Virtualized Avalanche and Activesync – A How-to Guide

One of the questions we get asked when customers move to a virtual environment is how they might go about installing things like the Wavelink Enabler on a device that needs to hook up using Activesync in a cradle.  Obviously we’ve extolled the benefits of VMs quite a bit on this blog, but then you need to do something which doesn’t look like it can be done from a VM.  Well, we’re glad to report that not only can you hook USB / Activesync to a VM, but it offers more flexibility than you probably thought.

Options for Deployment – Server Virtualization

As you heave probably read, virtualization has been a hot topic for a while.  We thought it was worth highlighting a few benefits of this technology, not least because it’s a model often used by Wavelink’s customers to host our own products, such as Avalanche.

First, for the uninitiated, this technology allows you to install an instance of an OS and applications, just as you would on a regular PC.  Through a web portal (typically) you’d define the memory, disk and peripherals (such as the network) for the different operating systems to run inside of.

Wi-Fi – Ruggedized versus Consumer Grade – Part II

Yesterday we talked about some of the basic differences between a consumer grade Wi-Fi device and one made for the AIDC industry (the ruggedized version).  Now let’s dig into some more detail.

Vendors of AIDC equipment know that having an industrial grade supplicant is key.  So the supplicants they pre-load are built to deal with harsh Wi-Fi environments and the extremes of competing with large numbers of other third party networks.

Supplicants supplied by all the major AIDC vendors handle the example cited in yesterday’s blog posting about our Seattle office with ease.  And these supplicants go further…

Wi-Fi – Ruggedized versus consumer grade. What are the differences?

As many of you have come to find out through the use of smartphones and PDAs with Wi-Fi, that getting connectivity can often be a headache.  Although 3G has reduced these woes through better coverage, the truth is that some devices just don’t want to connect to Wi-Fi when you haven’t got the luxury of 3G.

The symptoms are typically that your device connects and then drops the connection and then hunts for another.  And sometimes the connection looks promising – you have three or four bars and yet the device comes back and says “unable to connect”.  You shrug your shoulders, you move on and it was no big deal.

However, if this was your network and the device has to work, you’d be frustrated.  Now, in AIDC, this is precisely the case as it’s a critical business productivity tool on which you depend.  To help with this, these devices typically have a more industrial grade radio in them – it might be more sensitive or have greater power.  However, the design improvements don’t stop there.