:: Tuesday, November 30, 2004 ::

DNS Broken?

DNS, or Domain Name Service, is what takes human-readable names, such as www.google.com and turns it into an IP address, such as 64.233.167.99 (Both will take you to the same place).

If we didn't have DNS, we'd have to memorize the IP addresses of all the websites we visit, and 'virtual' websites that exist on a single server (some servers hold hundreds of websites) would not be accessible because they need the correct header in the HTML request, which if you go to the server by IP address, you won't get.

The last few days several of my clients and people I know have reported DNS irregularities. It looks like some of the Top Level Domain (TLD) entries for whom is reported as the Source Of Authority (SOA) for different domains are reporting incorrectly.

What does that mean in simple terms? It means that when you go ask the big 13 servers that run the internet who you need to talk to in order to find the IP address that goes with the website you are trying to go to, like www.google.com, is giving you the wrong server to ask. In that case, you never get the correct IP address for the domain, or you get none at all.

Very weird. More details to follow.
:: Jack 10:16 PM [link this] ::
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Jack's 2004 Christmas Picks

One of Jack's friends had commented that I hadn't posted in a while. I agree. It's just that whenever I find something I think is interesting, I find someone else has done it better. Other than the hits I get from Google and other search engine hits looking for installation instructions, I didn't think anyone even looked at this blog anymore.

Guess I was wrong.

My friend suggested that I come up with a list of value-priced components for Christmas Gift ideas. Other than Shallow Jack's request for a Real Doll, I thought I'd give it a whirl - though 'value' is very subjective.

CPU

I've a preference for AMD chips over Intel. Maybe its the underdog thing, but I doubt it - I don't usually go that way, as I'm not a Microsoft basher. Anyway, for a mid-level CPU, I would suggest the AMD Athlon 64 3000 939-pin 90nm. It's got great performance, 64-bit capability, and can be had for around $150. Why 939-pin 90nm? Lower temperatures, a 128-bit memory interface, and its the next socket that's going to stay around for a while, thus allowing some headroom for upgrades.

MOTHERBOARD

I'm a stability and feature man over raw performance. I found that pushing the performance edge almost always means sacrificing stability. I've been really happy with SiS's offerings. They aren't the fastest, but they have been rock-solid. I liked nVidia's NForce chipset on paper, but I haven't been happy with its stability on a few machines once they get loaded with peripherals. VIA has been the toughest one to nail down. They were good stable systems, until the KT133 line, which in my opinion were very unreliable. However, almost all of the business systems I have been providing for clients use the newer VIA chipsets, and have been very reliable. Sinec SiS doesn't offer a 939-pin motherboard yet, I'm going to recommend the ASUS A8V Deluxe, which uses the VIA KT800 Pro Chipset. ASUS has always had one of the highest quality and best performing motherboards. Just make sure you install the VIA Hyperion drivers and keep them up-to-date. Another good reason for the A8V Deluxe is that you can get it for around $125 if you shop around. The bad? It still uses AGP instead of PCI Express.

MEMORY

Memory? That's easy for me. Corsair memory is the way to go. In a good motherboard it shines, and I have a lot of it in many systems. To me many problems on computers are due to cheap RAM. Pick what model you can that has as low of a CL (latency) rating as possible. If for some reason you don't like Corsair, my 2nd choice would be Crucial memory. Especially their new Ballistix memory, which at 512MB or lower is CL 2, though the Corsair can be had with just as low of a latency rating.

CASE

I like flashy cases, and they are neat to look at. However, with all the fans and the like they are quite noisy. You look at them for a bit, and then they get pushed under a desk or buried under papers. For this reason, I suggest an Antec Sonata. It is a nice looking black case which uses the larger 120mm fans for cooling. It comes with a 2000 RPM fan that pushes 79 CFM (Cubic Feet per Minute) of air through the case. One sucking air in the front and one in the back pushing the air out would be a nice quiet experience for your system. It also has rubber mounts for all internal components, and the plentiful hard drive mounts point the rear of the drives towards the side of the case instead of the back. Very nice. It also comes with a 380 Watt Power Supply, which should be fine for those of you who don't have 127 USB devices.

VIDEO CARD

This can be the most controversial of all. There's only two choices, nVidia or ATI. So I'm going to pick one from each and let you decide.

Yes, that is the cowardly way.

Either the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB or the nVidia GeForce FX 5900 128MB will do. Both are in the same price range and performance level. They aren't the top of the line though, so if you want very high graphics settings in DOOM3 or Half-Life 2, you're going to want to shell out some more money. If we had a PCI-Express Motherboard, I'd go with the ATI X600 XT or the Nvidia 6600 256MB.

HARD DRIVES

Seagate. That's it. No other. Until the other brands offer a 5-year warranty, I'm not buying anything else. Oh, and the Serial ATA drives. Better performance.

DVD-RW Drive

Plextor PX-712A. Best drives for quality and reliability as well as compatibility. I'm not ready for Dual layer at $10/pop per blank disc, and the PX-712A can be found for $70-$80.

MICE

Logitech MX-1000 Laser Cordless Mouse. If I were a cat, I'd say MMmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! It's on Jack's Christmas list.

VIDEO CAPTURE

This one is already on its way to Jack's House. Ordered it for my birthday. Yes, another Plextor product, and no, I'm not on their payroll. But TiVO without the monthly subscription fee, and total control to burn recorded stuff to DVD? I can't wait for it to get here.

FANTASY PICK

If money were no object: One of these (Dual 2.5Ghz) with one of those. OK - Jack already has the middle one of 'those', in an older version. And I have the dual 1 Ghz of the last model (G4) of 'these'. Yes, I've pretty much switched for everything but gaming. With this software, you don't really need anything else.

MORE?

I'll add more as I think of things, but this should be a good start. Suggestions? Leave 'em in the comments.





:: Jack 11:54 PM [link this] ::
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