1. The Flash Utility that corresponds with the motherboard BIOS chip (usually AMI or Award). This will be an executable e.g. afudos.exe
2. The binary file used by the flash utility for programming the BIOS chip. It is usually in an 8.3 file numbering format with the extension indicating the version number. E.g. 0603.rom - version 0603 BIOS for the Asus P6T motherboard.

Procedure 1 - for flashing the BIOS

1. Create a bootable DOS-formatted USB drive.
2. Copy or extract the 2 required files onto the USB drive.
3. Boot the PC/motherboard using the USB drive.
4. Enter the following command to flash the BIOS - this is usually just the name of the flash utility file followed by the binary file: "afu236u /i0603.rom"
5. Once the programming is complete you can remove the USB drive and restart the PC.
6. The first reboot will result in a message similar to the following: "The CMOS has been reset; press F1 to enter setup or F2 to continue with default settings". Press F1 and follow the Procedure 2 (Step 2) below.

Procedure 2 - for configuring the BIOS

1. Press [Delete] key during POST screen to enter BIOS setup.
2. Go to 'Exit' menu. Choose 'Load Setup Defaults'.
3. Change each of the settings listed in Procedure 3 below as applicable - for the specifications of the PC.

Procedure 3 - BIOS Settings

You MAY need to change the following options after loading 'Setup Defaults':

(1) Floppy Disk Drive
Please disable if your system lacks a floppy drive.

(2) FDD Controller
Please disable if your system lacks a floppy drive.

(3) IDE / RAID Configuration
Please enable RAID if your system is operating with HostRAID.

(4) Front Panel Audio
Please set this to AC97.

(5) Q-Fan Control
Please enable this option.

(6) Serial / Parallel Ports
Please enable if port is physically present on computer.

(7) Parallel Port Mode
Please set this to ECP+EPP if available. If unavailable, choose either ECP or EPP.

(8) Virtualisation
Please enable these options (where possible): Execute Disable Bit, Intel Virutalisation, Intel VT, Intel VT-d, AMD Secure Virtual Machine Mode

(9) Boot Device Priority.
Please customise this according to your requirement.

(10) Full Screen Logo.
Please Disable this option.

End.  Go to 'Exit' menu and choose 'Save and Exit'

Hardware Features

File and Print Server Features

Additional Storage-related Features:

1. Server Message Block (SMB) Connections: 1 SMB connection is counted for every request for SMB-related capabilities; typically that is file sharing and/or print services. It is usually more accurate to associate 1 SMB connection with 1 device rather than users, as there may be more devices in a company than there are users.
2. DFS Replication: Previously known as File Replication Service, it is a state-based replication engine for file replication among DFS shares, which supports replication scheduling and bandwidth throttling. It uses Remote Differential Compression to detect and replicate only the change to files, rather than replicating entire files, if changed.
3. File Replication Service: (FRS) detects a change to a file, such as the creation of a new file or the modification to an existing file, it replicates it to other servers in the group. To deal with conflicts (when two copies of the files are edited at the same time on different servers) the service resolves any issues by using the file with latest date and time.
4. Distributed File System: (DFS) is a set of client and server services that allow an organization utilizing Microsoft Windows servers to organize many distributed SMB file shares into a distributed file system. DFS provides location transparency and redundancy to improve data availability in the face of failure or heavy load by allowing shares in multiple different locations to be logically grouped under one folder, or DFS root.
5. Network File System: (NFS) is a network file system protocol originally developed by Sun Microsystems in 1984, allowing a user on a client computer to access files over a network in a manner similar to how local storage is accessed. It is used by Linux / Unix and its features is comparable to SMB and AFP.
6. File Server Resource Manager: A storage utilization reporting feature.
7. Single-instance storage: (SIS) is a technology that allows a system's ability to keep one copy of content that multiple users or computers share. It is a means to eliminate data duplication and to increase efficiency. SIS is frequently implemented in file systems, e-mail server software, data backup and other storage-related solutions.

AMD has announced new versions of CPU to compete for the spot light against Intel Core i5 and i7. 

AMD claimed that its A240 performed 70% faster than E7400 and its A435 performed 75% faster than E8500 in media and entertainment applications and are cheaper than their Intel counterparts.  What are they?  They are AthlonII positioned for business customers as against Phenom for gaming. 

AthlonII series names are 200 for dual core, 400 for triple and 600 for quad core respectively.  These processors are the same as the Phenom series (700, 800 and 900) except the amount of L2 or L3 cache.  To make these AthlonII processors more attractive, AMD has released the e-suffix version for 45W power consumption.  These e-processors are therefore cool and quiet. 

In terms of the platform (chipset), there is no change.  We maintain Thunderbird (GeForce 8200) as the mainstream, Plus Version (nForce 750a) for discrete VGA and Jasper (GeForce 7025) for the value segment.  A change from DDR2 to DDR3 is on the horizon but there is no compelling reason other than price.