Did You Notice Something Different?

I am sure that, by now, you noticed that the O'Neil Software website has had a major overhaul. Over the last few months we have been quietly building a new set of foundations so we can deliver content to you in a more organized format. We received lots of compliments for our previous website but we knew we could do better. This is our 4th version over the last 12 years, and capitalises on some great new technology.

Importantly, this new version is structured in a very similar manner to the previous version, so you won't have to re-find your favorite content. However, the addition of tabs means you should be able to find what you want a lot quicker. We have also decided that a picture speaks a thousand words and have structured the site to be more visual. Want to learn about a feature of RSMobile? Just check out the screenshots with a short explanation. Isn't that so much easier? What about the GPRS features? Listen to the audio interview with Access Information Management, while having a coffee.

We appreciate that you may have some links bookmarked, so many of the older pages will still be available for a period of time but, as you encounter these, we encourage you to locate the new content and update your bookmarks accordingly.

If you do encounter any issues with the new site, simply let me know and I will take care of the problem as quickly as possible. You can email me at ian.thomas@oneilsoft.com with any comments you have about the website and remember, over the next few weeks we will continue to update the website with new content, so check back regularly.
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100th Edition of the Newsletter

I just sent out the latest monthly newsletter from O'Neil Software to it's list of subscribers. It is very interesting to me that I made it to 100 editions, and I am not sure that I ever thought that would be the case. The interest, of course, comes down to the changing methods of communications with our customers.

The history of our printed magazines was summed up in Issue 26 of our newsletter in January 2003:

"For many years, O'Neil Software has provided a Quarterly Bulletin. We started in the 80's with "What's In Store" and this was re-introduced as "The Record" in 1994. In 1996 this was renamed to the now familiar "Strategic Partner" and re-launched as a large, map-style fold-out document. The layout was re-vamped in 1999, into the format that is familiar to you today. Once again we felt that now was the time to present this publication in a new format. We expanded the content, adopted a more easy to read, magazine style and so the Strategic Partner Magazine was born."

By now, the electronic newsletter was well on its way to being a familiar face from O'Neil and, eventually, the printed magazine went the way of many printed publications, being cancelled after just a couple of years.

Over the next few months, the newsletter changed its form from the larger articles to an introduction with a "Read More..." footer. This allowed for faster browsing and the ability to focus in on the articles that were important to you. By 2006, the newsletter was being proclaimed as dead by the marketing gurus. Out were electronic newsletters in were... printed media??? Our statistics told us a different story and so the newsletter continued to today. On an average distribution around 1,000 people read the newsletter, and so I believe that this is still an effective method of communication, but what does the future hold?

This blog, obviously, is a threat to the newsletter due to its ability to deliver timely comments and news, but does it cater to the same audience? With multiple methods of communicating, from Twitter to Facebook, the temptation is always to leave the old methods behind but I have to say, I still have a soft spot for the old newsletter. Maybe it will make 200 editions yet?.

Which Data Network is Right for RSMobile?

Recently I have been asked a lot of questions about RSMobile and how it communicates over the cellphone data networks. This is such a great feature, allowing drivers to upload/download data from the field, or allow you carry out record center operations in a remote warehouse, including live lookups. Most of the questions, however, focus on the cellphone company that people have chosen. After all, we all have our favorite service provider so why did O'Neil choose AT&T and is that your only choice?

So let's give some background:

In cellular services there are two competing network technologies: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). The GSM Association is an international organization founded in 1987, dedicated to providing, developing, and overseeing the worldwide wireless standard of GSM. Service providers in the US include AT&T (formerly Cingular) and T-Mobile. CDMA, a proprietary standard designed by Qualcomm in the United States, has been the dominant network standard for North America. The major service providers in the US include Sprint/Nextel, Verizon and Virgin Mobile.

Of course, there are sides that firmly believe either GSM or CDMA architecture is superior to the other so this wasn't the area where we had to choose our core provider.

With the need for data transfer from the device, rather than just using it to make calls, CDMA has been traditionally faster than GSM, though both technologies continue to rapidly leapfrog along this path. Both boast "3G" standards, or 3rd generation technologies. EVDO, also known as CDMA2000, is CDMA's answer to the need for speed while GSM's answer is EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) with new technologies that include HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access).

So with speeds being very similar, this wasn't a primary choice for O'Neil either but a big advantage of GSM are Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards. In the United States only GSM phones use SIM cards with the SIM itself being tied to the network, rather than the actual phone. Phones that are card-enabled can be used with any GSM carrier. The Motorola MC9094K & G devices require a SIM card and so this was the first area where we had to make a choice of networks.

Next, according CDG.org, CDMA networks support over 450 million subscribers, although this is limited to the Americas, Asia & Africa, while GSM.org tallies up their score at over 3.8 billion worldwide. With O'Neil Software customers operating in more than 70 countries, we needed the worldwide coverage. GSM was the clear winner in this area.

So, once a technology platform was chosen, we looked at which providers in the US would work with us to test RSMobile. T-Mobile told me that they were focused on the consumer market and did not have a program in place for testing business applications. AT&T were geared for eaxctly this kind of project and had already approved the MC9094 for use on their network. We worked directly with their testing group and they certified that RSMobile performed perfectly on their GSM network with the MC9094.

And that is how RSMobile became tested and approved for the AT&T GSM data network.

So is AT&T your only choice? The simple answer is no, as long as you use a GSM network with a SIM card. Although we have not tested RSMobile with any other service provider, we do have customers using it from Vodaphone (in the UK) to Telstra (in Australia). Please remember, our support teams will not be able to help you with some specific network setup on the device if you use another provider, but you should be able to work through issues with the cell phone companies support desk.
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When is a Backup Considered Successful?

This is a great question that was posed by Stephen Bouffard in an article he recently posted at SQL Server Central (http://www.sqlservercentral.com/). Stephen highlighted several issues that we see all too frequently and has essentially created a non-technical checklist that anyone can use. I may get into trouble for copying it here, but it is such a good article I hope he won't mind me sharing it with you. Before reading the aricle, can you answer the question?

"As a Database Administrator, we are responsible for backing up and restoring databases. Many would argue that this fundamental task is the most important task of a DBA. There have been many articles written and published on this forum about this topic and the intent of this article is to reinforce and stress the importance of database backups and restores. So when can a DBA consider a database backup completely successful? When it’s Restored!

All DBA’s have processes and jobs in place to backup their databases. In most cases, FULL database backups are performed on a daily basis and periodically throughout the day TRANSACTION LOG and perhaps a DIFFERENTIAL BACKUP is also performed. As a DBA, do you have a process in place to restore the backups on a recurring basis? Here are some items to consider so when it’s “game time”, you’re on your “game”.

Do you routinely practice restoring your backups to different servers?

On a daily or weekly basis you should randomly select some backups and restore them to a different server. This will validate your process and confirm your backup. Not that you need any more practice, but the more restores the easier it gets. You’ll end up finding the best techniques and realize what other scripts you may need such as “fixing orphaned logins”, etc. This is also helpful for practicing your disaster recovery procedures. Repeated tasks become innate tasks.

Do you routinely restore the backups that have been copied to tape?

How often has someone asked you to restore a database from “Wednesday night, of two weeks ago”? At my business, I have to get the backup from tape. Now I don’t directly get the backup; I have to put a request in to the platform unit person for the backup to be retrieved from tape. My request usually takes several hours to be fulfilled and doesn’t always have the expected outcome. On many occasions I have received a phone call saying that “We don’t have the Wednesday backup on tape; we have Friday night’s”. Now what good does that do me?

Additionally you may want to restore a backup from tape which is located in an “off site” location. This will prove your entire backup strategy. When was the last time you requested backups from your “off site” vendor? Do you know who to contact? What kind of timeframe does the vendor have to return the tape to you?

Some would rightly argue that there should unequivocally be reliable tape backups, and the people responsible for the tape system should perform at a higher level. But, I can see tapes going bad and corruption happening, so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. The reality of the situation is this wouldn’t have been discovered without the DBA actually requesting the backup from tape which leads me to my last item.

Do you have all the necessary “contact” information for personnel that you may need during a recovery process?

When it’s time to restore production for “real”, you shouldn’t have to scramble to locate the contact information that you may need for this process. This information should be readily available on your PDA/Phone, as a file on your PC, and even a “hard copy” in your briefcase. In the event of a full disaster recovery, you want detailed documentation for the recovery process including vendor information. By doing so you will ensure you haven’t forgotten anything during a stressful situation.

Hopefully these brief words are nothing new to you, but if they are then take a moment and think about your recovery process then think about scheduling some time to restore a few databases."

By Steven Bouffard, 2009/06/08 Published at: http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Backup+and+Recovery/66703/

I can't hide my disappointment...

Well I can't hide it any longer. I was really looking forward to introducing the Motorola MC55 to our range of mobile devices but clearly it is not meant to be... at least not for now. If you have been following the history of our testing on Twitter you know all about it. If not, here is a brief summary:

Motorola introduced the MC55 as a replacement for the MC50 and PPT8846. It looked like a real winner, with benefits over both and falling in at the right price. Testing went well until Motorola launched a new platform, and then it all went wrong... We quickly identified a fault and, after some wrangling, Microsoft admitted that they replicated it. It is a Windows Mobile 6.1 bug. The MC55 is the first device to use WM6.1. We did receive a patch but this introduced or exposed a Motorola bug, which caused keyboard locking. Motorola issued a registry fix but both patches need to be re-applied after a cold boot.... That's not good. It gets worse if you send it in for repair, but I will spare you all the gory details.

So with all that taken place, we are waiting for the next Motorola platform for the device so we can re-test. The bad news is that it could be 6 months away !!

If you ever wondered how we spend money on R&D, this is a great example of a lot of time and effort expended for little (or for now, no) gain, but it is a really important part of what we do. Technology goes wrong and we want to do our very best to ensure that we identify these issues before you do.

At least there's some good news... In the meantime, we have a killer promotion for the MC909x range with some amazing offers.
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Microsoft on a roll...?

This week has proven to be a big one for Microsoft announcements, two of which I find particularly interesting.

Firstly, there was the launch of Bing.com on Monday. For those of you not familiar, Bing.com is Microsoft's challenge to Google. It is a new search engine that has replaced Windows Live and MSN. I must say, my first impressions are good. I tried searching O'Neil Software and got good results with an easy way to get to contact details and other pertinent information. I also tried checking flights and got comparisons and a neat price predictor. The rumour is that Bing stands for Bing Is Not Google, which clearly it isn't, but I do like it. Give it a try and see what you think.

The second announcement related to Windows 7, which is now scheduled for release on October 22, 2009. I played with this earlier this year and really enjoyed some of the improvements over Windows Vista. You can read my original blog entry here. Windows 7 has been designed to be compatible with Vista so users do not have to invest in new hardware and it promises a major usability improvement on Vista, with a simplification of security measures which caused frustration for many users. Other Beta testers of Windows 7 have reported that it is faster than Vista, especially in terms of start-up and shutdown sequence of the computer. Over the next 4 months we will look at the testing requirements for the platform but I have to say I am optimistic on this one, which is a great feeling.

Are Microsoft finally getting things right? I suppose only time will tell but these two announcements were welcome news for me.

Twitter... I think I finally get it!

In this world of ever increasing information, sometimes it is great to be able to just quickly pass on some news. I originally started doing this via the O'Neil Software eNewsletter, which reaches it's 100th edition next month. From publishing long messsages, this evolved into short paragraphs with a "Read More" link for those who were interested in the article. This layout became the most popular and remains today.

Next came this blog to deal with the fundamental problem of the eNewsletter... time. It takes time to consolidate all the monthly information and, by the time you do this, it is often out-of-date. The blog allows me to pass on my thoughts or witterings instantly. It's a bit like being able to send an email to everyone, so I don't have to put it all together once a month.

So where does Twitter fit in, especially in a business environment? Well, Twitter allows me to quickly pass on information that may not justify a blog entry, but may be interesting for people to know. For example, it could be as simple as "The phone system is currently down", which is not something I would probably want to blog about or put in the eNewsletter but it is something that I would like customers and suppliers to be aware of. Twitter would allow me to tell everyone immediately and, just as importantly, let them know it's back working again.

It's going to take me a bit of time to get into a habit of updating regularly but, as long as I am not telling you what I ate for lunch and I keep it business related, I think this could be a very useful tool.

You can follow me and stay up to date at: http://twitter.com/ianjthomas
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