The chief technology officer (CTO) at ABC Widgets

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The chief technology officer (CTO) at ABC Widgets just returned from a technology conference where they heard about computer clusters. All they know is that computer clusters are the big thing for businesses and the CTO wants to explore the technology. The CTO has asked you to help.

Write a 3-page research paper explaining computer clustering, benefits, challenges, and potential applications. The paper should focus on one type of clustering application (file server, database, load balancing, Web hosting, or data processing) and detail the use, potential setup (high availability or load balancing), type (COTS versus blade clusters), and network connectivity. Be sure that your paper has an introduction and a conclusion.

 

Sample Solution

The chief technology officer (CTO) at ABC Widgets

Computer clusters represent a large investment for any institution that decides they want to perform big data analytics in house rather than in the cloud. A computer cluster refers to a group of computers that are working together in a similar task. The two main reasons for clustering computers are to: (1) improve performance or throughput; (2) to improve uptime by providing a backup computer in case the primary computer fails. If you decide to go with a clustered environment, you need to be aware that it will probably make administering the application more complicated. Installs will be more complicated because typically you will have to install the application software on each cluster member individually.

gain a product of good leadership. Motivation is highly personal, and it is the leaders responsibility to understand what motivates each individual and implement policies to obtain maximum performance from a group. The importance of the leaders role in motivating individuals is highlighted in Herzberg’s Two Factor theory. The theory highlights factors that must be in place to avoid dissatisfaction, hygiene factors, and factors that promote satisfaction, motivation factors, shown in Figure 4 (Pettinger, 2007). Herzberg’s theory helps to decipher what motivates individuals, but does not advise on how to implement this to produce maximum productivity from an individual, this is achieved by using the theory in conjunction with other motivational theories such as goal setting theory.
Figure 4: Hygiene and Motivating Factors (Pettinger,, 2006)
Goal setting is not just an important part of motivation, they are essential for both teamwork and successful leadership, they provide indication on what must be achieved, how much effort they must devoted to achieve it and they act as the primary source of job motivation for individuals, therefore setting them accurately is essential (Pettinger 2007). Specific and clear goals are the most effective motivators, and will lead to optimum performance, therefore it becomes essential for a leader to understand what motivates each individual within a group (Pettinger, 2007). Motivation is highly personal, and can differ massively across a group, so the leader must adapt how they motivate to suit each individual, this highlights the need for an organisation to implement policies that allow leaders to be flexible in how they reward individuals. Issues arise when goals are not set well, if the goals are ambiguous, unachievable or too easy then the individual will lose motivation (Pettinger, 2007). Once goals have been set it becomes essential for leaders to regularly assess how individuals are progressing towards them, if well then goals should be made more challenging, if they are struggling then the goals should be made easier. Goals also allow for leader to assess how the team are performing, and how their leadership style is functioning with the group, if goals are not being met the leader must adapt how the team interact together or their leadership style to achieve them.

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