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Data future - by Cotswold Wireless

Here at CW we store a lot of information and much of it is on CD and DVD just for permanence, a recent article caught my eye saying that ‘interchange’ problems are on the increase. Interchange failure happens when a CD, DVD or tape written by one drive cannot be read by another. It set me thinking about all the legacy CD’s and DVD’s that people have that might be unreadable by the latest CD and DVD drives. Why are we seeing this? Well manufacturers never stand still they are always developing products to be faster to store more and this inevitably means that the margins built into the standards to ensure interchange get smaller over time.
What can you do on a practical level to manage the risk?

1/ Use only high quality media if you’re planning to keep the data for a long time
2/ Make sure that when you write your disk the drive is not using any manufacture enhanced format.
3/ Always verify the disk after writing
4/ Test the interchange by reading the disk on another CD / DVD drive.

When it comes to replacing your CD /DVD drive consider if it’s not broken putting it in the cupboard rather than the skip you might just need it to read some legacy information in the data future.

Naughty Printer!! by Cotswold Wireless

I was trying to print a report the other day and I had the disagreeable sight of my printer refusing to print and flashing away at me. So I think paper jam or out of paper, but no plenty of paper and no sign of anything stuck in the printer so I resorted to the manual just to see what all the fuss was about. The manual said ‘Ink needs replacing’ hang on the printer uses separate cartridges for primary colours and Black, all four of them need replacing at the same time ???? A quick internet search revealed an uncomfortable truth.
When the cartridge is made the manufacturer uses RFID technology to embed a use by date in the cartridge so when that expires the printer refuses to print even if there is ink left in the cartridge. VERY NAUGHTY.
The manufactures excuse is that the ink becomes unusable over time and needs to be replaced, which is a reasoned argument however that should be the users choice they should not be forced into it by the printer refusing to function. Not one to be thwarted by any form of technology I discovered that if I reset the system clock back a few months and power cycled the printer it could be fooled into continuing to work. I still haven’t replaced the cartridges.

‘Last’ Mile by Cotswold Wireless

All of us in rural areas are familiar with the ‘Last’ mile we live with it’s impact everyday in terms of poor data connection speeds. 11% of UK properties are unable to get a 2Mbit service ( Government target for 2017 ) because of those limitations. Having a data connection to a home is becoming as important and as expected as water and electricity.
The ‘Last’ Mile is the term for all the stuff between a user in a rural location and a point on a high speed core data network. David Cameron announced ‘The digital Village Pump’ at the beginning of 2011 as part of his big society initiative funded with £530 Million left over from digital TV. Local authorities appear to be demanding match funding from interested companies this stance eliminates the ‘local’ providers referred to by Mr Cameron. His idea is to bring a high speed connection to most of the UK villages using FTTC ( fibre to the cabinet ) using local companies, who then to provide high speed connections for everyone who wants one. This approach is fine on paper the reality is that in many rural areas the only network available belongs to Openreach ( around 12% of locations ) with no competition the costs of using that network are relatively high compared to areas where there is a competitive market. OFFCOM have completely failed to open up the rural market to competition simply because the costs of competing with Openreach are too high ( £16,000- £20,000 / exchange ) What we see at the moment is that there is no competition in any rural exchange smaller than 1500 – 2000 subscribers and at this size only the large players can afford the investment, as exchanges get bigger you get more players and more competition. OFFCOM has a consultation on these issues about to close, hopefully what will be put in place is a sliding scale of costs based on the number of subscribers served that would give a level playing field to everyone. Once we can get effective competition in rural areas we will see local providers able to compete, lets all hope that OFFCOM get it right this time.

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Articles contributed by Julian Richards of..

Cotswold Wireless Jpeg

Unit G
Donkey Well Farm Estate
Quenington
Cirencester
Gloucestershire
GL7 5DH

Tel 0844 80 40 484
Fax 01285 700000

email info@cotswoldwireless.co.uk

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