To understand the different techniques used by appliances offering WAN optimization, it’s important to first define exactly what exactly a ‘WAN’ is. WAN stands for ‘wide area network’ and refers to any network that covers a very large geographic area. By contrast, a LAN, or local area network, refers to networks that provide internal communication in a home or small office. The internet as a whole can be defined as a WAN and is obviously a public network, while an example of a private WAN could be a corporation with offices in San Francisco, San Jose, Austin, Boston, and New York. Each individual office would have a LAN set up internally, but could also use DSL or MPLS connections to form a WAN to share information between offices.

There are a number of performance-related issues that typically occur with WANs, which has led to the development of various WAN optimization techniques. These issues can include redundant transmissions, ‘chatty’ protocols, and packet delivery issues. Some of the common techniques used to achieve WAN optimization include: Bandwidth Management; Caching; and Protocol Optimization. Multiple vendors offer WAN optimization appliances that use a number of these techniques to process the IP traffic traveling between the sites over the company’s WAN. Not every solution uses the same techniques, thus the benefits can vary, which is important to understand when researching a vendor or supplier.

Bandwidth Management allows applications to have set limits and minimums with regard to how much bandwidth they use. For example, this technique would allow you to put a limit on the amount of bandwidth an especially avaricious application can use. Conversely, bandwidth management can ensure that less-used applications always have a guaranteed amount of bandwidth allocated to them. Read the rest of this entry »

Who doesn’t know Hewlett Packard and who is not aware of the fact that Hewlett Packard produces world class printers, printer ink cartridges and toner cartridges to meet the diverse demands of its consumers? Well, we all are fully aware of the quality that HP produces and has been producing for many, many years now. HP has undoubtedly won the trust of its users as people know that when they deal with HP, they are getting the best quality products money can buy. One proof of HP’s top quality production is their LaserJet 5500 printer.

Utilizing this printer with recommended and compatible toner cartridges will provide you with brilliant print results and they will be so good that you will most certainly be happy with the output. This printer and other top quality products by Hewlett Packard have earned HP lots of fame globally.

Having said that, let’s discuss one thing that you may have noticed if you have been using this printer for sometime now. Here is the trick question: Is a PIN required for every individual print job, in case you have to send many stored jobs, at the same time, to the printer? There is no need to scratch your head. Here is the answer to this question: If a PIN has already been assigned by you are someone else to accomplish such tasks, i.e. Stored Job -or- Private Job, then you will, of course, need to enter the PIN. Control Panel of the printer will allow you to enter the PIN. Read the rest of this entry »

If you have ever been stuck waiting for your camera to upload pictures on the PC or for the printer to start functioning, a lot of it may have to do with your device driver. Printer drivers can literally make or break the functioning of your operating system functionality. If you are looking for the latest drivers for your Windows XP or even 2000 operating system, here are some places you can check for the appropriate drivers.

Windows Update

Windows Update is a feature provided in your Windows XP where you can get access to the latest printer drivers. The Windows Update feature keeps a tab on all the latest patches and device drivers uploaded on the Microsoft website. Thus, simply running the Windows Update feature on a regular basis should keep your printer running without any glitches.

Plug and Play

The unique Plug and Play technology is inherently provided as part of your Windows XP operating system. This technology allows you to add not just new Windows operating system drivers but also new devices! The Plug and Play mechanism is also responsible for the easy recognition and detection of devices as soon as you plug them into your PC. Compare this to the olden days of searching the Microsoft site manually for the latest drivers and you see how easy and amazing this technology really is.

Hardware incompatibility issues

Sometimes, it may not be a problem with the printer driver being outdated but the actual hardware. If your printer is outdated and if the manufacturer has not provided the latest drivers then it could result in a problem printer. If this is a new printer and if Windows XP is yet to add support, then finding the appropriate printer drivers can be difficult.

Check the CD

Your printer would have undoubtedly come along with a CD and a kit. Make sure to check the CD to find the appropriate printer driver for the printer you are using. If this is a new printer, it will surely have the latest drivers requisite for your Windows XP operating system.

How to check Windows Update

There will be times when Windows Update will alert you of latest updates, which it has found on the Microsoft website. You can choose to run the updates at the time or manually visit the Windows Update option to find the appropriate printer drivers yourself. Once you have selected the Windows Update option, you need to visit the option called ‘personalize windows update’. Choose the option that says ‘display the link to Windows Update catalog’. This option is located right under the see also option. Save the settings to facilitate enabling of the ‘see also’ option.

Manufacturer website

Another option to locate the printer drivers is to visit the manufacturer’s website manually. You maybe surprised to find a driver on the manufacturer site, which is not provided on the Microsoft website or on your Windows Update option. There are also some beta drivers provided for download but this is mostly an attempt if you absolutely fail to find appropriate printer drivers. The problem with beta drivers is that since they are not completely tested, there could be associated problems when you download these Windows operating system drivers.

By: John C Arkin