Smarter Market Info

CCNA exam success depends on knowing the details, and nowhere is this more true than knowing the various components of a Cisco router. This is also where you can quickly start drowning in acronyms! The terms “RAM” and “ROM” probably aren’t new to you, but keeping up with “what goes where” with RAM, ROM, NVRAM, and Flash Memory can be quite a challenge! In this tutorial, we’ll take a look at all four of these components and their contents.

ROM stands for Read-Only Memory. ROM stores the router’s bootstrap startup program, operating system software, and power-on diagnostic test programs (the POST).

Flash memory is generally referred to as “flash” The Cisco Internetwork Operating System (IOS) images are held here. Flash is erasable and reprogrammable ROM. Flash memory content is retained by the router on power-down or reload.

RAM is short for Random-Access Memory. RAM on a Cisco router stores operational information such as routing tables and the running configuration file. RAM contents are lost when the router is powered down or reloaded.

NVRAM is non-volatile RAM. By “non-volatile”, we mean that the contents of NVRAM are not lost when the router is powered down or reloaded. Where RAM holds the running configuration file, NVRAM holds the startup configuration file. If NVRAM is empty when the router reloads, you will be prompted to enter setup mode.

Success on the CCNA exam depends on keeping these terms straight and knowing their contents. Know the contents of each, pay special attention to what is lost on a reload and what is not, and you’re on your way to CCNA exam success!

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage, home of free CCNA and CCNP tutorials, The Ultimate CCNA Study Package, and Ultimate CCNP Study Packages.

For a FREE copy of his latest e-books, “How To Pass The CCNA” and “How To Pass The CCNP”, visit the website and download your free copies. You can also get FREE CCNA and CCNP exam questions every day! Get your CCNA study guide with The Bryant Advantage!

Ever since you picked up your first CCNA book, you’ve heard about multicasting, gotten a fair idea of what it is, and you’ve memorized a couple of reserved multicasting addresses. Now as you prepare to pass the BCMSN exam and become a CCNP, you’ve got to take that knowledge to the next level and gain a true understanding of multicasting. Those of you with an eye on the CCIE will truly have to become multicasting experts!

Having said that, we’re going to briefly review the basics of multicasting first, and then future tutorials will look at the different ways in which multicasting can be configured on Cisco routers and switches.

What Is Multicasting?

A unicast is data that is sent from one host to another, while a broadcast is data sent from a host that is destined for “all” host addresses. By “all”, we can mean all hosts on a subnet, or truly all hosts on a network.

There’s a quite a bit of a middle ground there! A multicast is that middle ground, as a multicast is data that is sent to a logical group of hosts, called a multicast group. Hosts that are not part of the multicast group will not receive the data.

Some other basic multicasting facts:

There’s no limit on how many multicast groups a single host can belong to.

The sender is usually unaware of what host devices belong to the multicast group.

Multicast traffic is unidirectional. If the members of the multicast group need to respond, that reply will generally be a unicast.

The range of IP addresses reserved for multicasting is the Class D range, 224.0.0.0 – 239.255.255.255.

That range contains a couple of other reserved address ranges.

224.0.0.0 – 224.0.0.255 is reserved for network protocols only on a local network segment. Packets in this range will not be forwarded by routers, so these packets cannot leave the segment.

Just as Class A, Class B, and Class C networks have private address ranges, so does Class D. The Class D private address range is 239.0.0.0 – 239.255.255.255. Like the other private ranges, these addresses can’t be routed, so they can be reused from one network to another.

The remaining addresses fall between 224.0.1.0 and 238.255.255.255. That’s the “normal” range of multicast addresses. These addresses can be routed, so they must be unique and should not be duplicated from one network to the next.

In my next BCMSN / CCNP multicasting tutorial, we’ll take a look at the different ways in which Cisco routers and switches interact to forward multicast traffic.

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage, home of free CCNP and CCNA tutorials, The Ultimate CCNA Study Package, and Ultimate CCNP Study Packages.

For a FREE copy of his latest e-books, “How To Pass The CCNA” and “How To Pass The CCNP”, just visit the website! You can also get FREE CCNA and CCNP exam questions every day! Pass the CCNP exam with The Bryant Advantage!

If you plan to do basic office work on you new Desktop PC or the usual Internet stuff; surfing and email, any processor will work for you. That is good news because you can buy your new computer for around $299. Considering not too many years back that same computer would have cost you $2500!

But, if you need a Desktop PC to work with graphics, Video, Music, or large databases than you will have to dish out a bit more. But it is well worth it, because if you don’t you will spend more time waiting, waiting, waiting, than working.

On your new computer you really need more power then the basic PC provides. AMD Athlon XP or Intel Pentium4 (or which ever pentium we are up to when you read this article) are your best bets for this kind of work. Either will support the most demanding work. Bargain price computer equipment with either kind of chip with fast speeds can be found.

Intel has a newer motherboard chip for its Pentium4 and Celeron. With the higher speed front side bus, data moves more quickly from the processor to the system memory. You can find these boards on Intel’s 850 and 845 models. Just check the front side bus speed to make sure you are getting the right one before you buy your computer.

Now keep in mind the computer world is constantly updated. Just be sure to find a new computer with the most memory for your dollar. And if you fall into the category of ‘just do the basics’ than go with the $299 (or around there) deal.

A1-Computers : Bonnie Archer
For more information on buying a new computer visit our website. Be sure to check out our computer directory near the bottom of the page for our recomended online resoruces to get the best deals on your next computer.

According to Tom Verzi, Director of Marketing for PRONTO North America, “Customers expect to be able to communicate and transact with suppliers through a web-based interface for convenience, speed, and instant access to information. iShop provides the high level of service customers expect quite easily, quickly, and economically.”

Key iShop Benefits include:

* Flexible design for both Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Consumer (B2C)

* Easily customizable. Customization and administration screens are included with iShop, eliminating the need for programming knowledge.

* Cost Savings. Hosting iShop on internal infrastructure means one scales up only as needed.

* No risk of synchronization errors. With real-time communication, customers see precisely the information in current PRONTO-Xi system that is authorized.

Pronto North America, Inc. based in Eden Prairie, MN, is widely recognized as the authority in technologically driven business solutions and process management. Utilizing innovative implementation techniques and tools, Pronto North America generates increased performance, service, efficiency, and accountability. Through PEER (Process Evaluation Executive Review), Pronto North America captures the values of Lean Manufacturing throughout the enterprise. This functionality is accomplished utilizing a highly-trained world-class staff and an innovative process modeling and automation toolset unmatched in the industry, ensuring the realization of continuous process improvement and profitability.

Pronto North America is the North American Master Distributor of PRONTO-Xi, a comprehensive software system allowing manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to effectively manage all phases of their business. Far beyond just another Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System, PRONTO-Xi’s financial and distribution applications are unique and have provided maximum return on investment for a wide variety of organizations since 1976. From PRONTO Production to PRONTO Advanced Warehousing; from PRONTO Planning to PRONTO Quality Management System (QMS); from PRONTO Distribution Requirements Planning (DRP) to PRONTO Forecasting Management, the cross-section and breadth of integrated elements addressed by PRONTO-Xi is unmatched in the marketplace and justifies its natural leadership role as the best fully integrated business software solution.

Pronto North America www.prontoerp.com Tom Verzi tverzi@prontoerp.com 952-942-5858

# # #

Comments Off

Why journal writing on the Web? Blogs are journals giving anyone an identity, and an awesome forum for sharing thoughts and ideas with others of similar interests.

Journal writing used to be a private, personal experience done late at night, scribbling hardly legible thoughts and daily occurrences down on paper amidst the haze of a barely lit room. When read over on a later date one could find connections and coincidences that sometimes brought deeper insights into the meaning of life. Also, old ideas could be rekindled that otherwise may have been forgotten forever.

In the 21st century a strange new type of journal writing is becoming prevalent in contemporary society. Called Blogs, these are journals used by the masses. Why are people sharing their thoughts instead of keeping them private like the days of old? These journals are found on the World Wide Web and can be used for a number of purposes. The Web is a public sphere and human souls are realizing that sharing their ideas and beliefs can have that same epiphany type of effect on others as the old type of journal had on the personal writer. People are also feeling that they have an identity, and putting it on the Web is a great way of expressing themselves. Anyone can do it, and besides words, visuals can also be integrated into the journal, often making the Blogs very appealing to readers/ viewers.

Blogs are becoming an excellent way of sharing information on any and every subject. Instead of searching Google for general sites about surfing, or 60’s music, one can go straight to a Blog on the subject in question and read daily thoughts and ideas by others with the same interest as well as expert points of view. If you own a business, you can see what entrepreneurs already based in your proposed field feel about the industry. As it’s a journal structure, the reader can see how certain individual’s beliefs have changed over time.

As the world around us is constantly in transition, humans have always looked for better ways of living and growing as a species. The Information Age has helped our society in innumerable ways. On-line journals are becoming the next step in giving voice to every person who has access to a computer and the Net. As well as putting one’s identity ‘out there’ with the masses, people are hearing the inner workings of minds with similar interests. Blogs are a phenomenon helping to create a more interconnected, socially aware global community.

About the Author

Jesse S. Somer
M6.net
http://www.m6.net
Jesse S. Somer is a human hoping to help integrate technology with the average person in society.

Comments Off

What’s the difference between effective sales copy and copy
that will fall flat on its face? There are a lot of
ingredients that go into good sales copy. Here are just a
few of them:

Put Yourself into It!

You should know who your ideal customer is – write to that
person. Write your copy as though you’re speaking to a
friend. Write in a conversational tone – don’t be too formal.
Forget all of the multi-syllable words! They aren’t going to
impress your reader; in fact, they may have just the opposite
effect. Let your personality show in the words you write. If
you do, your reader will place a lot more credibility on what
you have to say.

Describe Benefits NOT Features

The goal of your ad copy is to tell the reader how he will
benefit from what you have to offer. Consider your ads to
be pre-sales letters. All you want to do is tell the reader
what your product, service, business opportunity, etc. will do
for him. How will it make his life easier? How will it help his
business? In other words, what’s in it for him?

The object of the sales letter is to create interest and make
readers want to look into your offer. It puts them in the right
frame of mind to purchase once they know all of the features.
Your web page should do the selling. Your sales letters or ads
are just setting the stage for the final act.

Give it Some Punch!

No one wants to read long technical sales copy. Less is more when
it comes to good copy. Especially on the Internet people want to
read something quickly and then go on to the next task at hand.
Keep your sentences short and punchy. Don’t use 10 words if 5 will
do. Also keep your paragraphs short – just a couple of sentences
will do. If the reader glances at your copy and sees line after
line of text he probably won’t bother to read it. Use sub-headings
to get his attention and draw him to important points. Make good
use of white space to break up your text and make it look less
daunting.

That All-Important Headline

Develop a headline that catches your reader’s eye and interest.
Make it unique and catchy but make it honest! Don’t try to lure a
reader by making outlandish promises or by using a headline that
has nothing at all to do with your text. Your headline should
introduce your text, not disguise it. As with text, short headlines
work better than long ones. If your headline doesn’t get the
reader’s attention the rest of your copy will never be read. So
work on that headline until it reaches out and grabs the reader’s
eye!

And finally . . .

Sales Copy is Never Finished!

You may write your copy many, many times. There are always little
ways to tweak it to make it better and you should! Don’t let it
become stagnant. The best sales copy changes and adapts . . . it
evolves!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Linda Offenheiser is the owner of Stress-Free Copy where
sales copy comes alive! She also publishes a weekly
marketing ezine, All the Write Stuff!, that’s informative,
friendly and fun! You can visit her at
http://www.stress-freecopy.com or subscribe at
http://www.stress-freecopy.com/subscribe.htm

Comments Off

Content is King

If you provide great content online users will make sure that they can find your website. You can create a domain with hyphens, longer phrases and words. You don’t want to use the 67 character maximum allowed for domain names, but 15 plus characters is totally acceptable.

To make your domain name memorable, it should be a short phrase that describes your website, your products or your particular area of expertise. If you provide reliable, accurate information, web users can use bookmarks or type the phrase directly into a search engine to get back to your site. This means that you will have to really focus on getting your domain name listed on as many search engines and directories as possible.

The other advantage to creating a domain name for an informational site is that most surfers search by typing in phrases and entire sentences into the search engines. A domain name that uses all of the words of a small phrase or sentence will easily filter to the top of the listing and keep your customers coming back.

Hot tip: If you don’t trust the engines to help your customers find you on a regular basis, make it easy for anyone to bookmark your site with a reminder button on your home page.

Syd Johnson is the Executive Editor of RapidLingo.com, Financial Solutions Website. You can see more articles at http://www.rapidlingo.com.

This article may be freely distributed as long as the author’s bio is included with an active link to http://www.rapidlingo.com.

Comments Off

Many businesses are considering VOIP for their telephone businees needs. Many don’t know exactly when they should consider it an option for them. Many do not understand how it differs from regular telephone service and how the two differ.

Many companies are now beginning to look into alternatives to high priced telephone systems currently in use. They are realizing that there are huge benefits financially to those switching over to VOIP. They are realizing there is greater functionality with VOIP as well as cost savings and room for growth.

The simple basics of VOIP is that it uses high speed internet lines to carry voice traffic instead of telephone lines.

There are two basic technologies.

IP telephony runs over a local area network also known as a LAN. this is a very cost effective way for communicating within an organization. It allows voice transmissions between people within a company who are part of an internal network.

VoIP is carried over a wide area network also know as a WAN. VoIP can be used to transmit voice through a WAN (such as the internet) or carry voice over a public WAN (such as the Internet) or a private WAN, which provides enhanced security for communications.

Why would a business consider making this change?

Large companies currenly use PBX systems. This is a private phone system within an organization. Users work with a certain number of lines for all external calls.

Some companies use a cental office exchange service know as Centrex, which is basically a PBX in which all routing occurs not on a company’s premises, but at the local telephone company.

Some use “Key systems”, which are very small PBXs, designed primarily for small offices.

These systems all share the same problem. When it comes to long distance the costs are enormous. As more and more this becomes a global world, long distance becomes a major necessity and this means one thing…large long-distance bills, Coupled with this these systems are difficult to change or expand with company growth and are unsuited to support more technically advanced communications. Because these systems are based upon proprietary technologies, companies are limited to only what the phone companies provide.

VOIP services make this a thing of the past. As VOIP gains popularity among companies seeking more cost effective services these antiquated phone systems are slowing disappearing. Expansion of services will be a breeze because of the technology involved with VOIP.

Companies will benefit from reduced overall costs as IP-based voice technology can virtually eliminate toll calls. It also slashes the cost of making add-ons, moves and changes to the system.

Enhanced functionality. VOIP offers all the options that callers are used to using such as call waiting, caller ID, unified messaging, directory services and vertical-specific applications. In addition, VOIP is a standard, open protocol, allowing companies to build their own audio applications or purchase other applications that will come from software developers.

Easy Expanion. As your company expands and grows this cost effective system will allow for expansion with very little cost.

Easy To Use. With VOIP, employees wil have many options–they can use a VOIP phone that is identical to a regular desk phone or use a “softphone” which loads into desktops, laptops or PDAs as software. Added benefit is that they will be able to use their telephone number in any location.

In time VOIP networks will become even more usefull as it will be able to support the convergence of data, video and voice services. This will enable companies to be ready for a plethora of multimedia applications that are emerging from developers. VOIP technology will give guaranteed levels of reliability, quality of service and security.

VOIP is now a fully developed technology, providing companies with a valuable voice system today, and allowing for the latest technological advances that will develop in the future.

Companies need to get in on the ground floor to take advantage of all the new technology that is coming and the savings it will afford.

About the author:

Jean Sutherland is a technical writer for the popular website http://www.voip-place.com/where everything VOIP is discussed. She is also the owner of the successful website The Company Newsletter at http://www.thecompanynewsletter.comwhere you will find loads of free software, articles on marketing and common computer questions.

Comments Off

1.Let your PC boot up completely before opening any applications.

2.Refresh the desktop after closing any application. This will remove any unused files from the RAM.

3.Do not set very large file size images as your wallpaper. Do not keep a wallpaper at all if your PC is low on RAM (less than 64 MB).

4.Do not clutter your Desktop with a lot of shortcuts. Each shortcut on the desktop uses up to 500 bytes of RAM

5.Empty the recycle bin regularly. The files are not really deleted from your hard drive until you empty the recycle bin.

6.Delete the temporary internet files regularly.

7.Defragment your hard drive once every two months. This will free up a lot of space on your hard drive and rearrange the files so that your applications run faster.

8.Always make two partitions in your hard drive. Install all large Softwares (like PSP, Photoshop, 3DS Max etc) in the second partition. Windows uses all the available empty space in C drive as virtual memory when your Computer RAM is full. Keep the C Drive as empty as possible.

9.When installing new Softwares disable the option of having a tray icon. The tray icons use up available RAM, and also slow down the booting of your PC. Also disable the option of starting the application automatically when the PC boots. You can disable these options later on also from the Tools or preferences menu in your application.

10. Protect your PC from dust. Dust causes the CPU cooling fan to jam and slow down thereby gradually heating your CPU and affecting the processing speed. Use compressed air to blow out any dust from the CPU. Never use vacuum.

RAM IS THE WORKING AREA (DESKTOP) OF THE CPU, KEEP IT AS EMPTY AND UNCLUTTERED AS POSSIBLE!

Rohit Tokhi is the owner of www.osCommerceShoppingCart.com which specializes in creating online shopping carts in PHP. He is also the co-owner of www.ElementsWebServices.com and has written several articles on Computer, Internet and related subjects.

Comments Off

Domain Name 10 Commandments – BEFORE you choose or buy a domain name; understand the ten issues involved in choosing the right domain name the first time. First, the list that we work from when conducting a custom Domain Name Analysis (DNA). Then the explanations of each commandment follow.

TEN COMMANDMENTS OF INTERNET DOMAIN NAME VALUE
1 – The name shall have Development Value
2 – The name shall have .Dot value
3 – The name shall have Brand Recognition
4 – The name shall be Search Engine Friendly
5 – The name shall be Linguistically Viable
6 – The name shall have Traffic or Revenue
7 – The name shall have Industry Strength
8 – The name shall have Sales Value History
9 – The name shall have Intrinsic Value
10 – The name shall have Market Potential

1 – Development Value
A names base line value is based on the ability to use it. One of the primary issues we address in our DNA (Domain Name Analysis) is – Can this name be built into an instantly recognizable site whose name becomes synonymous with its content?
2 – .Dot Value
Dot.com’s are, and probably always will be, more valuable than any other .dot designation. Even Dot.net’s, and Dot.org’s are by their very nature worth less on the open market. There are many reasons for this. One reason involves search engine rankings. Other issues pertain to the consumers hard to break habits. Note that .com is the internationally recognized extension for serious Internet business sites.
3 – Brand Recognition
Simple, familiar words work better than complicated, hard-to-spell ones. Short, catchy names in attractive industry segments are also very valuable. Kleenex is an example of brand recognition in the brick and mortar world. The brand name Kleenex was originally associated with facial tissue made BY KLEENEX ONLY. Because of powerful brand recognition however the name Kleenex came to literally equal ANY brand of facial tissue. “Will you hand me a Kleenex please”. This is one of the areas where we rely heavily on our point of contact research and specialists experience with domain names. It is an area we do not analyze via computer algorithm. Rarely will any name receive an excellent valuation under this commandment unless it meets the above criteria AND carries the .Dot com extension.
For explanations of the rest of the Commandments 4 – 10, visit http://extraordinaryartist.com/domain-name.htm It’s FREE and will ensure you don’t make a mistake right up front when trying to establish a viable Internet Business.

About the Author

14 year veteran web developer, specializing in graphic design, copy writing, and search engine optimization

Comments Off