Tech Tips

Unix Tip: Using associative arrays in the Korn shell and perl
Windows Tip: Launching a low priority process
Storage Tip: How storage mergers and acquisitions affect you

Unix Tip: Using associative arrays in the Korn shell and perl
An associative array is an array that uses strings as indices instead of integers. To see how associative arrays work, we're going to look at both the Korn shell and perl, though only the newest version of the Korn shell (referred to as "korn93") supports associative arrays.

Windows Tip: Launching a low priority process
Problem: Launching a series of batch jobs on a Windows XP workstation from the command line by running a batch file that contained a series of commands like job5.exe -i input.dat. Unfortunately, these jobs hog so much of the machine's processing power that foreground tasks became unresponsive. Solution: If you need extra processing power, use the start command to launch jobs with low priority.

Storage Tip: How storage mergers and acquisitions affect you
The consolidation in the storage space has been ongoing for years and there is no reason to think that it will not continue. Although investors may debate the value of the deal and employees wonder about their futures, you as a customer wonder about how the deal will affect you.