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Good morning AskPerf! This is a quick blog to inform you that you no longer have to contact Microsoft Technical Support to obtain the Dynamic Cache Service for Windows Server 2008 R2. It is now freely available to download from the following link:
Microsoft Windows Dynamic Cache Service
Additional Resources
In this blog, I will discuss the overall general practices to be considered when configuring networks in Failover Clusters.
Avoid single points of failure:
Identifying single points of failure and configuring redundancy at every point in the network is very critical to maintain high availability. Redundancy can be maintained by using multiple independent networks or by using NIC Teaming. Several ways of achieving this would be:
· Use multiple physical network adapter cards. Multiple ports of the same multiport card or backplane used for networks introduces a single point of failure.
· Connect network adapter cards to different independent switches. Multiple Vlans patched into a single switch introduces a single point of failure.
· Use of NIC teaming for non-redundant networks, such as client connection, intra-cluster communication, CSV, and Live Migration. In the event of a failure of the current active network card will have the communication move over to the other card in the team.
· Using different types of network adapters eliminates affecting connectivity across all network adapters at the same time if there is an issue with the NIC driver.
· Ensure upstream network resiliency to eliminate a single point of failure between multiple networks.
· The Failover Clustering network driver detects networks on the system by their logical subnet. It is not recommended to assign more than one network adapter per subnet, including IPV6 Link local, as only one card would be used by Cluster and the other ignored.
· Use multiple physical network adapter cards. Multiple ports of the same multiport card or backplane used for networks introduces a single point of failure.
· Connect network adapter cards to different independent switches. Multiple Vlans patched into a single switch introduces a single point of failure.
· Use of NIC teaming for non-redundant networks, such as client connection, intra-cluster communication, CSV, and Live Migration. In the event of a failure of the current active network card will have the communication move over to the other card in the team.
· Using different types of network adapters eliminates affecting connectivity across all network adapters at the same time if there is an issue with the NIC driver.
· Ensure upstream network resiliency to eliminate a single point of failure between multiple networks.
· The Failover Clustering network driver detects networks on the system by their logical subnet. It is not recommended to assign more than one network adapter per subnet, including IPV6 Link local, as only one card would be used by Cluster and the other ignored.
Network Binding Order:
The Adapters and Bindingstab lists the connections in the order in which the connections are accessed by network services. The order of these connections reflects the order in which generic TCP/IP calls/packets are sent on to the wire.
How to change the binding order of network adapters
Cluster nodes are multi-homed systems. Network priority affects DNS Client for outbound network connectivity. Network adapters used for client communication should be at the top in the binding order. Non-routed networks can be placed at lower priority. In Windows Server 2012/2012R2, the Cluster Network Driver (NETFT.SYS) adapter is automatically placed at the bottom in the binding order list.
Cluster Network Roles:
Cluster networks are automatically created for all logical subnets connected to all nodes in the Cluster. Each network adapter card connected to a common subnet will be listed in Failover Cluster Manager. Cluster networks can be configured for different uses.
Disabled for Cluster Communication
No cluster communication of any kind sent over this network
Enabled for Cluster Communication only
Internal cluster communication and CSV traffic can be sent over this network
Enabled for client and cluster communication
Cluster IP Address resources can be created on this network for clients to connect to. Internal and CSV traffic can be sent over this network
Automatic configuration
The Network roles are automatically configured during cluster creation. The above table describes the networks that are configured in a cluster.
Networks used for ISCSI communication with ISCSI software initiators is automatically disabled for Cluster communication (Do not allow cluster network communication on this network).
Networks configured without default gateway is automatically enabled for cluster communication only (Allow cluster network communication on this network).
Network configured with default gateway is automatically enabled for client and cluster communication (Allow cluster network communication on this network, Allow clients to connect through this network).
Manual configuration
Though the cluster networks are automatically configured while creating the cluster as described above, they can also be manually configured based on the requirements in the environment.
To modify the network settings for a Failover Cluster:
· Open Failover Cluster Manager
· Expand Networks.
· Right-click the network that you want to modify settings for, and then click Properties.
· If needed, change the name of the network.
· Select one of the following options:
· Open Failover Cluster Manager
· Expand Networks.
· Right-click the network that you want to modify settings for, and then click Properties.
· If needed, change the name of the network.
· Select one of the following options:
o Allow cluster network communication on this network. If you select this option and you want the network to be used by the nodes only (not clients), clear Allow clients to connect through this network. Otherwise, make sure it is selected.
o Do not allow cluster network communication on this network. Select this option if you are using a network only for iSCSI (communication with storage) or only for backup. (These are among the most common reasons for selecting this option.)
o Allow cluster network communication on this network. If you select this option and you want the network to be used by the nodes only (not clients), clear Allow clients to connect through this network. Otherwise, make sure it is selected.
o Do not allow cluster network communication on this network. Select this option if you are using a network only for iSCSI (communication with storage) or only for backup. (These are among the most common reasons for selecting this option.)
Cluster network roles can also be changed using PowerShell command, Get-ClusterNetwork.
For example:
(Get-Cluster Network "Cluster Network 1"). Role =3
(Get-Cluster Network "Cluster Network 1"). Role =3
This configures "Cluster Network 1" to be enabled for client and cluster communication.
Configuring Quality of Service Policies in Windows 2012/2012R2:
To achieve Quality of Service, we can either have multiple network cards or used, QoS policies with multiple VLANs can be created.
QoS Prioritization is recommended to configure on all cluster deployments. Heartbeats and Intra-cluster communication are sensitive to latency and configuring a QoS Priority Flow Control policy helps reduce the latency.
An example of setting cluster heartbeating and intra-node communication to be the highest priority traffic would be:
New-NetQosPolicy "Cluster"-Cluster –Priority 6New-NetQosPolicy "SMB" –SMB –Priority 5New-NetQosPolicy "Live Migration" –LiveMigration –Priority 3
Available values are 0 – 6
Must be enabled on all the nodes in the cluster and the physical network switch
Undefined traffic is of priority 0
Bandwidth Allocation:
It is recommended to configure Relative Minimum Bandwidth SMB policy on CSV deployments
Example of setting minimum policy of cluster for 30%, Live migration for 20%, and SMB Traffic for 50% of the total bandwidth.
Multi-Subnet Clusters:
Failover Clustering supports having nodes reside in different IP Subnets. Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV) in Windows Server 2012 as well as SQL Server 2012 support multi-subnet Clusters.
Typically, the general rule has been to have one network per role it will provide. Cluster networks would be configured with the following in mind.
Client connectivity
Client connectivity is used for the applications running on the cluster nodes to communicate with the client systems. This network can be configured with statically assigned IPv4, IPv6 or DHCP assigned IP addresses. APIPA addresses should not be used as will be ignored networks as the Cluster Virtual Network Adapter will be on those address schemes. IPV6 Stateless address auto configuration can be used, but keep in mind that DHCPv6 addresses are not supported for clustered IP address resources. These networks are also typically a routable network with a Default Gateway.
CSV Network for Storage I/O Redirection.
You would want this network if using as a Hyper-V Cluster and highly available virtual machines. This network is used for the NTFS Metadata Updates to a Cluster Shared Volume (CSV) file system. These should be lightweight and infrequent unless there are communication related events getting to the storage.
In the case of CSV I/O redirection, latency on this network can slow down the storage I/O performance. Quality of Service is important for this network. In case of failure in a storage path between any nodes or the storage, all I/O will be redirected over the network to a node that still has the connectivity for it to commit the data. All I/O is forwarded, via SMB, over the network which is why network bandwidth is important.
Client for Microsoft Networks and File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks need to be enabled to support Server Message Block (SMB) which is required for CSV. Configuring this network not to register with DNS is recommended as it will not use any name resolution. The CSV Network will use NTLM Authentication for its connectivity between the nodes.
CSV communication will take advantage of the SMB 3.0 features such as SMB multi-channel and SMB Direct to allow streaming of traffic across multiple networks to deliver improved I/O performance for its I/O redirection.
By default, the cluster will automatically choose the NIC to be used for CSV for manual configuration refer the following article.
Designating a Preferred Network for Cluster Shared Volumes Communicationhttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff182335(WS.10).aspx
Designating a Preferred Network for Cluster Shared Volumes Communicationhttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff182335(WS.10).aspx
This network should be configured for Cluster Communications
Live Migration Network
As with the CSV network, you would want this network if using as a Hyper-V Cluster and highly available virtual machines. The Live Migration network is used for live migrating Virtual machines between cluster nodes. Configure this network as Cluster communications only network. By default, Cluster will automatically choose the NIC for Live migration.
Multiple networks can be selected for live migration depending on the workload and performance. It will take advantage of the SMB 3.0 feature SMB Direct to allow migrations of virtual machines to be done at a much quicker pace.
ISCSI Network:
If you are using ISCSI Storage and using the network to get to it, it is recommended that the iSCSI Storage fabric have a dedicated and isolated network. This network should be disabled for Cluster communications so that the network is dedicated to only storage related traffic.
This prevents intra-cluster communication as well as CSV traffic from flowing over same network. During the creation of the Cluster, ISCSI traffic will be detected and the network will be disabled from Cluster use. This network should set to lowest in the binding order.
As with all storage networks, you should configure multiple cards to allow the redundancy with MPIO. Using the Microsoft provided in-box teaming drivers, network card teaming is now supported in Win2012 with iSCSI.
Heartbeat communication and Intra-Cluster communication
Heartbeat communication is used for the Health monitoring between the nodes to detect node failures. Heartbeat packets are Lightweight (134 bytes) in nature and sensitive to latency. If the cluster heartbeats are delayed by a Saturated NIC, blocked due to firewalls, etc, it could cause the cluster node to be removed from Cluster membership.
Intra-Cluster communication is executed to update the cluster database across all the nodes any cluster state changes. Clustering is a distributed synchronous system. Latency in this network could slow down cluster state changes.
IPv6 is the preferred network as it is more reliable and faster than IPv4. IPv6 linklocal (fe80) works for this network.
In Windows Clusters, Heartbeat thresholds are increased as a default for Hyper-V Clusters.
The default value changes when the first VM is clustered.
Cluster Property
Hyper-V Default
Generally, heartbeat thresholds are modified after the Cluster creation. If there is a requirement to increase the threshold values, this can be done in production times and will take effect immediately.
Configuring full mesh heartbeat
The Cluster Virtual Network Driver (NetFT.SYS) builds routes between the nodes based on the Cluster property PlumbAllCrossSubnetRoutes.
Value Description
0 Do not attempt to find cross subnet routes if local routes are found
1 Always attempt to find routes that cross subnets
2 Disable the cluster service from attempting to discover cross subnet routes after node successfully joins.
Value Description
0 Do not attempt to find cross subnet routes if local routes are found
1 Always attempt to find routes that cross subnets
2 Disable the cluster service from attempting to discover cross subnet routes after node successfully joins.
To make a change to this property, you can use the command:
(Get-Cluster). PlumbAllCrossSubnetRoutes = 1
References for configuring Networks for Exchange 2013 and SQL 2012 on Failover Clusters.
Exchange server 2013 Configuring DAG Networks.http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd298065(v=exchg.150).aspx
Before Installing Failover Clustering for SQL Server 2012http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms189910.aspx
Exchange server 2013 Configuring DAG Networks.http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd298065(v=exchg.150).aspx
Before Installing Failover Clustering for SQL Server 2012http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms189910.aspx
At TechEd North America 2013, there was a session that Elden Christensen (Failover Cluster Program Manager) did that was entitled Failover Cluster Networking Essentials that goes over a lot of configurations, best practices etc.
Failover Cluster Networking Essentialshttp://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2013/MDC-B337#fbid=ZpvM0cLRvyX
Failover Cluster Networking Essentialshttp://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2013/MDC-B337#fbid=ZpvM0cLRvyX
S. JayaprakashSenior Support Escalation EngineerMicrosoft India GTSC
Good morning AskPerf! Mario Liu here from the Windows 8/8.1 Support Team. Today I'd like to discuss a Windows Modern App connectivity issue I've worked over the past few months.
We have several Enterprise customers who have deployed Windows 8 and 8.1 in their environments. However, after joining the machine to the domain, we discovered that numerous Windows Modern Apps could not display the contents correctly. For example, if we launched the Weather App, we saw the message "This page failed to load":
On the surface, this looks like a network connectivity issue, however other network related programs ran fine. A Network Trace was captured, but we could not find any dropped packets.
After further troubleshooting, we found that the same Windows 8/8.1 machines worked if they were outside of their corporate network. This gave us a clue that something inside their environment is causing the issue. In one step, we noticed that if the Firewall was disabled, the Modern App ran fine. Obviously turning the firewall off is not recommended.
After lots of additional troubleshooting steps were done, we discovered that the Akamai Internet Caching Servers had a hand in this issue. The Windows Firewall Service blocked the traffic to Akamai devices, but why would it do this? Why would a Modern App have network connectivity issues to Akamai devices?
To answer this question, first we need understand what Akamai Internet Caching Server is. It is a widely used content management solution worldwide. The main purpose of it is to save the web contents (mostly static) as the cache on the server. So next time a client machine tries to reach the same website, it actually reaches the cache on the local Akamai Server instead of taking longer time to reach the real contents on the remote web server. By doing this, we save a lot network traffic and speed up the contents delivery. So, the Akamai Internet Caching Server plays a similar role as an Internet Proxy Server, but from a web content management perspective. It basically delivers the contents to Windows clients on behalf of real/live web server.
OK, so now that we understand Akamai's role, let's switch back to the Windows Modern App. In Windows, there is an important feature called Windows Store App Network Isolation. Modern Apps are network isolated depending on the network capabilities the app developer chooses. An enterprise private network is protected and only available to those apps that declare the privateNetworkClientServer capability in the app manifest. There are very few Modern Apps in the Microsoft store that work on a private network. Even though users can very easily download and install any kind of app, the app cannot talk to the enterprise network because the app can only talk to the public network. In most cases, what is a private / public internet network is automatically detected, which means the Modern App knows to reach public internet even when a Windows 8/8.1 machine is running in a corporate (private) environment. But what happens if we bring the Akamai Internet Caching Server into this scene? Instead of letting Modern App reach the real contents on the remote web server via public internet, the Modern App is forced to talk to the Akamai device which is on the corporate (private) network. Remember, very few Modern Apps are approved to work on a private network ONLY. If the apps try to reach private network, the firewall will block it. Here is a way you can check to see if your machine is hitting this problem:
1. Enable WFP (Windows Filtering Platform) auditing by running the following command via elevated command prompt:
auditpol /set /subcategory:"Filtering Platform Packet Drop" /success:enable /failure:enable
auditpol /set /subcategory:"Filtering Platform Packet Drop" /success:enable /failure:enable
2. Reproduce the issue.
3. Go to event viewer -> Windows Logs -> Security. You should see some event ID 5152 which means Filtering Platform Packet Drop.
4. Look at one of these events and you should find this similar information. Note: 192.168.0.10 is Akamai server's address in this example.
The Windows Filtering Platform has blocked a packet.
Application Information:
Process ID: 2712 Application Name: \device\harddiskvolume2\windows\system32\wwahost.exe
Process ID: 2712
Application Name: \device\harddiskvolume2\windows\system32\wwahost.exe
Network Information:
Direction: Outbound Source Address: 192.168.0.30 Source Port: 50571 Destination Address: 192.168.0.10 Destination Port: 80 Protocol: 6
Direction: Outbound
Source Address: 192.168.0.30
Source Port: 50571
Destination Address: 192.168.0.10
Destination Port: 80
Protocol: 6
Filter Information:
Filter Run-Time ID: 71620 Layer Name: Connect Layer Run-Time ID: 48
Filter Run-Time ID: 71620
Layer Name: Connect
Layer Run-Time ID: 48
Wwahost.exe is the Modern App process. As you can see, WFP blocked this traffic with Filter ID 71620 because it tried to reach a private IP address. This filter is called Block Outbound Default Rule. If you want to know how I can tell this filter's name, you can do netsh.exe wfp capture start via elevated command prompt when you reproduce the issue. This will generate a wfpdiag.cab file and in this cab you can see wfpdiag.xml. Now open this xml file to correlate the filter name and ID.
So, at this point, we now know that Akamai is filtering the cached Internet traffic. That internet cache however is hosted in the private network. Akamai internet cache is essentially the internet network and needs to be deployed as such.
There are several solutions. But they can be essentially classified in two types:
Type 1: Either the Akamai servers must be deployed outside of the private network, or
Type 2: The Akamai servers must be declared explicitly as proxies who live in the private network
Microsoft's recommendation is Type 1 as the enterprise cannot control much of what the Akamai devices do. So, putting the device just outside of the corporate firewall on a different address space or outside of enterprise subnet would appear to be a better solution. However, if this requires a fundamental change of your infrastructure, the Type 2 solution can also be guaranteed to work.
Below we cover some solutions of how the Akamai Servers can be deployed.
Solution 1 – Akamai servers on their own IP space.
Akamai servers are deployed outside of the DMZ and they are given an address space different from the one provided to the company. In this scenario the ISP might participate or even the company can simply not provision the subnet given to Akamai anywhere else.
Solution 2 – Akamai servers are outside of AD sites and Subnets.
Akamai servers are given an IP address space that is not one included in the AD sites and Subnets configuration of active directory. In theory it should be a security issue that an external device not belonging to the corporation is included in the AD sites and subnets as it providing it with access that the enterprise does not want to provide. Hence this approach is not only an appropriate deployment of network isolation but an appropriate deployment of AD in general and a good tightening of the network.
Solution 3 – Akamai servers are removed manually from the private network by using the Network isolation Group Policy controls to override the private network.
Network Isolation Group Policy controls allows Group Policy admins to add private network subnets. It also allows them to completely override the private network definitions in AD sites and subnets and hence carve out any IP space that shouldn't be considered part of the private network of the enterprise.
Let's assume your corporate IP address space ranges from 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.0.255 and you have two Akamai servers with IP 192.168.0.10 and 192.168.0.11.
Here is the example to implement this solution:
In this example the values are 192.168.0.1-192.168.0.9; 192.168.0.12-192.168.0.255 in the Private subnets text box. Note we have excluded 192.168.0.10 and 192.168.0.11 since they are Akamai's.
5.Double-click Subnet definitions are authoritative, click Enabled.
5.Double-click Subnet definitions are authoritative, click Enabled.
Solution 4 – Akamai servers are configured as proxies by using the Network Isolation Group Policy controls to declare them as proxies.
The Network Isolation GP controls also allow admins to add internet proxies. It can also be used to completely override the proxy discovery mechanisms provided by default with a preferred proxy definition.
The enterprise admin can easily use the network isolation GP internet proxy controls to add the Akamai servers as internet content proxies.
For more information about the feature of Network Isolation of Windows Modern Apps, please refer to:
Isolating Windows Store Apps on Your Network
How to set network capabilities
For the first time, the 2014 Virtual Federal Forum, will be streamed LIVE from the Reagan Center in Washington, DC! This online digital experience will be completely hybrid, focused on Real Impact for a Lean and Modern Federal Governmentand will showcase innovative and cost effective solutions to unleash greater capabilities within agencies, while helping simplify and modernize processes. The Virtual Federal Forum is designed exclusively for the Federal government community providing the opportunity to hear from Microsoft executives, thought leaders, and strategic partners. Virtual attendees get bonus material not available to the in-person audience and have the ability to download related session materials, take live polls and surveys, share ideas and ask questions to experts and executives through Chat, Twitter and Q&A sessions.
Date: Tuesday, March 4thTime: 8am EST – 2:30pm EST
Agenda Highlights:
· Keynote speaker, The Honorable Tom Ridge Former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, will be speaking on The Global Mission to Secure Cyberspace and will be available to virtual attendees for Live Q&A.
· Hear from top government agencies in a special customer panel; Veteran Affairs, the U.S. Navy and the Environmental Protection Agency discuss real world lessons learned and technology innovations.
· Learn how to leverage a next generation mobile workforce for a 21st Century government with live demos and best practices from Jane Boulware, VP US Windows.
· Senior Director of Microsoft's Institute for Advanced Technology in Governments talks "Rethinking cyber defense…lessons learned from Microsoft's own experience."
Other featured speakers would include:
Greg Myers - Vice President: FederalWalter Puschner - Vice President: User Experience ITVaughn Noga - Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for Environmental InformationCaptain Scott Langley - USN, MCSE CEH CISSP, Commander Navy Reserve Forces Command N6/CTOMaureen Ellenberger - Veterans Relationship Management, Program Manager, Veteran AffairsDave Aucsmith - Microsoft's Institute for Advanced Technology in Government
Register for this event using this unique URL.
Thank you in advance and we look forward to your participation at the Virtual Federal Forum!
Hello everyone, I am Palash Acharyya, Support Escalation Engineer with the Microsoft Platforms Core team. In the past decade, we have come a long way from Windows Server 2003 to all the way to Windows Server 2012R2. There has been a sea-change in the overall Operating System as a whole, and we have added/modified a lot of features. One of these is Disk Defragmentation and I am going to talk about it today.
Do I need Defrag?
To put this short and simple, defragmentation is a housekeeping job done at the file system level to curtail the constant growth of file system fragmentation. We have come a long way from Windows XP/2003 days when there used to be a GUI for defragmentation and it used to show fragmentation on a volume. Disk fragmentation is a slow and ongoing phenomena which occurs when a file is broken up into pieces to fit on a volume. Since files are constantly being written, deleted and resized, moved from one location to another etc., hence fragmentation is a natural occurrence. When a file is spread out over several locations, it takes longer for a disk to complete a read or a write IO. So, from a disk IO standpoint is defrag necessary for getting a better throughput? For example, when Windows server backup (or even a 3rd party backup solution which uses VSS) is used, it needs a Minimum Differential Area or MinDiffArea to prepare a snapshot. You can query this area using vssadmin list shadowstorage command (For details, read here). The catch is, there needs to be a chunk of contiguous free space without file fragmentation. The minimum requirement regarding the MinDiffArea is mentioned in the article quoted before.
Q. So, do I need to run defrag on my machine?
A. You can use a Sysinternal tool Contig.exe to check the fragmentation level before deciding to defrag. The tool is available here. Below is an example of the output which we can get:
There are 13,486 fragments in all, so should I be bothered about it? Well, the answer is NO. Why?
Here you can clearly observe that I have 96GB free space in C: volume, out of which Largest free space block or Largest Contiguous free space blockis approximately 54GB. So, my data is not scattered across the entire disk. In other words, my disk is not getting hammered during a read/write IO operation and running defrag here will be useless.
Q. Again, coming back to the previous question, is defrag at all necessary?
A. Well, it depends. We can only justify the need for defrag if it is causing some serious performance issues, else it is not worth the cost. We need to understand that file fragmentation is not always or solely responsible for poor performance. For example, there could be many files on a volume that are fragmented, but are not accessed frequently. The only way someone can tell if they need defrag is to measure their workload to see if fragmentation is causing slower and slower performance over time. If you determine that fragmentation is a problem, then you need to think about how effective it will be to run defrag for an extended period of time or the overall cost in running it. The word cost figuratively means the amount of effort which has gone behind running this task from an Operating System's standpoint. In other words, any improvement that you see will be at the cost of defrag running for a period of time and how it might interrupt production workloads. Regarding the situation where you need to run defrag to unblock backup, our prescriptive guidance should be to run defrag if a user encounters this error due to unavailability of contiguous free space. I wouldn't recommend running defrag on a schedule unless the backups are critical and consistently failing for the same reason.
A look at Windows Server 2008R2:
Defragmentation used to run in Windows Server 2008/2008R2 as a weekly once scheduled task. This is how it used to look like:
The default options:
What changed in Server 2012:
There have been some major enhancements and modifications in the functionality of defrag in Windows server 2012. The additional parameters which have been added are:
/D Perform traditional defrag (this is the default).
/K Perform slab consolidation on the specified volumes.
/L Perform retrim on the specified volumes.
/O Perform the proper optimization for each media type.
/D Perform traditional defrag (this is the default).
/K Perform slab consolidation on the specified volumes.
/L Perform retrim on the specified volumes.
/O Perform the proper optimization for each media type.
The default scheduled task which used to run in Windows Server 2008R2 was defrag.exe –c which is doing a defragmentation in all volumes. This was again volume specific, which means the physical aspects of the storage (whether it's a SCSI disk, or a RAID or a thin provisioned LUN etc.) are not taken into consideration. This has significantly changed in Windows server 2012. Here the default scheduled task is defrag.exe –c –h –k which means it is doing a slab consolidation of all the volumes with a normal priority level (default being Low). To explain Slab Consolidation, you need to understand Storage Optimization enhancements in Windows Server 2012 which has been explained in this blog.
So what does Storage Optimizer do?
The Storage Optimizer in Windows 8/Server 2012 , also takes care of maintenance activities like compacting data and compaction of file system allocation for enabling capacity reclamation on thinly provisioned disks. This is again platform specific, so if your storage platform supports it, Storage Optimizer will consolidate lightly used 'slabs' of storage and release those freed storage 'slabs' back to your storage pool for use by other Spaces or LUNs. This activity is done on a periodic basis i.e., without any user intervention and completes the scheduled task provided it is not interrupted by the user. I am not getting into storage spaces and storage pools as this will further lengthen this topic, you can refer TechNet regarding Storage Spaces overviewfor details.
This is how Storage Optimizer looks like:
This is how it looks like after I click Analyze
For a thin-provisioned storage, this is how it looks like:
The fragmentation percentage showing above is file level fragmentation, NOT to be confused with storage optimization. In other words, if I click on the Optimize option, it will do storage optimization depending on the media type. In Fig 5., you might observe fragmentation on volume E: and F: (I manually created file system fragmentation). If I manually run a defrag.exe –d (Traditional defrag) in addition with the default –o (Perform optimization), they won't contradict each other as Storage Optimization and Slab Consolidation doesn't work at a file system level like the traditional defrag used to do. These options actually show their potential in hybrid storage environments consisting of Storage spaces, pools, tiered storage etc. Hence, in brief the default scheduled task for running Defrag in Server 2012 and Server 2012 R2 does not do a traditional defrag job (defragmentation at a file system level) which used to happen in Windows Server 2008/2008R2. To do the traditional defragmentation of these volumes, one needs to run defrag.exe –d and before you do that, ensure that if it will be at all required or not.
Q. So why did we stop the default file system defragmentation or defrag.exe -d?
A. Simple, it didn't justify the cost and effort to run a traditional file system defragmentation as a scheduled task once every week. When we talk about storage solutions having terabytes of data, running a traditional defrag (default file system defragmentation) involves a long time and also affects the server's overall performance.
What changed in Server 2012 R2:
The only addition in Windows Server 2012R2 is the below switch:
/G Optimize the storage tiers on the specified volumes.
/G Optimize the storage tiers on the specified volumes.
Storage Tiers allow for use of SSD and hard drive storage within the same storage pool as a new feature in Windows Server 2012 R2. This new switch allows optimization in a tiered layout. To read more about Tiered Storage and how it is implemented, please refer to these articles:
Storage Spaces: How to configure Storage Tiers with Windows Server 2012 R2 http://blogs.technet.com/b/askpfeplat/archive/2013/10/21/storage-spaces-how-to-configure-storage-tiers-with-windows-server-2012-r2.aspx
What's New in Storage Spaces in Windows Server 2012 R2http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn387076.aspx
Storage Spaces: How to configure Storage Tiers with Windows Server 2012 R2 http://blogs.technet.com/b/askpfeplat/archive/2013/10/21/storage-spaces-how-to-configure-storage-tiers-with-windows-server-2012-r2.aspx
What's New in Storage Spaces in Windows Server 2012 R2http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn387076.aspx
In brief, we need to keep these things in mind:
1. The default scheduled task for defrag is as follows:
Ø Windows Server 2008R2: defrag.exe –c
Ø Windows Server 2012: defrag.exe –c –h –k
Ø Windows Server 2012 R2: defrag.exe –c –h –k –g
Ø Windows Server 2008R2: defrag.exe –c
Ø Windows Server 2012: defrag.exe –c –h –k
Ø Windows Server 2012 R2: defrag.exe –c –h –k –g
On a client machine it will be Windows –c –h –ohowever, if there is a thin provisioned media present, defrag will do slab consolidation as well.
2. The command line –c –h –k (for 2012) and –c –h –k –g (for 2012R2) for the defrag task will perform storage optimization and slab consolidation on thin provisioned media as well. Different virtualization platforms may report things differently, like Hyper-V shows the Media Type as Thin Provisioned, but VMware shows it as a Hard disk drive. The fragmentation percentage shown in the defrag UI has nothing to do with slab consolidation. It refers to the file fragmentation of the volume. If you want to address file fragmentation you must run defrag with –d(already mentioned before)
3. If you are planning to deploy a PowerShell script to achieve the same, the command is simple.
PS C:\> Optimize-Volume -DriveLetter <drive letter name> -Defrag -Verbose
PS C:\> Optimize-Volume -DriveLetter <drive letter name> -Defrag -Verbose
Details of all PowerShell cmdlets can be found here.
That's all for today, till next time.
Palash AcharyyaSupport Escalation EngineerMicrosoft Platforms Support
In this post, I'm excited to discuss a new Premier Support offering called Risk Assessment Program (RAP) as a Service (or RaaS for short).
For those that are not familiar with RAP, it is a Microsoft Services Premier Support offering that helps prevent serious issues from occurring by analyzing the health and risks present in your current environment.
For example: if you haven't done a WDRAP (Windows Desktop RAP) and your end-users are suffering slow boot times, slow logon times, slow file copy, hung applications, and applications crashing, it could help! A WDRAP assesses your current environment and recommends changes which improve the Windows user experience.
Our new RAP as a Service offering helps accelerate the process of diagnosis and reporting, using our RaaS online service.
Q: So what is Microsoft RAP as a Service (RaaS)?A: RaaS is an evolution of the Risk Assessment Program offering.
You can also take a look at this video describing RAP as a Service:
Q: What are the benefits of RaaS over a RAP?A: The benefits are:
Q: What technologies can be assessed using RaaS?
… and others coming soon, such as Hyper-V and more. Please contact your Microsoft Premier Support Technical Account Manager for further info on availability.
Q: I can't wait until the releases of the other technologies!A: In the meantime, you can still request a RAP for those technologies until these are released with RaaS.
Q: Is RaaS currently available for non-Premier Support customers?A: Not at this time. To find out more about Premier Support, please visit Microsoft Services Premier Support
Q: Do I use the RaaS service for my environment before or after going into production?A: Both. We highly recommend you test your environment before going live using RaaS. We also recommend using RaaS after you go in production, because changes between test and production are inevitable.
Q: What are the system requirements for a RaaS?A: The Microsoft Download Center has a detailed description of RAP as a Service (RaaS) Prerequisites.
Q: How do I schedule a RaaS?A: Talk to your Microsoft Premier Support Technical Account Manager (TAM) or Application Developer Manager (ADM), and they can schedule the RaaS.
Q: Where would I go to sign-in for the RaaS?A: You browse to the Microsoft Premier Proactive Assessment Services site and enter your credentials. The packages will be waiting for you to download and start running.
Q: I'm in a secure environment; we cannot access external websites.A: It's alright! We have a portable version for your needs.
Q: Does it take a lot of ramp-up time to get familiar with the toolset?A: No, the package is wizard-driven for ease of use.
Q: Do I need to have any down time?A: No, the data collection is non-invasive, so no scheduled downtime is required. Collect the data on your own schedule.
Q: OK, I collected the data, now what are my next steps?A: Once data collection is complete, you can submit the data privately and securely to the Microsoft Premier Proactive Assessment Services site for analysis.
Q: When do I get to see my results?A: We (the accredited Microsoft engineers) will analyze and annotate the report for your specific environment. Once you receive the report back, we will set up a conference call to go over the findings with your staff.
Q: How long is the report available for us?A: The report is available online for twelve months so you can continue remediating any issues/problems.
Q: Can I re-run the RaaS toolset?A: Yes, you get to re-collect the data, submit the data again and get the detailed analysis back for a whole year, as a Premier customer.
Q: Can I still have Microsoft Premier Field Engineers come on-site?A: Yes, we still have that option available to assist you! Regular RAPs are still available.
Thank you and I hope you found this useful and something you can take advantage of.
John Marlin Senior Support Escalation Engineer Microsoft Global Business Support
Virtualizing Your Data Center with Hyper-V and System CenterFree online event with live Q&A: http://aka.ms/virtDCWednesday, February 19th from 9am – 5pm PST
What: Fast-paced live virtual session Cost: Free Audience: IT Pro Prerequisites: For IT pros new to virtualization or with some experience and looking for best practices.
If you're new to virtualization, or if you have some experience and want to see the latest R2 features of Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V or Virtual Machine Manager, join us for a day of free online training with live Q&A to get all your questions answered. Learn how to build your infrastructure from the ground up on the Microsoft stack, using System Center to provide powerful management capabilities. Microsoft virtualization experts Symon Perriman and Matt McSpirit (who are also VMware Certified Professionals) demonstrate how you can help your business consolidate workloads and improve server utilization, while reducing costs. Learn the differences between the platforms, and explore how System Center can be used to manage a multi-hypervisor environment, looking at VMware vSphere 5.5 management, monitoring, automation, and migration. Even if you cannot attend the live event, register today anyway and you will get an email once we release the videos for on-demand replay!
Topics include:
Register here: http://aka.ms/virtDC
Also check out the www.MicrosoftVirtualAcademy.com for other free training and live events.
The following links are for the top four tips from the 'Tip of the Day' blog during the month of January.
NOTE: Tip of the Day is a random daily tip. The idea behind it harkens back to something I started when I was first hired at Microsoft. I told myself, "I want to try to learn something new everyday. If I can learn at least one thing today, then I can call the day a success." Tip of the day is my attempt to share the things I pick up alone the way.
Robert Mitchell Senior Support Escalation Engineer Microsoft Customer Service & Support
I was recently asked how to add a Pass-through disk to a Highly Available VM running on a Windows Server 2012 R2 Failover Cluster. I tested the steps I was accustomed to for Windows Server 2008 and found the Disk to be in a ReadOnly state in the VM. As it turns out there are differences in how you add the disk and how Cluster refreshes the VM after the disk as added. Below are the steps to do this successfully:
The first step is to add the disk to Failover Cluster. When you do this the disk will be placed in Available Storage. Note the Disk Number associated with your Pass-through disk for later use.
After adding the disk to Failover Cluster, assign it to the VM role and ensure that the disk is online. If it is offline when you perform the remaining steps, the disk will be ReadOnly in the VM with no way to fix it but to start over.
Now that you have the Pass-through disk added to the VM role, all that is left is to modify the VM setting by adding the Pass-through disk to a virtual SCSI adapter. Before doing this you will need to Shut Down the VM and leave the Configuration resource online. Also ensure the disk is online.
Go to the VM Settings from within Failover Cluster administrator by right clicking on the VM and selecting Settings:
Click on the SCSI controller, select Hard Drive and then click on Add. You can use the existing SCSI controller the Operating System VHDX is attached too, or add a second one if you like.
Click the Physical hard disk radio button and from the drop down select the disk that corresponds to the disk you added to the VM role. This is the disk number you noted above. Click ok to complete the change.
Start the Virtual Machine and you will now have access from within the VM to your Pass-Through disk.
Here is an abbreviated list of steps if you are familiar with the interfaces and would just like to know what needs to be done so you can go do it.
Steven Andress Sr. Support Escalation Engineer Platforms Global Business Support


text: Clinical Trials Search Results Initial search results include only NCI-sponsored clinical trials. To search all trials, click the "REFINE SEARCH" button, scroll down to the Trial ID/Sponsor section and select the "All" check box in the Sponsor of Trial section. View Content for: Patients Health Professionals Display: Title Description with: Locations Eligibility Full Trial Description Custom ? Hide Search Criteria Show Search Criteria Drug: bispecific antibody MDX447Find trials that include: Any drugs shownTrial Status: Closed Results 1-2 of 2 for your search: Start Over Select All on Page Sort by: Phase of Trial Title Type of Trial Status of Trial Age Range Sponsor of Trial Protocol IDs Show 10 25 50 100 200 Results per Page 1. Phase I Study of the MDX447 Bispecific Antibody with and without G-CSF for Advanced Solid Tumors that Overexpress Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Phase: Phase IType: TreatmentStatus: ClosedAge: 18 and overSponsor: Pharmaceutical / IndustryProtocol IDs: MDX-95-062, MSKCC-95062, NCI-V95-0771 2. Bispecific Antibody Plus White Blood Cells in Treating Patients With Recurrent or Refractory Glioblastoma Multiforme Phase: Phase IType: TreatmentStatus: CompletedAge: 18 and overSponsor: NCI, OtherProtocol IDs: D9705, P30CA023108, NCI-G00-1783, DMS-9705, NCT00005813 Select All on Page Start Over

subset: commoncrawl


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MICHAL ROVNER'S RECONSTRUCTED RUBBLE AT THE LOUVREMay 20, 2011
Israeli artist Michal Rovner has transformed the courtyard of the Museé du Louvre into a chilling tableau of Mideast ruin for her "Histoires" exhibition, May 18-Aug. 15, 2011. Along with a group of masons, Rovner collected stones from demolished homes in Israel and Palestine and rebuilt them at the museum into two square structures, weighing upwards of 70 tons. The structures, surprisingly symmetrical despite their rough-hewn and irregular building blocks, are each bisected by a narrow gap that lets in light and offers a view inside.
In keeping with her long fascination with civilization and its remains, Rovner has projected two "frescoes in motion" onto the museum's original, cracked stone walls. Elsewhere, she has displayed small stone and light sculptures.
Meanwhile, an exhibition that goes behind the scenes of the creation of the structures, called "Making of Makom" (the Hebrew word for "space"), is on view at the Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton through May 29, 2011.


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PORTLAND -- Three suspects connected to the shooting of a Portland policeman and his K-9 partner have been linked to a weeks-long crime spree, according to police.
Accusations were added for one of the three suspects tied to an early Wednesday morning burglary, chase and shootout. A second suspect was arrested after his release from the hospital Thursday. A third, the suspected driver and gunman, remained in the hospital.
No apparent history of violence for alleged shooter, burglars
During this investigation, detectives have learned that the three suspects have been involved in an active, ongoing crime spree leading up to Wednesday's shooting, police said. This crime spree over the past several weeks includes, but is not limited to, incidents of robbery and burglary.
Detectives also said the white Chevy Suburban that crashed may have been used in these other crimes.
Officer Jeff Dorn was shot twice in the legs and his K-9 partner Mick died after being shot once. Police allege that they were fired upon by Paul Alan Ropp, 20, the wheelman in the chase who fled the scene, captured hours later several miles away after an intense manhunt.
Background: Officer shot, K-9 dog killed in SWPortland
Two passengers remained in the SUV and taken into custody without incident.
Jemaell Diamond Dominique Riley, 25, has been accused of first-degree attempted kidnapping, conspiracy to commit first-degree kidnapping, attempted second-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit first-degree burglary and two counts of first-degree burglary.
Steven Alan Young, 20, has been accused of first-degree attempted kidnapping, conspiracy to commit first-degree kidnapping, attempted second-degree robbery and conspiracy to commit first-degree burglary.
Ropp will be arrested and booked when released from the hospital, police said.
Anyone with information was asked to contact Detective Anthony Merrill at (503) 823-4033.


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How to exit vncviewer's fullscreen mode? F8 doesn't work.
This problem is kind of strange and i have no idea what causing it.
When i'm connecting to my PC (from a notebook) through vncviewer, i can use F8 to enter fullscreen mode. However when i'm at fullscreen mode F8 doesn't seem to work anymore. I have to either reboot or kill the vncserver to exit.
I'm using xtightvncviewer on Debian with xfce.
Any ideas how to fix this?
You've probably figured out by now, but mine says, "To exit from full-screen mode, press Ctrl-Alt-Shift-F. Alternately, press Ctrl-Esc Esc and then right-click on the vncviewer taskbar icon to see the menu."
If you cannot get vnc to exit the full screen, you might at least be able to switch virtual desktops to get around it. Using Ctrl+Alt+(one of the arrow keys) is a common way to do that. If you have not used or set up virtual desktops, you should try it. By starting up vnc in a separate virtual desktop just for it, you can just leave it in full screen mode and move to and from it with the virtual desktop shifting. That assumes vnc doesn't completely capture every possible keystroke. I have done this with qemu in full screen mode and I was still able to shift to and from it via virtual desktops.
|All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:16 PM.


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Depth Charts | Current Odds | Gaming Matchups | Pitching Report Cards | Probable Pitchers
E_J.Wright. LOB_San Francisco 4, Los Angeles 7. 2B_A.Pagan, M.Scutaro, M.Ellis, S.Victorino, A.Ethier. 3B_S.Victorino, H.Ramirez. HR_B.Posey (24) off C.Capuano, J.Arias (5) off C.Capuano, A.Ellis (13) off G.Mota. SB_H.Ramirez (21), D.Gordon (32). CS_G.Blanco. GIDP_P.Sandoval, X.Nady 2, L.Cruz. DP_San Francisco 1 (J.Arias, M.Scutaro and B.Posey); Los Angeles 3 (L.Cruz, M.Ellis and A.Gonzalez), (H.Ramirez, M.Ellis and A.Gonzalez 2).
C.Capuano pitched to 1 batter in the 4th. B.Zito pitched to 1 batter in the 7th. J.Affeldt pitched to 1 batter in the 9th.
IBB_off B.Zito (A.Ellis), off J.Wright (A.Pagan).
HBP_by B.Zito (A.Ethier).
Umpires_Home,Paul Emmel; First, Larry Vanover; Second, Dan Bellino; Third, Jerry Layne.


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Black Lagoon (GN 8)
Title: Black Lagoon
Volume: GN 8
Pages: 200
Distributor: Viz Media
Release date: 2009-10-13
Suggested retail price: $12.99
Age rating: 17+
Roberta's vendetta continues as Revy and Rock enlist some old acquaintances to try and catch up with Roberta before it's too late. They're going to have to get in line since Roberta's got everyone from a U.S. military black ops unit to her ex-F.A.R.C. comrades gunning for her, not to mention the CIA and the NSA.
When the turmoil becomes more than the city's criminal underworld can bear, Balalaika and her Hotel Moscow commandos enter the game. With so many players at the table, it's winner take all, and the stakes couldn't be higher!
Story and art by Rei Hiroe.
(added on 2009-04-23, modified on 2009-04-23)
- Encyclopedia information about Black Lagoon (manga)


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Hotels & Resorts Lausanne, Switzerland - The hotel is surrounded by gardens and located at two steps from restaurants of various cuisines - bars cinemas - theatre and night-club
Hotels & Resorts Geneva, Switzerland - The Hotel is located downtown, very quiet location, close to the lake, easy access to main motorways, 5KM from the airport, 800 meters from the main railway
Hotels & Resorts Interlaken, Switzerland - The Stella Swiss Quality Hotel is a small property located within walking distance from the city center of Interlaken, approximately 90 miles from Zurich
Hotels & Resorts Opfikon-glattbrugg, Switzerland - Settled on a verdant hillside in the centre of Zurich North commercial and residential district, the Hilton Zurich Airport offers a unique blend of ideal
Hotels & Resorts Bern, Switzerland - The Novotel Bern Expo offers 112 non smoking rooms located opposite the BEA Bern Expo exhibition center, the ice hockey stadium, and the National horse
Hotels & Resorts Bern, Switzerland - Our modern hotel is in a 100-year-old house in the heart of the old town of Bern, directly beside the river Aare.
Hotels & Resorts St. Moritz, Switzerland - Hotel Stille in St Moritz is nestled in the most impressive mountains, surrounded by enchanted forests, deep blue lakes and glaciers that show the true beauty of nature...
Hotels & Resorts Basel, Switzerland - HISTORICAL YEAR BUILT - 1844 YEAR REMODELED - 2006 ADDITIONAL PROPERTY DESCRIPTION - VERY CENTRAL LOCATION IN THE OLD TOWN OF BASEL ON THE RIVER BANKS
Hotels & Resorts Basel, Switzerland - Victorian ambience and traditionally warm Swiss hospitality blend with modern first class comfort at the Hotel Victoria.
Hotels & Resorts Zurich, Switzerland - The Sheraton Zurich Neues Schloss Hotel is a townhouse-style hotel located within walking distance of Old Town Zurich and approximately eight miles from
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Find great deals on quality hotels & resorts in Switzerland, or indulge at one of our luxury resorts. Take advantage of the many amenities that can be included with your stay such as in-room internet access, wifi, room service, fitness center, pool, hot tub, steam room, and shuttle services to and from the airport. Browse our hotels and resorts in Switzerland and plan your Switzerland vacation today!
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Collectors Fair: The Minds Behind ArteAmericas Bring Budget-Priced Art to Wynwood
Cesar Rey
For some collectors, hoarding works by their favorite artists can become a compulsive habit.
"It's an addiction," observes Emilio Callejo, co-founder and vice president of ArteAmericas, the local Latin American art fair that recently folded its tent after a decade on the South Florida calendar.
Calleja is launching the pop-up Collectors Fair, opening today and running through Sunday at Miami Spaces in Wynwood, (2301 North Miami Ave.), where he is showcasing close to 200 works in various media from collectors looking to sell prized paintings and sculptures they can't market on Craigslist or Ebay.
It's a concept that occurred to Calleja after running out of space at home to display artworks. "I've been collecting art for a long time and had the idea for this event for a while," Calleja says. "It came to a point where some of the works ended up in my kid's rooms, in the closet or under the bed."
Nina Surel
For Calleja, who built strong ties with fellow art buffs during his years at ArteAmericas---many of whom shared the same experiences of storing surplus art they could no longer exhibit at home or were in the grips of an economic crunch and needing to sell works---the notion of a Collectors Fair to market artworks seemed the perfect solution.
"Basically we have hung the art salon style in this 8,000 square-foot space in Wynwood where the participant collectors remain anonymous and have given me the art on consignment," explains Calleja, who adds that most of the works on display range from $1,000 to $5,000 and have been priced to attract budding collectors.
Humberto Calzada
On view you'll discover everything from works by Cuban heavyweights Wifredo Lam, Antonia Eiriz and Cundo Bermudez to emerging talent.
"It's not all Latin American art," Calleja says. "We do have a lot of work from Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela, but we also have art from across the U.S., Germany, Sweden and elsewhere."
Armando Villegas
It's an eclectic and relatively budget-priced exhibit, but Calleja refuses to call it a fire sale.
"It may be that for some, but believe me, most of these people will just use the money from sales to buy more artwork."
Collectors Fair takes place Friday from 6-11 p.m.; Saturday from 12-8 p.m.; and Sunday from 12-5 p.m. Call 305.439.8701 or visit collectorsfairllc.com.
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This touching and uproarious novel by author Paul Murray made everyone's best fiction of 2010 lists, including The Washington Post, Financial Times, Village Voice, and others. Why Skippy dies and what happens next is the mystery that links the boys of Dublin's Seabrook College (Ruprecht Van Doren, the overweight genius obsessed with string theory; Carl, the teenager drug dealer and borderline psychotic; Philip Kilfether, the basketball-playing midget) to their parents and teachers in ways that no one could have imagined.
This unique production of Murray's heartfelt exploration of the pain, joy, and beauty of adolescence features an all-star narrating cast of 16 Audible favorites: John Keating, Graeme Malcom, Khristine Hvam, Nicola Barber, Fred Berman, Clodagh Bowyer, Terry Donnelly, Sean Gormley, Lawrence Lowry, Paul Nugent, Tim Smallwood, Fiona Walsh, Fiana Toibin, Declan Sammon, Heather O'Neill, and Ed Malone.


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We have rich conversations with our clients every day, and increasingly these conversations are happening online. We encourage you to ask questions, share your views, and connect with like-minded professionals.
The International Annual Review demonstrates our achievements and reflects the insights and expertise professionals bring to client relationships.
KPMG's Global IFRS Institute provides information and resources to help Board and Audit Committee Members, Executives, Management, Stakeholders and Government Representatives gain insight on the evolving global financial reporting framework.
KPMG's global network of climate change and sustainability practices helps you build long-term value in a rapidly changing world.
Mining organizations need to adapt across the mining asset lifecycle, from expansion to closure, as changing economic, political and regulatory environment demand greater flexibility.
The Chemical industry's landscape is changing fast - global companies are developing or launching new products and services – and appear optimistic - setting sights on geographic expansion.
Over the last two decades many industries have changed their value proposition by developing their customers' capacity to create value.
KPMG Global Manufacturing Outlook 2014 surveyed 460 executives worldwide, and offers practical and provocative insights to help organizations evaluate future strategies.
The global job search tool allows you to search available career opportunities within many of our 150 member firms worldwide.
KPMG's International Case Competition (KICC) is a chance for students to challenge yourself to solve a real business issue and an opportunity to meet new people across the globe.
Challenges faced during the succession period can often be heightened by the close-knit structure of family in business, and furthermore by the disconnect, or gap, between the different generations. Grant Gordon of the Institute for Family Business (IFB), in the book, Family Business Management Perspectives: Succession (PDF 752 KB), states:
"The transition of a family business from one generation to the next confronts owners with a complex set of decisions and, in most cases, they have to make these against a backdrop of confusing psychological and cultural pressures."
According to the IFB, succession can be considered one of the most long-term challenges facing a family business. The process of succession planning plays an absolutely critical role in securing the future success of the business, and is an important part of ensuring smooth sailing during the transitional period.
It's often easy for business owners to become consumed by day-to-day management and running of the business, so much so that they fail to adequately prepare for the succession phase. Starting early is of paramount importance. Leaving the succession planning process to the last minute may result in hastily made decisions, and insufficient time to create the adequate buy-in from all family members concerned.
Ensuring that all family members have a say and role in the succession planning process will also facilitate a stronger united front in supporting the next generation successor in the coming years. Don't let a lack of communication be the pitfall to successful transition from one generation to the next. See the time before succession as a valuable period for knowledge-transfer and information sharing.
It's important that all family members involved in the succession discussion set aside any pre-existing issues and grudges, and focus on some of the critical issues at hand. Family business internal discussions often focus on the current issues at play, seldom looking to the future.
Succession planning creates an invaluable opportunity for more meaningful family engagement, and should be used to answer questions relating to the departing generation, building the skill set of the next generation, and seeing in the successful transition of leadership.
One cannot deny the impact of feelings and emotions on succession planning, and it's vital that business leaders foster an environment where these are adequately dealt with. An essential part of succession planning is the realization, on the part of the departing business owner, that not all things can be equally shared or fairly distributed amongst the next-generation family members.
While it's important to manage relationships and expectations, it's also important that the right candidate is selected, based on merit, skill-set, and their qualification to take on the very important role. Enough cannot be said for the massive value that training, mentorship, and coaching can add to the transition process. Mentorship is a growing business trend that would be well adopted in, and suited to, the family business structure.
Key to a successful transition is creating buy-in and awareness of the central family vision, and the values that should be upheld in the business for generations to come. Establishing a strong company culture in everyday business may facilitate an easier adoption of the vision and values, and may better facilitate the outgoing family business owner leaving a formidable legacy behind.
An important differentiation that needs to be made in relation to adopting a mentorship programme for the next generation is that it is not the same as spoon-feeding. Affording the next generation members sufficient autonomy to make decisions, based on guidance, as well as mistakes, is key to establishing a positive skill set for business management and leadership.
It further enables the successor to build their own character, way of leadership, and decision-making style. Family business relationships are inherently fraught with complexity, and it is within this context that adequate succession planning becomes critical for future business success.
Transitioning ownership to the next generation should be a positive and engaging process in the business, and should be capitalized on in order to strengthen the family business culture, the vision, and the values built by the exiting generation.
© 2015
KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"), a Swiss entity. Member firms of the KPMG network of independent firms are affiliated with KPMG International. KPMG International provides no client services. No member firm has any authority to obligate or bind KPMG International or any other member firm vis-à-vis third parties, nor does KPMG International have any such authority to obligate or bind any member firm. All rights reserved.


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Months later their is still no deal. Sources tell Hypebot that each label is looking for a different concession before they allow iTunes to drop DRM:
- Warner Music Group wants variable pricing on the track level including some hit product above $.99 cents.
- Sony BMG wants to work with iTunes using the agency model. As it is with Rhapsody, Amazon and others, Sony BMG is the actual seller of tracks and iTunes woulc be the agent delivering them. Sony BMG's concern is that competition will drive track prices lower and the agency model allows them to maintain complete control.
- Universal wants watermarking on the individual track purchase level. Apparently other download stores have agreed or are close to agreeing to do the same. How it will effect consumers remains unclear.
Three major labels with three very different sets of demands. Will Steve Jobs bend that far? Will the labels blink? It's hard to see why either side is in any hurry to ammend their position. After all, iTunes with DRM already sells more tracks than anyone else and consumers who want their downloads DRM-free now have mulitple alternatives.


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As some of you know we moved into our current home last Summer after a year and a half of renovations were completed. Well, we have been finishing up a few lingering projects here & there as our budget allows ever since. I'm so excited to finally be able to show you some of our finished projects here at Curate & Co. If you love cottage style & fresh modern cottage decor you will love it here! Today I'm featuring a recent apothecary cabinet transformation I completed.
We have actually had this piece for several years & I have been waiting to find the perfect space for it. I think I've finally found it! I'm thrilled with how it turned out too. This baby has made quit the transformation. Once an old rusty beat up bolt cabinet in my father in laws garage, has now been transformed into a casual cottage apothecary cabinet perfect for our dining / kitchen area. So, glad my husband knows me well enough to save this old cabinet from what would have been a shame to throw in the trash. Who would throw this beauty away?!?
I have been dying to try out my new Miss Mustard Seed paint I picked up from the Ironstone Nest at the Main Street Market a couple months ago. So, I thought this would be the perfect piece. It's painted in Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint in Grain Sack & I added a little bit of Shutter Gray too, hoping to make it a little more gray. I also used the bonding agent to avoid the piece being chippy. Not to shabby for my first piece! I just love how it turned out.
All of my beachy cottage decor is from Dwellings & all things that I have had for a bit.
Below you can see just how rusty this old cabinet was when she showed up in my dining room one day at our old house (excuse the photo – this was pre- dslr days) & just how great she is now!
I did do some sanding to prep the piece and try to get off as much as possible of the old marker lettering that was written on the cabinet drawers. That is also why I did not want the chippy look. I didn't want to take a chance on the lettering bleeding through.
A Cottage Apothecary Cabinet in Miss Mustard Seed Grain Sack with a little Shutter Gray.
Linking to
Between Naps on the Porch, Milk Paint Masterpiece Monday, Sand and Sisal, Savvy Southern Style, Miss Mustard Seed , Liz Marie Blog, It's Overflowing, Silver Pennies, Southern Hospitality


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Please select your country from the drop down box provided. Dan's Comp will provide currency conversion and base shipping from this selection.
You may click the flag in the upper left of the site at any time to change countries. Shipping charges may also change during checkout if shipping to a different country.
All orders settled in US Dollars.
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Troy Lee Designs GP Womens Jersey
Purposely designed to match many of our race pants and custom fit for the ladies, the highly versatile GP Jersey is a perfect choice for all types of riding and racing conditions. The GP Jersey incorporates the clean lines, style and functionality that is Troy Lee Designs
Dans Comp offers a variety of BMX Race Jerseys.


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Clifton Creek, Texas
The chrome streetlights rocked with the rhythm of the dawn wind as Meredith Allen crossed Main and headed toward Clifton Creek's only elementary school. She was an hour early. She always arrived an hour early. It had become her routine over the dozen years she had taught school.
Meredith told herself she needed to be up and out of the way to allow her husband, Kevin, to dress without them constantly bumping into one another in the bedroom and bath of their tiny house. She refused to admit her leaving early might be because they had little to say to one another in the morning. After a day apart, they would talk of the news and who they saw or the changes in the weather. But at dawn, conversation had somehow grown as stale as morning breath. She told herself it was to be expected. After all, they had grown up together, and after a decade of marriage they were bound to run out of things to say from time to time.
Parking in the empty school lot, Meredith stared through the cracked windshield of her old Mustang. The sunlight sparkled off the grain silos just beyond the Wal-Mart store and the city limits sign. When she had been a child her father told her the silos were the castle of an evil king who had been forever banned from Clifton Creek.
Meredith smiled. He also told her the oil rigs were dancing to a tune they heard deep in the earth. The huge rigs kept dipping to the beat, trying to pull the melody to the surface so that all could hear.
Her father had been a dreamer. The rigs were no more than ugly mosquitoes, sucking the earth's blood. But that blood had built the town and had kept it alive when many other small communities in West Texas had dried up like wild gourds and blown away. Clifton Creek had survived amid the rocky soil just as she had. This was not just her hometown, this place was a part of her. She belonged here, as native as the cottonwoods and coyotes.
Meredith collected her school bag and purse then climbed out of the Mustang, excited as always. She would have plenty of time to get everything organized before the first student arrived. Her house might be a mess— sometimes her life seemed disjointed—but in her classroom everything had its place. There, a magic happened that only teachers understood.
If her existence were an art gallery, teaching would be shown with colorful brush strokes and her home with careful line-drawn prints.
Not that she hated home. Home was just home and Kevin just Kevin. She could never hate her small town or him; they were both as much a part of her as bone or blood.
At first Kevin had told her how lucky she was to be his girlfriend, and then his wife; as though she needed reminding from time to time. Lately the words had changed; now she should count herself fortunate if he stayed around. As if there were other places he might go. Meredith would just laugh and remind him they belonged here, together. They always had, they always would.
As she walked to the school building she wondered what he was thinking, for he had been moody for weeks. The only blessing she counted each day was the twenty-three smiles looking up at her inside the sanctuary of her second-grade classroom. Kevin would work through his melancholy state, he always did. In the meantime, she had the children.
She waved as Helena Whitworth passed by in her long white Buick, driving toward downtown. The older woman looked every inch the queen in her small kingdom of Clifton Creek.
Helena Whitworth did not wave back. In fact, she didn't even notice Meredith or the grade school. With the precision of a general about to go into battle, Helena organized her thoughts, rehearsed her orders and prepared her defense on several fronts.
She had dreaded this day all week. Talking to the city council about increasing the budget would be not only boring, but time-consuming. She needed her wits sharp and alert. Her husband, J.D., had already made her late by joking about what he would like to do this Thanksgiving instead of going over to one of her daughters' homes and being assaulted by grandchildren. He told Helena over eggs Benedict that he planned to take a weed whacker instead of a cane this year. Maybe that would keep the little devils away.
For the hundredth time, Helena wished she had married J.D. first, or even second. Then, maybe they would have been young enough to have children together. Everyone in Clifton Creek thought of him as The Colonel, a hard, career Marine, who married the richest widow in town. But J.D. had taught her to laugh and to love. Despite all her duties and projects, J.D. was her core, the center that made everything else worthwhile.
Helena patted the wheel of her Buick as though the horsepower would respond to her touch. If she planned to get anything accomplished in the council meeting today, she had better stop thinking of J.D. and his jokes and start concentrating on what she planned to say about adding roadside parks at both ends of town.
Another year, maybe two, and she would turn loose her civic responsibilities and travel with J.D. They would go to places she did not know how to pronounce, eat food she had never heard of, and make love like they were still in their fifties.
For the past year J.D. had tried his best to get her to reduce her workload, but he did not understand. Helena needed work like she needed air. She was a workhorse, loving the challenge of each day. She had not slowed down in the forty years of running her own business and today was not the time to even start thinking about it. Maybe tomorrow she would watch the birds a little longer, or take a walk with him hand in hand. Maybe tomorrow there would be more time.
Helena forced her thoughts back to the problems of the day. The meeting should be over by noon. She could still do the final buying for the holiday season if she ate lunch with her secretary in their office above her store. Helena's Choice had not become a quality dress shop by neglecting details. The last of the Christmas orders needed to be placed, and soon.
For almost forty years, she had a motto; buy for Christmas before the first frost and for summer before the trees bud. Helena prided herself on being a woman who lived by timetables. With practiced diligence everything in her life had an order to it. The clock, the calendar, the seasons measured out her days in predictable patterns. And the patterns brought a peace to her aging. These were all things she could count on just as surely as she always counted on J.D.
By the time she pulled into the lot between the courthouse and the post office, Helena felt the weather changing, along with her mood. The day would be long and tedious. It would probably be after dark before she got back to her home that J.D. laughingly called Pigeon Run. There would be no twilight time for them this evening.
One of the Montano Ranch pickups had parked sideways in the lot, and the horse trailer it pulled completely blocked her reserved spot. Helena waited, irritated but not surprised. Ranchers in these parts thought the wide-open spaces extended into town. She had seen them park loaded cattle trucks in the center of Main Street while they ran in for an hour-long cup of coffee.
Helena watched as Davis Montano's young Italian wife hugged her mail and ran for her pickup. Helena could not help but wonder where the stylish woman bought her clothes. For once, the older woman had no idea. All she knew was that Anna Montano did not buy them at Helena's Choice, and they certainly had not come from one of the local discount stores.
"Sorry," Anna Montano shouted, jumping into her truck. "I—I was just picking up the mail."
Anna did not expect the older woman to respond. Most of the people in this town acted as if they could not quite see her, even when she bothered to speak to them. In their eyes she was an outsider and therefore not a real person. The five years she had lived in Clifton Creek might as well have been a month to them.
Anna watched the thin, well-dressed woman park her Buick and hurry into the courthouse. "Helena Whit-worth," Anna said aloud as if her own voice could somehow ease her loneliness.
"Hello, Helena," Anna added as she started the truck. She had long ago accepted the fact that these Texans were not being rude, just unobservant. If she had been from New York, or L.A. they might have passed the time of day, but Anna was from Europe and, for most of them, that might as well be the moon.
Anna gripped the three letters from Italy lying beside her. The first year she had come to Texas as a bride, she found several letters from her family unopened and crushed in the floorboards of the ranch trucks. Unsure of what to say to her husband, she solved the problem by getting a post office box. Whenever she made a trip to town she stopped by, knowing her letters would be waiting. If her husband Davis noticed, he never commented.
That small inconsiderate act made her think about leaving him and going back home where she knew she belonged. But she hesitated with indecision in the same halting way that she stuttered in speech. No action was less frightening than action. It seemed every time she acted on impulse or emotion, she had chosen the wrong path. She always had to remind herself to think before she acted, just as she had to think before she spoke. It was her bad luck that her husband was a man deeply involved in his own agenda and who had little time or interest in her problems.
If she had told her family about her thoughts of leaving Davis because he did not deliver her mail, they would have said she was a pampered fool. They would have suggested she stay and grow to love him while learning to overlook his flaws. After five years, Anna sometimes felt as if all her energy had been spent on swimming through the rocky shoals of her marriage. If she did not act, and soon, it would be only a matter of time before she drowned.
Driving past the five buildings that framed the college grounds, Anna took a deep breath and tried to convince herself one more time that everything was all right. She was letting her thoughts run away with her. But she was no longer the schoolgirl Davis brought home to Clifton Creek.
This part of town always welcomed her with its large trees and neatly trimmed grounds. Davis had told her the locals started the college when one of Clifton Creek's first settlers donated his huge home. For years the entire teachers college had operated out of the one building. Dorms, a gym, other classrooms designed in the same aging brick structure, had grown up around the old home.
Anna thought the campus was the only place for miles that anyone might call pretty. She would like to put the area on canvas, a view peeping through the colors of fall to the hundred-year-old home that must have been a mansion in its time.
She slowed. Maybe she would paint it in the violets of sunset, if she could catch the twilight just right. Here, its beauty tiptoed quickly, never overwhelming as it had back home. She would have to work hard to catch the uniqueness of the mansion on canvas.
As Anna passed, a few students hurried from their cars to their early classes, paying little more attention to the traffic than the squirrels did. She noticed a long-legged woman dressed in Western clothes crawl out of a Dumpster with a box in each hand.
Anna did not need to hear the woman's words. The look of someone swearing was the same in any language. Anna turned away, not wanting to be a part of another's troubles.
"Damn, damn and double damn," Randi Howard mumbled as she tossed the boxes in the back of her Jeep. She'd fought like a warrior inside that Dumpster to claim the boxes and both of them smelled like cheap whiskey and hot sauce.
Any clothes she packed in them would reek of the same, but at least she would be seeing this town in her rearview mirror. She thought briefly of packing all her junk in trash bags, but somehow boxes seemed more dignified. She should have invested in some of those fine packing boxes sold by moving companies. As many times as she had moved over the years, she would have worn the boxes out.
Randi climbed into her Jeep and headed back to the trailer park. The sky clouded up as if it might rain, but she planned to be long gone before she got caught in a storm.
She waved as she passed Frankie's Bar thinking of the good times and the bad times she had had there, and wondered about the times she had forgotten to remember the next morning.
She thought of the old adage that said we only regret the things we didn't do. Randi knew it wasn't true. The possibility of regret usually fired her into action. She recalled how she could not wait to get a tattoo on her ankle so she could talk about how sorry she was for doing such a foolish thing. The remorse had been so complete she had added a butterfly to her butt.
When Randi drove by the Y she noticed Crystal Howard jogging around the track on the roof. In days past Randi might have honked, or yelled, but lately she seldom talked to Crystal. Even though they were married to kin, they didn't travel in the same circles anymore.
There had been a time when Frankie's Bar didn't come to life each night until Randi and Crystal stepped through the door. Most evenings they wouldn't have to buy a single drink.
But that was before Crystal had married Shelby Howard, an old oilman with a huge house just outside of town and the dozen oil wells pumping nothing but money. A few weeks later Randi had married his nephew, Jimmy, settling for the younger, poorer Howard. He'd been a good husband and, for a while, a good lover, but like everything else in Randi's life, she figured it was time to run before he yelled, "Last call."
Posted November 17, 2011
Had a hard time putting this book down! Loved the characters! A great read!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Posted December 9, 2008
In Clifton Creek, Texas, the oil rig explosion on the Davis ranch leaves four men dead and one individual in critical condition fighting for his life. Because of the charring of the corpses and the severe burns of the survivor no one knows who lived. Five women huddle together in the County memorial Hospital waiting to know whether their spouses are alive or not.<P> Widower Helena Whitworth married J.D. and in spite of their adult children from previous marriages they have been happy together. Italian Anna Montano is the wife of rancher Davis, but he is aloof towards her treating her like an outsider while being nice to her brother. Bar girl Crystal loves her spouse Shelby Howard though he treats her as his trophy wife. Randi had planned to leave her husband Shelby¿s nephew Jimmy to try to make in the country music world. School teacher Meredith Allen had wondered when her spouse, Kevin, a former high school football hero, will realize that his life did not end at eighteen.<P> Though this is a strong tale, THE WIDOWS OF WICHITA COUNTY will feel a bit disappointing because readers learn rather quickly who survived. Guilt, shock, and ¿wishes¿ are not fully explored though the story line looks deeply at grief and survival following one person making a life for herself and her ailing husband with the help of the widows. Jodi Thomas furbishes a powerful character study that will hook fans of women¿s fiction, but though the novel will be well received, readers will feel it could have more.<P> Harriet Klausner
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Posted March 7, 2012
I really enjoyed this book, in fact ,read it twice a few years apart. I wish Jodi Thomas wrote more books like thisWas this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Posted February 19, 2012
A memorible story. And one of my Favorites.Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Posted February 20, 2010
This book did not drag any -- was very well written with a different theme and tasteful romance -- some suspense. A very all around type novel when you just need to step out of the ordinary. I do not like totally romance type novesl but this one offered everything in one package. OK Jodi -- more of this type novel please!?!?Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Posted September 30, 2003
I slipped into a depression several years ago and became disintrested in reading. I picked this book up yesterday evening and am almost finished. Not only is it the only book I have read in years without getting bored, I found myself intwined in the lives of the widows and their sacred bond. It pulled me in from the first page and led me through comletely to the point that I could not put it down... I only had a problem keeping the characters staright for about the first 50 pages. As soon as Thomas pulled me into their individual lives I placed names to faces and got it staright. An excellent read for any woman who has ever had any feelings of lonliness, love, pain, regection, or fear. These women stand the test of death, and Jodi Thomas stands the test of 'Bestselling Author, USA Today'. I cant wait to grab up another book and begin my reading again.Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Posted June 5, 2003
The oil fields of Texas are the lifeblood of the state, but they are filled with danger that equals their rewards. Just being on them can cost one's life, or leave you hurt. .......... This point is brought home to a group of diverse women when they are summoned to the hospital after a tragic accident that kills all involved, save one man. Unfortunately, the man has been burned beyond recognition, and no one can tell which of the women is not a widow. Even if they are able to do so, the woman will surely soon be one, or at best be left with a husband facing a very long and painfilled recovery that might leave him better off dead. .......... Each of the women comes to the waiting room with different things in her heart, one even hopes that she is a widow, while for one, the hope of her husband's survival is paramount. The others love their husbands as well, but only one can leave with a living husband. As they wait and pray, the women form a unique friendship that will see them through the dark days of putting their broken lives back together. As the months and weeks pass, they face emotional and financial crises that will put them to the test, and each of them tries to learn how to love again. ......... ***** The STEEL MAGNOLIAS meets THE ENGLISH PATIENT might be an alternative title for this book. Ms. Thomas' debut modern literature has a warmth and realism that has characterized her past writing, making it accessible to a new audience without abandoning her loyal following. Tears and laughter alike await the reader.Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Posted February 28, 2014
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Posted July 5, 2011
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Posted August 23, 2011
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Posted November 4, 2012
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Posted October 4, 2012
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TLC separates compounds based on differences in polarity. The polarity of a compound is largely based on the functional groups on the molecule. Although cis- and trans-2-butene are different compounds, they share the same functional group (an alkene).
Because their functional groups are not different, they would be difficult to resolve as separate spots on TLC.
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text:
ADVISORY, Jan. 23, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
|QLogic Corp. (Nasdaq:QLGC), a global leader and technology innovator in high performance networking.
|QLogic will exhibit and present at Cloud Expo Europe 2013, Europe's premier event for cloud computing.
QLogic Mt. Rainier Technology Delivers New Performance Benefits for ESX Clusters
Enterprises can overcome lackluster cloud application performance with QLogic® Mt. Rainier shared solid state disk (SSD) caching technology. Mt. Rainier brings transparent, shared server-based SSD caching to the cloud and closes the I/O performance gap across the entire enterprise. This I/O innovation delivers scalable performance to I/O-hungry applications running in mission-critical, single-server and clustered, shared-resource environments. The QLogic exhibit will feature a Mt. Rainier demonstration that includes OS-transparent SSD caching of critical application data, as well as vMotion across physical servers in a VMware ESX cluster while maintaining SSD I/O acceleration performance.QLogic Takes Data to the Cloud As applications shift to cloud computing infrastructure, IT managers face the challenge of migrating information from one data center to another without disrupting business. The QLogic Data Migration Solution (DMS) provides IT managers with a single tool to migrate data from the most complex heterogeneous environments to the cloud. Attendees who visit the QLogic exhibit can learn more about how QLogic DMS, with any-to-any storage protocol connectivity, provides highly flexible and efficient online and offline block storage migration. QLogic's Henrik Hansen Speaks Henrik Hansen, QLogic Director of EMEA Marketing, will provide attendees with insight and practical information in two sessions:
- "Next-generation I/O Architecture for Big Data" on Tuesday, January 29 at 3 p.m. Enterprises are increasingly using Hadoop to analyze big data, and are realizing that careful consideration of all infrastructure choices is critical to maximize Hadoop's value. When looking to build out a Hadoop cluster, IT administrators need to balance costs with node performance, based on CPU, memory, storage and network resources. Overall performance of a Hadoop cluster depends on achieving a balance between CPU, memory, networking and storage within the individual nodes. Hansen will explain how big data is impacting data center architectures today and will show attendees how to build an optimized storage and networking infrastructure for the future. Participants will also learn how enterprise IT can leverage cloud storage while maintaining iSCSI and Fibre Channel local storage infrastructure.
- " Expanding Channel Business Opportunities with Data Migration" on Wednesday, January 30 at 12:40 p.m. As more companies move data center applications and significant amounts of information to the cloud, channel organizations can expand their service offerings and their addressable market with minimal investment by becoming trusted experts in data migration strategies and execution. Enterprise IT departments face time-consuming, complex and potentially expensive obstacles stemming from heterogeneous data center environments with different protocols and technologies and varying compliance and data retention requirements. Hansen will demonstrate how channel organizations can provide highly needed migration services for clients, along with a solid growth strategy for themselves, by matching the right data migration solutions with technical competencies and education.
|Tuesday & Wednesday, 29–30 January
|Cloud Expo Europe 2013
|QLogic Exhibit #815
|National Hall Olympia


text:
I am currently in the process of doing a spreadsheet on the daily supplements I feed my horses. I am seeing if I am doubling up/overdoing on any vitamins or minerals and wasting my money.
Does anybody know where I can find on the internet maybe even a link that has all the recommended daily requirements for horses on minerals and vitamins etc. I can not find any on the net that are straight forward, I preferably need them in grams, mg, Iu etc.
Hoping someone can help. Cheers in advance.


text:
7 celebs killing '90s fashion…in a bad way
We'll say it — the ubiquitous '90s fashion trend is officially on life support. Who's culpable? Celebrities, of course. Because crop tops, high-waisted jeans, mules and even Tevas can be worked...
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text:
Need info from GeForceFX owners!!
Quick question. I'm *considering* a GeForceFX 5700 after these last set of reviews for my wife's PC.
Now, the thing is...I *need* to know if FSAA works in both "The Longest Journey" and "Grim Fandango". I know it does in the GeForce4 Ti series, and I know it does NOT in any ATI card....but I have no knowledge of the FX cards.
Any info would be appreciated!
Re: Need info from GeForceFX owners!!
Not sure why FSAA would work on a Geforce 4 and not on a ATi, unless ATi doesn't do FSAA on 2D... which Grim Fandago "technically" is 2D.
Why do you need an FX5700 if you're playing games like TLJ and Grim Fandango? You should be able to run with 4xS AA on your Ti4600 and still get playable framerates. And IIRC Taz is correct in that Grim Fandango technically isn't 3D at all.
The backgrounds in Grim Fandango and The Longest Journey aren't 3d, no, but the character models are. Those games look crappy when played without FSAA because the backgrounds are all pre-rendered and anti-aliased looking as a result, but the character models are otherwise horribly jaggy.
They do, in fact, both have a '3d accelerated' mode.
As to the FX5700...well those AREN'T the games *I* play (or other people play when they come over), those are the games my *wife* plays. Her computer, so her needs come first.
An FX5700 would be a great way to maybe meet her needs (FSAA those two games) and mine (fairly speedy DX8/9 rendering). *Maybe*. Need to know if it works in those two games, though.
It seems unlikely to me, as I understand nVidia has moved away from the super-sampling FSAA the GeForce4 Ti series did that worked properly in these games and started using a method similar to what ATI uses - that doesn't work.
It's all pre-rendered, including the "character models". All the "3D Accelleration Option" does is filter the textures, which still needs to be done in a 2D invironment simulating 3D. There are no "Polygons in 3D space" drawn.
I used to have a more specific link that described the technology, but I can't find it anymore.
I Hope that helps, tho ;)
EDIT: I don't know about The Longest Journey.
There seems to be some confusion on your end, but I'm not sure from where.
In any case, all the nVidia cards I've tried to date most certainly DO anti-alias the character models' edges, and the ATI cards do not.
I can post screenshots tonight if you are really having a problem following this.
(In any case, I have a hard time believing they would leave as much polygon clipping in the game as they did if it was really all just prerendered. Take a look at this screenshot from Gamesdomain, for example)
Grim Fandango is NOT drawing 3D Polygons.
Yes, My Geforce Series cards DO anti-Alias 2D. You can tell this by blurred fonts on "2D gui huds" in 3D games. (Especially small fonts)
I don't KNOW if ATi AA's 2D or not. I suspect not, if it's not AA'ing Grim Fandango. If ATi does NOT AA 2D DirectDraw/D3D calls, that should prove Grim Fandango is really 2D. ;)
Please read the Gamesdomain review of the game.
They mention at least twice that the game IS rendering 3d models in either software or 3d mode, depending on your choice.
The problem with ATI's anti-aliasing in these two games is that they are 16-bit color games. ATI's anti-aliasing algorith can not do ANYTHING with 16-bit games. What the Catalyst driver does in several cases (of popular 16-bit color games) is convert the 16-bit color calls into 32-bit color calls, which they can then anti-alias appropriately.
These two games they have not seen fit to 'fix', and, as this has been complained about for over a year now, it doesn't seem likely they ever will.
Isn't Grim Fandango DX7 ? Anyways... XanderF word of advice. Since you aren't sure if certain games you own will work on either of the cards you are suggested I would suggest you go to a brick and morter shop like Best Buy or better yet Circuit City (If you have one of these). CC has the best return policy out there and buy the card there. This way you can bring the card home test it out on your machine and if it doesn't do what you want just bring it back and exchange it for another card.
You'll spend more money but in the end you'll have a card that plays the games you are playing.
Grim Fandango is 3D rendered. What type of 3D is another story. Even some Neo-Geo games render 3D backgrounds while the Characters are 2D. A game can render 3D via software or hardware, but it might be rendering the 3D models differently then how you see it in todays games.
D. Solomon Jr.
If it works on a Ti4600, I can think of no reason whatsoever that it would not work on a 5700, since the FSAA implementation is, as far as I know, exactly the same.
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