VMware vs. VirtualBox...

Desktop virtualization can be extremely useful. The ability to run multiple, simultaneous operating systems on a single device can be possible.

Here are some of the reasons: - 

1. Evaluate new apps and systems in a safe, partitioned environment
2. Deploy and test your own software on multiple operating systems without needing multiple devices
3. Set up and regulate encrypted corporate desktops for remote employees or employees using their own devices
4. Run legacy programs that require an older OS on a machine with a newer OS
5. Transfer virtual machines between devices and servers  

If you’re comparing VMware vs. VirtualBox, you’re looking for a tool that will help you create virtual machines (VMs) on desktop devices running an x86-based platform.

These two solutions, although both are reliable, bear some distinct differences that make a comparison complicated.

Overview

VMware isn’t a single product as much an ecosystem of connected tools and applications. You can use VMware to set up a private cloud, to manage mobile devices in your corporate network, to protect endpoints, and of course, to virtualize stuff.

It would be an understatement to call VMware the market leader. In fact, they were the first to virtualize the x86 architecture and make the technology available as a commercial product.

VirtualBox is Oracle’s answer to host-based virtualization — a purchase they made from Sun Systems in 2010 to (hopefully) compete in the same market with VMware’s Workstation. VirtualBox is a free and open-source solution that works with all x86 platforms including Windows, Mac, Linux, and Solaris. The latest version (5.1.6) was released September 12, 2016.

It’s important to note that not all features of VirtualBox are free (only the core product). The extension pack that adds USB functionality, Remote Desktop Protocol, and Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) is available under a license, free for personal or educational use. If you plan to deploy for commercial use on more than one device, you’ll need to buy a license from Oracle.

VMware vs. VirtualBox Comparison

VMware’s Workstation offers a wide array of features for desktop virtualization, with slight variations between the “Player” and “Pro” editions, that you can’t run multiple VMs at the same time, create encrypted VMs, or share VMs as servers.

Workstation Pro is free during the trial evaluation period. After that, you’ll need to buy a license and enter the product key. Workstation Player (the basic edition) is permanently free for non-commercial use, although paid licensing and support are available.

Here’s a summary of some of Workstation’s most features:

1. Mass deployment
2. Host/guest file sharing
3. USB smart card reader support
4. USB 3.0 support
5. Snapshots
6. VM sharing
7. Integration w/ vSphere/ESXi server
8. Integration w/ vCloud Air
9. 3D graphics with DX10 and OpenGL 3.3 support

In addition to the basic feature set, Workstation has a few capabilities that you might not find mission-critical. Networking and printing, for example, require no additional setup. You can connect to the same devices and servers in your network from either the host machine or the VMs running on top of it. Another example is Workstations ability to create “linked clones” that let you create the same VM over and over again without exhausting disk space.  

Speaking of space and power, Workstation can support up to 16 vCPUs, 8TB virtual disks, and 64GB of memory in a single, virtual environment.

As previously mentioned, the core, open-source VirtualBox package is free under general public use (GPU) license, and its proprietary extension package is free indefinitely under a personal use and evaluation license (PUEL).

Despite hitting the market much later than Workstation, VirtualBox offers many of the same features:

1. Cross-platform compatibility (installs on Mac, Linux, Windows, Solaris computers)
2. Command line interaction
3. Shared folders and clipboard
4. Special drivers and utilities to facilitate switching between systems
5. Snapshots
6. Seamless mode (lets you run virtual applications next to normal ones)
7. Limited support for 3D graphics (up to OpenGL 3.0)
8. Can exchange disk images with VMware
9. VM video capture
10. VM disk image encryption (with extension pack)
11. Virtual USB 2.0/3.0 support (with extension pack)

You may notice a couple of drawbacks here, compared with VMware’s feature set. For one thing, VirtualBox doesn’t offer the same level of support for 3D graphics, which could be an issue if you plan to be a heavy user (i.e. have more than one or two VMs running at the same time). Furthermore, while VirtualBox can exchange disk images with VMware, it doesn’t integrate with vSphere, ESXi, or vCloud Air, which may prevent you from enjoying a truly seamless hypervisor experience.

That said, VirtualBox’s cross-platform capabilities tip the scales back in its favor. Unlike VMware, which offers separate editions specific to one OS, the core version of VirtualBox can install and function on any x86 computer.

Conclusion

Choosing the right solution for your needs, in this case, is highly difficult. A lot will depend on your preference — for the security and assurance of tools, or the flexibility and customization of open-source. If you prefer one over the other, you may already have your answer.

Internet of Things (IoT) Explained!

The "Internet of things" (IOT) is becoming an increasingly growing topic of conversation both in the workplace and outside of it. It's a concept that may impact how we live but also how we work.

What exactly is the "Internet of things" and what impact is it going to have on you, if any? There are a lot of complexities around the "Internet of things".

Let's start with understanding a few things.

Broadband Internet is become more widely available, the cost of connecting is decreasing, more devices are being created with Wi-Fi capabilities and sensors built into them, technology costs are going down, and smartphone penetration is sky-rocketing.  All of these things are creating a "perfect storm" for the IOT.

What Is the Internet of Things?

It is the concept of basically connecting any device with an on and off switch to the Internet. This includes everything from cell phones, washing machines, headphones, lamps, wearable devices and almost anything else you can think of.  This also applies to components of machines, for example a jet engine of an airplane or the drill of an oil rig. As I mentioned, if it has an on and off switch then chances are it can be a part of the IOT.

It is estimated that by 2020 there will be over 26 billion connected devices. That's a lot of connections (some even estimate this number to be much higher, over 100 billion).  The IOT is a giant network of connected "things".

How Does This Impact You?

The new rule for the future is going to be, "Anything that can be connected, will be connected." But why on earth would you want so many connected devices talking to each other? There are many examples for what this might look like or what the potential value might be. Say for example you are on your way to a meeting; your car could have access to your calendar and already know the best route to take. If the traffic is heavy your car might send a text to the other party notifying them that you will be late. What if your alarm clock wakes up you at 6 a.m. and then notifies your coffee maker to start brewing coffee for you? What if your office equipment knew when it was running low on supplies and automatically re-ordered more?  What if the wearable device you used in the workplace could tell you when and where you were most active and productive and shared that information with other devices that you used while working?

On a broader scale, the IOT can be applied to things like transportation networks: "smart cities" which can help us reduce waste and improve efficiency for things such as energy use; this helping us understand and improve how we work and live. Take a look at the visual below to see what something like that can look like.

The reality is that the IOT allows for virtually endless opportunities and connections to take place, many of which we can't even think of or fully understand the impact of today. It's not hard to see how and why the IOT is such a hot topic today; it certainly opens the door to a lot of opportunities but also to many challenges. Security is a big issue that is oftentimes brought up. With billions of devices being connected together, what can people do to make sure that their information stays secure? Will someone be able to hack into your toaster and thereby get access to your entire network? The IOT also opens up companies all over the world to more security threats. Then we have the issue of privacy and data sharing. This is a hot topic even today, so one can only imagine how the conversation and concerns will escalate when we are talking about many billions of devices being connected. Another issue that many companies specifically are going to be faced with is around the massive amounts of data that all of these devices are going to produce. Companies need to figure out a way to store, track, analyse and make sense of the vast amounts of data that will be generated.

Conclusion

Conversations about the IOT are taking place all over the world as we seek to understand how this will impact our lives. We are also trying to understand what the many opportunities and challenges are going to be as more and more devices start to join the IOT. For now, the best thing that we can do is educate ourselves about what the IOT is and the potential impacts that can be seen on how we work and live.

I hope this helps. Hope to see you in my next post. Comments are most welcome.

Smartphone under 20k INR (Q1-2017)

Smartphone Buying Guide: My Smartphone Picks from budget smartphones to mid-range smartphones under Rs 20,000 these are some of the smartphones that I would recommend based on my experience. Before starting I would like to inform that these phones will be available online.

Some of the Phones are: -

1) Xiaomi Redmi 3S (or 3S prime)

I will suggest to go with 3S prime due to 1GB more ram, 32GB internal storage and has a finger print scanner also.

Pros: -

Performance is very good in its price range.

Fingerprint sensor is very responsive.

Battery life for both the phones I very good.

Cons: -

Body is little fragile (So you will need a good case for it).
Flipkart Redmi 3S (2GB Ram, 16GB)
Flipkart Redmi 3S Prime (3GB Ram, 32GB)

2) Lenovo K6 Power

Pros: -

Camera performance is little better than Redmi 3S and comes with same processor that of Xiaomi 3S.

Battery performance is also good.
Flipkart Lenovo K6 Power (3GB Ram)
Flipkart Lenovo K6 Power (4GB ram)

3) Xiaomi Redmi Note 4

I will suggest to go with 3GB or 4GB variant which would cost around 11,000/- for 3GB and 13,000/- for 4GB.

Pros: -

Battery life is amazing due to Snapdragon 625.

Has a good camera as compared it to Redmi Note 3.

Can recommend for heavy gamming.
Flipkart Redmi Note 4(64GB)
Flipkart Redmi Note 4(32GB)

4) Honor 6X

It is Camera centric phone as it has dual camera setup. Would not recommend if you are a heavy gamer.

Pros: -

Camera performance is very good on this phone and has the best camera in this budget range.

Video and Audio Pick-up Is also good.

Cons: -

Can’t recommend for heavy gamming.
Amazon Honor 6X (32GB)

Amazon Honor 6X (64GB)

5) Lenovo Z2 Plus

It is a very fast phone as it contains Snapdragon 820 and Nougat update would be rolled out soon buy this or next month. This is the most power full phone as this price point.

Cons: -

Rear Facing camera performance in artificial lighting and indoor lighting conditions is not that great but front facing camera is better than rear facing camera.
Flipkart Lenovo Z2 Plus (32GB)
Flipkart Lenovo Z2 Plus (64GB)
Amazon Lenovo Z2 Plus (32GB)

Amazon Lenovo Z2 Plus (64GB)

6) Lenovo P2

It for those who wants more Battery life. As it contains 5100mAh battery and aslo have Snapdragon 625 chipset.

Pros: -

Good gamming performance

Have super AMOLED screen

Cons: -

Camera is not to great.
Flipkart Lenovo P2 (3Gb Ram, 32GB)

7) Xiaomi Mi 5

It contains Snapdragon 820 hence is power full phone.

Cons: -

Avg. battery life

Phone is Fragile not recommend for rough users.
Flipkart Xiaomi Mi 5 (32GB)
Amazon Xiaomi Mi 5 (32GB)

8) Samsung Galaxy On Nxt (or Galaxy J7 prime)

If you are looking for Samsung phone in this price range I will suggest you these.

The problem with Samsung is that they skip some of the basic sensors like Auto-Brightness, Gyroscope (Used for 360º Videos or Pokémon Go like Games).

Cons: -

Don’t expect great performance if you are a gamer.
Flipkart Samsung Galaxy On Nxt (32GB)
Flipkart Samsung Galaxy J7 prime (32GB)
Amazon Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime SM-G610F (Black, 16GB)


I hope this helps. Hope to see you again in my next post. Comments are most welcome.

What is Benchmark? and What criterion they follow...

A benchmark is a metric or a point of reference against which products/services can be compared to assess the quality of the product/service. (i.e. a set standard that helps to determine the quality of the product or service.)

In software industry, you could benchmark a software product or service to assess its quality.

Benchmark Testing is not a term related to just software testing, but it also deals with Hardware Testing and considered as one of the most important tasks

What is Benchmark Testing?

Benchmark testing is a part of the software development life cycle that involves both developers and database administrators (DBAs) to determine current performance and make changes to improve the performances of the same.

The coding should be done very efficiently along with fine tuning the databases so that user can experience the performance improvements.

Why Benchmark Testing is important

1. At business level, benchmark testing can be helpful in determining
2. How well a web-based application is performing with respect to the competitors
3. How different types of customers experience the response time and availability of a site
4. It enables to evaluate third- party service providers prior to making a contracting decision
5. Allows to figure out the mistakes to be avoided

Things to consider while Benchmark Testing

1. Consistency and control
2. Understand the system architecture to design test criteria and test data
3. Examine initial static data and update according to number of users
4. Check for 'Reset' functionality wherever required and define per second transaction rate
5. Split the system elements according to is functionalities
6. Every system has different architecture and design, which needs to be taken into consideration while performing Benchmark Testing

The Components that are Benchmarked

There are various components in a software that need to be benchmarked to realize the performance changes. These are few of them: -

- SQL Queries: - SQL is used to communicate with a database. According to ANSI (American National Standards Institute), it is the standard language for relational database management systems. SQL statements are used to perform tasks such as update data on a database, or retrieve data from a database.

- SQL Indexes: - SQL - Indexes. Indexes are special lookup tables that the database search engine can use to speed up data retrieval. Simply put, an index is a pointer to data in a table. An index in a database is very similar to an index in the back of a book.

- SQL Procedures: - In a database management system (DBMS), a stored procedure is a set of Structured Query Language (SQL) statements with an assigned name that's storedin the database in compiled form so that it can be shared by a number of programs.

- SQL Triggers: - PL/SQL - Triggers. Triggers are stored programs, which are automatically executed or fired when some events occur. Triggers are, in fact, written to be executed in response to any of the following events: A database manipulation (DML) statement (DELETE, INSERT, or UPDATE).

- Hardware Configurations: - Hardware configuration references the details and system resource settings allotted for a specific device. Many computer specialists improve hardwareperformance by adjusting configurations, which may also include settings for the motherboard and the BIOS, as well as the bus speeds.

- Application Code

- Networks

- Firewalls: - A firewall is a network security system that monitors and controls the incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security rules. A firewall typically establishes a barrier between a trusted, secure internal network and another outside network, such as the Internet, that is assumed not to be secure or trusted.

How to Perform Benchmark Testing?

• Benchmark Testing Should be performed on the same environmental parameters under same conditions so that we can compare the results.
• Characteristics of Benchmark include:
• The Tests should be repeatable
• Each time, the tests should be executed under the same environmental conditions.
• There should not be any other applications in active state other than the ones that are required for testing purposes.
• The Software and Hardware components should be in-line with the specifications of the production environment.

I hope this helps. Hope to see u again i my next post.

Want Tor to really work?

You need to change some of your habits, as some things won't work exactly as you are used to.

Use Tor Browser

Tor does not protect all of your computer's Internet traffic when you run it. Tor only protects your applications that are properly configured to send their Internet traffic through Tor. To avoid problems with Tor configuration, we strongly recommend you use the Tor Browser. It is pre-configured to protect your privacy and anonymity on the web as long as you're browsing with Tor Browser itself. Almost any other web browser configuration is likely to be unsafe to use with Tor.

Don't torrent over Tor

Torrent file-sharing applications have been observed to ignore proxy settings and make direct connections even when they are told to use Tor. Even if your torrent application connects only through Tor, you will often send out your real IP address in the tracker GET request, because that's how torrents work. Not only do you deanonymize your torrent traffic and your other simultaneous Tor web traffic this way, you also slow down the entire Tor network for everyone else.

Don't enable or install browser plugins

Tor Browser will block browser plugins such as Flash, RealPlayer, Quicktime, and others: they can be manipulated into revealing your IP address. Similarly, we do not recommend installing additional addons or plugins into Tor Browser, as these may bypass Tor or otherwise harm your anonymity and privacy.

Use HTTPS versions of websites

Tor will encrypt your traffic to and within the Tor network, but the encryption of your traffic to the final destination website depends upon on that website. To help ensure private encryption to websites, Tor Browser includes HTTPS Everywhere to force the use of HTTPS encryption with major websites that support it. However, you should still watch the browser URL bar to ensure that websites you provide sensitive information to display a blue or green URL bar button, include https:// in the URL, and display the proper expected name for the website. Also see EFF's interactive page explaining 

how Tor and HTTPS relate.

Don't open documents downloaded through Tor while online

Tor Browser will warn you before automatically opening documents that are handled by external applications. DO NOT IGNORE THIS WARNING. You should be very careful when downloading documents via Tor (especially DOC and PDF files, unless you use the PDF viewer that's built into Tor Browser) as these documents can contain Internet resources that will be downloaded outside of Tor by the application that opens them. This will reveal your non-Tor IP address. If you must work with DOC and/or PDF files, we strongly recommend either using a disconnected computer, downloading the free VirtualBox and using it with a virtual machine image with networking disabled, or using Tails. Under no circumstances is it safe to use BitTorrent and Tor together, however.

Use bridges and/or find company

Tor tries to prevent attackers from learning what destination websites you connect to. However, by default, it does not prevent somebody watching your Internet traffic from learning that you're using Tor. If this matters to you, you can reduce this risk by configuring Tor to use a Tor bridge relay rather than connecting directly to the public Tor network. Ultimately the best protection is a social approach: the more Tor users there are near you and the more diverse their interests, the less dangerous it will be that you are one of them. Convince other people to use Tor, too!

Source: - torproject.org