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Posts Tagged ‘computer technology’

For classroom training, renting computers, sound systems and projectors from a computer rental company is the easiest and most cost efficient way to coordinate corporate training initiatives with the least amount of headaches.

Save Time and Money with Training: Computer, Projector, and Sound System Equipment Rentals

Even if you own all the equipment you need for a computer training session you will save money by using the installation services of a computer rental company. Computer rental companies coordinate everything technical so you can concentrate on the execution of your computer training program.

Trainers can become technicians very quickly when training computer equipment doesn’t work properly.

Training directors know how difficult it can be to ‘work out all the bugs’ before, during and after each training program.

Execution is the key to training results and efficiencies. If 20% of the computers don’t work, you can have a training disaster on your hands.

Add up all the costs and distractions from your computer training goals. Put a value on your time, say $100 per hour. Now multiply the time you and your staff spent on hardware setup, delivery, installation, maintenance and removal. Keep in mind that all computers need to have the same configuration to maximize productivity.

Here is a quick checklist of common tasks that need to be accomplished on every computer training session.

1. Install same versions of operating systems and training software

2. Install sound system, projectors, printers

3. Run network cables

4. Tape down all wires

5. Connect to network services

6. Test each computer

7. Troubleshoot installation problems

8. Diagnose and fix all problems

9. Service equipment during training sessions including having spare equipment available.

10. At the end of the computer training, disconnect, pickup and return all the equipment to various locations in your company.

How many man-hours would it take for you and your company’s staff to accomplish the classroom training setup, service and teardown?

Here are some things to find out if you use a computer rental company for computer training sessions:

Find out if the computer rental company has any experience with the classroom training hardware and software you need. If they do often they can remember all the pieces and parts that easily get overlooked by a non-experienced rental company.

Some rental companies will install software or ‘image load’ all rental computers prior to delivery.

For example, you can have your training program software and the OS of your choice installed on all desktop or laptop computers!

Have the computer rental technicians test each application by following your testing directions. This ensures that your training software will work as planned.

Make sure delivery, setup is planned well in advance of computer training sessions.

Make sure you are covered with an on-site service program! Ask for extra, spare equipment can even be included for your computer training class! Often you can get a spare unit for free!

The term “expansion bus “is a frequent term in vintage computer terminology which requires elaboration. Much of the legacy of vintage bus systems are in our current computer systems today.

To begin with the “expansion bus” is a data highway for computer data information to travel on: the bandwidth is in essence the number of lanes. The bigger the bandwidth the more data can be sent. As examples, an 8 megabyte bandwidth means that data can be sent in 8 bits chunks. Our current systems use between 32 bit and now 64 bit bandwidth.

An expansion bus is where cards connect to the computer; Cards have an expansion edge, which fits snugly into the bus much like an electrical plug fits into a wall socket.

When cards are plugged into the bus, they communicate with the system, sometimes through the BIOS and others not. (The BIOS is the basic input /output system that tells the computer how to move data from the different components.) The 8, 16 or 32 bit bandwidth is an important consideration due to communication time between the cards. For example you have a 16 bit vintage 286 PC and it is sending out data at 16 bits a: your video card is also 8 bits. If you have an older 8 bit bus, such as in early IBM PCs and clones, the bus will become a bottleneck in the system; it is like having a 4 lane highway connected to another 4 lane highway by way of a 1 lane road. At most times regardless of the faster 4 lane highway traffic will be slow – limited by the single lane connection road.

There were basically 3 types of expansion bus available in vintage computers: ISA, MCA, EISA systems.

Each early development in major ways paved the way for the later systems which indeed we take for granted today. This was both in terms of hardware and basic concepts in our computer systems and technology as well as computer marketing that we take for granted today as simple basic facts of life without any consideration due.

Basically the newer buses offered increased performance over the older technology buses.

The basic explanations of the buses are as follows:

The 3 bus standards to note were Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) .Micro Channel Channel Architecture (MSA) and Extended Industry Standard (EISA) bus systems.

Industry Standard Architecture (ISA). This was the original AT bus also called an ISA bus. It was the original 8 bit IBM PC bus which was bumped up to 16 bits at some point in its later development. Fine for a 16 bit 286 or very early 386 computers

Micro Channel Architecture (MSA). This was an early 32 bit bus system which was not received well but set the stage for an industry consortium of the major non IBM computer manufacturers ( at the time referred to as “The Group of Nine) to develop the EISA standard bus.

Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA). The EISA bus standard was a standard of its own right which was 32 bit, included bus mastering and importantly remained compatible with previous older expansion cards. 32 bit systems were first to incorporate in later 386 systems. The 486 line solidified and standardized the 32 bit systems in the established software of the day.

Backward compatibility at the time was a novel new concept which has remained an important consideration in the computer industry.

EISA slots would accommodate both the ISA and EISA expansion slots to allow hardware upgrades, However the EISA expansion boards would be of little advantage and would seldom work in the older ISA expansion slots.
On the other hand the Micro Channel setup was not backward compatible. On the one hand the Micro Channel developers were free to initiate new radical changes in computer development and hardware which would have allowed for major new useful features in computer software. However owners of previous systems would have been left with then obsolete vintage useless hardware which would have been of no use and certainly little financial value.

Hence there was a lot of resistance to the Micro Channel bus setup.

It died a lingering death with its legacy living on in the aspirations of features offered in future developments and standards.

Online courses can now be obtained free of charge. These providers of free online computer courses offer free course materials that can be freely downloaded from their respective websites. But the main thing here is to assure the credibility of the sources and accuracy of the detailed information on a specific course. If such a provider has enough experience in the IT industry to back their claims, chances are, you’re getting the best free online computer course deal in the country.

Now always remember that free online computer courses can be obtained by just acquiring a free set of educational materials on a specific field of interest. If free educational materials on computer courses are what you want, then you should consider getting these from IBM and the Computer Science Teachers Association. Through accredited schools in the country, that is.

Now these two top American IT specialist groups have actually teamed up with each other so as to provide free online computer course materials on various tech areas. The tech areas cover a wide range of specific skill-development training materials, such as free online computer course materials on advanced handheld equipment usability, JAVA-based programming, web design and development, Flash, and SQL programming. These free computer course materials have integrated a system to match each individual’s skill level in a certain area of computer technology. The online system provides the distance learners the option of dictating their own pace when it comes to the learning process. Plus, since it’s an online computer course they’re availing, they could easily take on fun travel holidays even while continuing with the course.

There are free materials for beginner, intermediate, and expert learners, respectively. IBM and the Computer Science Teachers Association have created these materials so as to be integrated on the educational system of the country. With this, these free online computer course materials would be handled by each accredited educational institution.

For a beginner, these electronic computer-related training materials would be very useful. Compared to other online computer training courses, such digital materials do not need intermediary skills in computer navigation and basic computer software operation. In addition, these free digital materials do not require a learner to have the skills in navigating through the internet. Of course, the reason for this is quite obvious. If it’s an online computer-related course a learner is intent on studying, this person must possess internet browsing and computer navigation skills that range from beginner levels to near-expert skills. But what IBM and the Computer Science Teachers Association have made accessible even to beginners are the materials themselves. Aside from the fact that these learners are given free online computer-related course materials based on their choice and skills, they can just download these free course materials and view them offline. This makes such materials accessible even to those without internet browsing knowledge. Some materials or documents are even available in non-electronic or hard copies, which make learning even more accessible to those without proper computer navigation and software operation skills.

On the other hand, intermediate to near-expert computer and IT specialists can also benefit from these free online computer course materials. The main reason for this is that these free online materials from IBM and the Computer Science Teachers Association have passed the strictest standards when it comes to quality and accuracy. Through the documents made available by the team-up, students with enough background on IT-related topics and subjects could already gain substantial knowledge in his or her chosen field. Thus, these free online computer course materials can greatly help in making the data from free online computer courses, or even the paid ones, virtually usable and easy to understand. In this sense, the free electronic course materials by IBM and the association can even be used as a stand-alone method of learning each field of IT; this could be very much advantageous to those who possess average to above average computer skills. Another additional bonus of these materials is that students could easily set their own pace of learning, without any pressure whatsoever from online course administrators who give out tight deadlines for projects and modular activities.