Chapter 5: Custom Configurations Flashcards
The design of graphical content (photo editing) can place a heavy load on what three areas of the system
CPU
Video Card
RAM
CAD
Computer Aided Design
CAM
Compute Aided Manufacturing
CAD and CAM workstations are used in what type of work?
Engineering
Architectural dcoumentation
Design
CNC
Computerized Numerical Control
Take a set of coded instructions and render them into machine or tool movements.
Graphic designers and users who use PCs for CAD and CAM require what enhancements to their computers?
CPU enhancements
Video enhancements
Maximized RAM
Audio / Video editing workstations require workstations that excel in what three areas?
Video enhancements
Specialized audio
Specialised drives
Audio/Video editing workstations benefit most from a graphics adapter with _______
Multiple video interface that can be used simulteneously.
For audio/video editing, its best to have a graphics adapter that supports _____
CUDA and OpenCL
CUDA
Nvidia’s Compute Unified Device Archiecture
A parallel computing architecture for breaking down larger processing tasks into smaller tasks and processing them simultaneously on the GPU.
OpenCL
Open Computing Language
Similar to CUDA, but cross-platform, open standard.
Programmers can specifiy high-level function calls in a programming language they are familiar with instead of writiing specific instructions for the microcode of the processor at hand.
API
Application programming Interface
Audio/Video editing workstations may require specialized audio that supports _____
Digital audio.
Most sound cards today use the same technology that we used in the ’80s – Analog, two-channel arrangements.
Audio professionals may have to edit 6-8 channels, digitally.
NLE
Non-linear Editing System
System that performs non-destructive editing on source material.
NLVE (Non-linear Video Editing)
NLAE (Non-linear Audio Editing)
How can additional hard drives aid audio/video editing workstations?
Separating the operating system and application files from the source material being edited reduces the read/write demands put on a single drive.
A third drive, where the use can save the result of editing the audio/video source material further improves performance.
What special specs must hard drives have from audio / video workstations?
You should separate the OS and applications on a different drive from the source audio/video material.
The drive with the source material (data files) should be large and fast. SATA drives that spin at 7200rpm and faster, with 6Gbps transfer rates are recommended.
If you use an external hard drive for storing source audio/video material on an A/V editing workstation, what connection technlology is best?
eSATA. This ensures no loss in performance over an internal SATA drive due to conversion delays or slower interfaces, like USB 2.0
For A/V editing workstations, what’s one way to get a drive with the capacity you need if there isn’t one on the market?
RAID 0. This will allow you to expand the capacity of a drive and, because you’ll be using multiple physical drives, will improve read/write performance.
VM
Virtual Machine
What improvements should be made to virtualization workstations
CPU enhancements
Maximized RAM
It may also be necessary to increase the hard drive capacity of the workstation as well, depending on the guest operating system requiremens.
Guest VM
A virtual machine running on a host.
Host Machine
The actual, physical server / workstation running virtual machines.
What four items does a guest operating system share with its host in a virtualized environment?
CPU Cycles
System Memory
Drive Storage Space
Systemwide network bandwidth
Why are more CPUs, with more cores, better for a virtualization workstation?
The physical host’s processor is shared by all operating systems, virtual and the host’s OS.
The OS can treat each core in a multicore processor separately and run VMs on that specific core. The more CPUs, with the more cores you have, the more dedicated CPU cycles that can be assigned to each CM.
Why is it important to maximize the RAM available to a host OS in a virtualized environment?
Each VM requires RAM to itself. Once the VM is running, the RAM is unavailable to the host OS.
That three constraints determine the maximum amount of RAM you can install on a computer?
The CPU’s address-bus width
The operating system’s maximum supported RAM
The motherboards maximum supported RAM
The smallest of these determines the max RAM you can install.
Four enhancements required for gaming PCs.
CPU enhancements
Video enhancements
specialized audio
Enhanced cooling
Overclocking
Running your CPU at a clock speed greater than the manufacturer’s rating to increase performance.
What is the negative consequence over overclocking?
The CPU will likely not live as long as it would have if the default maximum speed was used, due to internal damage caused by pushing electroncs through the processor’s cores faster than should be allowed.
One way to extend the life of an overclocked CPU is to enhance you _____
Cooling system
HTPCs
Home Theater PCs
Specializations required for an HTPC
Video enhancements
Specialized audio
special chassis
TV tuner requirement
HDMI
High Definition Multimedia Interface
Graphic adapters present in HTPCs should have what type of video interface?
HDMI.
DVI and other interfaces are more combersome and only handle video.
Ideally, the adapter will have one input and one output HDMI interface.
What are the audio considerations required for an HTPC
HDMI is capable of eigh-channel, 7.1 surround sound. Since this is video requirement, it will also solve the audio requirement.
If the PC does not have HDMI, then coper or optical S/PDIF should be used.
Standard Thick Client
This is a standard configuration for a PC.
A thick client is a regular ol’ computer system that can be connected to a network and be served by a server.
Most computers are configured to be thick clients.
Thin Client
Machines designed intentionally with low local storage, RAM, and processing power, and depending on a central server to provide it with most of these resources.
What is the difference between a dumb terminal and a thin client?
A thin client feature a true network connection and contain enough intelligence to locate the server before turning over processing control.
Thin clients reduce requirements for users locally. What are the negative consequences of introducing thin clients?
Increased hardware requirements for the central server(s).
Single point of failure.
No offline capability, requiring constant network connectivity.
What enhancements / customizations are required for a home server pc?
Media streaming capabilities
File sharing services
Print sharing services
Gigabit NIC
RAID array
Why do you need media streaming capabilities for a home server PC?
To allow users to store and stream music, photos and video to other devices, including devices that are not PCs.
HomeGroups
Microsoft feature available in Windows 7 that act like Workgroups but with a smaller scope. Allow users to share libraries (documents, pictures, video, music) among devices in a password-protected homegroup.
