Data backups: The smart person's guide

This guide is an entry-level summary of enterprise backup software.

All of the cutting-edge applications and exotic storage hardware in the world do not matter if your data backups aren't reliable. This guide is an entry-level summary of enterprise backup software.

Executive summary

What it is: Put very simply, backup software makes copies of all the important information on your network and puts it away for safe keeping. The many ways to do this will be explained in this guide.

Why it matters: Data backup matters in case something gets corrupted in your files. But there are many other reasons to make copies of your work, from the obvious to the arcane.

Who this affects: Backup software impacts everyone. Other than storage and system administrators, most people never think about data backups until it's too late; fortunately, most modern backup software operates invisibly to end users, who will be happy that recent copies of their work are readily available when needed.

When this is happening: Backup is nearly as old as data storage. The phrase "IBM and the seven dwarfs" referred to the leading eight mainframe manufacturers in the 1960s — behemoth IBM along with Burroughs, Control Data, General Electric, Honeywell, NCR, RCA, and Univac. Primitive applications to record data backups emerged from this ecosystem as mass storage options — mostly magnetic tape, but also hard disks — made punched cards obsolete.

How to get it: The easiest way to get a data backup application is by purchasing it directly from the software vendor. Of course, the popularity of backing up data onto private and public clouds is a game-changer for purchasing options.

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What is Code Modernization?

Modern high performance computers are built with a combination of resources including: multi-core processors, many core processors, large caches, high speed memory, high bandwidth inter-processor communications fabric, and high speed I/O capabilities. High performance software needs to be designed to take full advantage of these wealth of resources. Whether re-architecting and/or tuning existing applications for maximum performance or architecting new applications for existing or future machines, it is critical to be aware of the interplay between programming models and the efficient use of these resources. Consider this a starting point for information regarding Code Modernization. When it comes to performance, your code matters!

Building parallel versions of software can enable applications to run a given data set in less time, run multiple data sets in a fixed amount of time, or run large-scale data sets that are prohibitive with un-optimized software. The success of parallelization is typically quantified by measuring the speedup of the parallel version relative to the serial version. In addition to that comparison, however, it is also useful to compare that speedup relative to the upper limit of the potential speedup. That issue can be addressed using Amdahl's Law and Gustafson's Law.

Good code design takes into consideration several levels of parallelism.

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Deep Machine Learning libraries and frameworks

At the end of 2015, all eyes were on the year’s accomplishments, as well as forecasting technology trends of 2016 and beyond. One particular field that has frequently been in the spotlight during the last year is deep learning, an increasingly popular branch of machine learning, which looks to continue to advance further and infiltrate into an increasing number of industries and sectors. Here are a list of Deep Learning libraries and frameworks that will gain momentum in 2016.

1. Theano is a python library for defining and evaluating mathematical expressions with numerical arrays. It makes it easy to write deep learning algorithms in python. On the top of the Theano many more libraries are built.

· Keras is a minimalist, highly modular neural network library in the spirit of Torch, written in Python, that uses Theano under the hood for optimized tensor manipulation on GPU and CPU.

· Pylearn2 is a library that wraps a lot of models and training algorithms such as Stochastic Gradient Descent that are commonly used in Deep Learning. Its functional libraries are built on top of Theano

· Lasagne is a lightweight library to build and train neural networks in Theano. It is governed by simplicity, transparency, modularity, pragmatism , focus and restraint principles.

· Blocks a framework that helps you build neural network models on top of Theano.

Know the rest 29 items

Free computer operating systems you must check out

If you happen to buy one of those laptops without a pre-loaded operating system, there's no need to pay a fat sum to buy one or resort to piracy. There are quite a few operating systems that are totally free (and without any strings attached). Economic Times points you in the right direction with the following OSes.

Remix OS by JIDE
Haiku Project
ReactOS
Syllable Desktop
Chromium OS
Various Linux Distros

Findout them at

How to choose a Technology Stack?

A technology stack (Tech Stack) is a set of software code that is made up of modules used in software products and programming languages to build (develop/code) a software application.

The lower in a Tech Stack you go the closer you get to the hardware, for example an Operating System is the part of the tech stack that provide an interface between the computer user and the computer hardware, it communicates directly with the computer hardware. The higher you go in a Tech Stack the more specific and specialized the functionality becomes for example a DBMS (Database Management System) that provides the interface and platform to manipulate, store, manage and administrate data into databases.

Choosing a Primary Tech Stack usually involves the choice of the Operating System, programming languages, standard development libraries, frameworks, DBMS and a support community. The Primary Tech Stack will be used by most of the developers and software engineers in building the software product/application but several Secondary Tech Stacks may be used in support of the Primary Tech Stack to fulfill specific specialized requirements.

There are lots of different, competing technologies made up of different tech stacks, to build a website or software application with. A software application usually consist of the following main components: the Front End of the site/application (what the end users see on the screen and will be interacting with), the Admin Portal (that the application/program administrators or back office personal will use as an interface to administer and manage the application or site), the Middleware, Logical Layer or Application Layer (that performs all the ‘automatic’ actions and is the heart of the application doing all the calculations, processing and data manipulation), and the Databasewhere all data used within the application or site is stored. Each of these components making up an application or website can be developed with a different software product or programming language but preferably within the same Tech Stack to reduce the complexity of supporting the application/site.

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Intelligent manufacturing: Targeting better energy efficiency

As policy makers, business and society tackle the complex challenges around climate change, industry is increasingly coming under the spotlight. Manufacturing activities account for around one-third of the world’s total final energy demand; as populations continue expanding and living standards continue rising, industrial demand for energy is set to grow further. Targeting better industrial energy efficiency—first and foremost the efficiency of the manufacturing processes at the core of industry—is the most effective lever available to curb industrial energy consumption.

The main findings of the research are:

Industry executives say better energy efficiency is critical to their businesses and will be critical in the coming two decades.

Growing numbers of companies are seeing energy efficiency as a key part of their efforts to promote sustainability.

More and more firms are investing in efficient lighting, heating, and air conditioning—but the proportion investing in efficient plant and equipment remains static.

Although barriers to investment in energy efficiency remain, they appear to be lifting for some companies.

Industry is embracing better practices around energy management.

Regulatory pressure on industry will further intensify in the coming years.

Innovations in process design and execution will also promote better energy efficiency in the future.

The key to improved energy efficiency will increasingly lie in software rather than in hardware.

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10 worst-case BYOD scenarios (and how to prevent them)

Bring Your Own Device has stirred plenty of controversy. Companies are either embracing it to its fullest extent or avoiding it like the plague. BYOD can potentially save you money and help make your employees happier and more productive. But it also brings along with it a number of possible pitfalls, from security to compatibility and everything in between. For the most part, those pitfalls can be avoided with just a little planning and education. “No way,” you say? Let’s look at some likely worst-case scenarios and see how you can prevent them from occurring.

1: Exposed data
2: Passwords in the wild
3: Declining productivity
4: Compatibility issues
5: Bandwidth overuse
6: Device management
7: Wireless bottlenecks
8: Autonomy overuse
9: Virus infections
10: Compatibility complaints

Bring Your Own Drama

It’s coming to an IT department near you. When it does, be prepared for anything and everything. You’re dealing with the teen years of mobile devices and you’re going to have to have tricks up your sleeve you never thought you’d need. But if you’re prepared, and if you’ve prepared your users, that drama will hardly get the chance to rear its ugly head.

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The SIIA CODiEM Awards

During the past 27 years, the SIIA CODiE Awards have recognized more than 1,000 software and information companies for achieving excellence. The CODiE Awards remain the only peer-recognized program in the content, education, and software industries so each CODiE Award win serves as incredible market validation for a product’s innovation, vision, and overall industry impact.

The SIIA CODiE Awards were established in 1986 so that pioneers of the then-nascent software industry could evaluate and honor each other's work. During the years that followed, the program evolved into three tracks—organized by industry focus in content, education, and software—but our core mission has always remained the same: recognizing excellence by honoring the software and information industry's leading products and services. Award winners are able to leverage their CODiE Award as a prestigious representation of outstanding achievement and vision in the software and information industries.

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Best practices for software license management

Software license management is the process that ensures that the legal agreements that come with procured software licenses are adhered to.In a basic sense, it ensures that only legally procured licenses are deployed on systems.

Organizations spend a fortune on licenses every year, and a lack of management around it can result in heavy fines. In some cases, CIOs of certain organizations have been taken into custody for violating norms.

This article, provides the basic concept of how software license management works along with a process map.

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R&D 100 Awards

At R&D Magazine, the editors are fond of saying that all 100 winners of our annual R&D 100 Awards are equal. That is, there is no ratings system for our final 100.

This is important because the products that the editors and industry experts judge every year are so different.

Technology is never constant; to help readers navigate this sea of technology, the winning products are organized into categories.

View these general categories (which includes Communication Technologies, Consumer Products, Imaging Technologies, Information Technologies, Software etc., ) and recent winners. Read the full article

Free Guide: Introduction to Free Software

The emergence of Free Software is drastically changing the economics of software development and usage.

Free software is increasing its presence in mainstream media and in debates among IT professionals, but it is still unknown for many people and even those who are familiar with it lack specific knowledge in some important areas.

What is free software? What are the implications of using a free license? How are free software projects organized? Which are the main business models associated to them? What motivates developers, especially volunteers, to become involved in free software projects? Who are these developers?

These are the sort of questions that will be addressed in this 291 page eBook.

Format: Download, you will receive a link to download this guide after registration.

Visit to Download

Keeping Dead Products Alive: Tips for Supporting Legacy Software

Nearly 80 years ago, the term "planned obsolescence" was coined by Bernard London, a New York City real estate professional and amateur economist. The idea, which London thought was a darn good one, was to design products with a limited lifespan so consumers regularly had to get new ones, thus keeping the economy going.

This is why you don't see many 1983 Ford Escorts tooling around. While cheap old cars rust out or fall apart, software should keep chugging. "Unlike hearts, lungs, knees, eyes or kidneys, software just doesn't wear out or get weak," says reader Fred Linton. But old software ends up just as obsolete as your junk Ford. That's because vendors choose to make it that way.

Even though code doesn't stop working unless corrupted, software goes out of date in a variety of ways. The biggest death blow strikes when vendors stop support. No more features but, more critically, no more security updates.

Another problem is when new environments won't run old products. Even if a new version of Windows looks and acts largely the same, many older applications and hardware no longer operate.

Redmond magazine heard from some 30 readers -- all IT pros -- about their frustrations with unsupported software and how they deal with them.

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10 Linux applications that are perfect for educational environments

Good educational software is hard to come by. And with ever-tightening budgets, it only makes sense that many schools are turning to Linux and open source software to save money. Most people have no idea how many outstanding educational applications there are for the Linux operating system. In the following list, you should find at least one application that’s just right for your situation.

ATutor, iTalk, Online Grades, Open Admin for Schools, FET, GCompris, Edubuntu, KStars, KWordQuiz, Childplay.

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Five apps for crapware cleanup

If you buy new PCs from OEMs, you are probably all too familiar with the plague known as “crapware”: the useless applications that come installed with Windows. Crapware wastes space, often ties up your RAM and CPU power, and can be a major hassle to get rid up. Luckily, there’s a solution. These following five applications will help you deal with the crapware quickly and safely.

1: The PC Decrapifier
2: SlimComputer
3: WinPatrol
4: Revo Uninstaller
5: CCleaner

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Enterprise Software Directory

Founded in 1999, Capterra, the online marketplace for the enterprise software dedicated in connecting buyers and sellers of enterprise software and helps organizations make better software purchase decisions, while helping software vendors reduce the cost of reaching IT buyers.Capterra allows organizations to find the right software by presenting them with all of their options so they can compare solutions and make the right decision.

Browse the classified Software Directory.

Software buying checklist

1. Articulate what you need the software to do.

2. Ensure these needs are aligned with your business goals.

3. Outline existing processes that the software will affect.

4. Note any problems or limitations.

5. Consider how these processes can be improved.

6. Determine and prioritize software requirements.

7. Decide whether to build or buy the software.

8. Identify all potential software solutions.

9. Match each solution with requirements and remove those that do not match.

10. Solicit recommendations from peers.

11. Narrow the list of solutions to a short list of alternatives.

12. Contact each vendor.

13. View product demonstrations with input from end users.

14. Speak with references.

15. Negotiate terms of contract.

16. Make final purchase decision.

Read the detailed article at http://www.capterra.com/docs/capterra-software-buying-guide.pdf