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Recently, I’ve had the opportunity to setup a MySQL Cluster infrastructure for a major educational institution. Theoretically, the deployment is a straightforward process. Of course like most IT projects, the actual roll-out process is only a minor concern.

The process of gluing together the components and making sure they stick solidly is where the challenge is more extreme.

In this article, I’m not going to discuss how to setup a MySQL Cluster. There are tons of documentations regarding this procedure already available. What I’ll be touching on is presented more as a deployment strategy, preparation and maintenance guide.

By the way, if your organization is interested in deploying a MySQL Cluster infrastructure, please note that HTNet Solutions provides this service and would be more than happy to get yours up and running.

Read the rest of Planning for a MySQL Cluster Setup »

Just found this interesting business news in NYT: IBM Will Reportedly Buy Sun For $7 Billion.

The deal, if it goes through will undeniably make IBM the powerhouse in the server arena. It will also undeniably cause major headaches in streamlining the two companies’ most identifiable products.

Both IBM and Sun have server grade processors in their stables; namely PowerPC and SPARC.

Similarly in the database arena, IBM has DB2 while Sun acquired MySQL just last year.

Of course both companies offer their own flavour of UNIX in the form of Solaris (by Sun) and AIX (IBM).

It will be very interesting to see how the converging process will be rolled out

Update: Apparently the deal now is as dead as a doornail.

There’s no denying that IT and computers have assimilated into virtually every business area that exists right now. The traditional business disciplines like accounting, management and human resource have been targeted by IT and right now there are many software packages that integrate these functions and more.

Now imagine you’re in the IT line itself. Gone are the days when IT people merely provide support and firefighting services whenever a system has gone bonkers. Today’s IT workforce are expected to be dynamic, self-motivated and constantly updated with the latest technological trends.

Traditionally, IT personnel went through the same traditional classroom-based training programs. But as work becomes more demanding and free time is a luxury that many don’t have, alternatives like online computer training; like the one provided by K Alliance, have gained tremendous popularity over the past few years.

I’ve had the opportunity to review the courses offered by K Alliance and the technology implemented to deliver these solutions. In this post, I’d like to share them with you.

Read the rest of K Alliance: A Total Online Training Solutions Provider »

Photo Credit: Aaronage

One of my clients has been having a really weird hard disk problem on their office PCs. The computers will randomly hang with a BSOD and it has been going on for weeks!

The problem is intermittent. Apparently its favourite time to appear is when I’m not attending this client. Needless to say, it causes a lot of strain on both me and the client because it consumes my time as well as theirs.

One consistent information that I gathered every time this problem happens is that whenever the computer is rebooted afterwards, the hard disk cannot be detected by the BIOS. And whenever I changed the SATA port it’s connected to, the problem will go away… at least until it decides to resurface again; which is usually less than 24 hours later.

Read the rest of Mysterious SATA Hard Disk Problems Solved »

SINGAPORE, October 16, 2008 – EC-Council, the worlds’ leading e-business and security certification organization, today announced that its’ Certified Ethical Hacker certification (C|EH) and Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (C|HFI) programs have been accepted into National Infocomm Competency Framework (NICF) Infocomm professionals competency requirement list.

In addition to the inclusion, Infocomm professionals training to be certified for the EC-Council programs at NICF accredited training centers, will be entitled to receive partial funding from Critical Infocomm Technology Resource Program (CITREP) upon certification completion.

Read the rest of EC-Council Receives NICF and CITREP Endorsement »