Tag Archives: 1
How High Quality Links Can Make a Real Difference to a Search Engine Rank
Once upon a time, it was thought that when a business launched its website, the orders would simply come flooding in. But, with literally billions of websites on the net, sites need more than a catchy domain name and some pretty solid content to be a success. The best way to succeed online is to build a site presence, and links makes all the difference, particular high quality links. When a web user wants to find a website, he or she will usually enter a relevant phrase or topic name into a search engine and search for specific information, not a particular site. Links play a key role in establishing the prominence that a particular site has within a topic, and therefore a higher rank within the search engine. Through search engine optimisation, which is more commonly referred to as SEO, the search engine will best be able to find what the user is looking for. This makes the dual areas of site linking and key word searching equally important. But, in terms of linking, there are aspects that affect the actual quality of the link, one of which is relevance. For many people, the whole world of website linking is a bit like backwards Greek. Completely confusing. However, it is perfectly clear when one breaks the matter down into its simplest form and keeps in mind the key theme word on which the whole matter is based. That theme word is sharing. A link is basically a percentage of a single value, lets say the number 1. And the value of 1 is divided equally between all of the websites on the internet, ensuring that all existing sites have an equal rank. Through links, websites can donate their value to others, thereby building the significance of the website they links to. To make it simpler, think of the internet as an apartment building, with 100 apartments. The building has a value of 100, with each apartment a value of 1. The popularity, and therefore rank of apartments, can be measured by the number of residents that like to visit, or link to, it. So, if three residents visit apartment 5B, they donate their respective values, meaning 5B is worth 3. And since every other apartment is worth just 1, that means that 5B is the most popular or the most prominent, and is duly ranked top of the list. It gets a little more complicated when the resident in apartment 3F likes to visit three apartments regularly, say 7D and 2H, as well as 5B. In that case, 3F simply divides its value into 3, thereby donating 0.33 to each of 7D, 2H and 5B. However, as an intricate visiting pattern develops, the values can become extremely varied and result in a table of preferences, clearly ranking the apartments according to their popularity. Quality is also important, and search engines have developed to such a level of sophistication that they can identify which links are most relevant, and which ones are less so. In the past, owners of websites and blogs simply built a multitude of links on other sites to into a position of significance. The problem was that not all links were on relevant sites, or even sites that could be considered genuine. So, an owner of a pet store might link sites relating to gardening, sport and archeology to his own business website, as well as those relating to pet matters. The result is a huge number of links, but only a small percentage of which are relevant. Now, search engines evaluate the quality of the particular links, that if a site is linked to a site within the same topic or industry, the relevance is high and the link is a high quality link . Once this status has been achieved, and a search engine places a site higher on the ranking system, it will take less time for a web user to find a relevant site. With the right key words, and a truly effective search engine optimisation strategy, more traffic can be directed to a site, bringing more potential customers, creating more business and increasing sales. With the right link building and SEO techniques, any business can thrive on the world wide web.
The Truth about RAID Technology
RAID – Redundant Array of Inexpensive (or sometimes “Independent”) Disks – is a method of combining several hard drives into one logical unit. It can offer fault tolerance and higher throughput levels than a single hard drive or group of independent hard drives.
RAID is a mature technology that speeds up data access while at the same time protecting your data from hard disk failure. RAID is quickly becoming a necessary component in every network since data loss and downtime can prove both fatal and financially destructive. Most networks are designed to provide instant access to massive amounts of data. More and more employees have to access customer and other databases. Intranets and corporate Web sites provide access to huge databases online.
RAID provides increased storage capacities, and protects your important data from hard drive failure.
RAID Levels:
RAID 0
RAID 1
RAID 3
RAID 5
RAID 10
There are multiple benefits of using RAID:
Reliability
Scalability
Real-time data recovery with uninterrupted access when a hard drive fails
System uptime and network availability
Protection against data loss
multiple drives working in parallel increase system performance
A disk system with RAID capability can protect its data and provide on-line, immediate access to its data, despite a single disk failure (some RAID storage systems can withstand two concurrent disk failures). RAID capability also provides for the on-line reconstruction of the contents of a failed disk to a replacement disk.
RAID offers faster hard drive performance and nearly complete data safety. Storage requirements are expanding as file sizes get bigger and rendering needs get more complex. If you handle very large images or work on audio and video files, faster data throughput means enhanced productivity. RAID can be backed up to tape while the system is in use.
There are 5 most commonly used RAID levels. These levels are not ratings, but rather classifications of functionality. Different RAID levels offer dramatic differences in performance, data availability and data integrity depending on the specific I/O environment. There is no single RAID level that is perfect for all users.
Storage Requirements can be calculated through RAID Calculator.
RAID 0: STRIPING
RAID 0 refers to striping data across multiple disks without any redundant information. Data is divided into blocks and distributed sequentially among the disks. This level is also referred to as pure striping. The number of disk drives needed to create a RAID 0 is one or more. In other words, a single drive can be configured as a RAID 0 array. This type of array can be used to enhance performance in either a request rate intensive or transfer rate intensive environment. Unfortunately, striping reduces the level of data availability since a disk failure will cause the entire array to be inaccessible.
RAID 0 was not defined originally but has become a commonly used term.
Advantages:
Easy to Implement
No capacity loss – all storage is usable
Disadvantages:
Not a “true” RAID due to the lack of fault-tolerance
Failure of only one disk will result in loss of all data on the array
RAID 1: MIRRORING / DUPLEXING
RAID 1 is the first defined level that allows a measure of data redundancy. Data written to one disk drive is simultaneously written to another disk drive. If one disk fails, the other disk can be used to run the system and reconstruct the failed disk. Since the disk is mirrored, it does not matter if one of them fails because both disks contain the same data at all times.
RAID level 1 provides high data availability since two complete copies of all information are maintained. In addition, read performance may be enhanced if the array controller allows simultaneous reads from both members of a mirrored pair. Higher availability will be achieved if both disks in a mirror pair are on separate I/O busses, known as duplexing.
Advantages:
Higher read performance than a single disk
Disadvantages:
Requires twice the desired disk space
RAID 3: SRTIPING AND PARITY
In RAID 3, data is striped across a set of disks. In addition, parity is generated and stored on a dedicated disk. With RAID 3, data chunks are much smaller than the average I/O size and the disk spindles are synchronized to enhance throughput in transfer rate intensive environments. RAID 3 is well suited for CAD/CAM or imaging type applications as well as streaming media. Since parity is used, a RAID 3 stripe set can withstand a single disk failure without losing data or access to data.
Advantages:
Good data availability
High performance for transfer rate intensive applications
Cost effective – only 1 extra disk is required for parity
Disadvantages:
Poor random I/O performance
Disk failure has a significant impact on performance
RAID 5: SRTIPING AND PARITY
RAID 5, similar to level 3, stripes data and parity to generate redundancy. However, instead of requiring entirely new disk for parity storage, the parity is distributed through the stripe of the disk array.
In RAID 5 both parity and data are striped across a set of separate disks. Next, the new parity is calculated. Finally, the new data and parity are written to separate disks. Data chunks are much larger than the average I/O size, but are still resizable. Disks are able to satisfy requests independently which provides high read performance in a request rate intensive environment. Since parity information is used, a RAID 5 stripe can withstand a single disk failure without losing data or access to data.
Advantages:
Highest read data transaction rates
Cost effective – only 1 extra disk is required
Disadvantages:
Individual block data transfer rate same as a single disk.
RAID 10
RAID 10 is technically (RAID 1 + RAID 0), a combination of RAID 1 and 0 – mirroring and striping, but without parity. RAID 10 is a stripe across a number of mirrored drives. It is implemented as a striped array whose segments are RAID 1 arrays. RAID 10 has the same fault tolerance as RAID level 1, as well as the same overhead for fault-tolerance as mirroring alone.
Advantages:
Very high I/O rates are achieved by striping RAID 1 segments
Excellent solution for sites that would normally use RAID 1
Great for Oracle and other databases which need high performance and fault tolerance.
Disadvantages:
Expensive to maintain
As with Raid 1 total capacity is equal to half of the total capacity of all disk in the array.
The Truth about RAID Technology
RAID – Redundant Array of Inexpensive (or sometimes “Independent”) Disks – is a method of combining several hard drives into one logical unit. It can offer fault tolerance and higher throughput levels than a single hard drive or group of independent hard drives.
RAID is a mature technology that speeds up data access while at the same time protecting your data from hard disk failure. RAID is quickly becoming a necessary component in every network since data loss and downtime can prove both fatal and financially destructive. Most networks are designed to provide instant access to massive amounts of data. More and more employees have to access customer and other databases. Intranets and corporate Web sites provide access to huge databases online.
RAID provides increased storage capacities, and protects your important data from hard drive failure.
RAID Levels:
RAID 0
RAID 1
RAID 3
RAID 5
RAID 10
There are multiple benefits of using RAID:
Reliability
Scalability
Real-time data recovery with uninterrupted access when a hard drive fails
System uptime and network availability
Protection against data loss
multiple drives working in parallel increase system performance
A disk system with RAID capability can protect its data and provide on-line, immediate access to its data, despite a single disk failure (some RAID storage systems can withstand two concurrent disk failures). RAID capability also provides for the on-line reconstruction of the contents of a failed disk to a replacement disk.
RAID offers faster hard drive performance and nearly complete data safety. Storage requirements are expanding as file sizes get bigger and rendering needs get more complex. If you handle very large images or work on audio and video files, faster data throughput means enhanced productivity. RAID can be backed up to tape while the system is in use.
There are 5 most commonly used RAID levels. These levels are not ratings, but rather classifications of functionality. Different RAID levels offer dramatic differences in performance, data availability and data integrity depending on the specific I/O environment. There is no single RAID level that is perfect for all users.
Storage Requirements can be calculated through RAID Calculator.
RAID 0: STRIPING
RAID 0 refers to striping data across multiple disks without any redundant information. Data is divided into blocks and distributed sequentially among the disks. This level is also referred to as pure striping. The number of disk drives needed to create a RAID 0 is one or more. In other words, a single drive can be configured as a RAID 0 array. This type of array can be used to enhance performance in either a request rate intensive or transfer rate intensive environment. Unfortunately, striping reduces the level of data availability since a disk failure will cause the entire array to be inaccessible.
RAID 0 was not defined originally but has become a commonly used term.
Advantages:
Easy to Implement
No capacity loss – all storage is usable
Disadvantages:
Not a “true” RAID due to the lack of fault-tolerance
Failure of only one disk will result in loss of all data on the array
RAID 1: MIRRORING / DUPLEXING
RAID 1 is the first defined level that allows a measure of data redundancy. Data written to one disk drive is simultaneously written to another disk drive. If one disk fails, the other disk can be used to run the system and reconstruct the failed disk. Since the disk is mirrored, it does not matter if one of them fails because both disks contain the same data at all times.
RAID level 1 provides high data availability since two complete copies of all information are maintained. In addition, read performance may be enhanced if the array controller allows simultaneous reads from both members of a mirrored pair. Higher availability will be achieved if both disks in a mirror pair are on separate I/O busses, known as duplexing.
Advantages:
Higher read performance than a single disk
Disadvantages:
Requires twice the desired disk space
RAID 3: SRTIPING AND PARITY
In RAID 3, data is striped across a set of disks. In addition, parity is generated and stored on a dedicated disk. With RAID 3, data chunks are much smaller than the average I/O size and the disk spindles are synchronized to enhance throughput in transfer rate intensive environments. RAID 3 is well suited for CAD/CAM or imaging type applications as well as streaming media. Since parity is used, a RAID 3 stripe set can withstand a single disk failure without losing data or access to data.
Advantages:
Good data availability
High performance for transfer rate intensive applications
Cost effective – only 1 extra disk is required for parity
Disadvantages:
Poor random I/O performance
Disk failure has a significant impact on performance
RAID 5: SRTIPING AND PARITY
RAID 5, similar to level 3, stripes data and parity to generate redundancy. However, instead of requiring entirely new disk for parity storage, the parity is distributed through the stripe of the disk array.
In RAID 5 both parity and data are striped across a set of separate disks. Next, the new parity is calculated. Finally, the new data and parity are written to separate disks. Data chunks are much larger than the average I/O size, but are still resizable. Disks are able to satisfy requests independently which provides high read performance in a request rate intensive environment. Since parity information is used, a RAID 5 stripe can withstand a single disk failure without losing data or access to data.
Advantages:
Highest read data transaction rates
Cost effective – only 1 extra disk is required
Disadvantages:
Individual block data transfer rate same as a single disk.
RAID 10
RAID 10 is technically (RAID 1 + RAID 0), a combination of RAID 1 and 0 – mirroring and striping, but without parity. RAID 10 is a stripe across a number of mirrored drives. It is implemented as a striped array whose segments are RAID 1 arrays. RAID 10 has the same fault tolerance as RAID level 1, as well as the same overhead for fault-tolerance as mirroring alone.
Advantages:
Very high I/O rates are achieved by striping RAID 1 segments
Excellent solution for sites that would normally use RAID 1
Great for Oracle and other databases which need high performance and fault tolerance.
Disadvantages:
Expensive to maintain
As with Raid 1 total capacity is equal to half of the total capacity of all disk in the array.