A Blast From the Past

An old friend whom I have not talked to for over a year suddenly emailed me asking how I was doing. I am the kind of person who does not like in the past which is rather ironic given that one of my interests is history. Should I ignore her and keep on moving forward or try to relink the connection? Life is filled with decisions like this.

Difference between Netbackup and Backup Exec

My experience with data backups so far has been with simple methods for small networks mostly workgroup. I have used programs like SecondCopy2000, Corbian Backup, and batch files. I want to know more about enterprise level backup application packages. I have heard about Backup Exec because I have supported networks that use it but personally I have never managed it. Today, I heard about Netbackup. Because both are sold by Symantec, it begs the question: what is the difference? Obviously these two programs are not competitors, at least not of a one-to-one kind like Office and OpenOffice. The best answer I have found so far was this little snippet:

Netbackup is more expensive than Backup Exec. What do you get for your money?
The most obvious difference between Netbackup and Backup Exec, is that Netbackup is designed for BIG business. Backup Exec is aimed more at small and medium business. Over recent years, Backup Exec has gained features to make it more scalable and manageable, and improve its functionality. Specific example of this are the Central Admin Server Option, and the addition of encryption capabilities. Recently Netbackup has been adding packages (the non-Enterprise versions) which target small and medium business.

State of the world in 2007

I know, it's a vague title given how big the world is. Other than having to keep up with the blistering pace of technologies, I am a bit of a news junkie. Certainly 2007 is not a slow year for news. I can spend all day trying to recap what has happened in the world this year, but there were a few events that I followed closely.

Politics is always on the news. Being an American, I follow what politicians are doing "in the interest of the American people". Given that there are two main camps in American politics, no one can ever satisfy everyone. Without going into details, I just want to say that politicians do what politicians do: trying to stay in power at the cost of ethics and fair play. It's hard to separate the politician from the person doing the job. I myself have to do things that are against my character because it is my job. I can name a few politicians who did despicable things, but did they do it out of political expedience or because of a personal character flaw? No one is perfect, but the political image has to be without blemish. I think the average person expects too much from politicians. As long as these people do not commit something that is so atrocious, we have to keep their actions in perspective.

It's good to be back

It's good to be back. The last 10 months have been hectic to say the least. First of all, I changed jobs. That in itself is a major life change, but on top of that I started my own tech support business. So now, I have a regular full-time job in addition to running my own business. Let me tell you, starting a new business is hard. So much planning, so much paperwork. Hope 2008 is more fun -- not that 2007 is not fun. It has its moments.

I plan to post more thoughts on issues outside high tech.