Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2010 October 26

= October 26 =

iSCSI over DDR InfiniBand
Hello everyone, I'm aware of the iSCSI protocol being routed over 10GbE networks, but I want to know whether it is possible (not where to get such a product) to send and receive iSCSI CDBs over DDR InfiniBand networks. And if so, whether this has actually been implemented. Thanks as always. Rocketshiporion ♫ 02:55, 26 October 2010 (UTC)

Compatibility Concerns: Old Games and New Operating Systems

 * Age of Empires: Because Age of Empires was released during the time of Windows 95 and 98, there is a possible risk that trying to install and play the game on later Operating Systems such as 2000, Me, and XP might cause serious incompatibility problems.


 * Shogun: Total War: It is said that the upper limit of compatibility for this game is the Nvida 8 series of graphics cards and that the game is incompatible with the Windows Vista Operating System. Trying to play the game with a graphics card later than the Nvida 8 or with an Operating System past Windows XP will cause compatibility issues.

Can someone verify any of this? --Arima (talk) 04:00, 26 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Considering the minimal differences between some 9 series cards and some 8 series cards, I would be surprised if a game really doesn't work with them but works with all 8. I'm not saying it's impossible just that it would be surprising to me. A perhaps more likely possibility would be the need for old drivers that don't work with 9 series cards (at least theoretically). Alternatively and even more likely to me would be 7 series cards as the limit with 8 not working. Nil Einne (talk) 10:00, 26 October 2010 (UTC)
 * I can confirm that AoE works fine on XP (and therefore almost certainly also on 2000). 81.131.40.42 (talk) 11:07, 26 October 2010 (UTC)
 * And also that Shogun: Total War runs on XP (at least for the first ten minutes of play, because I took an immediate dislike to it and then discovered Heroes III), but I couldn't tell you about its compatibility with recent graphics cards. 213.122.39.199 (talk) 11:25, 26 October 2010 (UTC)
 * The first Age of Empires worked on my Windows 7, 32-bit. Also, Windows ME is built on DOS the same as 95 and 98 are (unlike 2K, XP, etc which are NT) so it should work fine. 82.44.55.25 (talk) 13:42, 26 October 2010 (UTC)
 * And you can always right-click on the exe and run in compatibility mode in Vista or preferably Windows 7. Win98 has such a small footprint anyway that you can run it in a virtual or dual-boot if you are so inclined. Sandman30s (talk) 11:13, 26 October 2010 (UTC)
 * The reason why I mentioned Shogun: Total War is because of this Video. The player can only issue orders with the mini-map because of an apparent clash between the game's programming and the graphics card of his computer. --Arima (talk) 01:29, 27 October 2010 (UTC)

technology about a browser called “Spacetime”
i found a 3D browser called “spacetime”，it‘s cool，but somehow not very popular........ i wonder how this browser works or some details else about it. thank you~！~ —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cedric.ye (talk • contribs) 14:13, 26 October 2010 (UTC)


 * SpaceTime seems to be a wrapper around Trident (layout engine), the layout engine of MS Internet Explorer, putting individual Trident views on different little floating boxes. Bar some wow-factor, I don't see the added-value. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 14:46, 26 October 2010 (UTC)

asp.net
I think it's not only the .net version of asp, like instead vb and vb.net, but I cannot understand the difference. --217.194.34.103 (talk) 16:21, 26 October 2010 (UTC)


 * Active Server Pages was the old thing. ASP.NET is the new thing; only ASP.NET runs on the .NET Framework. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 16:25, 26 October 2010 (UTC)


 * Yes but I think the relationship is not the same that there is between vb and ab.net, the gap is broader but I cannot understand why. I think ASP.NET presence is deeper in .net stack (clr and so on). --217.194.34.103 (talk) 17:01, 26 October 2010 (UTC)

Protection of code in cgi-bin
Is the code there protected against copy, if random users can still use it? If the code is accessing a DB, is this DB protected against being copied? --Quest09 (talk) 17:18, 26 October 2010 (UTC)


 * If the cgi-bin directory is in your web directory, protecting it requires setting up your web server to disallow that directory. A more popular method of security the cgi-bin directory is to place the cgi-bin directory outside the web directory.  Then, set up the web server to execute cgi-bin requests on the external directory.  The user cannot actually browse to the cgi-bin directory and view the code (or copy any of the programs).  The user can only see the output of the cgi-bin execution. --  k a i n a w &trade; 17:45, 26 October 2010 (UTC)

How much can a typical Windows computer see about the AC power?
I remember seeing a Windows computer display the current line voltage at some point, and I remember that there's actually an interrupt that the computer does when the power fails. But how much data (especially, how much temporal resolution) can the computer actually get about the input power?


 * Can it measure the waveform of the AC power and look for voltage spikes from other equipment? (i.e. see if the surge suppressor is really working, and warn you if it isn't)


 * Can it measure the phase of the current precisely and compare this result to other computers with clocks that you've somehow precisely synchronized, so that you can (?) estimate the length of the wiring connecting them?


 * Sniff for data being transmitted over the electrical wires, or check for reflections of the power waveform from places where there are partial breaks or poor connections?

Probably most if not all of this is impossible, but it'd be neat to know for sure. Wnt (talk) 19:46, 26 October 2010 (UTC)


 * The PSU (power supply unit) on some servers can report some AC conditions (sending data on the SPI bus), but most normal PCs can't see anything. Most likely the PC you were looking at was hooked up to an uninteruptable power supply. A UPS can insulate the PC behind it against some weird conditions on the line, such as voltage sag, spikes, and some kinds of weird waveform, but they're not interested in any of these tests you're talking about. UPSes often have a USB or serial connection, which allows them to report some basic conditions to the PC, but mostly that's whether they're on mains or battery, the condition of the battery, and maybe the UPS temperature.  I don't think any of what you want is impossible, but it's not in the interest of a normal PC or server PSU maker to implement any of it, so they don't do it. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 19:55, 26 October 2010 (UTC)

bash and idl
I've just started using IDl and one of things i'd like to do is combine it with my existing bash scripts so i can press one button and go for lunch and all my works done! But i found if a call idl as "idl someFile.pro" that in someFile.pro i cant define extra functions/procedures, they end up having to be saved in individual files. Is there a way round this? either having them in someFile.pro or could i combine them say into a library-like file to keep them altogether? Thanks--86.162.141.190 (talk) 20:45, 26 October 2010 (UTC)


 * Do you mean IDL or IDL? Or maybe ICAD's IDL? -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 20:49, 26 October 2010 (UTC)
 * The programming langauge--86.162.141.190 (talk) 21:10, 26 October 2010 (UTC)


 * IDL (programming language) uses .pro files. Here's an introduction to program- and batch-modes from the DoE PPPL lab.  You may need to manually "load module" to include and call code in other source files.  See also, registering routines and loading modules dynamically.  NASA Goddard has a nice online IDL help-system too.  IDL is not free software; its documentation and help-files are proprietary, so you may find that the best source for finding information is the program's online help files installed at your site, rather than searching the internet at large.  ITT has published an IDL reference manual online as well.  Nimur (talk) 21:16, 26 October 2010 (UTC)