Direct TV Internet – Is Direct TV Internet All it’s Cracked Up to Be?
January 27, 2012 | 
Author One day my wife came in from picking up our kids at her sister’s house and wanted to know why we didn’t have Internet service through our Direct TV subscription. She said her sister had just gotten it and loved it. I didn’t want to tell her I didn’t know Direct TV even offered Internet access. She looks up to me and thinks I know everything there is to know about any topic she has questions about. So I let her think it. (Hey, who’s it hurting?) I told her I hadn’t gotten around to finding the best deal yet, but I’d look into it.
Several days later I finally took a few minutes and poked around online, looking for information on Internet service from Direct TV. I did a MASSIVE amount of searching, wading through a bunch of nonsense, and came away with three and only three sites that are worth your time. I decided to bookmark those to come back to later when I had more time. I’ve listed them below so you can check them out for yourself. Anyway, a few more days went by, and my sister-in-law calls the house and wants to know if we’ve gotten Direct TV Internet service yet. Well, all that did was stir up my wife to nag me about why I hadn’t done what I said I’d do. So back to the computer I went.
This time I was a bit more careful and took my time looking over first one site then another, but I just ended up going back to the same three sites I had bookmarked earlier. (Remember, the links to them are at the end of this story). I found all kinds of information I needed to make a smart decision about Direct TV’s Internet services.
Seems it doesn’t matter where you live, they’re able to get the Internet to you, whether it’s through your existing phone lines or via satellite. I even ran across an article in one of my searches that says Direct TV will be offering Internet access through your power lines, and that’s going to be totally sweet when it gets rolled out nationally.
And Direct TV is partnered with several well-known companies in the communications industry in order to provide Internet access to you, no matter where your house is. Heavy hitters like AT&T, Verizon, Wildblue and others I’m sure you’re familiar with.
According to the sites I’ve referenced below, there are times when you can find substantial savings when you bundle your Direct TV and Internet access together. The promotions vary, which is why it’s important to order through a site that stays current like the ones below.
Anyway, we finally got it and the wife’s happy…for now. And I have to admit, I am too. Internet access through Direct TV is light years faster than our old dial-up. Looking back, I can’t believe I waited so long. Fortunately, you don’t have to. All you have to do is click the links below and you can find the best deals running right now on Direct TV’s Internet services. It costs nothing to click, and who knows, it might save you a bundle.
DNS Tutorial – A Guide to Understanding DNS and Zone Records
DNS in a nutshell
As I said above, DNS is a translation service from computer readable names, to human readable names. The theory is similar to a phone book, or directory assistance, which translate phone numbers to names. The DNS system is distributed across the whole Internet, virtually every Internet provider has two or more DNS servers, most hosting companies do as well, and a lot of large businesses, ie Microsoft, Dell, HP all have their own servers. (of course, having 30,000+ employees, they probably have their own directory assistance too).
Every single person on the Internet uses DNS, 99% of them without even knowing. Every time you go to a website, you do a search of the DNS system to find the location of the site. Every time you send an email, your ISP‘s mail server does a DNS search to find the mail server for that domain. As I said, DNS works on a distributed basis, no one server holds the records for every single domain. There are a lucky 13 master servers, that contain a list of which DNS servers handle which domains, when you look for a domain that your ISP‘s DNS server does not know, it asks the master servers, which DNS server does know about this domain, then it asks that DNS server for the information it needs, before passing it back to you.
Changing DNS Servers
When you change hosting providers, the normal procedure is to also change your domain’s delegation to the new hosting providers DNS servers. This procedure, known as redelegation, is best, as it means one company handles everything for you, and if they make a change to the location of your website, for instance moving it onto a faster server, they can also update the DNS records straight away, so no one notices. To find out who your domain is delegated to, you need to do a ”whois search”. A whois search will not show you where your website is, but it will show you which DNS servers know where it is. Customers of Anchor should always see ”’ns1.anchor.net.au”’ and ”’ns2.anchor.net.au”’ in their whois information. If your domain is currently with another company, and you need to bring it to Anchor, you need to change that information. Generally, this is done through a web page of the company that you registered the domain with, it is a simple change.
Once the change is made, depending on the type of domain, it can take up to 3 days for the rest of the Internet to notice you have moved. (The same as when you move house, it can take quite a while for other people to realize). The reason for this is explained in the next paragraph. Suffice to say, for a period of 3 days, some people will see the new site, some people will still see the old one. Some email will go to the new server, some will go to the old server. This is avoidable through careful planning, and a week long changeover.
Buzzwords & Geek words, translated!
Often when talking about DNS, the words (and abbreviations), ”’TTL”’, ”’Cache”’ and ”’Propagation”’ come up, but what do they mean? In plain English, the DNS server responsible for your domain has a file with all the information about your domain in it, and when another DNS needs information about your domain it is pulled from this file, along with a TTL value. TTL stands for ”’Time To Live”’, and it is the maximum time a foreign DNS server can store this information locally, without asking if it has changed (the process known as caching). When you redelegate your domain from one DNS server to another, the amount of time it takes depends on the TTL value in the old server. If this value is high, which it generally is (around the 1 day mark) then any DNS server that has requested information on your domain in the past 24hrs will still see the old records; once the TTL period expires the servers will then see the new details.
Additionally for ”’.com, .net, .org”’ domains, no server will see the change until the DNS system reloads at midnight, USA time, whilst the ”’.au”’ domains are updated instantly. This process of waiting for all the Internet to see your move is called propagation. As I said above, there is a way to speed up the process, and that is to redelegate a week early with your new hosting company copying the old records, with a very low TTL, (ten minutes or so), and then when you are ready for the website and email to go to the new server, changing them on the new DNS server. This means the whole Internet will see the change in 10 minutes, regardless of the domain name (note, some ISP‘s do not confirm to the standard for DNS caching, and may not update instantly).
So what does a domain record look like
@ IN SOA ns1.anchor.net.au. hostmaster.anchor.net.au. (
2004030401 ; Serial
28800 ; Refresh
14400 ; Retry
3600000 ; Expire
86400 ) ; Minimum
@ IN NS ns1.anchor.net.au.
IN NS ns2.anchor.net.au.
IN MX 50 smtp1.anchor.net.au.
IN MX 100 smtp2.anchor.net.au.
IN A 202.4.234.122
smtp IN A 203.98.94.10
www IN CNAME @
ftp IN CNAME @
mail IN CNAME smtp
pop IN CNAME smtp
pop3 IN CNAME smtp
That looks scary! What does it all mean?
Lets breakdown the file one line at a time
@ IN SOA ns1.anchor.net.au. hostmaster.anchor.net.au. (
This line, the Start of Authority, states that ns1.anchor.net.au is the domain server responsible for your domain, and that
hostmaster@anchor.net.au is the contact for this server
Skip the next 4 lines: ”’Expire, Retry, Maximum and Serial”’, as these are not important in this situation
86400 ) ; Minimum
The value of minimum is the TTL, ie the length of time, other servers can cache the information for your domain
@ IN NS ns1.anchor.net.au.
The third column on this line, NS, means nameserver, this line means that your server is listed in ns1.anchor.net.au (and below that in ns2.anchor.net.au). NS lines give a list of all the nameservers responsible for your domain.
IN MX 50 smtp1.anchor.net.au.
Again, the column after IN is important, (all your records should say IN), MX stands for Mail eXchange, and MX lines are a list of servers that handle your email, the number after MX is the priority, the lower the number, the higher the priority
IN A 202.4.234.122
On this line, A means Address. All A records are direct translations of names to numbers. If the line starts with a word, that is a host name, ie ”’http://www.yourdomain.com.au”’. If it doesn’t have a word, it means just ”’yourdomainname.com.au”’. If it has a * it means every subdomain of ”’yourdomainname.com.au”’ that’s
available.
mail IN CNAME smtp
The final record type is CNAME, whilst this stands for Canonical Name, it is often easier to think of it phonetically, ie; See-Name. As thats what it means, in this case, the record tells computers looking for mail.yourdomain.com.au to go look for smtp.yourdomain.com.au instead.
Now don’t you feel enlightened?
Do I have to have this? It all seems so complicated
If you want people to see your website, and email you, you must have DNS records. It is unavoidable. However as I said at the start of this article, you only need to have an understanding of the top level of the system, ie, when I redelegate, it takes 3 days, my email will be scattered. You do not need to understand how the entire system works, that is the job of your DNS administrator (often called hostmaster), who is typically your web hosting company.
Can I do this myself?
If you have a static IP address and a permanent Internet connection you can host your own DNS, and if that doesn’t make any sense to you, you are probably better off letting someone else handle it. You may notice in a whois search that most domains have 2 DNS servers listed, and some have up to 10. This is for redundancy: if one server dies, but the others are still working, then your website and email are unaffected; but if you only have one server, and it goes down for whatever reason, then your email and website are offline too.
Five Tips to Achieving Guitar Hero 3 Guitar Mastery
If you are serious about mastering Guitar Hero guitar technique then you have got your work cut out for you. Achieving expert status is not going to be attained by occasionally picking up your Guitar Hero guitar and noodling. You are going to have to work at this and not get frustrated. The average person tends to be impatient and easily gives up. Like anything in life, if you are patient, steadfast and diligent you can accomplish most things.
Tip One – Go Slow
Mastering the Guitar Hero guitar is not that much different than learning how to play a real guitar (of course, learning to play a real guitar is much more complex – but the learning strategies are similar). The most important thing that you can do is slow down. You are training your reflexes and muscles to respond in a very refined and complex manner and you need to make sure that each move that you are learning is perfect.
Most of us learn to play guitar (or Guitar Hero) by playing too fast, making lots of mistakes and hoping the these mistakes will eventually just disappear. Well, they won’t!
If you are making mistakes while you are playing then that is what you are practicing and learning. You are just getting better at playing your mistakes. For most people, the only way to eliminate the mistakes and play as perfectly as possible is to play slow.
Once your muscles begin to memorize the patterns the speed naturally develops. For the most part, you don’t need to work on speed. Work on accuracy and the speed will come effortlessly. Take advantage of the slower tempos in Practice Mode.
Tip Two – Practice Short Sections
One of the worst things you can do is just play the song over and over. Most players will find that there is about seventy-five percent of the song that is not too hard and about twenty-five percent that trips them up.
So, work on the hard parts. Isolate the sections that are giving you problems and work them slowly. If you only have twenty minutes to play then why spend fifteen minutes playing the parts that are easy. That won’t help you improve.
Unfortunately, most of us like to do things that are fun. Working on the hard parts is usually frustrating and feels a bit like work. We’d rather just play the parts that we can do well.
I recommend that you take the middle way. Spend a bit of your time doing some serious work on the difficult sections then forget it and just have fun.
Tip Three – Practice Each Hand Separately
You might find it beneficial to try practicing each hand separately. In other words, work on the strumming hand and then work on the fret keys.
Tip Four – Practice Your Hammer-ons and Pull-offs
You may have noticed that the border around the notes changes color during fast tempos. This means that you can stop strumming and just play the fret keys (this would be the equivalent of hammer-ons and pull-offs on a real guitar). What you would do is hit the strum button on the first note and then play the rest of the notes only with the fret keys. Make sure your rhythm is accurate.
Tip 5 – Master the Whammy Bar
Every time you hit a long note you can begin to learn how to work the whammy bar. This will help bolster your Star Power. The faster that you move your whammy bar up and down the more points you will earn.
So get to work and I’ll look out for your Guitar Hero video posted on your favorite video site.
Spa Party Games and Activities
In a world of pre-teens trying to grow up way too fast, having a spa party is all the rage. Make it even better by designing it as a Spa Party sleep over. Set the scene for your Spa Party with lots of candles, have soothing music CDs available, and access to a sink with lots of towels on hand. A spa party should be as much like a real spa visit, so take care to have bottled water and a selection of herbal teas or juices and refreshments on hand. You may wish to invite your guests to bring pajamas and/or robes.
Spa party games should include basic spa activities. Invite your guests to participate in a chocolate facial. Have all guests put their hair up or pull back from their faces. Then have them scoop up some of this excellent moisturizing mask and spread it onto their face. Mix 1/3 C cocoa powder, 3 Tbs heavy cream, 2 tsp cottage cheese, 1/4 C honey and 3 tsp oatmeal powder (found in the health food section) in a food processor. Mix until smooth. Relax for 10 minutes (putting cucumber slices over eyes will help guests relax even more completely and do a great number on eye puffiness). The mask washes off easily with warm water and if it happens to get on the lips, it really tastes great.
Other activities can include designing body glitter, or giving each other manicures or pedicures. After all the spa activities are over, more traditional games will keep the guests occupied. Simple games like Not Me Never! mix truths, fibs and candy. Could a spa party have a better combination? To play the game, give each guest a set number of miniature tootsie rolls, jellybeans, or caramels – just make sure it’s something yummy. Then the first person makes a statement about themselves that starts with “I Never . . . Nope. Not me. Never. ” If for example the person said “I have never kissed a boy. Nope. Not me. Never!” Anyone else that has never kissed a boy has to eat a piece of their candy. Everyone will get the opportunity to take at least one turn – hopefully more. Keep playing until someone ends up with the most candy and everyone else had eaten theirs. The one with the most candy left is the winner.
A Spa Party will encourage pre-teens to take care of their skin and relax at a time when their life can seem very out of control. It’s a great idea for a party and with the right accessories can be a great bonding experience that creates lots of BFF (best friends forever).
Your VPN Doctor for Virtual Private Network Troubleshooting VPN Guide
Here are some troubleshooting guides for particular topics.
(1) Your Virtual Network Connection
(2) VPN Troubleshooting Error Messages
(3) VPN Modems Troubleshooting Guide
(4) VPN ISP Troubleshooting Guide.
(1) Your Virtual Private Network Connection
Having trouble connecting to the Internet at home try these steps before calling for help.
1. Do you have an IP address? Try ipconfig /all. If you do not have an IP address reboot your PC. If that doesnt work power cycle your Cable/DSL modem and routers and reboot your PC again after the network devices are up and stable. Be sure all of your network cables are plugged in tight.
2. After your PC reboots check that your network adapter is active and packets are flowing. Perform the ipconfig /all check again.
3. Check your connectivity by pinging several Internet sites. If that does not work, ping the loopback address 127.0.0.1. If that fails, your adapter may not be working or it is not properly configured.
To check your IP address. From command prompt enter ipconfig /all (as shown in the picture) you should see an IP Address and several DNS Server addresses. The domain name system (DNS) is the way that Internet domain names are located and translated into IP addresses and is required for browsing the Internet.
Ping 127.0.0.1 – loopback Test (as shown in the picture). The loopback test is used to check if the IP stack is responding. If it times out or you get an error the problem may occur if any one or more of the following conditions is true:
*The TCP drivers are corrupted
*The network adapter is not working
*Another service is interfering with IP
Check your network adapter, click the Start menu, Settings, Control Panel, and select Network Connections. Double click on the Local Area Connection or the Wireless Adapter whichever one you are using. Be sure its Connected. If you have multiple network cards disable the one you are not using.
There should be Packets displayed in both the Sent and Received counters. If the Received counter is 0 check that the adapter has an IP address. Select Properties.
Click the check boxes for Show icon and Notify me below. A twin PC icon will appear on the lower right portion of the taskbar in the tray area and will flash while sending and receiving packets. You can place your mouse over the icon to get the status and click on it to get more details.
Tracert displays the connection path to the target location and the number of hops. Each hop is the trip from one router to another. Tracert is a handy tool both for understanding where problems are in the network and for determining latency between hops.
Ping is used to determine whether a host exists and is active on the network and can determine the round trip time to the device. You can enter a host name or an IP address if you know it. If the request times out then the host is not reachable because it’s offline or there is a problem with the connection. Try several sites, if none work then ping the loopback address 127.0.0.1 Also, if your DNS is not working or properly configured you can only ping the host with an IP address and you will not be able to browse the Internet.
If you are having intermittent problems, perform a ping -t for 5 to 6 minutes then hit CTRL C to see the results of the test to determine if you are dropping network packets (lost packets). If you are, this usually indicates an ISP problem or Cable/DSL modem problem. See VPN ISP Troubleshooting Guide
(2) VPN Troubleshooting Error Messages
Q1 Error Message: Remote Host not responding: or Unable to Resolve the IP address of the Remote Server
Cause: This indicates that the Contivity VPN Switch never responded to the connection attempt. The problem could either be with the Contivity switch itself, (switch may be down) or your machine may be having a problem resolving the IP address.
Action: Try pinging your destination name (Example: VPN.something.com). If you received a message that says “Request Timed Out” from the ping command, call your ISP to make sure that their DNS is functioning correctly.
Q2 Error Message: Maximum number of sessions reached
Cause: This indicates that the maximum number of users for the account you are using are currently logged on.
Action: If you are the only user with VPN to your account, it is possible to get this error if you restarted a connection immediately after losing the dial-up connection to your ISP. This is because the Contivity VPN Switch takes up to one hour to determine that your connection has been dropped and log you off from your account.
Q3 Error Message: Login failed, Please consult the switch log for further information
Cause: The User Name or the Password is incorrect for the user name entered.
Action: Verify that the User Name you entered is correct and retype the Password before trying the connection again.
Q4 Error Message: The physical connection has been lost
Cause: Your connection to your ISP was disconnected.
Action: Re-establish your connection to your ISP before you re-establish the Contivity connection to the remote network.
Q5 Error Message: The secure Contivity connection has been lost
This message can result due to a number of different reasons, and there are several recommended actions you can take to try and re-connect.
Cause(s):
If you receive this error before the client connects then something is blocking a necessary port (such as ESP port 50). This can result if your firewall is not configured properly and is restricting the necessary port(s).
If you receive this error during a connection and you suddenly get the error it may mean one of the following:
1. Something closed the connection;
2. The VPN Contivity switch where you were trying to connect to thought your client was down or timed out;
3. Your local ISP did something that interrupted your network connection long enough for the VPN Contivity switch to identify your client was not responding;
4. The VPN Contivity switch that you are connected to has either logged your connection off or the Switch is no longer responding, or a device that does not support IPSEC NAT Traversal is causing the connection failure.
Action(s):
1. Try re-establishing the Contivity connection by clicking the Connect button. If this works, the connection was probably lost due to the Idle Timeout configured on the Contivity VPN Switch. If no data is transferred through the Contivity connection for a long period of time, 15 minutes or more, the Contivity VPN Switch automatically disconnects the connection;
2. If you were unable to successfully re-establish the Contivity Connection, the dial-up connection may be preventing data from traveling between the Contivity VPN Client and the Contivity VPN Switch. Hang up the dial-up connection and reconnect before you try to re-establish a connection to the Contivity VPN Switch;
3. If you are still unable to connect to the Contivity VPN Switch, open a Command Prompt and try pinging the Contivity VPN Switch using the host name or address that you specified in the Destination field.
(a) If you receive a “Destination Unreachable error” there is a routing problem at the ISP.
(b) If you receive a “Request Timed Out” error message, the Contivity VPN Switch is probably not available, and you should contact your Network Administrator.
4. If you keep getting this message and are unable to connect, then it may indicate that the Contivity VPN Switch is unable to communicate with the client because it is behind some kind of NAT (Network Address Translation) device. NAT (Network Address Translation) Traversal allows a number of devices on a private network to access the Internet simultaneously without each requiring its own external IP address. Most hotels and airports that provide Internet connectivity use NAT to connect to the Internet.
Q6 Error Message: Cannot Alter Routing Table
Cause: Message means the you the user, an application on your machine, or your ISP attempted to change the routing table via an ICMP redirect attempt and it was not successful. The client detects the attempt to make the change, determines it’s a security breach and shuts down the client’s connection. Any time you make a VPN connection, you cannot change the routing table, because the VPN Client views this as a security risk and you will get disconnected.
Some applications require an ICMP redirection in order to work such as a game or other third party software.
Action: If you receive this error and cant connect due to an ICMP redirect attempt, shut down any other applications you are using which may be causing the ICMP redirect attempt. If it is the ISP that is doing it, you will need to block the ICMP redirect request. You can identify that ICMP redirect has occurred, by seeing a message saying there has been an IP address routing table change.
Q7 Error Message: Receiving Banner Text Information
Cause: Message means you are experiencing a Banner Sock issue, and will see a window displaying the “Receiving Banner Text” message and then gets disconnected.
Actions:
1. Disable the firewall completely to test. This is a port 500 issue and often means that the you have a personal Firewall that is blocking port 500 or you have a router that does not support IPSEC pass-through, and the you are connecting to a VPN switch that does not have NAT Traversal enabled.
2. If using wireless, temporarily remove Wireless from the picture and focus on the Ethernet card. Check the Ethernet card speed and duplex parameters and then make sure that the hub, switch, or router that is on the other end has the same parameters. If not, the VPN connection will drop as the link goes up and down, or due to a large number of errors on the port from a duplex and or speed mismatch.
3. Firewall that blocks the connection, such that system will crash. (This will rarely happen) NSDF (Norton Symantec Desktop Firewall) and NSPF (Norton Symantec Personal Firewall) can do this though, if you do not trust the IP address of the VPN connection.
If you do not trust the VPN address of the VPN client, the firewall will cause you to crash. In your Internet browser click on “Tools > Internet Options > Security > Trusted Sites > Sites” and add the destination VPN address(es) to your trusted sites.
Q8 Error Message: You already have the maximum number of adapters installed
Cause: You may have installed to many virtual adapters in your IP Stack
Actions:
1. Remove any unnecessary adapters;
2. Create multiple boot scenarios disabling the adapters that are not required for that function;
3. You may also get Banner Sock errors on Win 95 & 98 units with this condition;
4. For more information, see this Microsoft article: KB217744: Unable to Bind Protocols to More Than 5 Network Adapters (copy and paste into the search tool bar > enter).
Q9 Upgrade Errors: The following are some errors that may occur when trying to upgrade / install the Nortel VPN Client 4.65
Error (1): Failed to get Registry key value for NT_IPSECSHM
Cause: This is caused because an important registry key that cannot be found in the system registry.
Actions:
1. Uninstall and Reinstall the VPN Software
Error (2): Login Failure due to: Driver Failure
Cause: This is generally caused by either not having Admin rights to the PC or by trying to install/use a Nortel VPN client that predates the operating system.
Actions:
1. Ensure that you have admin rights to the PC.
2. Update/Install the most current version of the Nortel VPN client.
Error (3): Create socket failed with 10048.
Cause: This problem generally will occur whenever you have another VPN client software installed on the system. The most noted conflicting clients are: AOL, Cisco VPN Client(s), SSH Sentinel and PGP.
Actions:
1. Removing these clients will in most cases, resolve the issue.
(3) VPN Modems Troubleshooting Guide
Q1 Are Cable Modems supported for VPN Access?
Yes, you can use cable modems for VPN access. However you must be aware of the following conditions and be able to work within them:
*Some cable modems require that you log into an NT network to get authenticated.
*Some cable modems use a client similar to the Extranet Client for VPN and both will not run at the same time.
*Some cable modem Contracts/Acceptable Use Policies specify that you cannot use them for business purposes or they want to charge you another fee to use them for business purposes. Make sure you read your contract thoroughly.
*Your Cable modem provider is your ISP. Please see the VPN-connection-guide.html”>ISP Troubleshooting Guide for more information.
Q2 Why does my modem seem to perform erratically?
Always make sure that you do not let the operating system select a generic modem. If required, go to the appropriate web site for the vendor of the modem and get the updated INF file so that the proper parameters are configured for the modem.
Q3 Why do I always seem to get a slower connection speed than others with the same modem?
1. Always check the modem configuration to verify that its maximum speed has been selected.
2. It is common when auto-installing modems that the highest speed is not selected automatically.
3. Do not check the box that says run at maximum speed only.
Q4 I plugged my modem into the phone line at the hotel or customers office and now it does not work.
Always make sure that the phone line you are plugging into when visiting somewhere is an analog line not a digital one. Plugging into a digital line can permanently damage your modem, requiring a replacement unit. To avoid these situations please contact the local site phone support personnel.
Q5 Why cant I get a 56Kb V.90 connection from some locations that I go to?
Here are some of the reasons why you might not get a 56K connection:
1. You are located more than 3 ½ miles from your telephone companys central office (CO).
2. A SLICK or Subscriber Loop System is used in your area.
3. You are calling from a digital PBX system, which creates a Digital to Analog conversion and then an Analog to Digital conversion.
4. Your line contains digital pads or Robbed Bit Signaling (RBS), which can degrade your connection speeds.
5. Your wiring may be of poor quality.
6. Your modem’s firmware may not be up-to-date. Check that your modem has the newest V.90 code installed with all the patches from the vendor’s web site.
Q6 Why cant I get higher speed on my 56K v.90 modem into some NAG?
Here are some possible reasons:
1. A 56k v.90 modem is asymmetric by design where download speed can be as much as 56k but upload speed will be up to 33.6bps. For 56k to work, there must be only one analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion in your local phone loop. Thus when modems at both ends are analogue, 56k speeds will never be achieved as most PSTN exchanges run digital routing between the exchanges.
2. Some NAG sites use analog phone lines with Cisco and standard 56k modems, and most PC’s dial-ups use a similar modem. Between the two modems, it limits the download speed to about 33.6kbps maximum.
3. Also, many users might experience lower connection speeds due to other reasons, such as more poor line quality. These factors will also contribute to the quality and speed of the line.
(4) VPN ISP Troubleshooting Guide
Q1 If you are getting the message “Unable to Resolve the IP address of the Remote Server. Verify the Host Name in the destination field is correct.” when trying to connect with the Extranet Client.
Try pinging your destination name (Example: VPN.something.com) and if it fails call your ISP to make sure that their DNS is functioning correctly.
Q2 Why do I get No Domain Available when dialing my ISP?
On your Internet Service Providers (ISP) dial connection. Right click the mouse and select the properties button. Click on the Server Type tab and make sure that the Log On To Network box is unchecked.
Q3 Why do I seem to be running slowly through my VPN connection?
Try turning off the Software Compression option on your Internet Service Providers (ISP) dial connection as the VPN client has it’s own compression. Right click the mouse and select the properties button. Click on the Server Type tab and uncheck the
Q4 I keep getting busy signals when trying to connect to my ISP, what should I do?
Contact your ISP giving the numbers you are trying to connect to. Many times you will find that can give you an alternate number not published yet that will work just fine. If not you may need to find another ISP that provides better service.
Q5 When configuring the dial icon for my ISP what should I put in the DNS/WINS settings?
Your ISP should supply you with the DNS/WINS settings of your dial connection. Most only give you DNS, in this case just leave the WINS settings blank.
Q6 Why when I load the Extranet Client on my PC and Winpoet is installed on my machine it crashes or does not work properly?
There are issues running Winpoet software on the PC with the Nortel Extranet (VPN) Client.
To repair your system, boot in safe mode and uninstall the Winpoet Software.
A simple solution is to install the Linksys BEFSR41 hardware router. It has a firmware PPPOE connector, which eliminates Winpoet from the PC and provides the added benefit a NAT firewall with the ability to hook up to three other PCs.
A second option is to find a PPPOE Client that does not interfere with VPN Clients.
Please See Your VPN Doctor for Picture Guide and further Details.
Need a Qiuck Fix, Tool, Trick or Tip? Your VPN Doctor has the Cure!
How Much Bandwidth is Required for VoIP Phones?
A long-standing question for potential VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) consumers is “How much bandwidth does a VoIP phone require to make quality telephone calls?”
First of all, Bandwidth is defined as the ability to transfer data (such as a VoIP telephone call) from one point to another in a fixed amount of time. The higher the bandwidth speed you have, the more data you can send over your Broadband Internet connection.
There are two types of bandwidth at your location: upload bandwidth and download bandwidth. The Upload Bandwidth is the amount of data you can send to the Internet and download bandwidth is the amount of data you can receive from the Internet. The more Internet bandwidth you have from your ISP (Internet Service Provider) the better.
In most cases, the normal VoIP telephone call will use up 90 Kbps (kilobits per second). If you have a Broadband Internet service provider that doesn’t offer much bandwidth then most VoIP providers give you the option to lower the VoIP voice quality by lowering the bandwidth used for VoIP calls to 60 Kbps or, to really conserve your bandwidth, 30 Kbps. Most people can’t tell the difference between the three settings. We suggest you use the high sound quality setting (90 Kpbs in most cases), if bandwidth is not an issue. High VoIP voice quality is generally the default setting but if you are running into a situation where your bandwidth is limited then you can adjust your VoIP bandwidth to one of the lower settings. Some consumers with 128 Kbps upload connections can receive less VoIP service quality due to a poor quality ISP (Internet Service Provider). By selecting a lower quality VoIP bandwidth setting, this problem can be avoided.
If you plan on using a VoIP service provider, should you get a DSL or a Cable Internet access provider? In general, DSL upload bandwidth starts at 128k where as Cable Internet upload bandwidth starts at around 600k. Cable Internet is a little bit more expensive, but it is also about 4-5 times faster than residential DSL and a bit friendlier to a VoIP telephone call. Having said that, both DSL and cable modem high-speed services provide sufficient broadband Internet access bandwidth to support any of the top VoIP service providers. If you are experiencing low Broadband Internet Service provider bandwidth, we suggest you try Packet8 VoIP. Packet8 VoIP boasts an advanced compression technology in which each active voice line uses approximately only 23Kbps of total data throughput, upstream and downstream.
The amount of bandwidth that a VoIP provider requires to make a quality telephone call is only one thing to consider when choosing a VoIP service provider. In fact, there are many things to consider when choosing a VoIP provider. An educated consumer generally results in a satisfied consumer.
Please see VoIP things to consider article (http://www.voipchoices.com/voip-considerations.html) to find a list of more things to consider when choosing a VoIP provider. You can also compare VoIP providers side-by-side by price and features at http://www.VoIPChoices.com
What’s The Difference Between Tier-1-Tier-2-And Tier-3 Bandwidth Providers To Your Business?
“Tiers” in the telecom world tends to have multiple definitions, depending on who you ask. What tier a bandwidth carrier is, is loosely defined at best and everyone has their own opinion of what tier a carrier might be. Here is my opinion:
Tier-1: [may be considered an RBOC or LEC - Regional Bell Operating Company or Local Exchange Carrier]
Tier-1 is a network in which only settlement free peers and customers are serviced. The network operator pays for none of it’s transit.
Tier-1 is the optimum network backbone for medium to large businesses with critical reliability, stability, and scalability requirements.
Tier-1 can be an advantage when it comes to handling DDoS attacks: if you ask/configure your Tier-1 provider to null-route an IP they will implement the null-route at their borders, so there is no point of saturation.
Examples of US Tier 1 carriers:
Qwest
AT&T (formerly SBC, Bell South, Southwestern Bell, Ameritech)
Savvis
Verizon (formerly MCI and UUNET)
Global Crossing
Level 3 (recently merged with Broadwing)
NTT Communications
Tier-2: [may be considered a CLEC (Competitive Local Exchange Carrier); has their own network, but also resells tier 1]
Tier-2 is where the network operator buys all or some of it’s transit from a Tier-1 and resells it.
Tier-2 can be an advantage if you need someone to provide quality bandwidth, and especially if your need is a single install location. If you buy from Tier-1 #1 in New York, and #1 has a problem with its Tier-1 #2 peering router in New York, then all your traffic from you to #2 may be affected. Your ability to shout at #1 and get them to fix it will be limited, especially if the problem is with #2′s border router. A good Tier-2 will monitor its upstreams and their peering points for trouble, and take measures to ensure that it doesn’t affect their customers. Even if you need multi-location installs, buying from a good Tier-2 can be useful.
A Tier-2 that only responds to severe problems (e.g. total outage of an upstream link) is no more useful than a Tier-1 to someone who has multi-locations.
Pricing from Tier-2 ISPs is often cheaper at the low-end (e.g. T1). Tier-2′s will often beat the tier-1′s in pricing “access services”. But if you buy in the hundreds of megabits, a Tier-2 is likely to quote much higher than a Tier-1.
Tier-2′s are usually smaller companies, and are better able to “make deals”, or recognize bundling of contracts, write custom SLAs (Service Level Agreements), trench fiber to your location in exchange for that signed contract, etc. Unless you buy multiple gigabits from your upstreams, if you want to bundle contracts with Tier-1s, you will probably end-up doing it through a wholesaler or other buying mechanism.
Examples of US Tier-2 carriers:
XO Communications
Covad
Paetec/US LEC
Time Warner Telecom (recently merged with Xpedius)
Eschelon Telecom Inc
Cogent Communications
Speakeasy
Embarq
McLeodUSA
AOL Transit Data Network
Covista
IDT Corp.
Tier 3: [wholesalers /resellers of tier 1 and 2 networks]
Tier-3 are downstream customers of Tier-2′s. Tier-3 may give you what looks like a good price…..but longterm reliability, performance, and scalability will likely suffer. For piece of mind for your business a Tier-1 or Tier-2 are better choices is almost every case. However, PowerNet Global is a big exception to this rule due to their solid infrastructure and relationships with major players.
Examples of US Tier-3 carriers:
Trinsic
Excel
Primus Telecom
PowerNet Global
Access One Inc.
Splice Communications
Acceris
Whatever business application you need met be sure to consider what tier your available bandwidth providers are in your purchasing decision. Ignoring this factor in your deliberations may result in less than optimum implementation and satisfaction in the end. Make a smart business decision…..leave nothing to chance.
Ford Motor Company – Case Study
Background (General Facts)
Ford Motors is one of three leading automotive manufacturing companies in the United States. Based in Michigan in 1903 by Henry ford and grew to reach revenue of $150 billion and more than 370,000 employees by 1996 [1]. In the 1970′s, the automobile market for the major auto makers – General Motors (GM), Ford, and Chrysler- was crunched by competition from foreign manufactures such as Toyota and Honda. In 1999, Ford acquired the Swedish Volvo model in an attempt to compete in the foreign market and expand to other regions. Furthermore, Ford launched a full organization re-engineering business process plan called “Ford 2000″ aiming at reestablishing the company’s infrastructure. The process meant reduction in their Vehicle Centers (VCs) to only five covering the operations that spanned 200 countries. It also meant cutting redundancies and requiring Information Technology (IT) to be the driving force and the link between Ford centers worldwide.
In building Ford’s IT infrastructure, the company focused on implementing a setup that supported the TCP/IP communication protocol based on the U.S. department of Defense requirements. At those days, Ford internal network was meant to serve files transfer unlike most companies that used the network mainly for email communications. Throughout the 1990′s, Ford developed a cost effective Global Enterprise Network Integration (GENI) process to link all its locations compromising on the type of the connection and the cabling in favor of full coverage. During the same time, Ford started building its Web Farm, which was basically a set of hardware and software managed by a team for building Ford’s public website. The work started by publishing documents for technical references and moved to more advanced images from a live auto show. As a result, the website received 1 million visits a day in less than 2 years after its official launch. Throughout the end of the 90′s, Ford established its web services by increasing the amount of information published, building more intelligent and standard web application in 12 weeks period, purchasing more Netscape browsers for setup on its users’ machines, and creating a B2B server to allow the suppliers secured access to Ford’s Intranet.
In the path towards service cost reduction and bringing more business through the web, Ford worked closely with its competitors in the U.S. market GM and Chrysler to establish what came to be known as “Automotive Network Exchange” (ANX) certificate. The protocols aimed at providing a unified communications standard through the Internet to enable suppliers to provide common technology for all manufacturers. Moreover, Ford focused on making information on its web site more accessible and useful by deploying a team to manage the process of adding and updating information based on an analysis of how humans deal with information. One final aspect of Fords endeavor was to try to build a model through its infrastructure that benefited from the model implemented by Dell computers to improve their supply chain and delivery process. The direct model would not work well for automotives as it would with computers, as a result Ford worked on its retailing network remodeling and identifying what would eventually give it the extra edge in delivery time.
Enterprise Architecture Issues
Ford’s regional expansion to address the competition for market shares demanded cost management for the infrastructure upgrades
IT infrastructure places limitations on the type of application development based on the platforms
Easy access to information and prompt delivery of vital data to key individuals requires proper knowledge managementOrganizations reengineering and process remodeling is necessary when adapting new technologies to maintain the cost and increase efficiency
Supply chain errors and delays can severely affect the progress of the business and the market value of the corporation
Analysis
Infrastructure Upgrade
Since the inception of the Internet in the 1960′s, much effort has been made in standardizing how computers connect to it. In 1982, the International Organization for Standards (ISO) realized that during that period many ad hoc networking systems were already using the TCP/IP protocol for communications and thus adapted it as a standard in its model for the Internet network [2]. The main driver for IP convergence, at that period, was the growth in data traffic through wide area networks (WANs) established by local companies. Furthermore, in 1991, the Internet was open for commercial use, and that demanded a reduction in the total cost of operating the network to cope with 1 million Internet hosts that materialized in only 1-year time. Telecommunications companies like AT&T understood the potential and worked on standardizing the network offering voice services over IP networks that managed the separation between voice and data transmission [3].
At the same time, Ford had launched its plan to update its infrastructure, and seized the opportunity brought by the global movement of integrating the voice, fax transmission network with data transmission and expanded its WAN to include its offices in Europe and elsewhere. The financial benefits also came from the fact that Ford adapted the TCP/IP protocol from the beginning and made sure that all its technical infrastructure upgrades adhere to the standards. This made the transition of its system to the Internet as cost effective as it could be.
Web Technologies
Intranets employ the hypertext and multimedia technology used on the Internet. Prior to 1989, when Tim burners-Lee invented the Web [4], most applications used standard development languages such as C and C++ to create desktop applications that were proprietary and dependent on the platform. For example, applications running on a command-based operating system such as UNIX would not run under Windows, and those working for PCs might not work on Apple computers and vice versa [5]. The invention of HTML (Hyper-Text Markup Language) introduced a new model for applications that conform to the standards provided by a single program, the “Web Browser”. Unlike standard applications, the browser brought a unified interface that had a very fast learning curve. Users seem to require no additional training to work with web browsers. Furthermore, system administrators did not have to spend time installing upgrades on users’ machines, since the Intranet client/server architecture facilitated all the updates through the connection with the web server [6].
Since Ford established its Intranet, it was aiming at building web applications through the initial analysis of “Mosaic”, the early form of web browsers. The technical department at Ford used web languages to create the first web site in 1995. In 1996, the team started building applications making use of the unified “Netscape” browser that was deployed on all machines at the company, and working on a standard template to cut on the development life cycle. There was a substantial cut in training cost due to the user-friendly interface of web applications. Furthermore, the speed of development made vital applications available to different individuals across the company. For example, the B2B site allowed suppliers remote and secured access to various sections of Ford’s Intranet. In addition, the development team created an application as a virtual teardown on Ford’s website where Ford’s engineers could examine parts of competitors’ cars and evaluate any new technologies. The alternative would have been an actual trip to a physical location where Ford tears down cars to examine the parts.
Knowledge Management
While there are many definitions for knowledge, each company might adapt its own based on how it analysis data and information to acquire knowledge. The University of Kentucky, for example, defines knowledge as “a vital organization resource. It is the raw material, work-in process, and finished good of decision-making. Distinct types of knowledge used by decision makers include information, procedures, and heuristics, among others… ” [7].
Organizations go through different activities to manage the amount of information they collect to form the knowledge base of the company. Activities include creating databases of best practices and market intelligence analysis, gathering filtering and classifying data, incorporating knowledge into business applications used by employees, and developing focal points for facilitating knowledge flow and building skills [8].
Ford was excited about the traffic it was receiving on the Web site and everyone was publishing all the material they have on desk on the Intranet. Nevertheless, there was a growing concern about the usability and usefulness of the material people were adding. As a result, Ford created a “Knowledge Domain Team” to build complete information in nine areas that were identified as vital to the business. The process Ford took was based on surveys and specialists input in how people perceive information, and what is considered vital and what is distracting in the structure of Ford’s website. The aim behind the initiative was to reduce the time individuals spent in searching for information through proper indexing of the website content, and making sure that what was important could be accessed in due time, and what is trivial did not overwhelm the researcher with thousands of results.
Business Re-engineering
In the area of organization’s re-engineering process innovation is the set of activities that achieve substantial business improvements. Companies seeking to benefit from process innovation go through the regime of identifying the processes, the factors for change, developing the vision, understanding the current process, and building a prototype for the new organization. History shows that organizations who define their processes properly will not have problems managing the issues and developing the change factors [9]. When introducing technology, business redesign is necessary. The industrial fields have been using Information Technology to remodel processes, control production, and manage material for generations. However, it is only recently that companies recognized that the fusion of IT and business would go beyond automation to fundamentally reshaping how business processes are undertaken [10].
When foreign companies were allowed to compete in the U.S. market, Ford understood that to succeed in business in a competitive arena it needed to implement strategies that competitors find difficult to imitate [11]. As a result, Ford bought Sweden Volvo to enter the European market, and partially owned Mazda to have a competitive edge with Japanese cars1 [12]. To achieve that it re-engineered its production development activities and global corporate organization and processes for dramatic cost reduction. Furthermore, it understood that expansion requires collaboration and alignment, and thus planned to establish the IT infrastructure through a WAN that connected all the offices. In the process of innovation and re-engineering, Ford has set policies to manage the cost of establishing the network, built models for continuous implementation, and organized global meetings to align all parties with the process. Adding to that, when it came to managing the website, Ford facilitated an awareness campaign for all the branches to understand that Ford is using the web to collaborate and research and adapting information technology as a way to maximize its business value. The goal for Ford was to maintain its leadership in the market and to do that in the most efficient and cost effective method that is there.
Supply chain management
Supply chain management (SCM) is about coordinating between suppliers, manufactures, distributors, retailers, and customers [13]. The basic idea that SCM applications revolve around is providing information to all those who are involved in making decisions about the product or goods to manage delivery from the supplier to the consumer [14]. Studies show that reducing errors in supply chain distribution, increases revenue, enhances productivity, and reduces the order-to-fulfillment period [15].
Ford often compared its supply chain process to that of Dell’s, in an attempt to close the gaps in its own process and reach the level of success Dell has reached. The difference in the distribution model between Dell and Ford lies in the middle link of using retail shops. Since Ford cannot skip retail as a focal distribution point, it worked on establishing a network of retail shops that it owned. Ford made sure shops are not affecting each other in terms of sales, and gave them all a standard look and feel to establish itself in the consumer’s market as a prestigious cars sales retail company. Furthermore, extensive re-engineering initiatives were undertaken to enhance Ford external network by eliminating the correlation with smaller suppliers. In that way, Ford made sure that key suppliers have access to forecasting data from customers’ purchasing trends and production information to enable a faster order-to-delivery cycle. Ford vision was to create a model that allowed flexibility, predicable processes and delivered the product at the right time to the right consumer.
Conclusions
Ford is an example of how traditional organizations can mature to adapt what is current and maximizes the business value. The process that Ford went through necessitated the continuous support from management. In addition, it depended on alignment between those involved as a key for success. The correlation was not restricted to internal staff; it extended to cover competitors to reach mutual benefits, to work with suppliers to maintain similar grounds and adequate infrastructure, and to create training programs to educate all on the vision and organization’s objectives.
Ford technical progress came at a time where the Internet was yet to reach its full potential. The introduction of Fiber-optic cables in the late 90′s and the substantial increase in bandwidth would have helped Ford and cut on the cost in endured connecting its own offices. Furthermore, the ISP services that provided hosting servers were limited to only few players, which explained why Ford preferred to manage its own web server and maintain the overhead of the 24 hours uptime and backup.
From this case study, I understood the level of commitment large firms have to maintaining their position in the market. These companies know the revolving nature of business in the sense of how easy it is to fall back if they did not keep up with the change. The Ford process also shows the need for quick and resourceful thinking when faced with situations that might seem to be unfavorable. The way Ford ventured into the foreign market by acquiring local manufacturers was a strategic decision that did not only enabled Ford to merge with different technologies, but it also saved it the additional cost of establishing production centers in Japan and Europe.
Recommendations
Maintaining leadership in the market requires innovative organizations willing to reengineer to succeed.
IT fusion with the business means restructuring and remodeling to understand the role IT would play to meet the business objectives
Planning and modeling is vital when coordinating work with large teams.
Constructing websites is not about content; it is about understanding what adds value and how humans interact with information.
Knowledge management is a plan that companies need to develop as part of their initial business process modeling
It is not wrong for large firms to try to adapt to successful processes implemented by other firms.
References
Robert D. Austin and Mark Cotteleer,”Ford Motor Co.: Maximizing the Business Value of Web Technologies.” Harvard Business Publishing. July 10, 1997. harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/b02/en/common/item_detail.jhtml;jsessionid=WDARNHINBSYKSAKRGWCB5VQBKE0YOISW?id=198006 (accessed July 30, 2008).
Computer History Museum, Internet History 80′s. 2006. computerhistory.org/internet_history/internet_history_80s.shtml (accessed July 30, 2008).
Darren Wilksch and Peter Shoubridge, “IP Convergence in Global Telecommunications.” Defense Science & Technology Organization. March 2001. http://www.dsto.defence.gov.au/publications/2400/DSTO-TR-1046.pdf (accessed July 30, 2008).
Computer History Museum, Internet History 80′s.
H. Joseph Wen, “From client/server to intranet.” Information Management & Computer Security (MCB UP Ltd) 6, no. 1 (1998): 15-20.
R. Boutaba, K. El Guemioui, and P. Dini, “An outlook on intranet management.” Communications Magazine (IEEE), October 1997: 92-99.
Joseph M. Firestone, Enterprise Information Portals and Knowledge Management (OXFORD: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2002), 169.
David J. Skyrme, “Knowledge management solutions – the IT contribution.” ACM SIGGROUP Bulletin (ACM) 19, no. 1 (April 1998): 34 – 39, 34.
Thomas H. Davenport, Process Innovation: Reengineering Work Through Information Technology (Watertown,MA: Harvard Business Press, 1993), 28.
Thomas H. Davenport “The New Industrial Engineering: Information Technology and Business Process Redesign.” Sloan Management Review 31, no. 4 (Summer 1990): 11-28, 12
Gary M. Erickson, Robert Jacobson, and Johny K. Johansson, “Competition for market share in the presence of strategic invisible assets: The US automobile market, 1971-1981.” International Journal of Research in Marketing (Elsevier Science) 9, no. 1 (March 1992): 23-37, 23.
Austin and Cotteleer, “Ford Motor ” , 2.
Henk A. Akkermans, et al. “The impact of ERP on supply chain management: Exploratory findings from a European Delphi study.” European Journal of Operational Research 146 (2003): 284-301, 286
Thomas H. Davenport and Jeffrey D. Brooks, “Enterprise systems and the supply chain.” Journal of Enterprise Information Management 17, no. 1 (2004): 8-19, 9.
Kevin B. Hendricks, Vinod R. Singhal, and Jeff K. Stratman. “The impact of enterprise systems on corporate performance:A study of ERP, SCM, and CRM system implementations.” Journal of Operations Management 25, no. 1 (January 2007): 65-82.
India – A Future Warehouse of the World
Abstract
India has the world’s second largest population and one of the fastest growing economies in the world. India has a promising future, given the unprecedented growth in economy and its clout in the global issues. India is now riding on the wave of a gigantic boom in computer driven new economy. Many developed countries of the world are seeking the huge pool of English speaking talented software professionals in India. As the world is transforming towards knowledge society, India too is moving proportionately competing with the world. With the increase of Internet users and the advancement of information and communication technology in India had boasted the development towards e-commerce in global economic society. In IT sector India is booming as a super power. In the last few years India has made rapid strides in the IT sector especially in the software services and IT enabled services. In this paper we analyses the picture of IT industry in a very near future in India & contribution of India in world’s Information Technology Sector.
Introduction
From the 1950s, IBM had a virtual monopoly of computers in India. The 360 series release in 1960s was the major workhouse of the large organizations. They even maintained a chain of programmers who could write down software’s for their machines. However in 1978, when George Fernandes, ministry of industries at that time, commanded IBM to take local shareholders into its subsidiary, the company refused strictly and went back after winding up its all operations in India. Its ex-employees then set up Computer Maintenance Corporation, with the primary object of maintaining IBM computers.
During the period of 1995-2000, the Indian IT Industry has recorded a C.A.G.R. (Compounded Annual Growth Rate) of more than 42.4 percent, which is almost double the growth rate of IT industries in many of the developed countries. For Details contact AMCHAM National Secretariat, New Delhi Foreign companies particularly American companies have played a vital role in making India an emerging IT super power in the world. These MNCs account for nearly 22 per cent of Indian software exports. According to the latest NASSCOM estimates, in 2001-02, multinational infotech companies exported software worth Rs. 6500 crore from India. Country’s total software export was pegged at Rs. 29400 crore. In terms of investment and growth, U.S. companies like Cognizant Technologies (largest export revenue earning MNC) IBM, Oracle, GE, Cisco, Compaq, Intel amongst others lead the MNCs in the Information Technology sector. Nine out of top 20 Indian IT firms are from United States. These account for over 37% of the turnover of the top 20 firms operating in India. Despite their significant contribution to the IT sector, these companies have to face a number of procedural and operational problems in India.
However, the volume of e-commerce, in India, is far below the levels achieved in USA, which was about 1 percent of the total GDP in 1999. Further, the expected volume of e-commerce in India in 2001 (US$ 255.3 million) is also below the levels expected to be achieved, which in comparison to Australia (US$ 3 billion), China (US$ 586 million), South Korea (US$ 876 million) and Hong Kong (US$685 million) is quite less.
Time has changed the way businesses are carried out. What was supposed to be known to few and limited to the home towns, appears to be an ancient methodology of carrying out the work. The present day brands work on world wide scale, that is they are successful in not just one particular region but have deepened their roots to all the corners in the globe that you can think of.
Information Technology is what constitutes the most important sector in the present day trend of carrying out business. It is because you can not be present everywhere to monitor the work, but with networking and communications, you can always stay in contact with the other business sites of yours.
ICT Approaches of India
A spate of reforms-post-1991 economic crisis-have given impetus to the Indian economy, particularly to the ICT sector. As part of the reform agenda, the Indian Government has taken major steps to promote ICT including the creation in 1988 of a World Market Policy, with a focus on software development for export; telecommunications policy reform; privatization of the national long-distance and mobile phone markets; and development of a more comprehensive approach to ICT. Although India’s success is commanding increasing attention and investment, it has yet to result in the distribution of social and economic benefits across a broader base of the population. Challenges-including the perception of an unfavorable regulatory climate, an overloaded judicial system, poor infrastructure and costly access, and limited use of ICT-remain. The emerging shift in government strategy, toward knowledge-intensive services, has created a climate more conducive to addressing enterprise, domestic infrastructure, education and the use of ICT to meet development needs.
Policy: India’s focus on self-reliant industrialization in the 1970s and 1980s has been replaced with reforms aimed at positioning India in the world economy: the foreign direct investment process has been streamlined, new sectors have been opened up to foreign direct investment and ownership, and the government has exempted the ICT industry from corporate income tax for five years. These reforms have helped India to become increasingly integrated into the global economy through growth in the export of software and skill-intensive software services, such as call-centers.
In 1986, the Indian government announced a new software policy designed to serve as a catalyst for the software industry. This was followed in 1988 with the World Market Policy and the establishment of the Software Technology Parks of India (STP) scheme. As a result, the Indian software industry grew from a mere US$150 million in 1991-1992 to a staggering US$5.7 billion (including over US$4 billion worth of software exports) in 1999-2000-representing an annual growth rate of over 50 percent.
The establishment of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) was a key step towards effective implementation of telecommunications reforms. In 1992, the mobile phone market was opened up to private operators, in 1994 the fixed services market followed, and finally in 1999, national long distance operations were opened to private competition. Prior to these reforms, the Department of Telecommunications had been the sole provider of telecommunications services.
In addition, to attract foreign direct investment, the government permitted foreign equity of up to 100 percent and duty free import on all inputs. Government-created technology parks also offered professional labor services to clients, a cost-effective program for India since ICT labour is so inexpensive by global standards.
Infrastructure: Teledensity in India has reached 3.5 percent of the population. Approximately 1 percent of households have fixed line connections, compared to 10 percent in China. The mobile sector has approximately 3 million users, growing at 100 percent per annum, and is expected to outstrip the fixed line market in the near future. The number of Internet accounts is around 1.5 million, growing at 50 percent per annum. India also has very high penetration rates of terrestrial TV, cable and radio. Voice and data wireless solutions, for both domestic and export markets, are increasingly produced and used locally.
Access to telephones in Indian villages has improved in the last five to six years through the introduction of the Public Call Office (PCO) run by local shopkeepers. More than 60 percent of the villages in India have at least one phone. This also includes over 800,000 Village Public Telephones (VPTs). Worldtel is undertaking a pilot in four states to secure financing to upgrade the Village Public Telephones so they will soon be Internet-accessible.
In some urban locations, India’s Software Technology Parks (STPs) provide infrastructure, buildings, electricity, telecommunications facilities and high-speed satellite links to facilitate export processing of software.
India also has a number of progressive computerized networks in place, including a stock exchange, the Indian Railways Passenger Reservation System, and the National Informatics Centre Network (NICNET), which connects government agencies at the central, state and district levels.
Enterprise: India’s well-established framework for protecting intellectual property rights has been an important inducement to business investment: well-known international trademarks have been protected by Indian laws, even when they were not registered in India. In 1999, major legislation was passed to protect intellectual property rights in harmony with international practices and in compliance with India’s obligations under TRIPS.
Much of the initial domestic demand stimulus for ICT and ICT services industries in India has come from government: 28 percent of total IT spending to date can be attributed to government and public sector expenditure. Major areas of government expenditure include: financial services, taxation, customs, telecommunications, education, defense and public infrastructure. As a result of the growth in ICT use in India, the ICT industry itself has also increased its domestic economic activity, for example, a number of ICT companies have developed accounting and word processing packages in Indian languages. The potential impact of this growth on the domestic economy is much broader than developing software for export only.
Human Capacity: In spite of relatively low literacy rates among the general population, India has several key advantages in human capital: a large English-speaking population and world-class education, research and management institutions-a direct result of investment in self-reliance in science and technology. In addition to establishing Indian Institutes of Technology in various cities around India to create a large pool of technical skills, the government has a computer policy to encourage R&D in personal computers. The IT training sector continues to grow at a rapid rate: total training revenues in 1998 were estimated at US$225 million, 30 percent up on the previous year. However, one of the biggest challenges to the Indian software industry remains the difficulty in attracting and retaining talented professionals.
Content and Applications: India has a large population with great linguistic diversity. Creating and maintaining locally relevant content for a country with 418 languages is a challenge. Nevertheless, local language content is slowly making ICT more relevant and accessible to a broader cross-section of the population. For example, India’s Center for Development of Advanced Computing has recently launched a scheme called iLEAP-ISP to create a free multilingual word processor to be made available to all Internet subscribers. On other fronts, some states such as Tamil Nadu have launched their own initiatives to support the standardization of local language software through interface programs that can be adapted to word processors, dictionaries, and commercial keyboards for use in schools, colleges, government offices and homes.
An emphasis has also been placed on the development of relevant e-government applications in India. Some states such as Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh have started to introduce applications which allow citizens to have faster and more transparent access to government services-for example, the provision of information on laws and regulations, and the procuring of licenses and official documents online.
Strategic Compact: Public-private partnerships, catalyzed by the IT Ministry, have played a key role in India’s ICT-related development. One of the positive results of this effort has been the IT Act of 2000, which was based on the recommendation of the National IT Task Force, and aims to set the overall strategy for the IT sector. In addition, the government and the private sector are starting to come together to foster ICT development. For example, a joint effort by the Computer Science Automation Department at the Indian Institute of Science and a Bangalore-based private company have developed Simputer-a cheap micro-computer that enables illiterate users to browse the Internet.
India’s development and contribution in world’s information technology sector is of highest reputation. Cities like Bangalore have become the favorite(most preferred) destinations of all the big banners like HSBC, Dell, Microsoft, GE, Hewlett Packard, and several Indian multi national firms like Infosys Technologies, Wipro, and Microland who have set up their offices in the city. It is because the city offers good infrastructure, with large floor space and great telecom facilities. This can be judged on the basis of the high growth statistics of India and the changing outlook of the companies towards India .
It is because of this growth many popular brands that have not yet build up there rigid offices in the country are making it fast to have a destination in India too. For example, Sun Microsystems, a global IT major, announced in Bangalore to double the present workforce of the company’s Sun India Engineering Center (IEC) from the present 1000 to 2000 in the next two years time. IEC, which is the largest R&D center for Sun outside the US , would also focus on developing products in India to suit the needs of the Indian market, which would be benchmarked globally.
This speedy growth of IT Sector is undoubtedly due to the efforts of Indian government and the other developments that took in the other parts of the globe.
The country has seen an era when after the IBM shutted its shop in India in 1950, the mainframes that were imported into the country were all from Russia . Western computer could not be imported because of an American embargo on export of high-technology equipment to India , which was considered an ally of the Soviet Union .
Slowly, with the time the country could develop its first powerful parallel computer in 1991 known as CDAC, by connecting together a string of less powerful computers.
With time and the continuous growth across the world, the country continued struggling and came up as the world leader in Information Technology Sector.
The industry has grown up to US $ 5.7 billion (including over $4 billion worth of software exports) in 1999-2000, with the annual growth rate not sliding below 50 percent since 1991.
It exports software and services to nearly 95 countries around the world. The share of North America ( U.S. & Canada ) in India ‘s software exports is about 61 per cent.
The Indian labor is not only cheap but is technically skilled too to the world class level. It is due to the Indian Education System that includes in its course curriculum the practical knowledge of the latest technology that is developed in world along with the fluency in English Language that imparts compatibility in an Indian technician to communicate and work through out the world.
Further the geographical location of India serves it the advantage of being exactly halfway round the world from the US west coast, which is another reason why India is preferred destination of many big brands.
Also, The presence of a large number of Indians, especially engineers, in the US gave India an easy entry into the US software market.
What adds more to the dominance of India in Information Technology Sector is the government policies like the enactment of cyber laws to protect and safeguard the interest of software companies in India .
Setting up of the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), by the Ministry of Information Technology, Government of India and the International Technology Park in a joint project by the State Government, the TATA Group and the Singapore Consortium to promote and facilitate the software exports is another major step towards the growth of Indian Information Technology Sector.
Similarly an industrial park, known as Electronic City , was set up in 1991 takes more than a hundred electronic industries including Motorola, Infosys, Siemens, ITI, and Wipro, in an area of around 330 acres.
The Export Promotion Industrial Park , built near International Technology Park , gives an exclusive 288 acres of area for export oriented business. GE has its India Technology Center located at this park and employs hundreds of multi disciplinary technology development activities.
The other promotional activities that brought up India to this position include the IT Corridor project. Conceptualized by Singapore ‘s Jurong Town Corporation Private Ltd, the IT corridor Project was initiated by the Department of IT and the Bangalore Development Authority in order to develop state of the art facilities for the development of knowledge based industries.
Thought’s of some World’s IT leaders about India
“Economic growth will force better governance, and better governance will feed more economic growth”
SV, NYC, USA
The people and communities at large feel that they don’t have the ability to make a difference
Juzar Singh Sangha, Bedford
India has to take more care of the village population who are still struggling to live properly
John Karondukadavil, India, Living in Poland, Jaslo
India can become a superpower if she concentrates on the technology market niche
Devyani Prabhat, Jersey City, USA
India must counter its skills and wage crisis
Pallavi, Sydney, Australia
Hopefully India will lead the world towards a more humane and tolerant future
Nilesh, Antwerp, Belgium
India needs to take strong and clear cut decisions to emerge as a global player
Nivedita Nadkarni, Madison, USA
India is a country gaining economic ground in the world
Justin, Bristol, UK
Indians now have to develop a sense of national pride
Leila, USA
India will never be a superpower, much less a global power
Jonathan, Boston, USA
India has had a sharp increase in the estimated number of HIV infections
Sezai, Eskisehir, Turkey
India’s economic success is built on the sacrifices of previous generations
Shekhar Scindia, Edison, NJ, USA
While India’s economic growth is encouraging, its sustainability is doubtful
Sigismond Wilson, Sierra Leonean in Michigan, USA
Conclusion
India is a perfect solution for all those companies, which seek for cheap, yet technically skilled labor who have innovative minds and state of art to work over a project. The ample of facilities provide in a perfect working conditions. For rest, cyber laws are there to monitor and safeguard everyone’s interest related to IT sector.
All these reasons contribute for India to be as the most adored destination to many companies. . So we can conclude:
•India poised for an explosive growth in ICT
•India emerging as a global R&D Hub
•From brain drain to brain gain
•Millions of jobs will be created in ICT & other emerging technology areas
•Quality issues will have to be addressed
•Private Sector world class institutions will emerge with global collaborations
•India will reclaim its ancient heritage of the world’s most advanced knowledge-based civilization called “Bharat”.
India will become Warehouse of IT in the world
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References
1. Goodman, Seymour E.; Burkhart, Grey E.; Foster, William A.; Mittal, Arun; Press, Laurence I.; and Tan, Zixiang (Alex), The Global Diffusion of the Internet Project, Asian Giants On-Line, Chapter 3 (India) and Chapter 4 (China), The Global Information Technology Assessment Group, Fairfax, VA, November 1998.
2. Press, L., Developing Networks in Less Industrialized Nations, IEEE Computer, vol. 28, no. 6, June 1995, PP 66-71.
3. [http://www.stpn.soft.net]
4. An Indian Perspective on IT & Engineering Programs ,Vijay Bhatkar, International Institute of Information Technology, Pune, India
5. Nasscom
6. Anuranjan Misra ” Software outsourcing from India” National Seminar on Strategies in Business Process Outsourcing”, IIMS, Bareilly, INDIA, Dec. 08-09 2004.
7. Anuranjan Misra” India – An Emerging IT Super Power” International Seminar on India 25 Years and Hence, IIMS, Bareilly, INDIA, Fev. 08,2006.
ISP your Doorway to Internet
ISP stands for internet Service provider. An Internet service provider (called an ISP for short) is a business that offers user’s access to the Internet and related services. These are the entry point for the Internet users to the vast network of Internet.
Many ISPs are Telephone Companies, or at least work closely with Telephone Companies. They provide dial-up or DSL access through “leased” lines. Generally, an ISP charges a monthly access fee from the Consumer.
If the ISP is the same Company as your Phone Company, then the charge will often times arrive with your Phone bill. The Consumer then has access to the Internet. Internet connection speed can generally be divided into two categories, one is Dial up and another one is Broadband. Dialup connections require the use of a Phone line, and usually have connections of 56 kb/s or less. This is slow speed but it could be enough low end users.
Broadband connections have a much larger series of options that don’t tie up the phone, and theoretically, is always on and available. General speeds vary from 64 Kb to 20 Mb per second or even more. So this is faster when compared to the first one.
Let’s review about the history of Internet. The history of Internet Service Providers is tied directly to the development of the Internet itself. While it’s obvious that ISPs wouldn’t exist without the Internet, the modern day Internet could very well not exist in its current form without ISPs to make the Internet as popular as it is now.
At first there were mainly a few large Giants, but as the Technology advanced, more and more smaller Companies began to rise up, usually by offering good deals on local service. By the 2000s, the battle over broadband began to appear. DSL, which was over phone lines, was an option for traditional ISPs. Cable companies jumped into the ISP game by offering the “new and improved” cable modem access. Pricing, Technology, and market share drove the Internet economy.
Smaller ISPs, however, did not have access to a cable system and DSL was too expensive. The only way to adjust and compete was to begin using wireless technology to provide Broadband access. These developments led to the advancement of the wireless Technology that is used today. Smaller ISPs offering low-cost internet have served traditional ISPs a major challenge.
Popularity of the Internet continued to rise, but the Companies providing the Services struggled. Many of the small ISPs fared better, since they operated on revenues and not over inflated stocks. So the ISP is like an ocean full of several facts.