Disaster recovery and backup are elements in a worst-case scenario that businesses have to consider as part of their IT plan. Documents, data, pictures, music … every aspect of our lives and work has been effectively digitized. The personal loss of losing these files to the great unknown would be heartbreaking.
For a business, it can be devastating. Lost customer data, a security breach, and losing the tools that make the company’s engine work … all that is an incredible amount of lost time and money in the blink of an eye if there isn’t a disaster recovery or redundancy plan in place.
Investing in multiple data centers is an incredibly costly option, so many companies are looking to hosted solutions that enable them to reap the benefits of redundant data centers or server clustering without the high price tag.
What is server clustering?
Most companies turn to server clustering in their IT configuration. Whether it’s hosted or on-site, these clusters are often referred to as “server farms.”
The idea is simple: the cluster consists of two or more computers that function, and are managed and seen on the network, as one entity. This makes the network faster; and it safeguards mission-critical applications like email, file and print services, web services, and other essential business applications like databases and accounting programs. Server clusters deliver the performance companies need.
These clusters can be configured to provide this kind of performance by sharing the processing load across multiple machines. Or the secondary machines can be put on standby to provide resources as needed or to act as a backup if the primary machine fails.
Some know-how is needed to accomplish this must-have arrangement. In addition to a minimum of two servers connected to the same network, clustering software is required; and depending on the desired end result, a shared disk (disk array) may be needed for both servers to connect to.
Why cluster?
In a word, companies are clustering because it offers scalability. The ability to add servers to any given cluster and increase resource availability as business demands grow is a huge benefit. Again, we look at mission-critical applications and the fact that companies won’t lose valuable operations time if a server that runs a needed application goes down.
Add that to the fact that server clustering makes it easier to manage an in-house network. IT admins the world over appreciate this technology because it means they do not have to wait until 3 a.m. to do server maintenance on a mission-critical machine. The workload can be shifted to another machine while the maintenance is completed and then shifted back to the appropriate one.
Hosting a server cluster is easier to manage and often more cost-effective as well. The cost of maintaining, cooling, and replacing servers can get prohibitive, and the initial investment in hardware is steep. This need has been recognized by companies like Singlehop, who provide all the benefits of a server cluster without the maintenance and cost.
Having the manpower and the know-how are two very important pieces of the decision to host a server cluster or not. A number of options for hardware and software are available to create a server cluster in-house, but an adept IT administrator is a necessity.
That person or team is responsible for keeping mission-critical applications running at a performance level expected by the rest of the staff. The beauty, performance, and ease of a hosted server cluster make it a savvy business solution for large and small companies.
In our monthly On The Rise program, we identify four partners whose channels drive significant YouTube watch time but haven’t yet reached the 100,000 subscriber mark. With your help, we’re sharing with you four dedicated partners who’d like your help to jumpstart their audience development and channel growth. This August we’re excited to introduce you to partners whose content covers the worlds of beauty, cooking, style, and celebrities.
We hope you enjoy them – and you can actually help these partners succeed further on YouTube. Review their videos below, vote for your favorite here, and one of these candidates will have the opportunity to be featured across YouTube later this month. In addition to your votes, each channel will be evaluated on criteria such as viewer engagement and channel optimization techniques to decide which partner we’ll feature.
In past months, featured On The Rise partners like mathmeeting and starofmay have gained many subscribers and seen their careers take off, in large part due to your support. This month’s poll will be open until August 13, 5pm PT, so don’t forget to vote for your favorite channel. Check back to see which channel will be featured on August 30.
VideojugBeauty
With five video series ranging from fashion trends, celebrity looks, and hair and nail styles, the girls from Videojug share a myriad of beauty tips and tricks throughout the week.
CookingAndCrafting
Aloha! Based in Hawaii, Beth’s channel focuses on fast and easy meals, desserts and crafts. Watch her make everything from a delicious pineapple cake to a diaper cake tower (can’t eat this but it’s a perfect craft idea for a baby shower).
dinatokio
Dina Tokio is a UK stylist and designer with a passion for vintage and hijab fashion. Her videos capture her styling tips and shopping hauls as well as some vlogs that really highlight her fun personality.
PopCandiesTV
Some of us are really into celebrity happenings, and PopCandiesTV knows it. They upload snippets of celebrity life throughout the day – you can get your fix on their channel!
If you’re interested in participating or have suggestions for partners you think should be featured, you we encourage you to visit our On The Rise homepage. You can check out all of our past featured partners on the Featured Partners tab, or nominate a YouTube partner to be considered for the program on the Nominate tab. Feel free to submit nominations for your own channel, or for channels you follow that you think deserve more attention or could be the next YouTube sensation. We’ll continue to feature promising partners who drive YouTube watch time, have fewer than 100,000 subscribers, and produce engaging content on a regular basis.
If YouTube popularity can determine who’ll win in the upcoming Batman vs. Superman movie, your views and uploads put Batman as the clear winner. Based on keyword searches, Batman is the most popular of all superheroes on YouTube, with more than 3 billion views of 71,000 hours of video. Following Batman is Thor, Superman, Iron Man, The Avengers, and Wolverine — the rest of the list is below. Collectively, the top 10 superheroes alone account for more than 10 billion views and 234,000 hours of video.
Superhero(es)
Views
Hours of video
Batman
3,000,000,000
71,000
Thor
2,100,000,000
66,000
Superman
1,700,000,000
14,000
Iron Man
1,400,000000
20,000
The Avengers
1,000,000,000
31,000
Wolverine
540,000,000
7,800
Spider Man
340,000,000
7,400
Captain America
280,000,000
4,900
Justice League
220,000,000
3,200
Deadpool
200,000,000
8,900
While Batman also takes the top overall spot for searches, the Dark Knight has been overtaken in searches by Thor, Iron Man and The Avengers since 2008.
The top videos for each superhero are a mix of popular movie trailers, video game play, fan originals and more – check the playlist of the top 10 here:
In the fast-paced world of YouTube, it can be challenging to keep up with all of the latest creator resources available to you. To make life a bit easier, we just redesigned the Creator Hub to help you find the resources you need to help create better content, build bigger fan bases, and turn your creativity into a career.
We’ve also launched our newest version of the Creator Playbook as part of the redesigned Creator Hub. Here are a few highlights from the new Playbook:
YouTube Live: Want to host a Live event but not sure about the best way to do it? In this new section, you can find tips and strategies to implement before, during and after a Live event.
YouTube Analytics: Ever wonder how you can use YouTube Analytics to build a large and loyal audience? Or, maybe you’re looking to understand how you can use the data to increase audience engagement? We’ve given the YouTube Analytics section a facelift to make data a little bit less intimidating for you.
Google+: Extend your channel’s reach and engage with your audience in new ways on Google+. Learn about the benefits of linking your channel to Google+, and take advantage of new features.
Promotion: In this section, you can find tips and strategies to pay to promote your videos and channel using AdWords for video.
Build Your Community: The most successful YouTube creators, without a doubt, spend a lot of time fostering and interacting with their community. How do you build a community from the ground up? Learn about some of the key principles for community-building.
The image of scientists slaving over test tubes may soon be behind us as pharmaceuticals enter the digital age. Computers are revolutionizing the industry, helping our brightest minds create better drugs faster.
Read on to discover how technology is ushering in a new era of medicine.
Computers spearhead structure-based design
In the past, scientists used trial and error to search through natural compounds with medicinal potential. Today, most major drug companies are working much more efficiently thanks to a process called structure-based design made possible by computers. They’re not just finding drugs faster; according Magid Abou-Gharbia, the former head of drug discovery at Wyeth, they’re discovering treatments they may have never found at all.
We’re already beginning to see the benefits of structure-based design. In 2012, the technology brought us Xalkori, a Pfizer drug which delays deterioration from a rare and persistent type of non-small cell lung cancer. Patients on this drug had 7.7 months from the time they began treatment until tumor growth or death, compared to just three months on chemotherapy.
Structure-based design has also been pivotal in the development of emerging drugs like Eli Lilly & Co’s Alzheimer’s disease treatment and Sanofi SA’s new blood thinner.
A new way of finding drugs
Structure-based design doesn’t just speed up drug discovery; it tackles it in a brand new way. Drugs attack the disease-causing proteins that interact with the body’s other molecules in an unhealthy way. A drug connects to this protein like a key fitting into a lock. Drug makers traditionally searched for keys without giving too much thought to the locks. They happened upon them by chance, and often wouldn’t know why they worked for years. They had no clear picture of the keys or the locks.
Computers can analyze data from X-rays to determine what the locks look like. With this picture in mind, researchers can fashion the keys, the custom molecules that fit the locks. It’s still not an easy process, but the computers streamline it. Rather than millions of potential cures, scientists now have hundreds to consider. With a narrowed field, they can come up with a solution in less time, and for less money.
“It doesn’t tell us everything, but it gives us a very good clue,” Tony Wood, the head of chemistry at Pfizer, told The Wall Street Journal.
The dangers of the digital drug revolution
The potential to treat diseases more effectively and even cure the incurable is exciting, but it’d be remiss to disregard the ramifications of this new technology. In the United States alone, more than 15 million people are addicted to prescription medication. That’s more than the combined number of Americans that abuse cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, and inhalants. Prescription medications are also responsible for more drug deaths than any other substance.
In the face of such harrowing statistics, creating new drugs more quickly seems like a gamble. As new medications flood the market, successful rehabs may find themselves inundated with more customers than they can manage.
There’s certainly room for caution as more efficient drugs enter the marketplace in greater numbers. However, these concerns are balanced by the potential to provide better treatments and even cure some of the world’s most debilitating diseases.
Wouldn’t it be great to be Batman? Rich playboy by day. Gadget-toting crime-fighter by night. It’s the type of lifestyle that many would love to try out if only for a short time.
His daytime job is the key to success. Being a rich playboy means having the tremendous amount of resources required to turn an ordinary vengeance-filled person into a extraordinary vengeance-driven crusader of justice. It has always been that way since the creation of the character nearly 80 years ago, but today’s variation requires much more than a little extra pocket change to make the transformation work.
Here’s a graphic from Mashable that breaks down the difference between Batman when he was born into comic books and today’s variation that has a much higher price tag.
If you’re with us and the thousands of video fans at VidCon, you’ll hear about more ways we’re investing in you on YouTube. We’re here to help you: from promotion to channel management to content optimization, we have the resources and programs to support you. That’s why more of you with accounts in good standing will be able to use a bunch of features you’ve been asking for: live streaming, custom thumbnails, external annotations and series playlists.
Start live streaming if you have 100+ subscribers: All channels in good standing with at least a hundred subscribers will be able to live stream, within the next few weeks. Check your Account Features page for an “Enable” button, and click it if you’re interested.
Choose your best thumbnail: Help your video stand out by using a custom thumbnail. Make sure you only upload images that are representative of what viewers will see, like prominent stills from the video.
Drive traffic to your merch: Want viewers to buy that new t-shirt you’re wearing in your video? You can now use annotations to link externally to various online stores and your associated websites.
Program related videos for viewers: Help viewers watch more of your videos by placing them in a series playlist. When you group videos that belong together, we’ll show viewers of your videos the next episode from the series and a link to the whole playlist. Just mark your playlist as a “series” in the playlist settings.
If you want tips on the best ways to use any of these features, learn more from the YouTube Creator Playbook.
