Introduction to case study research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Introduction to case study research - Essay Example appraisal refers to the process of systematically evaluating the two case studies evidence to measure their validity, results and significance before using it to update a decision. Instruments created to maintain quality appraisal normally share some basic strategies for the appraisal of qualitative study (Hill & Spittlehouse, 2003). The evaluation will also involve assessment of each article strengths and weaknesses. The second part of this paper involves critical evaluation of use of case study research in terms of validity, reliability and generalizability. A case study is a precise, holistic, frequently unique case that is often designed to demonstrate a more general standard; the study of an instance in practice; and the study of a developing circumstance (Hill & Spittlehouse, 2003). In addition, case studies demonstrate ‘what it is like’ to be in a given situation. Research is the systematic process of gathering and analysing data (information) in order to augment people’s understanding of the occurrence about which people are concerned or interested (Swanborn 2010). This section involves comparison and explanation of these two studies ‘How to Do Case Study Research’ by Donna M. Zucker and ‘Assessing Staff Turnover: A View from the English Riviera’ by Andreas Walmsley (Walmsley 2004; Zucker 2009). The first case study is an interpretive research that involves exploration of a research theme or theory. In this study, researcher interprets data to make sense of it and that is what is considered the fact or truth. Therefore in this study theories are reconstructions of realities, and the strategy of a good presumption is a comprehension of meaning of the study (George and Bennett 2005). The author needed to discover how case study is effectively done. This led to questions such as how data have been interpreted it in order to create or confirm theory and ideas. Meanings in natural science are disconnected from reality, while in social

Prisoners Rights Essay Example for Free

Prisoners Rights Essay Societies over time have defined human rights through a variety of documents that have sought to protect the rights of people. The Geneva Convention is an example of these documents. These documents not only firmly establish rights, but also ensure that countries that adopt these laws are responsible for ensuring rights are respected and followed. Unfortunately, not all governments obey these documents. In the case where war occurs, the Geneva Convention has been especially disregarded and ignored. As a result, agencies such as Amnesty International have stepped in to fight for those prisoners whose rights have been broken. Amnesty International has become one of the most successful agencies, freeing and helping thousands of people who have been imprisoned unfairly. The rights for different kinds of prisoners in different countries are still being debated to this day. These prisoners include prisoners in detention centers and prisoners of conscience. Some people think that someone who has infringed on other’s human rights should not have valid rights themselves. Despite this, prisoners are allowed rights, such as conditions of confinement, limited privacy, safety from other prisoners, food and water and medical attention if necessary. Many prisons still deny one or more of these rights, and continue to this day to torture, kill and/or discriminate against prisoners. One of the most globally recognized laws regarding prisoners is the Geneva Convention. The Geneva Convention is a set of rules written in 1929 and revised in 1949, which focuses on the rights of prisoners of war. Prisoners of war are specifically soldiers captured and held captive by the enemy army. The Geneva Convention states that prisoners of war cannot be prosecuted for taking direct part in hostilities. Their detention is supposed to prevent further participation in the conflict and should not be a form of punishment. The term ‘Prisoners of war’ only applies to international armed conflict. These prisoners must be released and sent back to their country without delay at the end of the war. They must be treated humanely in all circumstances and should be protected against any act of violence, intimidation insults and public curiosity. Despite this, many governments have failed to acknowledge the convention and in some cases, have resulted in prisoners being tortured and even killed. In Guantà ¡namo Bay, Cuba, there is a detention center at its naval base, set up by the United States. From 2002, the prison has been holding prisoners who have been suspected of being terrorists or having ties to terrorists. They are held in order for the government to try and get information out of them. The Americans also set up another detention center in Abu Ghraib, Iraq in 2004. George Bush, who was president of the USA at the time, described the men held in these prisons not as prisoners of war, but as unlawful combatants and claimed that the Geneva Conventions protections did not apply to them. A lot of people have argued that the prisons should not be allowed, due to the fact that most prisoners have been tortured, sexually abused, drugged, and harmed by many other violent acts to get information. There are still no laws that protect these prisoners and the USA has gotten many negative judgments from all around the world. A lot of global campaigns and agencies are currently working to fix this issue. Prisoners of Conscience are people who are believed to have had already had their rights stripped from them. More specifically, they are people who have been imprisoned for expressing ideas about their lifestyle, belief, race, or religion in a non-violent way and have been denied due process. Due process is the system where a person is procedure where a person goes through a fair trial in the normal judicial system where he/she is innocent until proven guilty. There are agencies and campaigns worldwide that go to extreme extents to get prisoners of conscience publically recognized and hopefully released. Amnesty International is one of the most well–known and successful non-governmental campaigning organizations that works to monitor and protect human rights all over the world. The organization began with one man’s outrage and his courage to do something about it, this man being British lawyer Peter Benson. He is looked at as a hero, not only within the organization. Their main focus are Prisoners of Conscience. The organization has over 3 million members and supporters and was founded in London 1996. Their objective is to â€Å"conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated.† Amnesty International think of themselves as advocates for prisoners and the word ‘amnesty’ refers to being forgiven for a crime or other offence. Prisoners’ rights is just one segment of human rights, but is still just as important as children’s or elderly rights. Prisoners everywhere, from those in Guantà ¡namo Bay to prisoners of war should have valid rights if they don’t already. Having legal rights or laws is the first step, but putting the law in action is what really matters. Although there are a number of countries that ignore these documents, there are also countries that abide by them and are great examples of fair humanity. Agencies, organizations and campaigns work for these changes all around the world and with the help and support of every day people, they can hopefully change the world for the better.

The History Of Virtualization Information Technology Essay

The History Of Virtualization Information Technology Essay Introduction Virtualization is one of the hottest innovations in the Information Technology field, with proven benefits that propel organizations to strategize for rapid planning and implementation of virtualization. As with any new technology, managers must be careful to analyze how that technology would best fit in their organization. In this document, we will provide an overview of virtualization to help shed light on this quickly evolving technology. History of Virtualization Virtualization is Brand New Again! Although virtualization seems to be a hot new cutting edge technology, IBM originally used it on their mainframes in the 1960s. The IBM 360/67 running the CP/CMS system used virtualization as an approach to time sharing. Each user would run their own 360 machine. Storage was partitioned into virtual disks called P-Disks for each user. Mainframe virtualization remained popular through the 1970s. During the 1980s and 1990s, virtualization kind of disappeared. During the 1980s, there were a couple of products made for Intel PCs. Simultask and Merger/386, both developed by Locus Computing Corporation, would run MS-DOS as guest operating systems. In 1988, Insignia Solutions released Soft PC which ran DOS on Sun and Macintosh platforms. The late 1990s would usher in the new wave of virtualization. In 1997, Connectix would release Virtual PC for the Macintosh. Later, Connectix would release a version for the Windows and subsequently be bought by Microsoft in 2003. In 1999, VMware would introduce its entry into virtualization. In the last decade, every major player in servers has integrated virtualization into their offerings. In addition to VMware and Microsoft, Sun, Veritas, and HP would all acquire virtualization technology. How Does Virtualization Work? In the enterprise IT world, servers are necessary to do many jobs. Traditionally each machine only does one job, and sometimes many servers are given the same job. The reason behind this is to keep hardware and software problems on one machine from causing problems for several programs. There are several problems with this approach however. The first problem is that it doesnt take advantage of modern server computers processing power.[11] Most servers only use a small percentage of their overall processing capabilities. The other problem is that the servers begin to take up a lot of physical space as the enterprise network grows larger and more complex. Data centers might become overcrowded with racks of servers consuming a lot of power and generating heat. Server virtualization tries to fix both of these problems in one fell swoop.[16] Server virtualization uses specially designed software in which an administrator can convert one physical server into multiple virtual machines. Each virtual server acts as a unique physical device that is capable of running its own operating system. Until recent technological developments, the only way to create a virtual server was to design special software to trick a servers CPU into providing processing power for several virtual machines. Today, however, processor manufacturers such as Intel and AMD offer processors with the capability of supporting virtual servers already built in. In the virtualized environment, the hardware doesnt create the virtual servers. Network administrators or engineers still need to create them using the right software. [11] In the world of information technology, server virtualization is still a hot topic. Still considered a new technology, several companies offer different approaches to server virtualization. There are three ways to create virtual servers; full virtualization, para-virtualization, and OS-level virtualization. In all three variations there are a few common traits. The physical server is always called the host. The virtual servers are called guests. The virtual servers all behave as if they were physical machines. However, in each of the different methods uses a different approach to allocating the physical server resources to virtual server needs. [11] Full Virtualization The full virtualization method uses software called a hypervisor. This hypervisor works directly with the physical servers CPU and disk space. It performs as the stage for the virtual servers operating system. This keeps each server completely autonomous and unconscious of the other servers running on the same physical machine. If necessary, the virtual servers can be running on different operating system software like Linux and/or Windows. The hypervisor also watches the physical servers resources. It relays resources from the physical machine to the appropriate virtual server as the virtual servers run their applications. Finally, because hypervisors have their own processing needs, the physical server must reserve some processing power and resources to run the hypervisor application. If not done properly, this can affect the overall performance and slow down applications. [11] Para-Virtualization Unlike the full virtualization method, the para-virtualization approach allows the guest servers to be aware of one another. Because, each operating system in the virtual servers is conscious of the demands being placed on the physical server by the other guests, the Para-virtualization hypervisor doesnt require as much processing power to oversee the guest operating systems. In this way the entire system works together as a unified organization. [11] OS-Level Virtualization The OS-level virtualization approach doesnt use a hypervisor at all. The virtualization capability is part of the host OS, instead. The host OS executes all of the functions of a fully virtualized hypervisor. Because the OS-level operates without the hypervisor, it limits all of the virtual servers to one operating system where the other two approaches allow for different OS usage on the virtual servers. The OS-level approach is known as the homogeneous environment because all of the guest operating systems must be the same. [11] With three different approaches to virtualization, the question remains as to which method is the best. This is where a complete understanding of enterprise and network requirements is imperative. If the enterprises physical servers all run on the same OS, then the OS-level approach might be the best solution. It tends to be faster and more efficient than the others. However, if the physical servers are running on several different operating systems, para-virtualization or full virtualization might be better approaches. Virtualization Standards With the ever-increasing adoption of virtualization, there are very few standards that actually reign as prevalent in this technology. As the migration to virtualization grows, so does the need for open industry standards. This is why the work on virtualization is viewed by several industry observers as a giant step in the right direction. The Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) currently promotes standards for virtualization management to help industry suppliers implement compliant, interoperable virtualization management solutions. The strongest standard to be created for this technology was the Standardization of Management in a Virtualized Environment. It was accomplished by a team who builds on standards already in place. This standard lowers the IT learning curve and complexity for vendors implementing this support in their management solutions. Its ease-of-use makes this standard successful. The new standard recognizes supported virtualization management capabilities, including the ability to: discover inventory virtual computer systems manage lifecycle of virtual computer systems create/modify/delete virtual resources monitor virtual systems for health and performance Virtualization standards are not suffering as a result of poor development but rather because of the common IT challenge involved in pleasing all users. Until virtualization is standardized, network professionals must continue to meet these challenges within a dynamic data center. For example, before the relationship between Cisco and VMWare was established Ciscos Data Center 3.0 was best described as scrawny. 150 million dollars later, Cisco was able to establish a successful integration that allows the VFrame to load VMware ESX Server onto bare-metal computer hardware something that previously could only be done with Windows and Linux and configure the network and storage connections that ESX required. In addition, Microsoft made pledges only in the Web services arena, where it faces tougher open standards competition. The companys Open Specification Promise allows every individual and organization in the world to make use of Virtual Hard Disk Image Format forever, Microsoft said in a statement. VHD allows the packaging of an application with that applications Windows operating system. Several such combinations, each in its own virtual machine, can run on a single piece of hardware. The future standard of virtualization is in Open Virtual machine Format (OVF). OVF doesnt aim to replace the pre-existing formats, but instead ties them together in a standard-based XML package that contains all the necessary installation and configuration parameters. This, in theory, will allow any virtualization platform (that implements the standard) to run the virtual machines. OVF will set some safeguards as well. The format will permit integrity checking of the VMs to ensure they have not been tampered with after the package was produced. Virtualization in the Enterprise Microsofts Approach (Toms needs references) Virtualization is an approach to deploying computing resources that isolates different layers-hardware, software, data, networks, storage-from each other. Typically today, an operating system is installed directly onto a computers hardware. Applications are installed directly onto the operating system. The interface is presented through a display connected directly to the local machine. Altering one layer often affects the others, making changes difficult to implement. By using software to isolate these layers from each other, virtualization makes it easier to implement changes. The result is simplified management, more efficient use of IT resources, and the flexibility to provide the right computing resources, when and where they are needed. Bob Muglia, Senior Vice President, Server and Tools Business, Microsoft Corporation The typical discussions of virtualization focus on server hardware virtualization (which will be discussed later in this article). However, there is more to virtualization than just server virtualization. This section presents Microsofts virtualization strategy. By looking at Microsofts virtualization strategy, we can see other areas, beside server virtualization, where virtualization can be used in the enterprise infrastructure. Server Virtualization Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V and Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 In Server virtualization, one physical server is made to appear as multiple servers. Microsoft has two products for virtual servers. Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 was made to run on Windows Server 2003. The current product is Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, which will only run on 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2008. Both products are considered hypervisors, a term coined by IBM in 1972. A hypervisor is the platform that enables multiple operating systems to run on a single physical computer. Microsoft Virtual Server is considered a Type 2 hypervisor. A Type 2 hypervisor runs within the host computers operating system. Hyper-V is considered a Type 1 hypervisor, also called a bare-metal hypervisor. Type 1 hypervisors run directly on the physical hardware (bare metal) of the host computer. A virtual machine; whether we are talking about Microsoft, VMWare, Citrix, or Parallels; basically consists of two files, a configuration file and a virtual hard drive file. This is true for desktop virtualization as well. For Hyper-V, there is a .vmc file for the virtual machine configuration and a .vhd file for the virtual hard drive. The virtual hard drive holds the OS and data for the virtual server. Business continuity can be enhanced by using virtual servers. Microsofts System Center Virtual Machine Manager allows an administrator to move a virtual machine to another physical host without the end users realizing it. With this feature, maintenance can be carried out without bringing the servers down. Failover clustering between servers can also be enabled. This means that should a virtual server fail, another virtual server could take over, providing a disaster recovery solution. Testing and development is enhanced through the use of Hyper-V. Virtual server test systems that duplicate the production systems are used to test code. In UCFs Office of Undergraduate Studies, a virtual Windows 2003 server is used to test new web sites and PHP code. The virtual server and its physical production counterpart have the exact same software installed, to allow programmers and designers to check their web applications before releasing them to the public. By consolidating multiple servers to run on fewer physical servers, cost saving may be found in lower cooling and electricity needs, lower hardware needs, and less physical space to house the data center. Server consolidation is also a key technology for Green computing initiatives. Computer resources are also optimized, for example CPUs will see less idle time. Server virtualization also maximizes licensing. For example, purchasing one Microsoft Server Enterprise license will allow you to run four virtual servers using the same license. Desktop Virtualization Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) Desktop virtualization is very similar to server virtualization. A client operating system, such as Windows 7, is used to run a guest operating system, such as Windows XP. This is usually done to support applications or hardware not supported in the current operating system (This is why Microsoft included Windows XP mode in versions of Windows 7). Microsofts Virtual PC is the foundation for this desktop virtualization. Virtual PC allows a desktop computer to run a guest operating system (OS) which is independent instance of an OS on top of their host OS. Virtual PC emulates a standard PC hardware environment and is independent of the hosts hardware or setup. Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) is a managed client-hosted desktop virtualization solution. MED-V builds upon Virtual PC and adds features to deploy, manage, and control the virtual images. The images can also be remotely updated. The virtual machines run on the client computer. Also, applications that have been installed on the virtual computer can be listed on the host machines Start menu or as a desktop shortcut, giving the end user a seamless experience. MED-V can be very useful to support legacy applications that may not be able to run on the latest deployed operating system. The virtual images are portable and that makes it useful for a couple of scenarios. Employees that use their personal computers for work can now use a corporate managed virtual desktop. This solves a common problem where the personal computer might be running a home version of the operating system that does not allow it to connect to a corporate network. This also means that the enterprise only makes changes to the virtual computer and makes not changes to the personal computers OS. The other scenario where portability plays a factor is that the virtual image could be saved to a removable device, such as a USB flash drive. The virtual image could then be run from the USB drive on any computer that has an installation of Virtual PC. Although this is listed as a benefit by Tulloch, I also see some problems with this scenario. USB flash drives sometimes get lost and losing a flash drive in this scenario is like losing a whole computer, so caution should be exercised so that sensitive data is not kept on the flash drive. Secondly, based on personal experience, even with a fast USB flash drive, the performance of the virtual computer running from the USB flash drive is poor as compared to running the same image from the hard drive. Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is server based desktop virtualization. In MED-V, the virtual image is on the client machine and runs on the client hardware. In VDI, the virtual images are on a Window Server 2008 with Hyper-V server and run on the server. The users data and applications, therefore, reside on the server. This solution seems to be a combination of Hyper-V and Terminal Services (discussed later in this section). There are several benefits to this approach. Employees can work from any desktop, whether in the office or at home. Also, the client requirements are very low. Using VDI, the virtual images can be deployed not only to standard desktops PCs, but also to thin clients and netbooks. Security is also enhanced because all of the data is housed on servers in the data center. Finally, administration is easier and more efficient due to the centralized storage of the images. Application Virtualization Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) Application virtualization allows applications to be streamed and cached to the desktop computer. The applications do not actually install themselves into the desktop operating system. For example, no changes are actually made to the Windows registry. This allows for some unusual virtual tricks like being able to run two versions of Microsoft Office on one computer. Normally, this would be impossible. App-V allows administrators to package applications in a self-contained environment. This package contains a virtual environment and everything that the application needs to run. The client computer is able to execute this package using the App-V client software. Because the application is self-contained, it makes no changes to the client, including no changes to the registry. Applications can be deployed or published through the App-V Management server. App-V packages can also be deployed through Microsofts System Center Configuration Manager or standalone .msi files located on network shares or removable media. App-V has several benefits for the enterprise. There is a centralized management of the entire application life cycle. There is faster application deployment due to less time performing regression testing. Since App-V applications are self-contained, there are no software compatibility issues. You can also provide on-demand application deployment. Troubleshooting is also made easier by using App-V. When an application is installed on a client, it creates a cache on the local hard drive. If an App-V application fails, it can be reinstalled by deleting the cache file. Presentation Virtualization Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services Terminal services, which has been around for many years, has been folded into Microsofts Virtualization offerings. A terminal server allows multiple users to connect. Each user receives a desktop view from the server in which they will run applications on the server. Any programs run within this desktop view actually execute on the terminal server. The client only receives the screen view from the server. The strategy employed here is that since the application will only use resources on the server, money can be spent on strong server hardware and money saved on lighter strength clients. Also, since the application is only on the server, it is easier to maintain the software, since it only needs to be updated on the server and not all of the clients. Also, since the application runs on the server, the data can be stored on the server as well, enhancing security. Another security feature is that every keystroke and mouse stroke is encrypted. The solution is also scalable and can be ex panded to use multiple servers in a farm. Terminal services applications can also be optimized for both high and low bandwidth scenarios. This is helpful for remote users accessing corporate applications from less than optimal connections. User-State Virtualization Roaming User Profiles, Folder Redirection, Offline Files This is another set of technologies that have been around since Windows 95 but have now been folded into the virtualization strategy. A user profile consists of registry entries and folders which define the users environment. The desktop background is a common setting that you will find as part of the user profile. Other items included in the user profile are application settings, Internet Explorer favorites, and documents, music, and picture folders. Roaming user profiles are profiles saved to a server that will follow a user to any computer that the user logs in to. For an example, a user with roaming profiles logs on to a computer on the factory floor and changes the desktop image to a picture of fluffy kittys. When he logs on to his office computer, the fluffy kittys are also on his office computers desktop as well. When using roaming profiles, one of the limitations is that the profile must be synchronized from the server to the workstation each time the user logs on. When the user logs off, the profile is then copied back up to the server. If folders, such as the documents folder, are included, the downloading and uploading can take some time. An improved solution is to use redirected folders. Folders, such as documents and pictures, can be redirected to a server location. This transparent to the user, for the user will still access his documents folder as if they were part of his local profile. This also helps with data backup, since it is easier to backup a single server than document folders located on multiple client computers. A limitation with roaming user profiles occurs when the server or network access to the server is down. Offline files attempt to address that limitation by providing access to network files even if the server location is inaccessible. When used with Roaming User Profiles and Folder Redirection, files saved in redirected folders are automatically made available for offline use. Files marked for offline use are stored on the local client in a client-side cache. Files are synchronized between the client-side cache and the server. If connection to the server is lost, the Offline Files feature takes over. The user may not even realize that there have been any problems with the server. Together, Roaming User profiles, Folder Redirection, and Offline Files are also an excellent disaster recovery tool. When a desktop computer fails, the biggest loss are the users data. With these three technologies in place, all the user would need to do is to log into another standard corporate issued computer and resume working. There is no downtime in trying to recover or restore the users data since it was all safely stored on a server. Review of Virtualization in the Enterprise Virtualization can enhance the way an enterprise runs the data center. Server virtualization can optimize hardware utilization. Desktop virtualization can provide a standard client for your end users. Application virtualization can allow central administration of applications and fewer chances of application incompatibilities. Presentation virtualization allows central management of applications and allowing low end clients, such as thin clients and netbooks, to run software to perform beyond the hardware limitations. User state virtualization gives the user a computer environment that will follow them no matter what corporate computer they use. Benefits and Advantages of Virtualization Virtualization has evolved into a very important entity and a platform for IT to take a step into computing history, being used by countless companies both large and small. This is due to Virtualizations capability to proficiently simplify IT operations and allow IT organizations to respond faster to changing business demands. Although virtualization started out as a technology used mostly in testing and development environments, in recent years it has moved toward the mainstream in production servers. While there are many advantages of this technology, the following are the top 5. Virtualization is cost efficient Virtualization allows a company or organization to save money on hardware, space, and energy. Using existing servers and/or disks to add more performance without adding additional capacity, virtualization directly translates into savings on hardware requirements. When it is possible to deploy three or more servers on one physical machine, it is no longer necessary to purchase three or more separate machines, which may in fact have only been used occasionally. In addition to one-time expenses, virtualization can help save money in the long run as well because it can drastically reduce energy consumption. When there are fewer physical machines this means less energy to power (and cool) them is needed. Virtualization is Green GreenIT is not just a fashion trend. Eco-friendly technologies are in high demand and virtualization solutions are certainly among them. As already mentioned, server virtualization and storage virtualization lead to decreased energy consumption; this automatically includes them in the list of green technologies. Virtualization Eases Administration and Migration When there are fewer physical machines, this also makes their administration easier. The administration of virtualized and non-virtualized servers and disks is practically the same. However, there are cases when virtualization poses some administration challenges and might require some training regarding how to handle the virtualization application. Virtualization Makes an Enterprise More Efficient Increased efficiency is one more advantage of virtualization. Virtualization helps to utilize the existing infrastructure in a better way. Typically an enterprise uses a small portion of its computing power. It is not uncommon to see server load in the single digits. Keeping underutilized machines is expensive and inefficient and virtualization helps to deal with this problem as well. When several servers are deployed onto one physical machine, this will increase capacity utilization to 90 per cent or more. Improved System Reliability and Security Virtualization of systems helps prevent system crashes due to memory corruption caused by software like device drivers. VT-d for Directed I/O Architecture provides methods to better control system devices by defining the architecture for DMA and interrupt remapping to ensure improved isolation of I/O resources for greater reliability, security, and availability. Dynamic Load Balancing and Disaster Recovery As server workloads vary, virtualization provides the ability for virtual machines that are over utilizing the resources of a server to be moved to underutilized servers.   This dynamic load balancing creates efficient utilization of server resources. In addition, disaster recovery is a critical component for IT, as system crashes can create huge economic losses. Virtualization technology enables a virtual image on a machine to be instantly re-imaged on another server if a machine failure occurs. Limitations and/or Disadvantages of Virtualization While one could conclude that virtualization is the perfect technology for any enterprise, it does have several limitations or disadvantages. Its very important for a network administrator to research server virtualization and his or her own networks architecture and needs before attempting to engineer a solution. Understanding the networks architecture needs allows for the adoption of a realistic approach to virtualization and for better judgment of whether it is a suitable solution in a given scenario or not. Some of the most notable limitations and disadvantages are having a single point of failure, hardware and performance demands, and migration. Single Point of Failure One of the biggest disadvantages of virtualization is that there is a single point of failure. When the physical machine, where all the virtualized solutions run, fails or if the virtualized solution itself fails, everything crashes. Imagine, for example, youre running several important servers on one physical host and its RAID controller fails, wiping out everything. What do you do? How can you prevent that? The disaster caused by physical failure can however be avoided with one of several responsible virtualized environment options. The first of these options is clustering. Clustering allows several physical machines to collectively host one or more virtual servers. They generally provide two distinct roles, which are to provide for continuous data access, even if a failure with a system or network device occurs, and to load balance a high volume of clients across several physical hosts.[14] In clustering, clients dont connect to a physical computer but instead connect to a logical virtual server running on top of one or more physical computers. Another solution is to backup the virtual machines with a continuous data protection solution. Continuous data protection makes it possible to restore all virtual machines quickly to another host if the physical server ever goes down. If the virtual infrastructure is well planned, physical failures wont be a frequent problem. However, this solut ion does require an investment in redundant hardware, which more or less eliminates some of the advantages of virtualization. [12] Hardware and Performance Demands Server virtualization may save money because less hardware is required thus allowing a decrease the physical number of machines in an enterprise, it does not mean that newer and faster computers are not necessary. These solutions require powerful machines. If the physical server doesnt have enough RAM or CPU power, performance will be disrupted. Virtualization essentially divides the servers processing power up among the virtual servers. When the servers processing power cant meet the application demands, everything slows down. [11] Therefore, things that shouldnt take very long could slow down to take hours or may even cause the server to crash. Network administrators should take a close look at CPU usage before dividing a physical server into multiple virtual machines. [11] Migration In current virtualization methodology, it is only possible to migrate a virtual server from one physical machine to another if both physical machines use the same manufacturers processors. For example, if a network uses one server that runs an Intel processor and another that uses an AMD processor, it is not possible to transfer a virtual server from one physical machine to the other. [11] One might ask why this is important to note as a limitation. If a physical server needs to be fixed, upgraded, or just maintained, transferring the virtual servers to other machines can decrease the amount of required down time during the maintenance. If porting the virtual server to another physical machine wasnt an option, then all of the applications on that virtual machine would be unavailable during the maintenance downtime. [11] Virtualization Market Size and Growth Market research reports indicate that the total desktop and server virtualization market value grew by 43% from $1.9 Billion in 2008 to $2.7 Billion in 2009. Researchers estimate that by 2013, approximately

Good vs. Evil Essay -- essays research papers

Good vs. Evil So often we see a battle of good vs. evil in movies, books, society, and in this case, an epic poem. This motif is used so often because it pertains to so many facets of authentic life. The epic poem Beowulf is an example of this because the hero of the story has an ongoing conflict with the evil villain, Grendel. The same motif is true in the discussion of Christianity versus Non-Christianity. Good and Evil can be talked about in different ways, but here you will see the Good in Beowulf, then in Christianity and the Evil in Grendel along with Non-Christianity. Beowulf reveals numerous qualities that prove he is a great leader and warrior. Courage, religion, and strength just break the ice. He proves to be courageous when he says, â€Å"That I alone and with the help of my men may purge all evil from this hall.† Throughout the story, Beowulf has the courage to never back down from a confrontation and is willing to fight till the death. Beowulf shows that he is religious when â€Å"they gave thanks to God for their easy crossing.† This is talking about when the Geats make their journey safely from home to the Danish shore. Every time Beowulf is victorious in battle he gives thanks to God and says that he knows his fate is in God’s hands. Beowulf is also strong. Strength allows him to show society that they can be strong. He shows strength as a leader but he also shows this as a warrior when he used his strength to kill Grendel and his mother. Beowulf shows integrit...

Mad Cow Disease :: essays research papers

Mad cow disease kills many and is spreading rapidly throughout Britain and is slowly affecting the United States. Mad cow disease is a serious disease that affects many different species. There are different forms of the disease. This disease has occurred in Britain and can occur in the United States as well. Mad cow disease can be prevented.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mad cow disease has several different names. It is called Bovine Spongiform encephalopathy or BSE. Other names are New Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease or vCJD (Morris). Transmittable Spongiform encephalopathy or TSE is another name. Spongiform encephalopathies are nervous system disorders which nerve cells of the brain die, causing the brain to assume a sponge-like appearance (Montague, Part 1). In 1985 a veterinarian found odd symptoms in a cattle (Morris). Cows in Britain began to die of mysterious ailments (Montague, Part 1). German physicians Hans Gerhard Creutzfeldt and Alfons Jakob first discovered vCJD in its natural form in the 1920’s (Shell, Part 2). In 1996 British government conceded that people were falling victim to a degenerate new brain disease linked to BSE (Morris).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some cows in the United States may already have mad cow disease. It is also very possible that people in the United States may have the human form of the disease. Cows are vegetarians by nature. They can be infected when they are forced to eat parts of other infected animals. When animals are slaughtered for human food at least half of the carcass-hide, hooves, entrails, etc can not be sold for human consumption. It’s then sent to a â€Å"rendering† plant where it’s ground up, boiled down and driven into the consistency of brown sugar. Now, it’s sold for feed for cows, pigs, chickens and pets. Eating infected animals transmits mad cow disease or eating animal parts especially brains and spinal cords (Montague, Part 3). Cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry that are exposed to BSE via animal food can secretly harbour the disease (Morris). Scrapie is a disease that has affected sheep for at least 200 years. Sheep infected with Scrapie rub up ag ainst fences or barns until they scrape away their wool, leaving raw wounds, then they die. Scrapie infected sheep are sometimes fed to cows (Montague). Humans can get the human form of mad cow disease by eating infected meat.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mad cow disease has a severe effect on animals. The infamous disease has increased 23 percent a year in Britain since 1994 (ABC News).

The Link Between Height and Personal Success :: Biology Essays Research Papers

The Link Between Height and Personal Success Your height won't influence what you earn as much as your race or gender, but it may well be significant. In Britain and America, the tallest quarter of the population earns 10% more than the shortest quarter. A white American man averages a 1.8% higher income than his counterpart an inch shorter (1). Economics is not the only area in which taller people win: out of the US's 42 presidents, only eight have been below average height for the time. Most have been significantly taller than the average for white adult males of their eras (2). Tall men are also more likely to be married and have children (3). Outside of normal height differences, people with growth deficiency are much more aware of the role height plays in their lives. A study done through a growth clinic showed that children with growth deficiency are more likely to have social problems. The problems included lower social competance, increased behavior problems, and low self-esteem. Another study found lower rates of employment and marriage when children with growth deficiency grew up (4). One theory of why tall people are more successful is that there is stigma attatched to height, and thus short people are seen as easier to dominate (2). Another theory is that evolutionarily, tall people had an advantage in hunting and such and were thus associated with positive traits (5). Perhaps we still retain this association unconciously. The third theory is that taller people have a better-self image, and this increased confidence makes them more successful (2). A factor that may influence both earnings and height is one's family background. Shorter men tend to come from bigger families with parents who have less education than those of taller men. This shorter height may be a factor of poor childhood nutrition, and parents with less education are more likely to have children who also receive less education and therefore earn less. Family background is not the only influence, though, as shorter men still earn less than taller men from the same background (2). Effects that appear to stem from one's adult height, though, may have a different cause entirely. Participants in one study were asked to report their heights at ages 7,11, 16, and 23. The height that affected one's adult earnings, it turned out, was not the adult height but the 16-year-old height.

Vw Strategy India

Marketing Solutions Volkswagen India Case Study Innovative campaign inspires 2,700 car recommendations in 4 weeks Volkswagen (VW) is one of the world’s leading automobile manufacturers and the largest carmaker in Europe. As Volkswagen pursues its goal of becoming the number one automaker in the world by 2018, India has become a key component of its strategy. India is currently the world’s second fastest growing car market, with shipments expected to more than double by 2018. As a relatively recent entry into the Indian automotive market, VW needed to raise brand awareness. To address this challenge, Volkswagen’s marketing team focused one of its key brand pillars, innovation, to make a strong impact throughout the roll-out in India. Innovation was showcased not only in Volkswagen’s product introductions, but also in its communications and advertising. Challenge †¢ Create brand awareness among working professionals †¢ Build loyalty and aspiration †¢ In uence decision-making Solution †¢ Establish †¢ Enable VW-branded Company Page on LinkedIn LinkedIn members to recommend their favorite VW models †¢ Use LinkedIn Recommendation Ads to extend reach Innovative marketing strategies raise awareness VW India created groundbreaking campaigns such as the world’s rst ‘talking newspaper’, which used light-sensitive chips to speak to readers about Volkswagen as they turned the pages of their morning newspaper. The talking newspaper ad created a sensation in India, and garnered worldwide attention for taking print advertising to a new level. In one year, brand awareness ore than quadrupled, increasing from 8 percent to a high of 37 percent. Volkswagen next turned to digital media to extend its success and create new opportunities for customers to connect with the brand. Lutz Kothe, Head of Marketing for VW India, says, â€Å"At Volkswagen, innovation is woven into everything we do. In formulating our digital strategy, we looked beyond the obvious for innovative ways to eng age our audience. We knew that for many people, their car affects their professional life and their professional identity affects their car choices. This made LinkedIn a natural choice to connect with current and potential car buyers among the growing Indian professional population. † 1 Why LinkedIn? †¢ #1 resource for career-minded professionals †¢ Precise targeting by seniority and geography ensures match with affordability criteria, dealership locations Results †¢ 2,700 †¢ 2,300 product recommendations in 30 days new followers on VW India Company Page †¢ 960,000 viral updates about VW car models †Indian car market growth second fastest globally,† The Times of India, Jan 12, 2011; IHS Global Insight Automotive Industry Analysis, (data status: 07/02/11), rounded. Recommendation Ads get people talking Next, Volkswagen launched a series of Recommendation Ads encouraging more customers to join the conversation. Each ad showcased endorsements of actual LinkedIn members, and invited the community to recommend their favorite Volkswagen model. Volkswagen used LinkedIn’s broad reach (100 million members worldwide, 9 million in India) and precise targeting capabilities to connect with professionals who matched the buyer pro les for their different models. Lutz Kothe said, â€Å"Volkswagen was the rst company in India to use LinkedIn Recommendation Ads, and the campaign was a success. We went in with a goal of inspiring 500 recommendations among current and prospective car buyers. In less than 30 days, over 2,700 Volkswagen fans had stepped forward to recommend their favorite cars and share these recommendations with their professional networks. In the same time period, we gained over 2,300 followers who asked to stay abreast of the latest news and developments from Volkswagen. Kothe concludes, â€Å"In a world where people spend an increasing amount of time at work, thinking about work, and interacting with their work colleagues, we believe it’s important to foster discussion about Volkswagen products in a professional context. Our innovative partnership with LinkedIn lets our customers learn about Volkswagen products and provides insights†. LinkedIn Recommendations are ‘Network Aware,’ allowing members to see who in their professional network has recommended VW products Engaging working professionals on LinkedIn LinkedIn approached Volkswagen India with an opportunity to be the rst auto major to establish a presence on LinkedIn Company Pages. ‘Company Pages’ provide a branded home base within the LinkedIn community where businesses can showcase their company, products, and services in a trusted, professional environment. Volkswagen India participated in the worldwide launch of Company Pages in November 2010, and soon thereafter opened up their pages to allow LinkedIn members to post reviews and recommendations of their car line in India including the New Beetle, Vento, and Polo. Mr. Lutz Kothe, Head of Marketing & PR, Volkswagen Passenger Cars says â€Å"We were pleasantly surprised to see how easy it was to create our Company Page on LinkedIn and start engaging with customers among the LinkedIn community. Furthermore, the quality of interaction was very high. Recommendation Ads accelerate results 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 Week 0 Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Launch of Recommendation Ads LinkedIn member-generated recommendations of VW car models increased dramatically with the launch the recommendation ad campaign. Over 2,700 Volkswagen fans recommended their favorite car models to their professional network in just four weeks. Sample Volkswagen recommendation ad featuring the new Beetle Reach the world’s largest audience of business professionals with LinkedIn. LinkedIn Marketing Solutions http://marketing. linkedin. com/contact Copyright  © 2011 LinkedIn Corporation. LinkedIn, the LinkedIn logo, and InMail are registered trademarks of LinkedIn Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other brands and names are the property of their respective owners. All rights reserved. 10-LCS-032-G 0511