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Free system backup softwares

Freebyte Backup
Freebyte Backup is a very effective freeware backup program for Windows. It enables you to easily backup files from any amount of directories and sub-directories.

Freebyte Backup can backup all files, or a selection of files: you can filter according to file-date, file-type and even perform an incremental backup. Also: support for profiles.Small, simple to use, and simple to install (no dll’s!!).

Easeus Disk Copy
Free program which can create an exact (Mirror Image, Disk to Disk) copy of your old disk, including the operating system, applications, personal preferences, custom settings, data, lost files, and inaccessible data. It can be used for backup, cloning, your original small hard drive to a new larger drive.

TreePad X Enterprise
384 Gigabyte Personal Information Manager and Word Processor.Intuitive and versatile, including Website Generator, spellchecker, thesaurus, attachments, search engine, recycle bin, and much more!

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Disk Imaging: Image by selective head(s)

Drives presented for recovery sometimes have some heads or surfaces damaged (physical damage). The problem is severe enough for the drive to stop working in its native system. However, with the latest upgraded Data Compass DCEXP utility, it is possible now (before installation of MHA replacement) to create a copy of data using the remaining good surfaces or drive heads; small files can even be recovered directly.

What’s more, this procedure will also be essential in cases:

1. When the drive is having read instability problem: by reading the surfaces one by one, it greatly reduces the seek time & times, smoothes the reading of the data, thus in some cases the original “damaged” head or surface becomes available, and users will then have no need to perform a risky MHA replacement.

2. When users have only a donor MHA with some heads damaged also: we can use the native head to read the available data first and then replace it with the donor one for reading the available data; if these two MHAs happen to be a complement to each other (for example native MHA with head 1 damaged, and donor MHA happens to have head 1 remained good), even in fact we don’t have/use a good MHA at all, we can recover all the data on the drive.

See More: Image by selective heads

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Free File & Document Converters

Omniformat
Free document conversion utility for Windows, which allows dynamic conversion and image manipulation of over 75 file formats including HTML, DOC, XLS, WPD, PDF, JPG, GIF, TIF, PNG, PCX, PPT, PS, TXT, Photo CD, FAX and MPEG.

exe-eBook Creator
exe-eBook creator is a freeware ebook compiler for TreePad files. It enables you to create an executable (program) from a TreePad .tpd or .hjt file. This single “exe-file” contains the TreePad database as well as the TreePad Viewer program.

The advantage of an exe-eBook is that it can be distributed royalty-free as a single file, since both data and viewer program are contained inside the program. Furthermore, a TreePad exe-eBook runs directly without installing anything! exe-eBook creator can also compile password protected/encrypted TreePad files as exe-eBook. Additionally: exe-eBooks contain a search engine, an options screen, zoom function 10% – 1000%, history back/forward, etc.

An exe-eBook can contain plain text articles, formatted articles, images, tree node icons, hyperlinks.More information and download

Zamzar
Converts videos and other file formats online. It can converts files which are stored on your harddisk or convert files which are on the Internet (URLs).

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Free Compression, Split and ZIP programs

HJ-Split (Freeware file splitter for a variety of platforms)
Why split files? Think of a file of 20 Mb, and try to send this to a friend. Using email this does not succeed, it is simply too large, and how to put it onto a floppy? HJSplit will enable you to split the large file into smaller chunks, which can be much more easily sent and stored. Later on these chunks can be re-joined using HJSplit itself or HJJoin.

HJSplit is available for a large number of operating systems:Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP, Linux, Java, OS/2, Windows 3.x, MS DOS, Amiga. For the MAC there is a compatible file joiner available.

Freebyte ZIP
A powerful freeware ZIP program with full Windows user-interface. It can zip and unzip files, create new zip files, directly view and sort zip file contents, make self-extracting archives, password protect and encrypt files, etc. etc. Runs on windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, NT and XP.

StuffIt
Mac file expander (program to open compressed files) for the MAC platform. Support for various file formats, like BinHex, MacBinary, zip, gzip, uu, tar. Lite version is freeware.

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Free Disk Catalogue Programs

Catfish
Small, free and automatic disk inventory program for Windows. For people who can’t remember what they put on their ZIP disks, floppies or CD-roms! We use it at Freebyte.

Cathy
A similar program (not only in name) to Catfish. Has searching capabilities based on file name, date and size. Customizable date format. Found files can be opened directly, if they are present. Only contains a small single executable file, meaning that no installation is needed. Runs on Windows.

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RAID Array & Server Glossary of Computer Terms (Letter F)

Failback
Restoring a failed system component’s share of a load to a replacement component.

Failover
A mode of operation for failure tolerant systems in which a component has failed and a redundant component has assumed its functions.

Failover Port
A fibre channel port capable of assuming I/O requests for another, failed port on the loop. During normal operation, a failover port may be active or inactive. Failover ports assume the same loop ID and, optionally, the same node from the failed port.

Failure
A detectable physical change in hardware, requiring replacement of the component.

Fault Tolerance, Failure Tolerance
The ability of a system to continue to perform its function even when one of its components has failed. A fault tolerant system requires redundancy in disk drives, power supplies, adapters, controllers, and cabling. Mylex RAID controllers offer high levels of fault tolerance.

Failed-drive mode
A mode of reduced-performance operation that a disk array is in after a drive failure.

Failover
The automatic replacement of a failed system component with a properly functioning one. Most often used in the context of redundant external array controllers. If one of the controllers fails, failover enables the second controller to take over the failed controller’s I/O load.

Fault tolerance
The ability of a system to continue to perform its functions, even when one or more components have failed

Fibre Channel
Technology for transmitting data between computer devices at a data rate of up to 2 Gbps (two billion bits per second), especially suited for connecting computer servers to shared storage devices and for interconnecting storage controllers and drives.

Fibre Channel is expected to replace the Small System Computer Interface (SCSI) as the transmission interface between servers and clustered storage devices. It is also more flexible: devices can be as far as ten kilometers (about six miles) apart. The longer distance requires optical fiber as the physical medium; however, fibre channels also work using coaxial cable and ordinary telephone twisted pair wires.

Flash ROM
Memory on an adapter containing software that can be reprogrammed without removing it from the board.

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RAID Array & Server Glossary of Computer Terms (Letter E)

ECC
Error Correcting Code, a method of generating redundant information which can be used to detect and correct errors in stored or transmitted data.

Embedded Storage Controller
An intelligent storage controller that mounts in a host computer’s housing and attaches directly to a host’s memory bus with no intervening I/O adapter or I/O bus.

External RAID Controller
A RAID controller in its own enclosure, rather than incorporated into a PC or server. External RAID controllers are often referred to as a Bridge RAID Controller. Mylex SANArray FL, FF, FFx, and Pro FF2 controllers are external RAID controllers. Compare with Internal RAID Controller.

Exclusive OR (XOR)
A process based on a mathematical algorithm that is used by RAID levels 2, 3, 4, and 5 to compare computer data (binary 0s and 1s) created by a write request or by a read request during a drive failure. The result of the XOR process is parity information that will be stored along with data for real-time recovery in the event of a disk failure.

External array controller
In contrast to bus-based array adapters and microprocessor-based array controllers, external array controllers reside in the external RAID storage enclosure. They connect to the host through a standard SCSI or serial (such as Fibre Channel) host adapter interface. These external controllers are similar to bus-based, microprocessor-based array controllers, in that they include an on-board microprocessor to offload all RAID functions (I/O commands and RAID operations) from the host CPU. They are usually used in midrange and high-end servers, especially in clustering environments.

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Seagate Introduces Constellation: All-Star Enterprise Hard Drives

The Constellation family includes 2.5-inch nearline hard drive with lowest enterprise power consumption and record-setting 3.5-inch 7200-rpm 2TB hard drive for nearline Tier 2 enterprise applications

Seagate  introduced its Constellation™ family ofnew enterprise storage solutions for Tier 2 nearline storage applications. The two new drive models, the 2.5-inch Constellation and the 3.5-inch Constellation ES hard drives, include a combination of features that enable high capacities, increased power efficiency, enterprise-class reliability, and data security. Both drives also include PowerChoice™ from Seagate, which decreases power consumption by up to 54% for record power savings in enterprise environments.  John Monroe, a research vice president at Gartner said:

“The need for greater storage capacity will continue to expand in multiple directions and dimensions, but there will be an increasing scrutiny of all storage system purchases, with an eye to decreasing power consumption, footprint, and cost per GB in unprecedented ways, Performance will not be ignored, but a flexible balance of capacity, cost per GB, power and speed will become more crucial in fulfilling end-user storage demands at varied price points.”

Constellation
The Constellation 2.5-inch hard drive is offered in capacities of 160GB and 500GB with both 3 Gbps SATA and new SAS 2.0 interface running at 6Gb/s speeds. As the first SAS 2.0 nearline drive, the Constellation hard drive enables larger external storage topologies, 100% faster data throughput and higher signal strength over greater distances – dramatically increasing storage scalability. The Constellation family will begin shipping this quarter.  Praveen Asthana, director of Dell Storage said:

“Dell recognizes that increased capacity and high-reliability are key to enabling further adoption of small form factor storage within the enterprise. With new capacities, small form factor drives afford customers performance and power gains within the same rack space, As an industry-leader in storage, Dell is pleased to partner with Seagate and be one of the first companies to offer the Constellation family of drives to our customers.”

Constellation ES
The 3.5-inch Constellation ES hard drive will be available in 500GB, 1TB and 2TB capacities, and with an enterprise-class SAS interface as well as a SATA version, and provides best-in-class capacity and performance. As the world’s only 7200-rpm 3.5-inch hard drive providing up to 2TB of storage, the record-setting capacity of Constellation ES hard drives are ideal for 3.5-inch based external storage architectures. With Constellation ES hard drives, customers don’t have to sacrifice performance in order to gain the highest capacities. The Constellation ES hard drive will ship in calendar Q3.

Todd Gresham, executive vice president and general manager of the Networked Storage Solutions Division for Xyratex said:

“Xyratex continues to work closely with Seagate to advance storage system innovation to meet both the performance and capacity-based market requirements, the new Constellation family of products complements Xyratex’s philosophy of delivering cost-effective enterprise-class, energy efficient storage solutions that help provide our customers the long-term investment protection they demand.”

With Seagate’s innovative PowerChoice technology, both Constellation hard drive models deliver the highest power-reduction savings ever offered in an enterprise-class HDD, and provide flexible, user-manageable options to deliver power savings without sacrificing performance, data integrity, or reliability. In addition, the Constellation family of drives are backed with field-proven, enterprise-grade reliability and rated at a full 1.2 million hours MTBF.

Delivering on Seagate’s commitment to add security features throughout its product portfolio, the Constellation family of drives are offered with optional self-encrypting drive (SED) technology and provide government-grade data security through the drive’s life cycle. SED technology makes drive retirement and disposal easy by eliminating the need for the numerous manual processes involved which are often incomplete, complex, expensive, or prone to error. For critical information that must remain secure, and because all systems are eventually retired, whether being relocated, re-purposed, or disposed of, the information on a Constellation SED hard drive remains AES-safe.

Seagate Unified Storage™ architecture delivers long-term business sustainability
Historically, the variety of drive interfaces, form factors and now, security solutions, can add complexity and increase costs for both IT professionals and OEMs. Making the wrong choice today creates storage islands in the data center with no easy path for upgrades – further complicating an already complex environment. The Seagate Unified Storage architecture converges best-of-breed technologies (Serial Attached SCSI, Small Form Factor and Self-Encrypting Drives) into a foundation for powerful yet simple storage that boosts business and operational efficiency while reducing cost and complexity.

The Seagate Unified Storage architecture delivers a storage foundation for companies that are proactively ensuring the long-term sustainability of their business through best-in-class IT practices. Companies will avoid the risk of impacting their own product quality, competitiveness, or profitability when their storage system infrastructure and data center footprint is optimized across power, cooling and performance density. Because the role of small form factor drives are important to the long-term efficiency and sustainability of any data center enterprise, Seagate will be extending this component into all tiers of its Unified Storage architecture in the future.

Sherman Black, senior vice president, Seagate Core Marketing and Strategy said:

“With tightening IT budgets, Seagate is committed to delivering enterprise-class nearline storage solutions that ensure business sustainability by optimizing resources, reducing environment, energy or social impact and satisfying customer requirements without compromising performance, these new Constellation HDDs provide business continuity in the data center by offering the highest capacities, the lowest power, and the latest in enterprise-class data integrity with SAS 2.0 and AES government-grade encryption.”

For more information about the Constellation family of drives, in addition to Seagate’s other enterprise storage solutions, visit www.seagate.com.

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