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Over the past decade or so, the term social entrepreneur has become a fashionable way of describing individuals and organizations that, in their attempts at large-scale change, blur the traditional boundaries between the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. Given the ceaseless appearance of innovations and new institutional forms, we should welcome a new term that allows us to think systematically about a still-emergent field.
One danger, however, is that the use of the modifier social will diminish the contributions of regular entrepreneurs—that is, people who create new companies and then grow them to scale. In the course of doing business as usual, these regular entrepreneurs create thousands of jobs, improve the quality of goods and services available to consumers, and ultimately raise standards of living. Indeed, the intertwined histories of business and health in the United States suggests that all entrepreneurship is social entrepreneurship. The pantheon of model social entrepreneurs should thus include names such as railroad baron Cornelius Vanderbilt, meatpacking magnate Gustavus Swift, and software tycoon Bill Gates.
People tend to think that advancements in health care, for example, are the achievements of either government or the social sector. More recently, they note how the work of social entrepreneurs is improving population health, particularly in developing countries.
Yet the experience of the United States demonstrates that business entrepreneurs have done as much—if not more—for American health in the past century and a half as did medicine or public health. In the middle of the 19th century, most of the U.S. population was ridiculously poor by today's standards. Americans not only had low incomes, but also spent the bulk of their money on life's basics: food, clothing, and shelter. What they purchased, moreover, was of questionable quality. Because there was no refrigeration or ability to transport foods over long distances, most people subsisted on a kind of stew that, by all accounts, was simple and tasteless. A poor diet meant poor nutrition, which meant poor health.
Clothing was also neither plentiful nor desirable. With little production of new clothing, the average American wore the same clothes over and over again. And they seldom washed these clothes—or themselves—because they lacked indoor plumbing. This was not the only failing of American homes: They were often poorly ventilated, meaning that most people's lungs labored to breathe air made dirty by cooking and heating fires.
Because of these poor conditions, Americans' lives were short, and their deaths were usually caused by disease. Yet since 1850, life expectancy for Americans has risen remarkably quickly, from below 50 years to 78 years today. Likewise, annual mortality rates have plummeted, from around 23 deaths per 1,000 people in 1850 to eight in 2009, with infant mortality markedly falling. Meanwhile, infectious diseases have receded as a primary cause of death.
Many factors played a role in these changes, from improvements in sanitation to upticks in education. (The practice of medicine played a noticeably small role here and, in fact, probably did more harm than good for many years.) But one important factor is often overlooked: the increased consumption of higher-quality goods and services. As entrepreneurs invented and distributed these improved goods and services, they deserve considerable credit for the rise in Americans' health and longevity.
One innovation that fueled prosperity, well-being, and further innovation was the American railroad system. The spread of railroads in the 19th century permitted something nearly unprecedented in human history: conquest of the weather. Better movement of people and goods reduced the vulnerability of the population (especially in rural areas, which still dominated the country) to cyclical vagaries. Even in the depths of winter, consumers could purchase food from afar.
The food people ate improved dramatically as well. Long-distance transportation of food required advances in refrigeration and canning. Gustavus Swift pioneered the refrigerated railroad car and built a meatpacking company that was, at one point, among the largest American companies in terms of gross revenue. As a result, consumption of meat, dairy products, fruits, and vegetables increased. No longer were Americans consigned to eating an unappetizing stew.
Railroads also facilitated the rise of large-scale national companies and allowed a geographically disparate country to purchase new and better goods and services. Consider, for example, the contributions to American health and welfare made by just two companies: Sears, Roebuck and Montgomery Ward. Their first catalogs were only single sheets of paper, but in short order they grew to include thousands of items. By making products such as iceboxes and better farm tools widely available, these companies empowered Americans to improve their lives.
Similarly, factory production of clothing and its national distribution in new department stores—created by men such as Harry Selfridge, Alexander Stewart, and John Wanamaker—reduced prices and increased access. Economists have estimated that from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s, the real value of goods and services available to the average American increased by 700 percent.
The cascade of goods available to everyday consumers continued in the 20th century. The Dallas Federal Reserve has chronicled the steep declines in the amount of work Americans had to perform to afford staples like chicken, eggs, and milk. In 1919, for example, an American had to work 10 hours to afford a basket of 12 food items. By 1997, the work time required to purchase this food basket had fallen to two hours.
The falling costs and increasing quality of food, clothing, and shelter made Americans healthier and more resistant to disease. Accordingly, stature and life expectancy have risen at unprecedented rates from the late 19th century forward.
The lesson of this brief history is not that entrepreneurs can singlehandedly solve all the world's problems. Public health measures such as establishing regular trash collection and building reliable infrastructures for clean water played vital roles in improving American health, as did scientific research in areas such as vitamins and vaccines. But we would be remiss if we did not count people such as Vanderbilt, Swift, and Wanamaker as social entrepreneurs.
Today, we might also count as social entrepreneurs people such as Bill Gates—in his capacity as Microsoft founder rather than as philanthropist—as well as the late Don Fisher, cofounder of the Gap. Through his dogged pursuit of a vision of personal computing, Gates has revolutionized work and communication across the world. The impact on relationships and quality of life has been considerable. Meanwhile, the Gap has democratized high-quality clothing.
Entrepreneurs typically generate a surplus benefit above and beyond the profits they reap, finds the eminent Yale University economist William Nordhaus. Nordhaus has calculated that entrepreneurs capture only about 2 percent of this surplus, with the remainder passed on to society in the form of jobs, wages, and value. By creating so much value that does not accrue to themselves, regular entrepreneurs are also social entrepreneurs.
What might be today's equivalent of the railroad and its beneficial social impact? Diseases continue to plague most developing countries, so it is understandable that alleviation of them attracts the attention of social sector organizations (although there is considerable debate over whether these organizations are devoting enough attention to the right diseases). Yet it very well could be the case that the most transformative event in the economic trajectory of developing countries is not the spread of vaccines, but the spread of cell phones.
Cell phones cannot cure diseases, but they can spur the development of new business models, new companies, new technologies, and, thus, economic growth. Among businesses, cell phones also facilitate the scaling up of networks, firms, and innovations. They allow people to dream big, rather than focusing only on staying afloat. Several studies in the past few years have found that a 10 percent increase in cell phone penetration in developing countries would increase the annual growth rate of per capita gross domestic product (GDP) by nearly 1 percentage point. If that does not sound like much, consider that a country growing by 2 percent per year would double its per capita income in 36 years. If its growth rate rose to 3 percent, income would double in 24 years. At 4 percent per year, wealth per person would double in only 18 years. The economic multiplier effect of cell phones is enormous.
Such growth would in turn improve health and nutrition by allowing people to consume better goods and services. As Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank, has observed, "income is the best medicine."
This is not to say that public health and vaccination are unimportant in developing countries—far from it. But in the coming decades, it will be regular entrepreneurs—those who start and grow companies—who will be lauded for their role in improving society. Specific individuals and firms stand behind the technological innovations that make growth possible. Entrepreneurs, it turns out, are good for your health.
Carl Schramm is president and CEO of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. He is the author of The Entrepreneurial Imperative and coauthor of Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism.
________________________Listen below to Carl Schramm's discussion of the Kauffman Foundation's role in the world economy, the traditional ways we think about the world economy, and why entrepreneurs are important.


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I vaguely recall the following fact that I'd like to use in my research. It should be easy to see that this holds (if it does) but I can't seem to prove it.
Let $p:X\longrightarrow S$ be a (regular) arithmetic surface over a Dedekind scheme $S$.
Let $P:S\longrightarrow X$ be a section and let $\omega$ be a non-zero rational section of $\omega_{X/S}$. Let $K_{X} = \mathrm{div}(\omega) $ be the canonical divisor defined by $\omega$. (A better notation for $K_X$ would be $K_{X/S}$, maybe.)
By definition, the intersection number $(K_X,P)$ is defined as $$\sum_{s } i_s (K_{X}, P) \log( \mathrm{card}( k (s)) ), $$ where the sum runs over the closed points of $S$ and $$i_s(K_{X},P) = \sum_{x} i_x(K_{X}, P) [k(x):k(s)],$$ where the sum runs over the closed points of $X_s$ and $i_x$ denotes the intersection number at $x$.
Now, I wonder if the following equality is trivial to see.
Write $\omega = df$ for some rational function $f\in K(X)$. (We assume this to be possible.) Do we have that
$$(K_{X}, P) = \sum_{s} \mathrm{ord}_s(P^\ast\omega) \log(\mathrm{card}(k(s)))?$$
To see this, it suffices to prove the following equality: $$\mathrm{ord}_s(P^\ast \omega) =i_s (K_{X}, P) .$$ Does this hold?

subset: commoncrawl


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theclosetpr necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 192 diseños de 53 diseñadores freelance.
Little Cupcake Shop
Hi! I owned a fashion a fashion clothing boutique and recently closed it... I've always loved to bake and now I'm opening a little cupcake "boutique-like" shop... I will sell freshly baked cupcakes and unique cupcake gift items... I want to combine my past business (fashion boutique) with my new business... Cupcakes!
Young & Old.... For all cupcake lovers!!!..... Girlfriends who want to get together and chat for a while over cupcakes and coffee....Young trendy mothers...People that want to give cupcakes as a sweet gift/treat... Anybody with a sweet tooth! in a Trendy, hip, shabby chicness ambiance
- Include a cute cupcake (it can also be abstract)
- modern but with a shabby chic feel
- I think i want the word "Little" to be smaller than the rest of the name, "Shop" medium size and "Cupcake" to be the largest
- I want the name (or part of the name) to be in script
- I like pink, fushia, brown combo
- Clean Looking
- Girly but not cartoony
I like the above things but I'm open for other suggestions/designs.... I will comment while you post your designs so we can understand each other and know what way to go with it! :) Good Luck!!
PS: You can visit my website and/or blog** if you want to see some of the special orders i have made for friends and families:
http://www.lisacupcakes.com & http://www.lisacupcakes.blogspot.com
**(the templates used in these sites are from the list of free default templates to choose from....Meaning, I would have liked somethong else!)
I'm not a graphic designer but I posted (in website/blog) the first idea (design) that came to mind when I finally decided on the name of the shop
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


text:
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Please call us on 0330 900 2600 or complete the form below.
* All vehicle images and car descriptions on this site are for illustration and reference purposes only and are not necessarily an accurate representation of the vehicle on offer.
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After enduring a wave of bad publicity over his failure to pay property taxes on houses and vacant property he owns in Lancaster, Cheektowaga and Alden, Lancaster Supervisor Dino J. Fudoli has paid off the $17,000 he owed to Erie County.
On Thursday, and over the previous week, Fudoli settled the $17,146.03 he owed for 2011 and 2012 on five properties he owns in whole or in part in the three communities, according to Erie County real property records.
The first-year supervisor had held off paying the tax bill until he could apply the proceeds from the sale of a family-owned parcel – the sale closed last week – and he bristled at criticism of what he considered an ordinary business decision.
"To me, it was a nonstory," Fudoli said Thursday, before conceding, "As an elected official, I can understand how it looks."
Fudoli, a Republican, blamed his political opponents for the revelation of his unpaid property taxes, which were reported in The Buffalo News and other media outlets. Paul Tarapacki, interim chairman of the Town of Lancaster Democratic Committee, declined to comment.
The supervisor and his family own a total of about 35 acres of land at and near the intersections of Transit Road, Genesee Street and Rehm Road in Cheektowaga.
Fudoli opted not to pay property taxes on five properties located there and elsewhere until he was able to sell a vacant parcel owned in trust by his father, Ralph, at 4989 Genesee St.
Fudoli insisted that business owners as a strategy often "float" their property taxes for a period of a year or two, and he doesn't believe he did anything wrong by engaging in this practice, as long as the properties don't go into foreclosure.
"There's no breaking of any rules," he said.
Fudoli over the past week paid Erie County the following amounts, online property records show:
*$8,065.36 for 2011 and 2012 on a vacant commercial parcel at Transit and Rehm, Cheektowaga, owned by Fudoli.
*$4,521.27 for 2011 and 2012 on a residence on the Cheektowaga side of Transit, owned by Fudoli and his wife, Darcie.
*$2,102.22 for this year on vacant property on the Lancaster side of Transit, owned by Fudoli and his brother, Nicole.
*$2,046.91 for this year for a residence on Westwood Road, Alden, owned by Fudoli and his brother, who lives there.
*$410.27 for this year for a vacant property on Rehm in Cheektowaga owned by Fudoli and his brother.
The Genesee Street property that Fudoli was selling has a market-rate assessment of $346,065, a figure he considers outlandish because of the presence of wetlands on much of the property.
Fudoli said in August that he had reached an agreement months earlier to sell the parcel to a Bella Vista Group entity for $140,000.
The sale closed Sept. 20 at a price of $130,000, according to records on file in the Erie County Clerk's Office. The owner of the property in recent days paid off the $25,505.79 owed on 4989 Genesee as well.
Fudoli also came under fire because, while he was negotiating with Bella Vista officials over the sale of the Genesee Street parcel, he voted in his capacity as chairman of the Lancaster Industrial Development Agency to approve an extension of a tax-break package for a development, the Lancaster Flex Park, owned by another Bella Vista entity.
While some good-government groups told The News that Fudoli should have disclosed the pending sale before voting in May on the tax-break extension, the supervisor continues to insist the transactions had nothing to do with each other.
"It's such a stretch" to connect the two, Fudoli said Thursday.
A financial disclosure form that Fudoli filled out and filed with the town also linked the supervisor to a parcel at 6354 Transit, Depew, owned by RMF Holding Corp., which had an outstanding tax bill of $15,382.26.
Fudoli's disclosure form lists him as vice president of the firm, but he told The News on Thursday that he erred in filling out the form and that he is not an officer of the company.
Fudoli said he does not have an ownership stake in his father's company, which he does stand to inherit, but the payments on his car are made through RMF Holding.
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text:
Thank you, Dragon Door, for providing such high quality products and great service! I appreciate that the bell was combined in a package with the Kettlebell Goddess DVD - Andrea's workout is…Read More
Breaking News: this RKC kettlebell size now available for immediate pre-order! Learn more
How sure are we that Russian Kettlebell - 12kg (26 lbs.) will work for you? Simply fill out the form below and put Russian Kettlebell - 12kg (26 lbs.) to work for you right now.
If you are not 100% absolutely thrilled with your purchase, Dragon Door Publications will refund of your entire purchase price for up to a FULL YEAR.
That's how sure we are!
Obviously, we would go out of business if Russian Kettlebell - 12kg (26 lbs.) didn't work, the way we said, right?
With the promise of a full refund if you're unsatisfied, you have nothing to lose by trying Russian Kettlebell - 12kg (26 lbs.). Go ahead and try it today.
Could an "iron cannonball with a handle attached" be a women's best beauty secret—as well as a phenomenal tool to get in the best shape of your life?
Dragon Door was the first in the US to design a 26 lbs cast iron kettlebell—uniquely suited to women's needs. While most fit women will start with Dragon Door's specially designed 18 lb kettlebell, the 26 lbs kettlebell has quickly become the tool of choice for women who want to quickly accelerate the shape-changing power of Russian kettlebells.
Within just a few weeks, you can expect to see spectacular gains in overall strength and conditioning—and for many—significant fat loss.
Women, to make sure you take full advantage of your 22lb kettlebell, get Andrea Du Cane's The Ageless Body book and The Kettlebell Boomer DVD.
Thank you, Dragon Door, for providing such high quality products and great service! I appreciate that the bell was combined in a package with the Kettlebell Goddess DVD - Andrea's workout is fabulous!
I started out thinking a bell was a bell and bought a cheap 35lb bell from a local big box sports shop. The difference was amazing. Dragon Door bells just have a look and feel to them that can't be beat. The bells mean pure business and really help push me to my best. The 12k bell is a great place for a "little guy newby like" myself to start on single hand swings. I already have my order in for a 14K and 20K. I wouldn't buy anywhere else!
I wanted a 12kg kettlebell to add to my ever growing arsenal of bells (16kg & 20kg) , Dragondoor is the only choice for this quality product. They be a little more in cost than the competition, but I will pay this premium for the best money can buy. Feel, lift and compare and you'll understand. Thank you again Dragondoor!
I work in a gym, and when I see other kettlebells, I want to laugh. Dragon Door has figured out the secret to constructing the perfect kettlebell. I wouldn't buy them from anyone else!
I own 4 kettle bells, each from a different brand. 1 is a Dragon Door and 3 are other brands. They are all good for exercise purposes. The fit and finish of the Dragon Door kb is above and beyond each of the 3 other brands which I own and use. It feels much better in my hand because of the surface which has just the right combination of smoothness and grip. If you want the best you have to pay a little extra but I believe it is well worth it.
I purchased this size kettlebell for my wife's future progression from the 8kg kettlebell. Quality is, of course, superior to all other brands. Thank you for providing such high quality products.
I know the DD bell is expensive...but in the long run it's cheaper to buy a first class product. Spending the money up front on a quality product that you'll never have to replace. This is that product. It feels great, does what it's supposed to do, and will no doubt last a lifetime. I like this weight a lot, even though I'm a man, I'm in my late-50's and can't afford to get injured. I wanted a weight that would get my attention but not strain my joints, since I am prone to tendonitis. The 26 pounder is perfect. I got two because I like the "farmer carry" and holding both while doing squats.
This was my 6th KB purchase thru DD. I have never used another brand because I have always been completely satisfied. This is my first purchase with the new coating and really love it.
I have three of your kettlebells now, and couldn't be more pleased with the product quality. Yes they cost a bit more than many other brands, but I learned a long time ago that it is usually better to "buy once, cry once" and go with high quality rather than have to replace unsatisfactory items with what I should have bought the first time.
After being very fit all my life with everything from Tae Kwon Do to rock climbing and mountain biking, I hit 60 ... had a heart valve repair and got horribly out of condition, It was difficult for me just to get up off the floor when I sat to put wood in the wood burning fireplace. In just 6 weeks with a 12 kilo kettlebell I've improved dramatically. The "real life" strength that you develop is amazing. The difference to your "core" is dramatic. Wish I'd discovered kbells years ago!
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text:
Spyro the Dragon is looking a bit more powerful than we remember him in the upcoming animated feature The Legend of Spyro 3D.
A Spyro fansite (believe it or not) unearthed the teaser poster for the film at the official website of film sales company Velvet Octopus, showing a large, confident-looking version of everyone's favorite little purple dragon. The film, which we've been telling you about since 2007, found a producer last year in the form of Ash R. Shah, who signed a five-picture deal with Velvet Octopus that included the CGI Spyro feature.
The teaser poster is very bare, with no information other than that the movie exists. The DarkSpyro fan site has the film listed for a December 2009 release, but as far as I can see that's nowhere near official. As far as stars go, the IMDB entry for the film lists Elijah Wood as Spyro and Gary Oldman as Ignitus, but again, nothing official on that front.
So basically, we have an official teaser image, which you can see below. Enjoy it, as it could wind up being the only good thing about the movie.
Spyro the Dragon ... the Movie? [Joystiq]


text: Alright I like this site a lot, just joined about a few weeks ago. I am a huge reds fan always have been. Actually my only man has a few things on load to the Reds HOF. I would like to know if there are any other Reds fans in Indy and where they buy Reds merchandise. I can't find hardly anything at all. All I can get my hands on are Medium sized Joey Votto Jersey t shirts...Im a 2X for sure..


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Revit familyManager - For smooth work with families
What Revit Platform is missing is a high capacity content manager. With the release of Revit familyManager in late
November 2007 you are being offered a component application for smooth gathering and managing of families. Revit familyManager includes as well a multi converter for Revit files turning them into DWF format. This is inevitable for viewing families in fine and convenient way.
Find out more about Revit familyManager here.
FamilyLibrary - Families for Revit
With the Revit familyManager, a tool is available, which saves the users from time consuming searches.
All families, whether local or in the network, can be gathered and managed. A clearly arranged dialogue Layout arranges all that important information, the available family types as well as image viewer are at a glance.
See familit Library - the Families for Revit.
familyManager runs as an application under Revit Architecture/MEP/Structural. Using double click, families can be opened for editing directly from the familyManager or imported using drag&drop in actual projects. Also individual types from the type list can be downloaded und be put directly into the actual project being used.
dbManager for Revit 2010/2011/2012
The new product familit - dbManager for Revit is prepared!
The familit database manager exports element's attached parameters to external database table. The exported elements are linked from the external database into the revit project.
The dbManager includes many helpful functions to work with Revit projects /modifying, searching, grouping, sorting, zoom, export, import, calculator, selector.../.
The dbManager supports many database engines: Oracle, MySql, MsSql, Access, XML.


text:
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text:
The antithesis of the good enough mantra can be seen with this, a Hoover washing machine from 1948.
What may have been good enough then (the first British-made washing machine), is a horrible piece of crap now. But of course, that's true for most types of machines ever made. [Science Museum]


text:
I'm new to these forums, and after multiple google searches on how to set up my Blackmagic Intensity Pro capture card for PC streaming, I found this website, with multiple, unanswered forum threads regarding Intensity Pro situations. I hope this thread won't be one of them =(.
I've used my Intensity Pro for Xbox 360 capturing previously. Everything worked well, and was easy to set up. No problems there. I had one monitor, 2 HDMI cables, and the Intensity Pro Card. I hooked up the cables, powered up my recording software, powered up the xbox, and voila. Easy as pie.
Recently, I got rid of my xbox since Diablo3 is coming out soon ( ) , and am looking to capture/stream Diablo 3 gameplay. I've streamed PC games before such as WoW and SWTOR, and have always just used a video capturing software such as DXTory, but it would always drastically decrease my in-game FPS, which I don't want to revert back to for Diablo3.
So I have this unused Intensity Pro capture card, and I want to use it for PC capturing. Below I will list what I have and what I'm trying to use to capture my desktop.
ONE 1920x1080 60hz 22" LCD Monitor.
ONE 19" AOC Monitor used as a second monitor (which is currently at a warehouse getting worked on and NOT USED in the recent setups I have attempted. POS broke on me after 2 weeks)
i5-2500k @ 3.8 ghz CPU.
nVidia GeForce 560ti 448 cores GPU.
Intensity Pro Capture Card.
2 HDMI cables.
Windows 7 Professional.
So, I've read multiple guides online, and I can never get this set up to work properly. I am plugging in ONE HDMI cable from my VIDEO OUTPUT port on my graphics card to the VIDEO INPUT port on the Intensity Pro card. Then, I am plugging in ONE HDMI cable from the VIDEO OUTPUT port on the Intensity Pro to the VIDEO INPUT port of my 1920x1080 60hz 22" LCD Monitor. I have my screen resolution set at 1920x1080(native), and the INTENSITY PRO settings within BLACKMAGIC MEDIA EXPRESS I tried using are 1080p 24fps, and also 1080p 30fps. With this, I do get a picture on my MONITOR, but if I click anything, such as the start menu, the MONITOR turns off and says "SIGNAL INPUT OUT OF REACH, PLEASE CHANGE RESOLUTION TO 1920X1080 - 60HZ".
So I was hoping this forum might be able to help me out with this issue. I have seen some guides that use HDMI Splitters, but is an HDMI Splitter necessary considering I have 2 HDMI cables and them properly set up (GPU OUTPUT -> INTENSITY PRO INPUT / INTENSITY PRO OUTPUT -> MONITOR INPUT)
If you guys have any more questions for me, please leave them in this thread and I'll try to respond ASAP. I am bookmarking this website, and will constantly check while I'm on the computer.
Thank you.
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There are easier ways of capturing a PC screen that this. It is called 'screen-capture software'
But if you wish to go down this route, and I read that it does not always work, it all comes down to the output of your graphics card. In another forum I read a brief topic that discusses this and your graphics card must be capable of outputing a 'tv resolution'
I suspect that the card is outputing the resolution for your monitor which seems quite natural.
The info on the blackmagic site also mentions the use of an 'adapter' but does not go in to any detail. I suspect that this adapter does change the signal to be more capture-friendly. Even then that same blurb states that this may not work.
I have used screen capturing software. I mentioned it in the original post. I've used DXTory to capture games like WoW and SWTOR.
My main goal is to reduce the CPU usage of the recording the desktop. I want to put that all on to the card itself. My second goal is by reducing the CPU usage of recording the desktop, it will maintain a FPS in-game that I see fit. When using programs like DXTory, it decreased my FPS from somewhere around 200+ while not using the software and streaming to around 70 while streaming. I'm guessing that had to do something with going in to windowed mode to be able to capture PC games. I don't want to do that this time around, especially since I have the capture card installed.
Also, I was able to "force television detection on startup" in the nVidia control panel. I'm guessing this means my graphics card is capable.
Thanks for your reply! I'll try to look more in to while waiting for other suggestions.
Last edited by FoKuZStream; 13th May 2012 at 06:59.
Hi FoKuZStream,
BMI only capture/input/output 1080i (no 1080p@24 or @30). PC monitor is P only. Change your PC to 720p and connect in BMI. Will work (based on my PC and AVERTV HD).
If you want record only in 1080p, suggest use BANDICAM/MIRILLIS ACTION!, no DXTORY.
Apologies for not recognising DXTory as screen-capture software. But you did say 'Video Capture Software' in your OP and in my eyes these are two different beasts.
But there are different softwares available. Check out the tools section https://www.videohelp.com/tools/sections/desktop-screen-capture fo the various options available - some free.
I do not possess a Nvidia card so am not sure what 'force television detection' really means. To me it sounds like if you are outputing the signal to a tv rather than a monitor it will force the output settings to comply with the tv. That, I believe, is not quite the same as physically setting the output on the card since the output is NOT going to a tv it cannot force the output.
Thanks guys! I've tried some of your suggestions and these are my results.
Okay, so I did the following:
http://imgur.com/u7JyD <--Media Express Preferences
http://imgur.com/STler <--Black Magic Control Panel
http://imgur.com/CFyPF <--Desktop Resolution
When I do that, and hook up ONE HDMI Cable from the graphics card OUTPUT to the Intensity Pro INPUT, then ONE HDMI Cable from the Intensity Pro OUTPUT to the Computer Monitor INPUT, my monitor goes to sleep and doesn't recognize anything. Any suggestions on why that is?
I set my desktop resolution to 1920x1080, and the Black Magic CP to 1080i 60hz, and the preferences to 1080i 60hz and changed the Capture File Format to Motion JPEG, and i got a picture of my desktop to come up through the monitor. I'm able to move my mouse around, but the second I click on something, the screen goes black. Any suggestions?
You guys have been great so far! Thank you both!
The Black Magic Intensity only accepts 1080i at 25/29.97 (not 1080p).
A computer monitor typically won't accept interlace video. You should use an LCD-TV to display 1080i.
Alternate is to run the XBox (or GPU) at 720p/60 which is supported by the BMI and can be displayed on a typical computer monitor.
Second issue, the uncompressed bit rate required for 720p/60 is sustained 107MB/s (855 Mb/s) which is usually beyond the capability of a single hard drive (with exceptions). In most cases a two disk RAID (or SSD) is required to capture uncompressed. To capture to a single drive, one should use the BM MJPEG codec or other digital intermediate codec.
Last edited by edDV; 13th May 2012 at 08:50.Recommends: Kiva.org - Loans that change lives.
So basically what you're saying is I won't be able to capture my desktop because of the HDCP feature with the Black Magic Intensity Pro, and I should look in to just using screen capturing software?
Check in Nivida site: http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-560ti/specifications
Check this article to HDCP: http://www.eetimes.com/design/communications-design/4013366/HDMI-DVI-HDCP-handshake-pr...-to-avoid-them
No cookies for you
Thanks Cauptain, I appreciate it greatly.
Time to sell the BMI and purchase a good screen capturing software. You would recommend Mirillis Action?
I'd just be looking for a screen capturing software that didn't use a ton of resources and cause my CPU usage to shoot up to 90%, therefore resulting in in-game choppiness. That's why I used DXTory for so long. People recommended that to me because they said it used very low CPU resources.
In my tests BANDICAM and ACTION has very nice quality/performance on my PC (similar your). Try both.
My prefer is BANDICAM, because I can edit the "raw" capture file. Othe hand ACTION! denie this, its only export default profiles inside (Various problems, low bitarte, no cropping option, very bad).
My Bandicam config:
The message on your monitor about "signal out of reach", (it says RANGE, doesn't it?) is a very straightforward message indicating that the monitor is receiving a signal, but it is outside the ability of the monitor to display it. Usually resolution too high, or an invalid interlacing structure.
I had not read that PC games are now implementing HDCP.
The PS3 applies HDCP to everything, but a PC does not. HDCP is only applied by a PC if the source requires it. For example, if you were playing a commercial Blu-Ray movie disc using PowerDVD, then HDCP would be applied, but video games ordinarily would not require HDCP protection. If Diablo III requires HDCP, then it is very unusual.
In any case, using DVI does not prevent HDCP from being applied. Both HDMI and DVI support HDCP. VGA is analog, and does not support HDCP, but a source that requires HDCP will not work with VGA.
I was talking to somebody on another forum who has the same graphics card as I do, and he said his works perfectly fine, but he had to buy an HDMI splitter..So I went out, bought an HDMI splitter, connected one HDMI cable from my graphics card to the INPUT slot on my splitter, then connected the intensity pro and my monitor to the output slots of the splitter, but I still don't get a picture. My monitor still goes to sleep like nothing is connected.
I set my screen resolution to 1280x720 60hz and adjusted all the settings of the intensity pro to properly match.
Let me just say I feel like a complete idiot. Let me explain how I got this to work after tries, and tries, and buying extra HDMI cables and HDMI splitters.
What I was trying to do was the following:
Use an HDMI cable from my graphics card to the INPUT slot of the Intensity Pro card, and an HDMI cable from the OUTPUT slot of the Intensity Pro card to the HDMI port of my monitor. Trying this failed. I either got a still image of my desktop screen on my monitor, or my monitor would fall asleep.
What I tried doing next:
I bought an extra HDMI cable and an HDMI splitter. I connected an HDMI cable from my graphics card to the INPUT slot of the HDMI splitter, and then connected my monitor to one of the OUTPUT slots on the splitter, and an HDMI cable to the Intensity Pro(I tried both INPUT and OUTPUT slots). This failed also, my monitor would just go to sleep.
What worked:
One HDMI cable is all I needed. No splitters, no extra HDMI cables, just one. I connected an HDMI cable from my graphics card to the INPUT slot of the Intensity Pro. I then connected a VGA cable from my graphics card to my monitor. And voila. I can see my screen, and also when I open Xsplit or Media Express, I see my desktop to know it's getting the picture.
Now to figure out if I can somehow get the VGA cable out of the equation and use an HDMI cable on my main monitor, because I need this VGA cable for my second monitor since it has no HDMI port. I guess I could go back, return my HDMI splitter, and pick up a VGA splitter instead to hook up my second monitor with VGA. The only negative is not being able to have my built-in speakers on my monitor work, since I'm not using an HDMI cable for my monitor anymore, but. That can be easily resolved with headphones or stand-alone speakers.
I hope this can help people in the future for whoever googles this issue.
Last edited by FoKuZStream; 13th May 2012 at 13:48.
Was the HDMI splitter active (one that plugs into a power source) or passive (no power needed)? Passive splitters are less likely to work well since they cut the signal strength in half.
This popular model is one example of an active/powered splitter:
The splitter was active. I had to use a power source.
That's what worked for me.
I ran some capture tests of the video quality which you can find here. It's broadcasting at 720p: http://www.twitch.tv/fokuzstream/b/318080900
Although there is interlacing viewable on the capture, I have a feeling it's because my nvidia control panel settings for the monitor was set at 1080p. I JUST switched it to 1080i to match the BMIP settings, and will edit with a new video test.
Also, if you guys are able to hear sound on that video, please let me know. I currently do not have headphones since I left my pair at a friends house, so I have no way of listening since I relied on my built in speakers when I was hooking up my monitor via hdmi.
Newer video after changing the nvidia control panel screen resolution settings to 1080i: http://www.twitch.tv/fokuzstream/b/318084120 . There is no noticeable change. There's still interlacing.
I guess it's just a new issue I'll have to google. If you guys have any suggestions on the interlacing issue, please share.
Last edited by FoKuZStream; 13th May 2012 at 14:43.
Also, to add to your guys' replies, the HDCP WAS the issue when trying to connect HDMI CABLE FROM GRAPHICS CARD -> BMIP INPUT SLOT / HDMI CABLE FROM BMIP OUTPUT SLOT -> MONITOR. When I checked the HDCP status on the graphics card when connecting with an HDMI cable, it was enabled. Now, connecting with VGA PORT ON GRAPHICS CARD -> MONITOR / HDMI CABLE FROM GRAPHICS CARD -> BMIP INPUT SLOT, the HDCP is no longer enabled on my graphics card.
Newer video after changing the nvidia control panel screen resolution settings to 1080i: http://www.twitch.tv/fokuzstream/b/318084120 . There is no noticeable change. There's still interlacing.
I guess it's just a new issue I'll have to google. If you guys have any suggestions on the interlacing issue, please share.
Also, if you guys are able to hear sound on that video, please let me know. I currently do not have headphones since I left my pair at a friends house, so I have no way of listening since I relied on my built in speakers when I was hooking up my monitor via hdmi.
When I switch my screen resolution to 1280x720, instead of changing the screen resolution to match the new settings, all it does is add HUGE black outlines on all 4 corners of the screen that takes up about 50% of the screen. I'm going to try to figure out how to get rid of those and have 1280x720 screen resolution full screen my monitor.
Last edited by Cauptain; 13th May 2012 at 15:17.
Of course my friend, look here: AVERTV HD HDCP REMOVE PACK RELEASED!!!
LAGARITH or HUFFYUV.
Your file is full 1080p in 59.94 or 60.00 FPS (like original video).
Lots of deinterlace options, avisynth QTGMC is better to this, but its slow. check in Videohelp, very nice tutorials about this.
Your monitor went to sleep previously when connected via the BMI's HDMI out at 1080i/1080p because the the BMI cannot accept a or pass through a 1080p signal, and the monitor cannot display a 1080i signal.
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Everyone in the PoolPosted: August 31st, 2012 | Author: JR | Filed under: Rockport, Seafood, The Lobster Pool | Tags: alfresco dining, BYOB, Lobster, ocean view, outdoor dining, S'mores | 1 Comment »
Please don't ask us why we didn't visit the The Lobster Pool in Rockport before now—we have absolutely no excuse. Having lived on the North Shore for so many years, we're kicking ourselves for having neglected this gem. We had a magical evening there last weekend, and we plan to return soon.
There was a real party atmosphere when we arrived, with people eagerly queuing up to order and many guests already enjoying their food and the sunset over the water at the picnic tables just outside. The menu is large, with favorites like fried clams and scallops next to lobster rolls and swordfish specials. We found everything reasonably priced, fresh, well made, and delicious.
The fisherman's platter is enormous—enough to feed three people. We went with the mini version ($19), which was more than enough for one. The seafood had a light, slightly sweet batter and tasted fresh. The haddock got the same treatment and was flaky and delicious ($15). The lobster roll was full of meat, not too heavily dressed, and the roll was properly grilled ($17 with fries). The fish cake dinner was a great deal at $8: two large cakes very crisp outside and tender inside, a generous serving of beans that weren't overly sweet, and freshly made cole slaw. The thin, crisp onion rings (you must get these, $7) and the blueberry pie ($4) disappeared quickly as well.
As though the food and the incredible view weren't enough, The Lobster Pool is BYOB with no corkage fee, so you can drink just what you want at liquor-store prices. There's an interesting outside raw bar that's worth visiting, complete with lobster tails ($8 each and cooked to perfection). To further gild the lily, on weekends, there is a campfire and free s'mores. You cook your own marshmallow over an ingenious pipe sticking out of the fire (no engulfing your treat in flames, no worries about burns) and place it right onto a waiting chocolate/graham cracker sandwich.
One thing to keep in mind, especially on a weekend night, is that the restaurant's kitchen is fairly small, everything is cooked to order, and demand is high. With waits up to 45 minutes for food, it's best not to arrive starving. You could also call ahead for a take-out order to transport to the outside tables. Also keep in mind that the restaurant is not in downtown Rockport; you'll need a car to reach its Folly Cove location, about halfway between Rockport and Lanesville.
The Lobster Pool
329 Granite St, Rockport
(978) 546-7808


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BACKGROUND IMAGE: iSTOCK/GETTY IMAGES
- FeatureUse mainframes for backups
- FeatureAny-point-in-time backups
- FeatureMake tape libraries work with all platforms
- FeatureSizing up VTLs
- FeatureDoes host-based replication still make sense?
- FeatureCisco's switch-based backup
- FeatureDefinition: Grandfather-father-son
- FeatureData migration: Preparation equals success
- FeatureData migration: Tales from the trenches
- FeatureQuality Awards: Backup software
- TipBlades shed disks, boot from SAN
- FeatureHow disk has changed backup
- FeatureVital steps for creating an effective compliance strategy
- FeatureMicrosoft gets serious about storage with Data Protection Manager
iSTOCK/GETTY IMAGES
How disk has changed backup
Inexpensive disk has spawned a variety of disk-based backup alternatives. But with more choices comes greater complexity compared to the days when you simply had to choose a backup application and tape library. Backup guru W. Curtis Preston explains the advantages of using disk for backup, including virtual tape libraries and disk-as-disk backup targets, and discusses the pros and cons of alternative disk-based backup methods.
Our backup choices are much greater and more complex compared to the days when you simply had to choose a backup application and tape library. Disk has solved the reliability and performance issues that most storage managers have experienced with traditional backup systems, but disk-to-disk-to-tape (D2D2T) has complicated backup and restore processes. Users must now choose from three backup architectures and four types of disk-based backup targets. What follows are the pros and cons of each approach.
The traditional backup architecture
Before explaining how the different D2D backup options work, it's important to understand the backup systems they'll work with and why you might want to augment those systems with disk. In a traditional backup architecture (see "Traditional backup architecture", next page), software resides on the backup client (the server to be backed up) that allows the backup server to transfer that client's data to tape, disk or virtual tape. The data may be transferred across the network (LAN-based), from the client directly to tape/disk across the SAN (LAN-free) or directly from primary storage to secondary storage across the SAN (server-free). In each case, the data is converted into a different format that's understood by the backup software running the backup. This format could be tar, cpio, dump, NTBackup or a custom format understood only by that particular backup package.
With the advent of lower-priced ATA-based disk arrays, however, everyone can take advantage of disk staging or disk-based backups without switching from a traditional backup architecture. Simply augment your tape library with a combination of disk and tape.
There are four ways to add disk to a traditional backup system. The first two options are called disk-as-disk because they involve using disk drives behaving as disk drives--the disks aren't pretending to be tape. In a SAN disk-as-disk configuration (see "SAN disk-as-disk," this page), a disk array is connected to one or more backup servers via a SAN, and a disk volume is assigned to each server. Each server then puts a filesystem on that volume, and backups are sent to that filesystem. In a NAS disk-as-disk architecture (see "NAS disk-as-disk," this page), the disk resides behind a filer head that shares filesystems via NFS or CIFS, and backups are sent to those filesystems.
The last two options employ virtual tape libraries (VTLs), where disk systems are placed behind a server running software that lets the disk array pretend to be one or more tape libraries. "Standalone virtual tape library" (this page) shows standalone VTLs that sit next to a physical tape library and pretend to be another tape library. Once you back up to a standalone VTL, you must use the backup server to copy its backups to physical tape if you want to send them offsite. An integrated VTL (see "Integrated virtual tape library," this page) sits between a physical tape library and a backup server, where it pretends to be a physical library. The backup server backs up to the integrated VTL, which then copies the data to the physical tape portion of its library.
When backup software backs up to a disk-as-disk system, it knows it's a disk and typically creates a file within the filesystem. To distinguish these backups from those sent to a tape (or virtual tape) target, some people refer to these types of backups as filesystem-based backups.
Advantages of disk-as-disk targets
The biggest advantage disk-as-disk targets have over most VTL targets is price. Most disk-as-disk systems are priced significantly less per gigabyte than VTL systems because you're paying for the value of the VTL software.
It's possible to save more money by redeploying an older, decommissioned array as a disk-as-disk target. Decommissioned arrays are often end-of-life units without service contracts, so these contracts should be resumed if you're using the unit in a production system. (Service contracts on older equipment can be expensive; be sure to compare the cost of resuming the contract to that of a new system with a contract included.) Another advantage of disk-as-disk backup targets is that most backup software companies don't currently charge to back up to them; unfortunately, this is changing.
The final advantage of disk-as-disk targets is their flexibility, which may come into play if you plan on moving away from a traditional backup architecture to, for example, a data-reduction backup or a replication-based backup system. A data-reduction backup system tries to eliminate redundant blocks of backed up data, reducing the amount of data sent across the network and stored on the secondary storage system. A replication-based backup system uses replication as the mechanism to move data to a secondary location where it's then backed up. If one of these two new architectures is possibly in your future, you might want to consider a disk-as-disk target now; one advantage of disk-as-disk targets is that they're exactly what data-reduction backup systems and replication-based backup systems need as a target. You can't replicate to tape, and data reduction backup systems are also designed to go to disk-as-disk.
Disadvantages of disk-as-disk targets
Backup software companies are starting to charge for backing up to a disk-as-disk target, a trend that's expected to continue. Vendors defend this move because they're providing additional functions to their backup software. The going price to use a disk array as a staging device before data is moved to tape is approximately $2,000/TB. To use a 200TB disk array as a disk-as-disk target could add $400,000 to your backup software tab.
|D2D2T backup terms
Another issue when using disk-as-disk backup targets is that some backup software products don't back up to filesystems as well as they back up to tapes. For example, backup software products know exactly what to do when a tape fills up, but they're not always sure what to do when a filesystem fills up. Many of the major backup products require users to point disk-as-disk backups to a single filesystem. When that filesystem fills up, all the backups fail--even if another filesystem has adequate capacity. There are also other limitations, like the inability of some backup products to scan in filesystem images. If you let a tape expire from your backup catalog, most backup products will let you scan the tape, find what's on it and then enter its contents in the backup catalog. Some products can't do that with filesystem-based images.
Storing backups offsite is another challenge with disk-as-disk backup targets. The normal procedure would be to copy the disk-based backups to a physical tape and then ship the tape offsite. The problem is that most people don't currently create copies of their tape-based backups; they'd have to start doing so if they started backing up to a disk-as-disk target. Therefore, you need to learn how to copy disk-based backup data to tape and then learn how to automate the process. These two steps can range from extremely easy to extremely difficult, depending on the backup product you use, and may also require the purchase of additional software from your backup vendor. Whatever method you choose to get the data from disk to tape, remember that the data is now moving twice, where before it moved only once. This means you'll need to budget time for the data to make that second move.
One final disadvantage of disk-as-disk targets is the lack of compression. While there's currently one NAS disk-as-disk target that uses data-reduction techniques on backups stored on that device (Data Domain Inc.'s DD200), most disk-as-disk targets don't have built-in compression. This means you may need twice as much disk with a disk-as-disk target as you would with a VTL that supports compression. (In-band, software-based compression products typically come with a rather hefty performance penalty--as much as 50%. In its DX100 VTL, Quantum Corp. claims to offer hardware-based compression that doesn't degrade performance.)
SAN disk-as-disk targets
A SAN disk-as-disk target is simply a disk array connected to the SAN and attached to one or more backup servers. (Some products, like IBM's TSM, can back up to raw disk.) The backup server typically puts a filesystem on the array and writes to that filesystem. The advantage over a NAS disk-as-disk system is the better write performance typical of a high-end SAN disk array compared to an Ethernet NAS filer.
NAS disk-as-disk targets
A NAS disk-as-disk target solves the provisioning issues of a SAN disk-as-disk target by putting the disks behind a NAS head, making a giant volume and sharing that volume via NFS. Generally, such systems are easier to maintain than traditional disk arrays. But easier management comes with a price. The filer head and filer OS increase the cost of the system, and performance will be limited to the throughput of the filer head. Depending on the size of your backups, performance may not be an issue. If you're a NAS shop with many other filers, a NAS disk-as-disk target makes sense--especially if you're using replication-based backup.
Next we'll explore how to use VTLs with your backup system; describe their advantages and disadvantages vs. disk-as-disk systems, and explain the advantages and disadvantages of the two different kinds of VTLs.
VTL advantages
VTLs offer two main advantages over disk-as-disk backup targets: ease of management and better performance. As described earlier, there are various ways to use disk to protect data. A disk-as-disk target requires all of the usual provisioning steps of standard shared storage arrays. In contrast, if you tell a VTL how many virtual tape drives and virtual cartridges it should emulate, the VTL software automatically handles all of the provisioning and allocates the appropriate amount of disk to each virtual cartridge.
If the VTL needs to be expanded (not all VTLs are expandable), you just connect the additional storage, tell the VTL it's there and the VTL will automatically begin using the new storage. There's no volume manager to run and no RAID groups to administer.
Another important management advantage of VTLs is how easy it is to share VTLs among multiple servers and apps (see "Should a virtual tape library be shared?"). To share a VTL among multiple backup servers running the same software, use the built-in library sharing capability most backup products have. To share a VTL among multiple servers running different apps, partition the VTL into multiple smaller VTLs, assign a number of virtual cartridges to each VTL and associate each VTL with a different backup server. These scenarios are much easier than what's required to share a disk-as-disk target among multiple backup servers.
Better performance
To understand the performance advantages of VTLs, think of how backup applications write data to tape. A backup app typically continues writing to a tape until it hits the physical end of tape (PEOT). It will append to a tape, even if some of the previously written data has expired. Once the backup app hits PEOT, the tape is considered full. Most backup apps leave everything on the tape until all of the backups on that tape have expired; then they expire the whole tape and write to it from the beginning. Other backup apps wait until a certain percentage of the backups on a tape have expired before "reclaiming" that tape by migrating the non-expired backups to a second tape. The first tape is then expired and ready to be overwritten. The bottom line is that portions of a tape can't be overwritten.
|Veritas NetBackup (now owned by Symantec) supports a feature called inline tape copy, which allows sending a backup to two tape drives simultaneously--creating an original and a copy in one step. An alternative is to use a standalone virtual tape library (VTL), and to send one copy to the physical tape and one to the VTL. The shortcoming with this approach is that it causes the VTL to run at the speed of the tape drive--defeating the purpose of going to disk backup in the first place. A more interesting approach would be to use an integrated VTL, send both backups to virtual tape, and then use the VTL to create the physical tape in the background.
Because a VTL treats disk like tape, it eliminates fragmentation by writing backups to contiguous sections of disk. The blocks allocated to a tape stay allocated to that tape until the backup app starts overwriting that tape, at which point the VTL can once again write to contiguous sections of disk--just like data is written to tape. Because VTL vendors control the RAID volumes, they ensure that a given RAID group is only written to by a single virtual tape. A disk can perform much better if it's only writing/reading for a single app using contiguous sections of disk. This key difference explains why the fastest file systems write in hundreds of megabytes per second, while the fastest VTLs write in thousands of megabytes per second.
VTLs offer other advantages, as well. With one exception (see the next section), VTLs work with all existing backup software, processes and procedures (see "NetBackup's inline tape copy," this page, and "Do IBM Tivoli Storage Manager users need a VTL?"). In other words, everything works exactly as it would with a physical tape library (PTL). That isn't the case with disk-as-disk targets, where backup software can behave quite differently.
VTL disadvantages
The disadvantage of VTLs cited by most storage admins is cost. They believe that if a disk array costs x, a disk array made to look like a VTL will cost x + y. But the y factor can vary from one VTL vendor to another. Most VTLs use capacity-based pricing, which means the cost is $/GB. At least one VTL vendor uses throughput-based pricing, so the price is determined by the number of Fibre Channel (FC) connections. The actual price of VTLs with disk included ranges from less than $4/GB to a little more than $12/GB. Disk-as-disk units fall into roughly the same price range, so it's basically a misconception that a VTL will always cost more than a disk-as-disk device.
Another issue is the price of backup software licensing. If a VTL sits next to an existing tape library, it will most likely require an additional tape library license for a library that's actually not there. This adds to the price of the VTL. How much you pay is based on how the VTL is configured and how your backup software charges for libraries. Some backup software products (e.g., IBM's TSM) have a single license for all tape libraries, while others charge for the number of slots or drives. When deciding how to configure your VTL, consider how your backup software charges for libraries. When comparing VTLs to disk-as-disk targets, you also need to remember that backup software products are beginning to charge to back up to disk-as-disk targets. These licensing challenges will probably go away as backup software vendors move toward capacity-based pricing in an effort to appear more VTL friendly. (NetBackup offers this kind of pricing today.)
VTLs offering compression use in-band software compression that saves space, but results in a significant performance hit--as much as 50%. If your backup speed is throttled by the speed of your clients and/or network, you may not see this performance hit. But in local or LAN-free backups, speed tends to be most affected by the backup device. Some vendors perform their compression after the fact, attempting to give you the benefits of compression without the performance loss. As of this writing, only Quantum supports hardware compression that doesn't impact performance.
|Partitioning makes it possible to share a VTL among backup servers running the same application; however, this can increase costs if your backup software charges by the drive. For example, assume you have seven servers, each of which needs 10 tape drives once a week for their full backup. You could create 10 virtual tape drives and share them, or you could create 70 virtual drives and give each server the 10 tape drives it needs.
How you eject virtual tapes will determine whether you require a standalone or integrated VTL. As discussed previously, a major advantage of VTLs is that they don't require any changes to your existing backup process or configuration. The one exception is if you don't copy your backup tapes and send the copies offsite. Although it isn't a best practice to do so, many environments eject their original tapes and send them offsite. This works fine with a PTL but, as of this writing, only one VTL (Spectra Logic) supports the ejection of virtual tapes. Therefore, companies that eject their original tapes and wish to use a VTL must do one of two things: learn how to copy tape or use an integrated VTL. The approach that's best for your environment will be based on individual preference.
Some observers believe the tape-to-tape copy method with standalone VTLs is the only proper way to create physical tapes from virtual tapes. (Standalone VTLs include those from Diligent Technologies Corp., Quantum and Sepaton Inc.) The tape-to-tape copy method allows the backup software to control the copy process, integrating the copy process into normal reporting procedures. However, there are two challenges. The first is the difficulty related to automating this process. Some backup products require the purchase of an additional license, and some need a custom script for this process. The second challenge is that many environments don't have enough time and resources to copy their backup tapes quickly enough. For many companies, it's all they can do to get their backups done in time to be picked up by Iron Mountain. If you know how to copy your backup tapes, and have sufficient resources to do so, this won't be an issue.
If the challenge of copying virtual tapes to physical tapes is a concern, you should consider an integrated VTL, such as those offered by Advanced Digital Information Corp. (ADIC), Alacritus Software, EMC Corp., FalconStor Software, Maxxan Systems Inc., Neartek Inc. and Spectra Logic.
An integrated VTL sits between your backup server and PTL. It inventories the PTL and represents its contents as virtual tapes in the VTL. For example, if you have physical tape X01007 in your PTL, virtual tape X01007 will appear in your VTL. Your backup software will then back up to virtual tape X01007. At some user-configurable point, the VTL internally copies virtual tape X01007 to physical tape X01007. When the backup software tells the VTL to eject virtual tape X01007, physical tape X01007 appears in the PTL's mail slot. An important point is that physical tape X01007 looks just like it would if the backup software had backed up to it directly. The backup software thinks it backed up to and ejected physical tape X01007 and, in the end, that's what it did. Bar-code matching maintains the consistency between the backup software's media manager and the physical tapes. But you need to remember that this method doesn't result in two copies of the tape. The virtual copy of the tape is deleted when the physical copy is successfully created.
There are some issues with this method. For example, what happens when the copy from the virtual tape to the physical tape fails? If the copy failed because the actual tape is bad, you'll need to remove the tape, swap its bar code to a new tape, put the new tape in the PTL and tell the VTL to try the copy again. (This will work only if your bar codes are removable.) If this happens occasionally, it's not a major disadvantage. But if it happens every day, it becomes disruptive.
|While IBM's Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) backs up directly to disk quite well, TSM administrators will experience provisioning and fragmentation issues if they begin storing all onsite backups on disk. (Most TSM disk storage pools aren't fragmented because they're immediately migrated to tape every night.) So, the advantages of virtual tape libraries (VTLs) apply to TSM as much as they apply to other backup products. In addition, a VTL would let TSM users create thousands of small virtual tapes, allowing them to turn on collocation for all clients without the usual penalty of hundreds of partially used tapes. It would also allow users to have dozens of virtual tape drives to perform reclamation at any time without causing contention.
Important VTL features
There are a number of differences among the major VTLs. Some (Alacritus, Diligent, FalconStor) are software only, so you can buy the software and run it on a regular disk array. Other VTL vendors (Maxxan, Neartek) sell a VTL head, which is analogous to a filer head. You use their software and head, but supply your own disk. Finally, some VTL vendors (ADIC, EMC, Quantum, Sepaton and Spectra Logic) offer an entire solution: software, head and disk. Software-only and filer head vendors allow you to redeploy an existing array, reducing your cost. Turnkey products cost more, but have the fewest integration issues.
Most VTLs offer replication or cascading, which replicates one VTL's backups to another VTL. But the tapes in the second VTL won't be considered duplicates by your backup software because they'll have the same bar codes as the original tapes. Also, remember that you'll probably be replicating the entire backup, and most backups aren't block level. Even incremental backups take up roughly 1% to 5% of the amount of data being backed up. This means you'll need to replicate 1% to 5% of your data center every night--a significant undertaking for many environments. Therefore, it may only be possible to use this feature within a campus, as opposed to including data from remote sites. Today, replication is offered by Alacritus- and FalconStor-based VTLs.
Some VTL vendors are beginning to offer a feature where their VTLs will examine the incremental backup, identify the changed blocks within that backup and replicate only the changed blocks. When that functionality becomes more widely available, replication between data centers will be much easier to accomplish. Diligent is the first to announce such a product with its ProtecTier offering.
If you have a heterogeneous environment with mainframe, AS/400 and open systems, you might consider a VTL that supports all three environments. Only Neartek currently offers this functionality.
A few integrated VTLs (FalconStor and Neartek) offer a feature called stacking. Stacking copies multiple virtual tapes onto one physical tape, a feature borrowed from mainframe virtual tape systems (VTS). Stacking was important to mainframes because apps were unable to append to a tape. The VTS would present hundreds of small virtual tapes to the app and then stack those virtual tapes onto one physical tape, significantly cutting media costs.
However, the value of stacking in most open-systems environments is questionable because any decent backup product can append to a tape until it's full. You should be aware that the use of stacking breaks the relationship between the backup software's media manager and the physical tape. Products that support stacking must read the entire stacked tape to read just one of the virtual tapes included on that tape. This feature is useful only if you gain a benefit akin to that achieved in the mainframe environment.
Alexander Dubose Jones and Townsend LLP, a small appellate law firm with offices in Houston and Austin, Texas, moved from tape to LiveVault Corp.'s InSync (Live- Vault service), a continuous data protection product. Vicki McArthur, the firm's administrator, says they had previously relied on daily tape backup as well as on a seven- day offsite tape rotation. The firm experienced all of the challenges traditionally found in tape environments, but recoveries concerned McArthur the most. Nightly backups don't work well with the nature of the legal industry, where files often require last-minute changes. Under a traditional backup system, files created in the morning wouldn't get backed up until that night, and wouldn't be sent offsite until at least the next day. "We faced the possibility of losing an entire day's worth of work or worse," says McArthur.
LiveVault makes a backup of files as soon as they're saved, and then replicates them to a remote site within a few minutes, where all previous versions of any file are accessible at any time. Because only changed bytes are sent, very little bandwidth is required. And since data is replicated every 15 minutes, McArthur believes that "the amount of data loss due to user error is reduced to minutes, possibly less."
If high-end performance is important, you should look for a VTL with a multiple data-mover architecture. Most VTLs run all software on one VTL head. Some vendors use the VTL head as a control mechanism, while passing the movement of the data on to one or more data movers. Need more performance? Simply purchase more data movers. This allows scaling to a much higher level without having to add and administer another VTL (Diligent, Neartek and Sepaton use this approach).
Finally, remember that VTLs don't perform at the same level, so it's important to conduct performance testing in your environment.
Alternative backup methods
If you have a centralized data center with a four-hour recovery time objective (RTO), a 24-hour recovery point objective (RPO), a 24-hour synchronicity requirement and an eight-hour backup window, you can stop reading now. But if your backup requirements include remote, unattended data centers, a five-minute RTO, a 15-minute RPO or a non-existent backup window, alternative backup systems can help bring some needed sanity to your storage environment.
Alternative backup options include snapshots, replication, continuous data protection (CDP) and data reduction backup (DRB). These technologies will reduce backup and restore times, and help meet requirements such as RTO, RPO, backup window and synchronicity.
RTO--how long it takes to recover a system--can range from zero seconds to several days or even weeks. Each piece of information serves a business function, so the question is how long the business can live without that function. If the business can't live without it for one second, then the RTO is zero.
RPO is determined by how much data a business can afford to lose. If the business can lose three days' worth of a set of data, then the RPO is three days. If the data is real-time transactions essential to the business, the RPO is zero for that application.
There can also be an RPO for a group of machines. If several systems are related to each other, they may need to be recovered to the same point in time. This is the synchronicity requirement; to meet it, all related systems have to be backed up at exactly the same time. This is referred to in disaster recovery circles as consistency groups.
Setting RPO, RTO requirements
All RPO, RTO and synchronicity requirements must be business-centric. Before deciding what these requirements are, you should first analyze and prioritize the business functions, and assign each computer system the recovery priority of the business function it serves. Next, decide on an RTO and RPO for each system and type of disaster--from the loss of a disk to the loss of a metropolitan area. Some systems will have the same requirements for all types of disasters; others may have tougher requirements for specific types of disasters.
Once you've determined an RTO and RPO for each system and disaster type, the final step is to determine how long it will take to back up the system and how much the backup will impact the production system.
Everything should start with RTO and RPO, although very few people do it that way. Most people go right to the backup window. Instead, you should concentrate on meeting your RTO and RPO requirements, and the backup window will almost always fall right in line. The reverse isn't necessarily true, however. There are many things that will shrink your backup window but not help your recovery objectives. If your requirements are impossible to meet with a traditional backup system, the following technologies are worth considering.
SNAPSHOTS. The most common type of snapshot is a virtual copy of an original volume or file system. The reliance on the original volume is why snapshots must be backed up to provide recovery from physical failures (see "Match snaps to apps," p. 46). Snapshot functionality resides in a number of places, including advanced filesystems, volume managers, enterprise arrays, NAS filers and backup software.
First American Trust Federal Savings Bank, Santa Ana, CA, handles up to $2 billion worth of wire transfers each day. The bank was recently asked by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to restore one year's worth of Microsoft Exchange e-mail data--a significant request.
One division used Network Appliance (NetApp) Inc.'s unified storage solution, SnapManager for Exchange, and Single Mailbox Recovery software, while another division used traditional backup and tape. The results from the two divisions couldn't have been more different. "The SEC request made the need for using nearline storage to easily recover and access e-mail undisputable," says Henry Jenkins, chief technology officer at First American. "Our disk-based solution rose to the occasion, but damaged tapes and botched backups made restoring from tape excruciating for our sister division."
It took the bank only a few days to restore roughly 360GB of e-mail using the combination of hardware and software from NetApp. In contrast, it took several months for one IT bank staffer to restore a smaller volume of e-mail from tape.
First American also uses offsite replication of critical SQL Server databases, Exchange e-mail and flat-file data that's used to perform routine wire services. All of this critical data creates only 200MB of changed data blocks per day, which are then asynchronously replicated to a remote system located at a disaster recovery (DR) site approximately 100 miles away. The DR system has an RPO of four hours in the event of a site failure.
"SnapMirror software saves us time by not having to replay logs and data at the remote site is, on average, less than 15 minutes behind," says Jenkins. "Every year for the past three years, we've done a disaster recovery test and every year it's just a matter of bringing up the warm servers," he adds.
There's a growing list of APIs that allow different vendors' products to interface with snapshots; the network data management protocol (NDMP) and Microsoft Corp.'s Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) are examples. NDMP lets backup products create a snapshot, and catalog and restore from its contents. VSS allows storage vendors with snapshot capability to have the files in those snapshots listed in and restored from the Previous Versions tab in Windows Server 2003. Hopefully, this capability will be added to workstation versions of Windows and more NAS vendors will support VSS.
Another interesting development is the creation of database agents that work with snapshots. The database agent communicates with the database so that the database believes it's being backed up, when all that's really happening is the creation of a snapshot. Recoveries can be incredibly fast when the process is controlled by the database application.
REPLICATION. Replication is the practice of continually copying from a source system to a target system all files or blocks that have changed on the source system. Replication used to be what companies implemented after everything was completely backed up and redundant, which meant that few used replication. However, many people are now using replication as their first line of defense for providing backup and disaster recovery.
Replication by itself is not a good backup strategy; it copies everything, including viruses and file deletions. Therefore, a replication-based backup system must be able to provide a history by either occasionally backing up the replicated destination or through the use of snapshots. It's usually preferable to make a snapshot on the source and replicate that snapshot to the destination. That way, you can prepare database applications for backup, take a snapshot and then have that snapshot replicated.
Kelly Overgaard, systems manager at Adaptec Inc., was fed up with tape. "Our old system was at capacity, and something was always breaking," he says. "When we looked at disk-based solutions, our goal was to completely get rid of tape--especially for remote sites."
Adaptec chose an Avamar Technologies Inc. Axion system that uses "commonality factoring" to identify duplicate blocks of data throughout its enterprise and to transmit only the new, unique blocks of data each time it backs up. This allows Adaptec to back up and recover smaller remote offices directly to its central data center. Larger offices, or those with shorter recovery time objectives, can be backed up to a local target device at the remote site, which then replicates to a second device in its central data center. This flexibility to use (or not use) a local recovery device let Adaptec deploy this solution to several sites.
Overgaard says that because the commonality factoring is performed on the client, it requires slightly more CPU than traditional backup, but "no one has mentioned any ill effects." He considers himself a happy customer, but says he's unsure if the system will be able to back up Adaptec's large databases.
But Overgaard doesn't believe he can afford to store his firm's backups with long-term retention on the Axion system, so he also performs a monthly full tape backup of Axion clients using Adaptec's previous tape system, and then sends that offsite for several years. Avamar says he'll soon be able to make such tape backups by simply exporting the appropriate data directly from the Axion system.
DRB SYSTEMS. DRB systems were designed to answer the following questions: If only a few bytes in a file change, why back up the entire file? If the same file resides in two places on the same system, why back it up twice? Why not store a reference to the second file? And why waste server and network resources by backing up the same file across multiple systems?
By backing up a file once, and then backing up only the changed bytes, backup windows are reduced. Tape copies of disk-based backups can usually be created at any time, depending on your requirements. Some DRB products can meet aggressive RTO requirements by restoring only the blocks that have changed since the file was last backed up. The RPO and synchronicity abilities of DRB products are based on how often you back up, but it's common to back up hourly.
The biggest advantage to DRB products is that, from the user adoption perspective, they're the closest to what users know. Their interfaces are similar and they often have database agents like traditional backup software. They're also able to back up faster and more often, and use much less bandwidth.
CDP. A CDP system is basically an asynchronous, replication-based backup system. The software runs continuously on the client to be backed up, and each time a file changes, the new bytes are sent to the backup server within seconds or minutes. But unlike replication, a CDP system can roll back to any changes at any time.
|Pros and cons of alternative backup methods
Another difference in CDP products is that some are database-centric and work only with a particular database, such as Microsoft Exchange or SQL Server. Most file-based CDP products aren't going to provide interfaces for your database apps. These CDP products copy blocks to the backup destination in the same order they're changed on the client. Restarting your database causes it to go into the same mode that it would go into if the server were to crash (i.e., crash recovery mode). It examines the data files, figures out what's inconsistent, rolls backward or forward any necessary transactions or blocks, and then the database is up. If the CDP product puts the blocks back in the exact order in which they were changed, then the database should be able to recover from any point in time. Some products can even present a logical unit number or volume to your database that it can mount and test before you do the recovery.
Some CDP vendors, like Kashya and Mendocino, integrate with database vendors. In addition to continuously copying blocks from source to destination, they integrate with your apps to create consistent recovery points that can be used to recover your database without it having to go into crash recovery mode. Keeping the app out of recovery mode can save a lot of time during a restore.
Your database vendor may have a different opinion about CDP: If you're not using their supported backup method, they may not be helpful if something goes wrong. Discuss the support issue with your database vendor and include your DBA in the discussion.
Aggressive requirements
You should consider switching backup products only if your current backup product can't meet your requirements (see "Pros and cons of alternative backup methods," previous page). There are many requirements--such as remote office data protection, backing up large databases, and an app with an RPO of zero--that might have you considering alternatives.
Veritas Software's NetBackup 6.0 (now owned by Symantec) addresses many manageability limitations with its disk storage units (DSUs), the firm's term for disk-as-disk backup targets. Version 6.0 users will now be able to configure the size of each DSU, point backups to a group of DSUs, and have those backups failover to other DSUs based on a choice of usage algorithms. Disk-staging storage units will be able to perform multiple, simultaneous de-staging processes.
It gets more interesting when a Network Appliance NearStore device is used as a NetBackup DSU. With a NetBackup 6.0 master/media server, NearStore will perform data reduction techniques on the incoming NetBackup data stream, reducing the amount of actual disk it will take to store full and incremental backups, thus reducing the effective per-gigabyte cost of the total solution. The next version of NetBackup will present backups as NFS- and CIFS-mountable snapshots, allowing a user to browse through their backed up files without using the NetBackup GUI or bothering NetBackup admins. While this is a great feature, storage admins should consider its security implications before a company-wide implementation.
CDP products are also superior to traditional backup methods when backing up very large databases. There isn't enough time or horsepower available to transfer several terabytes of data to tape every day. A CDP product could continually back up a database throughout the day, with no noticeable backup window or application impact. Depending on the product, a stringent RTO and short RPO could also be met. Some products also provide a disk-based copy that can be used in a disaster situation while the real volume is being recovered.
Finally, some database applications require a zero RPO. Most databases can meet such a requirement if they're configured correctly, and if the transaction log is backed up throughout the day. If your database supports that kind of functionality, it's probably best to stick with it. If not, try one of these newer methods.
Related Resources
Dig Deeper on Data storage strategy
As a backup target, when is VTL better than NAS?
Virtual tape libraries: Old backup technology holdover or gateway to the future?
Virtual tape libraries (VTLs) remain attractive to larger enterprisesBy: Rick Cook
The current state of virtual tape libraries in enterprise data backup systemsBy: W. Preston


text:
Gigantes plaki
Nutrition and extra info
- Freezable
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- kcal431
- fat11g
- saturates1g
- carbs66g
- sugars15g
- fibre19g
- protein22g
- salt0.2g
- 400g dried butter beans
- 3 tbsp Greek extra virgin olive oil, plus more to serve
Olive oilol-iv oyl
Probably the most widely-used oil in cooking, olive oil is pressed from fresh olives. It's…
- 1 Spanish onion, finely chopped
Onions are endlessly versatile and an essential ingredient in countless recipes. Native to Asia…
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 800g ripe tomatoes, skins removed, roughly chopped
A member of the nightshade family (along with aubergines, peppers and chillies), tomatoes are in…
- 1 tsp sugar
Honey and syrups made from concentrated fruit juice were the earliest known sweeteners. Today,…
- 1 tsp dried oregano
Closely related to marjoram, of which it is the wild equivalent, oregano has a coarser, more…
- pinch ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus extra to serve
Soak the beans overnight in plenty of water. Drain, rinse, then place in a pan covered with water. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, then simmer for approx 50 mins until slightly tender but not soft. Drain, then set aside.
Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, tip in the onion and garlic, then cook over a medium heat for 10 mins until softened but not browned. Add the tomato purée, cook for a further min, add remaining ingredients, then simmer for 2-3 mins. Season generously, then stir in the beans. Tip into a large ovenproof dish, then bake for approximately 1 hr, uncovered and without stirring, until the beans are tender. The beans will absorb all the fabulous flavours and the sauce will thicken. Allow to cool, then scatter with parsley and drizzle with a little more olive oil to serve.
Recipe Tip
Make it quickerIf you like, use 3 x 400g cans butter beans. Make the sauce as recipe, tip in the drained and rinsed beans, then continue as before.


text:
OCEANSIDE, Calif. -- Marine Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins called his wife as soon as he learned the military's highest court had ordered his immediate release after overturning his murder conviction in a major Iraq war crime.
Reyna Hutchins' response was one of genuine disbelief: "Is it for real? Are we sure this time?" she asked.
The 29-year-old Marine couldn't answer. He still doesn't know himself whether he truly is a free man.
Hutchins has had his conviction overturned twice in the past three years by military courts after rulings that there were errors in the handling of his case.
The latest ruling was made on June 26 when the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces found Navy interrogators violated his rights by holding him in solitary confinement for seven days after he was accused of murder in the death of a retired Iraqi policeman in the village of Hamdania in 2006.
Hutchins spoke to reporters Friday for the first time since his release last month.
Under the military justice system, the Navy can still order his case to be retried or it can appeal to the Supreme Court to intervene. It is expected to announce its decision over the next few months.
In the meantime, Hutchins must remain in the Marine Corps, even though he wants out. He has been assigned his old job at Camp Pendleton as a marksmanship instructor.
He said his release after 7 1/2 years in the brig has been "surreal," and he has felt anxious at times. He tells people he's been on a long deployment.
So he is free but not free. He wants to move forward but is still anchored by his past. He says he loves his Marine brotherhood but not the institution. And he says, he may never, emotionally speaking, be entirely free.
"This man's death will stay with me for the rest of my life," he said.
Hutchins lost his 20s to the war -- first in fighting it and then in serving more than half of an 11-year sentence in the brig.
The son and grandson of Marines, Hutchins, of Plymouth , Mass., enlisted at the age of 21, right after 9/11.
He led an eight-man squad accused of kidnapping retired Iraqi policeman Hashim Ibrahim Awad from his home in April 2006, marching him to a ditch and shooting him to death in Hamdania, a small village in Al Anbar province.
Hutchins has said he thought the man -- who turned out to be a retired policeman -- was an insurgent leader. Prosecutors accused the squad of planting a shovel and AK-47 to make it appear he was an insurgent.
The six other Marines and a Navy corpsman in his squad served less than 18 months locked up.
While Hutchins is not allowed to discuss that fateful day while it remains in legal limbo, he said it was among many horrible days.
"I was in war for 4 1/2 months," he said. "Before this happened, we had been in firefights almost every day. I tried to help an Iraqi individual who had a bullet go through his throat as his wife sat next to him. Before the Iraqi policeman was killed, there had been IEDs going off in the area."
He added that "all these things weigh on my conscience."
A lower court overturned his conviction three years ago, ruling his trial in 2007 was unfair because his lead defense lawyer quit shortly before it began. But the military's highest court at that time overruled that decision, saying the problem was not grave enough to throw out the conviction. Hutchins was returned to the brig after eight months working at a desk job at Camp Pendleton.
The day he went back into custody, his wife found out she was pregnant with their second child, a boy. His daughter is 8. His parents are losing his childhood home over his $120,000 legal bill, he said.
"It's been 7 1/2 years," he said. "I've missed my son's birth, my family's birthdays, Christmases. These things I won't get back."
He is spending as much time as possible with them now, not knowing his future.