Can RAID Systems Fail?

Written by Alexandria Haber


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There are several ways to store data usingrepparttar different RAID levels:

- RAID 0, also known as data striping, distributes data across drives which results in higher data throughout. However, since it has no data redundancy, it does not protect against data loss.

- RAID 1, also known as drive mirroring, works by simultaneously copying data to a second drive so no data is lost if there is drive failure.

- RAID 2 uses Hamming error correction codes and is proposed for use with drives which don’t have built-in error detection.

- RAID 3 stripes data at a byte level across several drives storing parity (a form of data protection used to recreaterepparttar 107153 data of a failed drive in a disk array) on a single drive.

- RAID 4 stripes data at a block level across several drives, with parity being stored on one drive. The parity information allows for recovery fromrepparttar 107154 failure of any single drive.

- RAID 5 is similar to RAID 4 except forrepparttar 107155 fact that it distributes parity amongrepparttar 107156 drives.

Withrepparttar 107157 use of RAID systems, there is no reason to be intimidated by computer systems.

Alexandria Haber writes both fiction and non-fiction for a variety of people and places. As a result, she has had the benefit of gaining a little bit of knowledge about a lot of different subjects. While researching this article on RAID recovery she gained a new respect for computer technology. For more information on RAID recovery you can visit: http://www.raidrecoveryguide.com.


Becoming you Client's IT - Selling Managed Services

Written by David Stelzl, CISSP


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3. Who will sell it?

This might berepparttar number one question being asked right now. Selling technology to "post chasm buyers" is not an easy thing to do. In my seminars I always askrepparttar 107152 group to help me measurerepparttar 107153 percentage of successful sales people. In addition, I am looking forrepparttar 107154 average time it takes a new sales person to get up to speed. In some cases I have found companies who have gone through dozens of sales people overrepparttar 107155 last three years, trying to find someone who can bring in enough gross profit to pay for themselves and offer a sound return on investment forrepparttar 107156 company. Bringing in a cold caller to find new customers that want their systems monitored may not berepparttar 107157 best approach.

Michael Bosworth, in his book, Customer Centric Selling calls for Marketing to get involved here (or perhapsrepparttar 107158 person doingrepparttar 107159 marketing function - that might be you). The message needs to be built; He calls this "Sales ready messaging". Michael Gerber, in his book eMyth Revisited, urges his readers to prototyperepparttar 107160 message - don't leave it to each person's interpretation and style. Once we have a proven message, there is a process to systematize it. In other words, createrepparttar 107161 message, get it right, and then use it as long as it works.

Once we have a message, we need to find every channel that can be used to sellrepparttar 107162 solution. At this point I recommend finding teachable people within your organization that will go out with you to learnrepparttar 107163 message. If there is a value torepparttar 107164 service, and we are convincedrepparttar 107165 customers we deal with need it, then our task is to show themrepparttar 107166 need in a way that is so compelling that it will lead to a sale. Bosworth says, 3% ofrepparttar 107167 people know they need something, 97% don't but can be shown. Your engineers may be your best candidates at this point.

4. Will it be profitable?

It will be profitable if we price it right. Managed services is a different kind of solution because, depending on how it is built, we may not knowrepparttar 107168 cost of goods sold (COGS) before we sell it. One way to approach this is by having a system in place to measure engineering time (others may involve pricing out certain types of reactive services outside ofrepparttar 107169 contract untilrepparttar 107170 cost model is developed). Some companies offer unlimited helpdesk support torepparttar 107171 end-user customer, others offer a certain number of incidents. Some offer patches inrepparttar 107172 contract, troubleshooting onsite, etc. If you don't track your costs you won't know whatrepparttar 107173 profit looks like. Atrepparttar 107174 end ofrepparttar 107175 day, you are looking for high margins on managed services. If you are not seeing three times your burden rate overrepparttar 107176 year, your margins are too thin on this offering.



David Stelzl is the owner and founder of Stelzl Visionary Learning Concepts, Inc. working with manufacturers and resellers to create stronger partners through the adoption of emerging market business strategies. David specializes in professional coaching, workshops, and speaking engagements that help techology providers grow their business. Contact us at info@stelzl.us or visit www.stelzl.us to find out how to make your managed services offering successful.


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