I just purchased an underpowered computer to experiment further with remote desktops. Ideally I'd like to be able to use a remote desktop technology to stream HD video from the remote server, play a game on the client that's rendered on the more powerful server, and to have a local user work on the remote serving computer while another account on the server is being accessed remotely by the thin client. [more inside]
posted by jsturgill on Apr 10, 2013 - 12 answers

I have a friend who has become totally reliant on an e-mail account, which was provided by an internet service provider which she has just left to go to a new ISP. She uses Outlook 2003 as her e-mail client program. Unfortunately, she is now finding that after moving to this new ISP that although she can receive e-mails absolutely fine, she cannot send e-mails. [more inside]
posted by conrad101 on Feb 7, 2013 - 16 answers

IT-worker-in-training here. I've been reading doom & gloom articles about how Cloud-computing and virtualization will kill the market for IT professionals due to automation and economies of scale. Question for people in the IT professions: should I be scared? [more inside]
posted by UrbanEye on Jun 11, 2012 - 18 answers

I would like to know what is the best approach for measuring a cloud provider's network latency and jitter e.g. Amazon EC2. While a single ping on the command line can achieve a round trip latency snapshot for that one moment, I was looking for something more comprehensive and thorough. Are there any software tools out there that are particularly recommended and hopefully easy to use for measuring at intervals, network latency & jitter, preferably in Windows? Is round trip latency or end to end latency the best metric to consider? Ping provides roundtrip although if the packet came back the same route it came, then end to end could be found by dividing by 2. Latency and jitter increases in proportion to server load. How could I ramp up server load to let's say a specified percentage? Many thanks!
posted by conrad101 on Feb 14, 2012 - 8 answers

I am looking to do a project on the effects of latency on cloud computing, specifically latency impacting on Amazon EC2 virtual machines and I am trying to get my head around it. EC2 is an Infrastructure As A Service cloud product. Unfortunately, I do not have much experience with it. I haven't found alot on the internet on this area; has anyone seen any information on this subject? Could anyone make suggestions about appropriate ways to do latency benchmarking in this area. What kind of things ought I be looking to include in any benchmark tests. How exactly do others go about measuring latency for Amazon EC2. Are there any software tools out there which will help.
posted by conrad101 on Apr 11, 2011 - 8 answers

How would you network your home if you had a blank slate? Wired or wireless? Our house is about to be almost entirely demolished and we have the opportunity to 'future-proof' our home. Given that the walls are down, should we take the chance to fill them full of wires? If so, what sort? [more inside]
posted by hydrophobic on Jul 21, 2009 - 22 answers