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Storage Options Scroll Extreme Tablet

The Scroll Extreme is a 9.7″ tablet PC running the Android 4.0 mobile operating system aka Ice Cream Sandwich. Having recently had chance to use one, I thought I’d share my views. Android 4.0 The Scroll Extreme …

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BTCC 2012 Season Start – Brands Hatch

Last weekend saw the start of the 2012 BTCC season at Brands Hatch. The action quickly got under way despite many cars been relatively untested. The biggest surprise of all coming from the new MG – the performance and reliability of …

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Dell EqualLogic PS4100X

I have just completed an initialisation of a Dell EqualLogic PS4100X Storage Area Network (SAN). The PS4100X in question features dual controllers and capacity for 24 2.5″ SAS drives. The EqualLogic is currently populated with 300GB 10K …

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VMware vSphere 5: Install, Configure and Manage

Having worked with VMware products for a number of years and looking to hone my skills, I recently completed the VMware vSphere 5: Install, Configure and Manage training course. The knowledge gained as part of this course combined …

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BTCC 2012 is Coming!!!

Lots of BTCC news is being released ahead of the 2012 season. This season looks to be even better than the last. A few highlights include the entrance of MG, the 2012 NGTC Honda Civic …

Storage Options Scroll Extreme TabletBTCC 2012 Season Start – Brands HatchDell EqualLogic PS4100XVMware vSphere 5: Install, Configure and ManageBTCC 2012 is Coming!!!

May 11

Storage Options Scroll Extreme Tablet

Categories:

Features, Product Reviews

May 11, 2012

The Scroll Extreme is a 9.7″ tablet PC running the Android 4.0 mobile operating system aka Ice Cream Sandwich. Having recently had chance to use one, I thought I’d share my views.

Android 4.0

The Scroll Extreme features the Android 4.0 operating system. The experience and user interface is much more refined than older versions of Android. I have found my experience with Android 2.3 to be intermittent at best, but version 4.0 has resolved many of the problems – the confusing menus to start.

The Android operating system suits the Scroll Extreme very well and is a very functional experience. The device will happily play streaming media, such as Youtube, iPlayer, as well as media stored on the device or memory stick.

The Scroll Extreme does not officially have support for the Android Play market but this is quickly worked around and within minutes I had Angry Birds and Skype working.

Build

The build of the Scroll Extreme is very good. It features a responsive 9.7″ capacitive touch screen display and a number of buttons for volume, power around the outside. The device has a metallic back with a plastic surround for the screen – the buttons seem sturdy, if not just a little bit too small.

The battery is good and seemed to have no issues being used solidly for nearly 2 days!

Connectivity

The device features micro USB and HDMI ports – the adapter, included, lets you connect the USB port to memory sticks – which worked faultlessly for me. The device also has 802.11g/n WiFi connectivity, which works well as long as you are standing right next to your wireless router. Unfortunately, at least on my device, the wireless connectivity was so poor it was a real deal breaker.

The device comes with 8Gb internal memory but features a Micro SD slot which lets you expand this to 32Gb.

Price and Specification

For around GBP180 you are getting an impressive 9.7″ 1024×768 capacitive touch screen, Cortex A8 processor, 8Gb internal memory, large 7800mAh battery, dual cameras, HD output and the ability to watch streaming video. This is an impressive specification for the price I’m sure you will agree. What did I think….

Conclusion

As impressive as I think the Scroll Extreme is the real deal breaker for me is the poor wireless coverage – for me it takes the flexibility away from the device. This was so important to me that unfortunately it has now been returned- of course this may have been a issue with my device – but at the price corners must have been cut somewhere.

More information: http://www.storageoptions.com/products/scroll/tablets/scroll-extreme

Tags: Android

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.jrbell.co.uk/2012/05/storage-options-scroll-extreme-tablet/

Status update

Thursday April 5, 2012 — 10:37 AM

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Last weekend saw the start of the 2012 BTCC season at Brands Hatch. The action quickly got under way despite many cars been relatively untested. The biggest surprise of all coming from the new MG – the performance and reliability of which allowed Jason Plato to win race 3. Jason Plato leads the championship following the weekend’s racing.

Catch up on the action at: http://www.itv.com/btcc/races/

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.jrbell.co.uk/2012/04/btcc-2012-season-start-brands-hatch/

Mar 19

Dell EqualLogic PS4100X

Categories:

Networks, Product Reviews, User Guides

March 19, 2012

I have just completed an initialisation of a Dell EqualLogic PS4100X Storage Area Network (SAN). The PS4100X in question features dual controllers and capacity for 24 2.5″ SAS drives. The EqualLogic is currently populated with 300GB 10K drives achieving a raw data capacity of 7.2TB.

I chose to initialise the SAN using the CLI available from the primary controller’s serial port. Once the management IP addresses were given in the CLI initial start  wizard it was straight to a web browser to configure the rest.

The first thing to do after connecting to the SAN via a web browser is update the firmware. This is available from the EqualLogic website after you register your device (as of March 2012 it is v. 5.2.1). I have not done a firmware upgrade on a production use SAN yet but something tells me it is something I will be thinking about soon!

Once the firmware upgrade is complete, continue to configure your remaining IP interfaces for iSCSI access including the group IP address. This is best done on a different network or VLAN to your management network both in terms of security and port optimization on your switches.

I chose RAID 50 across the disk array to provide a compromise between performance, capacity and resiliency. At this point you can create your volumes and this is where the EqualLogic really does show its flexibility. You are able to expand the volumes dynamically, remove and add in a live environment.

Connecting to the EqualLogic is also easy and secure with multiple access control techniques including IP address and iSCSI IQN name. It is worth noting that if you are using the SAN in conjunction with vSphere there is a Multi-pathing Extension Module for ESX available from Dell that optimises the use of your redundant iSCSI paths. The EqualLogic MEM can be installed through update manager by importing the zip file. The MEM is available from the EqualLogic website.

When configuring your network switches ensure that you enable jumbo frames and spanning tree port fast for iSCSI ports. Also think about segregating this traffic onto a separate VLAN.

Tags: Dell, iSCSI

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.jrbell.co.uk/2012/03/dell-equallogic-ps4100x/

Mar 11

VMware vSphere 5: Install, Configure and Manage

Categories:

Networks, Technology

March 11, 2012

Having worked with VMware products for a number of years and looking to hone my skills, I recently completed the VMware vSphere 5: Install, Configure and Manage training course.

The knowledge gained as part of this course combined with my prior VMware experience has given me an advanced level of knowledge in the product.

Particular areas of interest and expertise, within the product, include:

  • Virtual networking within the VMKernel.
  • Shared storage, in particular iSCSI SANs and their set-up.
  • vMotion, host clustering, VMware High Availability and Distributed Resource Scheduler.
  • Backup and security using the VMware APIs.

These skills complement my networking specialism and broaden my knowledge of the field. If you would like an aspect of the VMware vSphere product covered in a future posting please don’t hesitate to comment!

Tags: Network, VMWare, vSphere

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.jrbell.co.uk/2012/03/vmware-vsphere-5-install-configure-and-manage/

Status update

Saturday February 25, 2012 — 2:17 PM

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Lots of BTCC news is being released ahead of the 2012 season. This season looks to be even better than the last. A few highlights include the entrance of MG, the 2012 NGTC Honda Civic prepared by Team Dynamics and Thorney Motorsport’s two Vauxhall Insignia NGTC. Both sets of cars are NGTC specification featuring the latest 300+ bhp 2 litre engines and 6 speed sequential gearboxes. Visit: http://www.btcc.net for the latest!

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.jrbell.co.uk/2012/02/btcc-2012-is-coming/

Feb 23

My Experience Upgrading VMware vCenter to Version 5

Categories:

Technology, User Guides

February 23, 2012

Earlier this week I decided to start our upgrade of vSphere 4.1 to version 5. There a numerous steps involved with this process:

  1. Backup existing installation.
  2. Upgrade vCenter.
  3. Upgrade ESXi hosts.
  4. Update VMTools and virtual hardware.

Today I thought I would share my experiences with the vCenter upgrade. I really cannot stress enough the importance of a proper backup of both the VMware database and SSL certificates. Before I managed a successful upgrade of vCenter I had to restore the old database 3 times! Without a backup, my vCenter would have been no more!

A backup of the database can be taken using the Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express, if this software did not come bundled with SQL Server, it is a free download from the Microsoft website.

Once you have downloaded vCenter 5, run the installer and follow through the install wizard selecting the upgrade option.  The installer will now proceed to upgrade the SQL database.

This is the point in the installation I received this error:

Error!

Exception Thrown while executing SQL script

If you also receive this error message – do not fear! I’m going to show you the steps I went through to ensure a smooth upgrade.

  1. Open Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express and click ’Connect’.
  2. Restore your database from backup (selecting the over-write option). This can be done by right clicking on the database – Selecting ‘Tasks’ – ‘Restore’ – ‘Database’.
  3. Once restore is complete, right click on the database and click Properties. Click on ‘Options’ and ensure that ‘Compatibility level’ is set to ‘SQL Server 2005′ or higher.
  4. Set the transaction log to ‘Unrestricted File Growth’ in the ‘Files’ menu.
  5. Press ‘OK’ out of the database properties and exit Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express.
  6. Click ‘Start’ – ‘All Programs’ – ‘Administrative Tools’ – ‘Data Sources (ODBC)’.
  7. In the ‘ODBC Data Source Administrator’ open the ‘System DSN’ tab and select ‘VMWare VirtualCenter’ and click ’Configure’.
  8. Click through he wizard until the last window (as below) and ensure ‘Change the language of SQL Server system messages to:’ is set to ‘English’ AND ‘Perform translation for character data’ is NOT selected. The configuration window should now appear as below.
  9. Click ‘Finish’.

At this point I was now able to run the vCenter 5 upgrade once again and upgrade the database successfully. I hope this guide helps sort out your potential VMWare SQL problems - leave me a comment and let me know!

Tags: DSN, ODBC, Server, vCenter, VMWare

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.jrbell.co.uk/2012/02/my-experience-upgrading-vmware-vcenter-to-version-5/

Status update

Wednesday February 15, 2012 — 6:39 PM

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The Document Foundation has launched LibreOffice 3.5! It has been hailed “The Best Free Office Suite Ever” and I, for one, completely agree.

More information about this release: http://blog.documentfoundation.org/2012/02/14/the-document-foundation-announces-libreoffice-3-5-the-best-free-office-suite-ever/

To download: http://www.libreoffice.org/download/

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.jrbell.co.uk/2012/02/libreoffice-3-5-is-launched/

Feb 07

Cisco WAP4410N Wireless N Access Point Review

Categories:

Networks, Product Reviews, Technology

February 7, 2012

A couple of weeks ago I was tasked with solving a connectivity problem between two buildings that had unfortunately lost their fibre optic connection. Due to the limited time scale to come up with a solution an initial wireless 802.11g bridge was created using a pair of Netgear WG302 APs that I managed to find long discarded in a cupboard! The bridge itself had worked correctly with the dipole antennas fitted to the Netgears albeit with the maximum achievable 54Mbps.

Due to the limited speed and security capabilities of the Netgear APs this could only even be a temporary solution and I found the Cisco WAP4410N and ordered a pair for the job. The main selling point being the ability to create a 802.11n bridge at a theoretical maximum 300Mbps due its use of Multi-Input Multi-Output technology.

The WAP4410N has a number of features that makes it stand out from the others, most notable is PoE, WPA2-PSK, 802.11n (draft) support as well as more standard features including VLAN, QoS, Filtering, SYSLOG and access control support. Out of the box they are a very nice looking product, but if you are thinking about standing them up then bring the glue because the included feet fit poorly – not something I would usually expect from Cisco.

Functionality wise there are issues with the devices firmware (currently 2.0.4.2) and in my case most annoyingly is drop-outs when using the device in bridged mode which involves constant restarts. I have tried everything to track down this issue myself however Cisco’s only feedback is that they are aware of the issue and to expect an updated firmware soon. I have also heard of reports that 802.11n channel bonding and Ethernet speed auto negotiation do not function correctly however I have not been directly affected by these issues.

In conclusion (..and whilst I lean on Cisco for a fix!!!) other, and cheaper, access points may perform better which is very disappointing considering Cisco’s reputation and one I know too well having studied in their Network Academy for 3 years. I will obviously keep my blog updated should a fix come along!

Tags: Cisco, Netgear

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.jrbell.co.uk/2012/02/cisco-wap4410n/

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Presenting the rear wheel drive Ford Transit

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Posted on:
February 6, 2012

Permanent link to this article: http://www.jrbell.co.uk/2012/02/presenting-the-rear-wheel-drive-ford-transit/

Status update

Saturday January 21, 2012 — 10:02 AM

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LibreOffice 3.5 RC3 has been released, check it out at: http://www.libreoffice.org/download/pre-releases/. Includes some cool new features and a host of improvements. Watch out Microsoft, you may be popular now….

 

 

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.jrbell.co.uk/2012/01/libreoffice-3-5/

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