Mainframe

This is older technology from the mid-1960s that refuses to die out! In the ’60s, before the advent of the PC, access to computers was expensive. As a matter of course, many users would connect to a single server-grade mainframe machine. Mainframes were built for reliability and stability, and as compared to standard PCs and server technology, mainframes contain multiple CPUs running into dozens, have thousands of GB of RAM, and high-speed hard disk subsystems that can hold terabytes of data. Mainframes have a Mean Time between Failure (MTBF) ratings of 20 years. Of late, interest in mainframes is being revived.

Business Process

It is the word that is being increasingly encountered in the context of software discussions within organizations. A business process essentially is a series of interconnected activities that have a specific start and a specific end. For example, a company may have a purchase process which starts with a requisition for materials from a user; this requisition may result in triggering a request for quotes from vendors. Based on the vendor responses and after negotiation, a vendor is selected and the purchase order issued. Based on the purchase order, the vendor supplies the materials. He then submits a bill to the accounting department. The accounting department verifies his claims against the actual deliveries made to the company stores and releases the payment. This entire cycle, which started with the user’s requisition and ended with the material being delivered and the payment being made to the vendor, is a simplified example of a business process cycle. In actual fact, business processes are much more complex, and require a detailed understanding of each user’s perspective in the link. Organizations seeking to improve their efficiency use business process modeling tools to analyze how changes in the business processes will impact the organization.

LAN

The Local Area Network is the grand daddy of networking. A LAN is a computer network limited to a specific location like a building or an office or even the home. The LAN is the next step up from an Ad Hoc Network. Normally, LANs are created using switches and routers that connect multiple computers in a single location. LANs are usually limited to a small area where the computers are physically connected to the network. Variations of the LAN include WAN—Wide Area Network, MAN—Metropolitan Area Network and Wireless LAN or WLAN. WANs connect multiple LANs together using dedicated leased lines or via VPNs over the Internet. MANs are WANs created to serve a large neighborhood like a suburb or even an entire city in itself. WLAN is the wireless version of the LAN normally using the WiFi standards of wireless technology. It essentially enables users at the location to share information and resources, like printers etc, with each other. In the earlier days Novell used to be the defacto choice for networking software but these days Windows has more or less taken over the field completely. Most networks these days are Ethernet based as it is relatively easy to deploy and robust enough to give trouble free service. However, with the advent of Wi-Fi technology there is a strong move towards wireless networks or wireless LANs as they are called due to the relative ease of connection and the lack of the need for physical wiring in a location.

Force Feedback

This is a system of communication between the system and the gaming device. Using force feedback it is possible for the game Tablets can even replace mice A typical gamepad software to send back special signals that effect the way the gaming device handles, like vibration. Every Force Feedback compatible game pad has a few types of vibration sequences stored in it. The software only passes a signal to the game pad to execute one of these vibration sequences. Force Feedback is also used to create realism in driving wheels wherein the rotating resistance of the wheel is increased or decreased based on various factors present in the game.

WiMAX

WiMAX is Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access. In the rapidly-evolving sphere of wireless technology, WiMAX is the next generation in wireless access to the Internet with speeds that are equivalent to cable or DSL connections. While Wi-Fi focused on providing wireless LAN and Internet access, WiMAX is geared to deliver broadband access over a range of 10 to 50 km at speeds varying from 10 to 70 Mbps. There are two main types of WiMAX: Fixed WiMAX and Mobile WiMAX. Similar to cellular networks, the WiMAX service is provided through a base station. In the case of Fixed WiMAX, you are limited to the range of the base station; in the case of Mobile WiMAX, you will be able to continuously access the Internet on the move, and you would get automatic handover when you cross from the range of one base station to another. In India, we may expect to see WiMAX availability as early as 2008.