a fact not lost on the news media already clammoring for more dirt on Sarah Palin. Even neutral Tom Brockaw on the Today Show this morning commented on the runaway status of Obama and how unstoppable he seems to be. John McCain's "they forgot to let you decide" speech might be seen as a nice sound bite on the evening news, but it does smack of desperation. "My friends, we've got them where we want them," he was heard to say earlier today. Hmmm...I didn't realize that McCain wanted to lose that badly. Frankly, I wish he would take off the gloves and be specific in what his platform means for the future of America. I know it's wishful thinking, but, perhaps, at this last upcoming debate, we'll hear less of the same and more of what informed voters need to cast a considered ballot.

Another lost Shepherd

On Friday the local electorate was shocked, shocked I tell you, that another politician admitted to wrongdoing and would soon be sentenced to spend time away from his constituency in the slammer. State Senator Derrick Shepherd, a West Bank official had been indicted over a year ago, charged with money laundering. Despite his protestations of innocence, Shepherd managed to get himself in even more hot water when he allegedly entered his girlfriend's home in the middle of the night and took her cellphone without her permission (see "A Shepherd who lost his way"). Although she recanted days later, police found Shepherd at his residence early the next morning enjoying a lap dance from some professional...er, uh...dancers when they came to get his side of the story. Unfortunately they did find at least a grain of truth to the story as well as the young lady's cellphone. Shepherd was incarcerated until he could be arraigned, but his bail from the other federal charges complicated his life. He had to live in a halfway house for a day or so until a judge placed him under house arrest and forced him to wear an ankle device that let authorities know where he was at any time. That debacle cost Shepherd his Senate assignments while he continued to prepare his case against the federal charges. Shepherd was a Judge Advocate General in the Army Reserves. His guilty plea on Friday was made in exchange with U.S. Attorney Jim Letten's office dropping five other charges. Had it gone to trial he may well have spent the rest of his life behind bars. Shepherd resigned his seat, lost his ability to practice law and ended his military career on a low note. It is another sad lesson that the electorate has to endure from a politician whose meteoric rise was almost as spectacular as his recent crash and burn. The future seemed full of bright opportunities for Shepherd just two years ago. His sentencing from the federal judge will come in January, but the other mess with his girlfriend has yet to be settled. It is possible that he could have more time tacked on for state charges, although I hope the authorities will cut him a break. He has done more to himself than any punishment that could be dished out by a judge or jury. Meanwhile, one of Shepherd's closest allies is U.S. Representative William Jefferson, who is waging his own battle against federal charges in an upcoming trial in Virginia. Whether Shepherd will be asked to testify against his friend and benefactor is speculation right now, but it is a good bet that Shepherd will be asked to turn state's evidence in order to lighten his sentence. Jefferson, in a runoff with former TV newscaster Helena Moreno, doesn't seem worried, but with family members indicted or already pleading guilty, this latest episode with Shepherd can't be seen as anything good. It will be interesting to see what shakes out with his race. Due to the large black electorate, many experts expect him to win the runoff, despite the aggressive run that Moreno has made, beating seasoned politicians like Troy Carter, James Carter and Cedric Richmond. If Jefferson wins, he still might end up having to give up his seat were he to be convicted in Virginia. It means that the soap opera we call Louisiana politics goes on.

The slow process of fasting

Well, another year on the Jewish calendar has started and after the major hurdle of fasting for Yom Kippur, I am refreshed and ready for the upcoming Succot holiday. It is an acknowledged fact that ten days into the beginning of a new year (this year is 5769) the Day of Atonement looms large. After gorging ourselves on bushels of apples slathered in honey for a sweet year, we are admonished to stop eating and drinking for this one holy day. We also cannot bathe, wear leather soled shoes, or have sexual relations throughout the entire 10 Days of Awe (or 10 Days of Penitence) that make up the period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. I know. A lot of you are wondering what leather soles on shoe bottoms have to do with anything in particular. That's really an easy one to answer. Remember the Golden Calf? Yes, the one Moses's older brother Aaron forged out of gold while Moses received the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai. Well, the sages say that to wear leather on our feet would remind Jews of how they strayed from the Almighty at a time when they should have been blindly obedient. So, no leather is the watchword, although technically just the shoe bottoms is all required. The rest of the laws of Shabbat (no writing, making fire, doing work, etc.) are also observed, but the major difference is that on the Sabbath we are required to eat. Yes, it's in the fine print of observance for the day, although some vegetarians are shocked to find that the specific reference is to eat meat. That's because eating meat at a meal is seen as a special event and the sages (there they are again) decided that the Sabbath deserved a special meal to set it apart from the regular week when we may or may not decide to eat meat. Yom Kippur is a major fast day. It begins at sundown and ends sundown plus about a half hour after sunset the following day. We cannot eat or drink anything. With the exception of necessary medications, we cannot pass anything between our lips except for prayer and greetings to friends and family at the synagogue or temple. The upshot of the Day of Atonement, though, is to focus less on ourselves, but to strengthen the relationship between ourselves and the Almighty by acknowledging the sins we have perpetrated against others or have occurred beyond our control over the past year. I must admit it is a good way to start the year off right with a clean slate. Those sages (again with the sages) instruct us that our names are inscribed in the Book of Life on Rosh Hashanah, but that our fate is sealed on Yom Kippur. Who will live, who will die, who will gain wealth, who will be poor, etc. is all inside that book. With the current state of the stock market and the worldwide financial crisis, I wish I could get a sneak peek into that book to recoup some of my recent "corrections" in the market. Then again, maybe not. Only joking, Lord.

The Needle and the Damage Lagged

Terry Soltzberg and the Space Needle's own Lunar Orbiter

Twice in as many months I have been to the Northwest and found myself traveling backwards against the natural progression of the time zones. I have done that only a few times before and can't say that I noticed any residual effects like I've experienced last month and at this juncture. I am fairly certain that I am in the throes of what travelers call jet lag. It is odd that the only cure to jet lag is its same cause: to wit, time. Of course the reason our inner clocks are so off kilter is due to changes in our inner clocks. According to experts, it takes a day for one hour of time zone change to be corrected. So, since I crossed over two hours, I should expect to take at least two days to fully recover. Only one problem. Yom Kippur begins at sundown on Wednesday, hardly enough time to prepare for fasting.  Guess I'll have to pray that I make it through the affliction.

Meanwhile, I wanted to publicly thank Clevleand's own Terry Soltzberg of Midwest Information Systems or Infosys, who was my companion during the recent SMB Nation conference in Seattle.  The last night we both flew out of Sea-Tac Airport together and took time to dine in the restaurant at the Seattle Space Needle before our respective flights.  It was a magnificent repast with the piece de resistance of a Lunar Orbiter, a chocolate sundae served atop a  dish holding a bed of dry ice that smokes up the table. It was wild and definitely worth the trip. Terry is seen with the timeless dessert above that has been served inside the Space Needle since it opened in 1962. Thank you, Terry, for all you did to make me feel at home in Seattle.

Worrying about the Windows way

Microsoft VP Cindy Bates with Erig Ligman, SMB Nation CEO Harry Brelsford and Arnie Mondloch

The question that many in the field of computing and small business support have to consider today is whether to hitch their stars to the Microsoft Windows wagon blindly and hold on with all their might or keep their eyes open and do much the same. Windows Small Business Server 2008 has so much potential for providers and for end users that to find another business solution with as much potential and promise as what it will offer businesses would be impractical. But change is always forthcoming and dealing with it is always stressful. The last day of the SMB Nation conference started with several Microsoft executives who presented opportunities for computer consultants and small and medium businesses alike. Frankly, the auditorium was full of very dedicated consultants and professionals who have more than a glimmer of worry about what these changes will portend for themselves and their business clients. Microsoft is cutting much of the financial incentives they have offered to their partners in the past, while now attempting to encourage end users to work directly with Microsoft "in the cloud." This is definitely making many IT professionals upset with the way Microsoft is attempting to skim off clients and business. At the same time many IT professionals and managed services providers are anxious to implement upgrades and work closely with their partners in providing cutting edge opportunities to their customers. In a very real sense it is becoming less necessary for computer consultants to know the needs of their clients' computers and more for them to become a trusted advisor to the business. Dealing with security, data backup and making businesses more productive is the great aim that everyone at SMB Nation has in view. But the bigger question is how to make their own businesses more profitable too without losing clients to Microsoft. Microsoft U.S. Partners Strategy, Marketing and Programs vice-president Cindy Bates and two members of her team, Eric Ligman and Arnie Mondloch, unveiled programs that will enrich many of the members in the audience and make many happy clients too. Partnering with Microsoft has great potential and the returns in investment can be incredible, we all learned today. But if Microsoft really values the IT professionals who have grown their clients into profitable end users, they might want to consider that we are a big reason for that. How we implement Microsoft's business solutions and how quickly they go out into the marketplace will determine whether it is advisable to worry about the future or to roll forward with it with a smile on our faces and profits on our books.

Meeting Clay Eals at SMB Nation event

Clay Eals, the author of Steve Goodman: Facing the Music is a longtime resident of Seattle and he was kind enough to show up this morning and meet with me to chat about his favorite musician. Goodman, the talented performer and composer who died in September of 1984, was the well-researched subject of Eals' 778 page volume published by ECW Press. He was kind enough to sign my book and talk about Goodman and what he has meant to him. He even wore his City of New Orleans Amtrak jacket in my honor.

Telephonation for a nascent telephony

Captain Harry Brelsford steering the Telephonation ship

So many of you may be wondering what is this strange thing called VoIP? It's pronounced VOYP and like orange and purple I have yet to find a rhyme for it in English. VoIP stands for "voice over IP" (as in Internet Protocol) and it is a technology in which the Internet is married to present phone technology to permit transmission of telephony over the Internet. It is an opportunity to add voice to the computing mix and has limitless possibilities for businesses who look to save on the cost of existing phone lines by replacing them with individual IP phones. These IP phones have been making great incursions into the marketplace and for small and medium businesses in the Enterprise looking to replace outdated systems VoIP is a prime consideration. Because of its many features like integrated voice and e-mails and the fact that most businesses now maintain "fat pipes to the cloud" (high speed Internet access), VoIP is fast becoming one of the greatest cost-saving measures to be implemented over a local area network. At SMB Nation, CEO Harry Brelsford just announced the launch of Telephonation. With Microsoft's Response Point coming on strong now, VoIP technology is becoming a viable option even for the small business owner who needs to put in a simple telephone system. Imagine saving on the cost of inside wiring and renting phone systems from typical vendors like AT&T or cable systems. No longer does a business owner have to pay a substantially higher cost for phones or deal with mediocre bandwidth utilization. It may surprise some to learn that the largest number of vendors appearing at SMB Nation this year are voice sponsors. VoIP solutions have been available for a number of years from vendors like Cisco, but business owners were not endeared to the high cost of licenses per seat that could send the cost well over $300 per phone. At that rate, AT&T and cable seemed reasonable. However, as more players have jumped into the telephony game, costs and licensing have come spiraling downward. It now makes sense to examine the IP phone as a cost-effective business solution. With SMB Nation CEO Harry Brelsford taking the wheel of the Telephonation ship, will VoIP steer into clear waters or is the channel already too crowded with other worthy vessels? Only time and a steady hand at the tiller will tell.

Experts SBS Diva Susan Bradley and the legendary Ofer Shimrat

Yesterday's general session with SBS Diva Susan Bradley and Ofer Shimrat on the "gotchas" associated with implementing Windows SBS 2008 was a perfect wedding of the best of practices for software (from Bradley) and for hardware (from Shimrat). Bradley's SBS Diva blog has been a font of extremely useful information, while Shimrat has long cultivated a reputation as a master of building well-designed hardware solutions. While the two of them offer very high levels of knowledge about SBS 2003 R2 (not shipping from Microsoft as of October 1), there were a number of questions about implementing SBS 2008 that gave these two experts much to consider. Bradley and Shimrat both pointed to huge memory utilization by the OS that required a minimum of 4GB of RAM to adequately allow the server to idle properly. Microsoft officials in fairly small numbers at this year's SMB Nation (as opposed to previous years when the event was held in Redmond) might well have cringed over many of the problems they both saw with the long awaited OS in addition to migration guru Jeff Middleton's alarming notes on migration paths and potential pitfalls in an earlier morning session. Then again, there was the quote from a Microsoft worker in the convention hall who said yesterday "I'm from Microsoft. I'm here to help." Makes me feel so warm and fuzzy.