LinkedIn is a powerful social media platform for businesses of all sizes. It provides an opportunity to connect with a larger audience, build relationships with potential customers, and create brand awareness. But promoting your business on LinkedIn is not as easy as you might think. For one, LinkedIn is a professional network, which means that users are not always looking to be sold to. Secondly, LinkedIn’s algorithm favors content that is educational and informative over content that is promotional.
So how can you promote your small business on LinkedIn in a way that will reach your target audience and help you achieve your business goals? Here are the top LinkedIn marketing strategies that you can use to expand your small business.
If you want to reach your target audience on LinkedIn, you need to share content that is interesting and engaging. This means creating content that educates, informs, or entertains your readers. For example, if you're a construction company, you could share articles about the latest industry trends, tips for remodeling your home, or interesting case studies.
The key is to make sure that your content is relevant to your target audience and provides value. If you're not sure what type of content to create, take a look at the content that your competitors are sharing. Chances are, their content will give you some ideas.
However, that doesn't mean you should write walls of words - avoid that at all costs. No one wants to read an essay on LinkedIn. Keep your posts short and to the point. Use images, infographics, videos, and LinkedIn banners to break up your text and make your content more visually appealing.
You can't just start posting on LinkedIn with a blindfold on now, can you? You need to know who you're targeting first.
Creating personas for your target audience is a great way to get to know them better. Once you've created personas, take a look at where your target audience hangs out online. What type of content do they consume? What are their interests?
You can use this information to create content that appeals to your target audience. For example, if you're targeting millennials, you might want to create content that is relevant to their interests, such as entrepreneurship, travel, or personal development.
One of the best ways to promote your small business on LinkedIn is by creating a company page. Your company page is like a mini-website on LinkedIn, and it's a great way to showcase your products or services.
When creating your company page, make sure to include a strong headline, an engaging description, and relevant images. You should also take advantage of LinkedIn's SEO features by including keywords in your page content.
Once you've created your company page, start sharing content that will interest your target audience. This could include blog posts, product information, case studies, or even company news. You can also use your company page to run LinkedIn ads. LinkedIn offers several ad formats that you can use to promote your business, and they're a great way to reach a larger audience.
Your LinkedIn profile is one of the most important tools in your LinkedIn marketing arsenal, so optimizing your LinkedIn Profile is essential. It's your chance to make a good first impression, so make sure you're putting your best foot forward.
Start by optimizing your headline and summary. These are the first things people will see when they visit your profile, so make sure they're attention-grabbing and relevant. Include keywords that describe your business or industry, and make sure to mention your most important selling points. Your headline and summary are also a great place to showcase your personality.
Next, take a look at your profile photo. Is it professional and polished? If not, consider changing it to something that presents you in a positive light. Finally, take some time to update your work experience and education section. Include any relevant information that will help you stand out, such as awards or publications. By optimizing your LinkedIn profile, you'll be sure to make a good impression on potential customers and clients.
Another great way to reach your target audience on LinkedIn is by joining relevant groups. There are thousands of groups on LinkedIn, covering just about every topic imaginable. And chances are, there are several groups that would be a good fit for your business.
For example, if you're an apparel retailer, you could join relevant groups on LinkedIn to promote your business. These groups could include fashion professionals, small business owners, or even general interest groups.
When you join a group, make sure to participate in the discussion and add value to the conversation. This will help you build relationships with other members and position yourself as an expert in your field.
You can also use LinkedIn groups to collect leads. Many groups allow members to post their contact information in the group description. This makes it easy for you to get in touch with potential customers.
Did you know that you can use LinkedIn to generate leads? It's true! LinkedIn offers a feature called Sponsored InMail, which allows you to send messages directly to your target audience. Normally, on the free plan, you can't send priority messages to anyone. Therefore, InMail is a great way to promote your products or services, and it's an especially effective lead generation tool.
Sponsored InMail is a great way to reach out to potential customers and promote your products or services. You can use it to offer discounts, announce new products, or even invite people to events.
To get started, simply create a Sponsored InMail campaign and target your ideal customer. LinkedIn will then match your message with the right people, and you'll start seeing results in no time. Just make sure your message resonates with your target audience. Otherwise, you risk having it perceived as spam.
While the above marketing strategies will work like a charm when it comes to promoting your business and gaining new customers, bear in mind that every business is different and has a different target audience. Therefore, it's important to experiment with different strategies and find the ones that work best for you. Identifying the right marketing mix for your business is what you should be aiming for.
For example, you could use LinkedIn ads to reach out to your target audience if you're looking for immediate results. Or, if you're trying to build long-term relationships with potential customers, focus on creating a strong company page and sharing high-quality content.
Also, don't forget to harness the power of SEO! In simple words, SEO makes your content more visible in LinkedIn's search results, which means more people will see it. You can do this by optimizing your LinkedIn profile and company page for keywords, and you'll surely gain more traction on your LinkedIn profile.
Since GPS satellite technology became widely available in the late 1990s, positioning systems have played an increasingly important role in people's lives. Almost, everyone now owns a device with positioning capabilities, whether it's a mobile phone, tablet, GPS tracker, or smartwatch with built-in GPS.
Though GPS transformed outdoor positioning, we're now moving on to inside positioning, which will require new technologies. Because the signal is attenuated and scattered by roofs and walls, satellite-based location does not function indoors or on narrow streets. Other technology standards, thankfully, have arisen that enable indoor positioning, albeit with a new form of infrastructure.
Indoor positioning is useful for a variety of purposes for individuals and organizations. From making travel easier to locate what you're looking for, delivering/receiving targeted location-based information, enhancing accessibility, and gaining useful data insights, there's a lot more.
Indoor location relies heavily on BLE beacons. The device can detect when it is in the range of a Bluetooth beacon and even determine its position if it is in reach of more than two beacons using this technology.
The original BLE-based positioning prototypes could only detect which beacon was closest to the user. Hence, today we can combine proximity data from multiple beacons to place the consumer in 2D space on an indoor map. The accuracy varies depending on the situation, but it can be as accurate as 1.5 meters.
This technology is improving, and it now uses magnetic field sensing, gyroscopes, accelerator meters, and Near Field Communication circuits to provide exact positioning.
This technology is used by customers and visitors for navigation and receiving location-based content. They do it by installing an app on their smartphone, tablet, or watch. Indoor mapping and location-specific content distribution are common features of the app.
BLE positioning systems are used by businesses to deliver a better experience for their visitors or customers. Almost any form of organization can profit from location-based technologies. For instance:
Organizations utilize the CMS online platform for managing their content, floor maps, and Bluetooth beacon positions. A content management system(CMS) is often a hosted software system that maintains track of every piece of material in the app that users or customers access. Organizations need a fully working CMS because it offers them full control over the material that consumers see.
Low power, low cost, and effectiveness as asset tracking systems are all characteristics shared by BLE and UWB. UWB, on the other hand, has significantly more precision than Bluetooth. This owes in part to UWB's exact distance-based method of location determination.
BLE commonly locates devices using RSSI, which has a much lower rate of precision because it is reliant on whether a device transmits a weak or strong signal about a Bluetooth beacon or sensors.
In comparison to UWB, BLE has a substantially lesser range and data rate. Bluetooth, on the other hand, is a widely used RF technology that can be integrated into a variety of indoor settings using flexible hardware, such as BLE beacons, sensors, and asset tags.
In some cases, tracking the position of assets within a workspace is desirable, yet mounting permanent BLE receivers is impractical. Without a device to detect asset location and communicate data back to a cloud service, asset monitoring becomes difficult. It can be avoided by piggybacking on a mobile device's location.
Bluetooth beacon is placed throughout a facility, and a mobile app is installed to track where each device is at all times, similar to the previous strategy. The app can detect adjacent assets by marking them with beacons and assigning them to the same position as the device based on nearby fixed beacons.
Indoors, BLE beacons offer substantial advantages for tracking people and assets. Integrating this technique with more conventional location services, like GPS, or Wi-Fi but still has advantages. Assets with embedded beacons can be used to identify items, and then further mobile location technologies can be utilized to give context.
Connecting a Bluetooth beacon to the inside of the vehicle is used to track the whereabouts of mobile workers while they drive. It's also utilized to track asset location within an office building utilizing Wi-Fi enabled client tracking and asset tagging beacons.
In a nutshell, we can say that Bluetooth will remain a popular RF technology for wireless devices, short-range communication, and indoor positioning. The proliferation of Access Points with incorporated Bluetooth low energy beacon and sensor systems out of the box, as well as more, equipped consumer wearable, IoT devices, asset tracking tags, employee badges, and customer Bluetooth trackers, will almost certainly continue and grow.
Parts are composed of a number of surfaces, each surface has a certain size and mutual position requirements. The requirements of the relative position between the surfaces of the parts include two aspects: the dimensional accuracy of the distance between the surfaces and the relative position accuracy (such as axes, parallelism, verticality and circular runout, etc.).
The study of the relative position relationship between the part surfaces can not be separated from the datum, and the position of the part surface can not be determined without a clear datum. In its general sense, the datum is the point, line and surface on the part on which the position of other points, lines and surfaces are determined. According to its different functions, the benchmark can be divided into two categories: design benchmark and process benchmark.
A datum is a point, line, or surface from which measurements are made. In the case of the piston, the design datum refers to the centerline of the piston and the centerline of the pinhole.
The datum used by parts in the process of machining like turning and assembly is called process datum. According to different uses, the processed datum is divided into positioning datum, measuring datum and assembly datum.
1) Positioning datum: The datum is the point of reference from which all other measurements are taken. When positioning the datum, it is important to take into account the size and shape of the workpiece, as well as the type of machining operation being performed. According to the different positioning elements, the most commonly used are the following two categories:
Automatic centering positioning: such as three-claw chuck positioning.
To make a positioning sleeve, such as a stop plate, into a positioning sleeve.
Others are positioned in the V-shaped frame, positioned in the semicircular hole, and so on.
2) measuring datum: A measuring datum is a physical reference point used to take measurements. The datum provides a starting point from which all other measurements are taken. without a measuring datum, it would be difficult to take accurate measurements.
3) Assembly datum: the datum used to determine the position of the part in the assembly or product during assembly, called assembly datum.
In order to produce a surface that meets the specified technical requirements on a certain part of the workpiece, the workpiece must occupy a correct position relative to the tool on the machine tool before machining. This process is often referred to as the "positioning" of the artifact. After the workpiece is positioned, due to the action of cutting force, gravity and so on, a certain mechanism should be used to "clamp" the workpiece so that its determined position remains unchanged. The process of holding the workpiece in the correct position on the machine tool and clamping the workpiece is called "installation".
The quality of workpiece installation is an important issue in machining, which not only directly affects the machining accuracy, the speed and stability of workpiece installation, but also affects the productivity. In order to ensure the relative position accuracy between the machined surface and its design datum, the design datum of the machined surface should occupy a correct position relative to the machine tool when the workpiece is installed. For example, in the precision turning ring groove process, in order to ensure the circular run out of the ring groove bottom diameter and the skirt axis, the design basis of the workpiece must be coincident with the axis line of the machine tool spindle.
[caption id="attachment_171666" align="aligncenter" width="800"]When machining parts on different machine tools, there are different installation methods. The installation methods can be summarized as direct alignment method, marking alignment method and fixture installation method.
The main results are as follows:
1) when using this method, the correct position of the workpiece on the machine tool is obtained through a series of attempts. The specific way is to install the workpiece directly on the machine tool, use the dial meter or the needle on the needle plate, visually correct the correct position of the workpiece, and correct it at the same time until it meets the requirements.
The positioning accuracy and speed of direct alignment depend on the accuracy of alignment, the method of alignment, the tools of alignment and the technical level of workers. Its disadvantage is that it takes more time, the productivity is low, and it has to be operated on the basis of experience and requires high skills of workers, so it is only used in single-piece and small batch production. Such as hard to imitate the shape of the alignment belongs to the direct alignment method. .
2) the method of line alignment this method is a method of using a needle on a machine tool to correct the workpiece according to the line drawn on the blank or semi-finished product, so that it can get the correct position. It is obvious that this method requires an additional marking process. The drawn line itself has a certain width, and there is a marking error when marking, and there is also an observation error when correcting the position of the workpiece, so this method is mostly used in the rough machining of small batch production, low blank precision, and large workpieces that are not suitable for the use of fixtures. For example, the determination of the pin hole position of the two-stroke product is to use the marking method of the indexing head to correct it.
3) fixture installation method: the process equipment used to clamp the workpiece and make it occupy the correct position is called machine tool fixture. The fixture is an additional device of the machine tool, and its position relative to the tool on the machine tool has been adjusted in advance before the workpiece is installed, so it is no longer necessary to find the correct position one by one when machining a batch of workpieces, which can ensure the technical requirements of machining, which saves both labor and trouble. It is an efficient positioning method and is widely used in batch and mass production. Our current piston processing is the fixture installation method used.
Surface roughness is a measure of the irregularities in the surface of a material. It can be caused by a variety of factors, including manufacturing defects, wear and tear, and environmental exposure. Surface roughness can have a significant impact on the performance of a material, as it can affect its resistance to wear, corrosion, and other forms of damage. The term "roughness" refers to both the size and frequency of the irregularities on the surface of a material. The size of the irregularities is typically measured in micrometers or nanometers, while the frequency is typically measured in cycles per inch (CPI).
Surface roughness can also be characterized by its wavelength, which is the average distance between adjacent peaks or troughs. The most common method of measuring surface roughness is with a profilometer, which uses a stylus to trace the contours of the surface and generate a profile. The profile is then analyzed to determine the roughness parameters.
[caption id="attachment_171667" align="aligncenter" width="800"]There are 3 kinds of surface roughness height parameters:
Within the sampling length, the arithmetic mean of the absolute distance between the point on the contour line along the measuring direction (Y direction) and the baseline.
It refers to the sum of the average peak height of the five maximum contours and the average valley depth of the five maximum contours within the sampling length.
The distance between the top line of the highest peak and the bottom line of the lowest valley within the sampling length.
Nowadays, Ra is mainly used in the general machinery manufacturing industry.
The surface quality of the machined workpiece directly affects the physical, chemical and mechanical properties of the machined workpiece, and the working performance, reliability and service life of the product depend to a large extent on the surface quality of the main parts. Generally speaking, the surface quality requirements of important or key parts are higher than ordinary parts, because the parts with good surface quality will greatly improve their wear resistance, corrosion resistance and fatigue resistance.
Surface roughness is an important consideration in many engineering applications, as it can have a significant impact on the performance of a component or system. For example, surface roughness can affect the tribological properties of a material, such as its friction and wear resistance. It can also affect the ability of a material to resist corrosion and other forms of damage.
In addition, surface roughness can influence the optical properties of a material, such as its reflectivity and transmittance. Surface roughness is also a concern in many manufacturing processes, as it can cause defects in the finished product. For example, surface roughness can cause problems with adhesion, machining, and metallurgy. Surface roughness can also make it difficult to achieve desired tolerances in manufacturing processes. As a result, surface roughness is an important factor to consider in the design and manufacture of components and systems.
There are many ways to reduce surface roughness, including using methods such as honing, grinding, lapping, and polishing. In addition, surface treatments such as electroplating, ion implantation, and vapor deposition can also be used to improve the surface smoothness of the material.
1) the function of cutting fluid.
Cooling effect: the cutting heat can take away a large amount of cutting heat, improve the heat dissipation conditions, and reduce the temperature of the tool and the workpiece, thus prolonging the service life of the tool and preventing the dimensional error caused by thermal deformation of the workpiece.
Lubrication: the cutting fluid can penetrate between the workpiece and the tool, forming a thin adsorption film in the tiny gap between the chip and the tool, reducing the friction coefficient, so it can reduce the friction between the chip and the workpiece, reducing the cutting force and cutting heat, reduce the tool wear and improve the surface quality of the workpiece, which is especially important for finishing and lubrication.
Cleaning function: the tiny chips produced in the cleaning process are easy to adhere to the workpiece and the tool, especially when drilling deep holes and twisted holes, the chips are easy to block in the chip-holding groove, affecting the surface roughness of the workpiece and the service life of the tool. The use of cutting fluid can wash away the chips quickly, so that the cutting can be carried out smoothly.
2) types: there are two kinds of common cutting fluids.
Emulsion: mainly plays a cooling role, emulsion is made by diluting emulsified oil with 15-20 times water, this kind of cutting fluid has high specific heat, low viscosity, good fluidity and can absorb a lot of heat. This kind of cutting fluid is mainly used to cool tools and workpieces, improve tool life and reduce thermal deformation. The emulsion contains more water and has poor lubrication and antirust function.
Cutting oil: the main component of cutting oil is mineral oil, this kind of cutting fluid has low specific heat, high viscosity and poor fluidity, and mainly plays the role of lubrication. Mineral oil with low viscosity is commonly used, such as engine oil, light diesel oil, kerosene and so on.
MIG welding is the process of joining metal parts by melting the base metal and fusing it with a filler metal. The name is derived from the phrase "Metal Inert Gas," which is commonly used. The process involves using an arc between an electrode and the workpiece, which melts the base metal and fuses it with the filler metal.
Mig welding is an extremely versatile process that can be used to create virtually any shape or configuration of the welded joint. You can also use it for many different metals, including low carbon steel, stainless steel, and aluminum alloys.
The MIG welding equipment you'll need includes:
The torch supplies the heat needed to melt the wire. It has a handle, an on/off trigger, and a tip where the wire feeds. The torch also has an air regulator that controls how much oxygen is mixed with natural gas going into the burner head (the part of the torch where you attach your wire). You need to use this setting depending on what type of metal you're working with.
This holds the compressed gas used as fuel for the welding process. Welding torch to combust inside and heats up when activated by pressing down on your trigger switch or button. You'll also see these bottles or tanks. Still, they're all essentially identical in function—they vary slightly in size based on their gas capacity.
Protects your eyes from any spark produced by friction during MIG welding processes such as spatter creation during stick electrode usage.
The thickness of welding wire is measured in thousands of an inch (thou) or mils. The most common sizes of welding wire are as follows: 22-gauge (0.023"), 24-gauge (0.024"), 26-gauge (0.025"), and 28-gauge (0.028")
The gauge refers to the thickness of the wire and the higher the number, the thinner it is and the less heat it can take before melting or burning out on you when you're trying to weld with it.
You can adjust these settings to improve the quality of your weld or reduce the amount of heat you apply to the weld.
This controls how much material is deposited in each pass and determines how much heat will be required to melt it. A smaller diameter wire requires less energy and produces a cleaner weld, but it also requires more passes to build up a good bead.
This is how quickly you move through the molten pool when welding; too fast and you'll get porosity; too slow and it may take longer than necessary for each pass due to poor cooling.
MIG welding is a great way to get started in welding. It's really easy, and it's safe for beginners. You can use Mig welding for various projects, including light steelwork, ironmongery, and aluminum.
Mig welders are versatile, meaning they can handle almost any metal you want to weld with their different settings. They also include gas supplies that provide the shielding gas needed during the process, which makes them good value for money compared with other welder types.
Mig welding is a skill that anyone can pick up with only a little time and practice. If you're interested in learning how to weld but don't know where to begin, here are a few options:
Yes, you can use a TIG welder as a MIG welder. If your TIG welder has adjustable amperage, you can follow the steps listed above. TIG welders tend to have higher amperage settings than MIG welders, but they still require the same power as a MIG welder. Since a TIG welder is more versatile, it's worth investing in one if you're regularly using welding equipment or want more control over your project.
The machine uses a hollow wire and is filled with flux. Flux is the material that covers the weld and protects it from contamination when welding. You can use a flux core welder outdoors because the wind doesn't affect the weld because of the flux inside the wire. A flux core welder can also be used indoors with no gas if the welding material thickness is 1/2" or less. It isn't recommended to use Flux Core Welding for thinner materials on higher amperage settings, as there will be too much spatter and smoke
This is a common question, and the answer is: yes, but it depends on the type of wire you are using. Flux core wire doesn't need shielding gas, while solid welding wire does need shielding gas.
The type of work you do will determine whether you need a machine that uses shielding gas or flux core wire. For example, if you are working outdoors or inside with wind, you can use flux core wire since it does not require an external gas cylinder.
Because of SQL database errors, users are unable to access their valuable data, and it is their responsibility to fix the issues promptly to make sure that there are no severe data loss issues. There are some predominant database corruption errors and issues. You may promptly resolve them to avoid undesirable severe data loss. We will know more about database corruption errors, issues, and perfect solutions for fixing SQL server database problems.
Usually, there are three main reasons behind database failure. Let us examine each of them and identify ways to recover and restore your lost data.
If a computer or server is shut down improperly, or if it encounters a power outage or surge or something occurs that abruptly interrupts the process of writing data to the files, there are chances of the OS files getting corrupted or damaged severely. This may lead to critical data loss. After encountering such a crisis, you are advised to repair or at least, examine the filesystem to safeguard against any data loss in the future. For modifying or mounting a file system, a repair may be necessary. Even though a thorough check may not report or reveal any severe damage, you might still need to repair the filesystem.
Another effective way of repairing the corrupt or compromised database is by utilizing database console commands like CHECKDB, DBCC, or DBCC DEBREPAIR. These commands could help fix minor database issues. However, they are not efficient enough to tackle or resolve critical corruption cases.
Hardware failures will be including memory issues, bad disk sectors, disk crashes, and even disk with errors, among many other issues. Hardware failures could be because of design errors, overloading, and poor quality control at the time of fabrication, and degradation of mechanical parts. Software failures will be including issues associated with software like DBMS software, operating system, application programs, etc.
Irrespective of how trustworthy, your DBMS seems, it is not in a position to guarantee a failure-free seamless transaction each time. To prevent any kind of database failure, the most logical and proactive step is to consult with expert DBAs. Once the overall database health is analyzed, you may rest assured to avoid serious problems down the line.
Users should regularly back up their SQL database to restore the database, in case of corruption or damage. Backup is certainly the most effective way of dealing with corruption. Keep in mind that some data may be missing between the time when disaster struck and the last backup. You may consider using commands like DBCC CHECKDB to examine and resolve corruption issues. However, you may fail to repair and restore severely corrupted files using this command.
You may use SQL data recovery tools recommended by experts to repair and resolve corrupt database file issues due to a lack of a backup. Some cutting-edge tools are helpful in the recovery of deleted objects, and they even display a preview. SQL recovery could prove to be a daunting and stressful job. However, you may use some advanced SQL recovery tools for getting your databases back into action!
Storing and analyzing big data is essential for process audits. For example, a company’s ongoing shipping audits explained several issues, including patterns of overcharges and delayed deliveries. A customer experience audit can yield similar findings by noting bottlenecks in the customer journey. All of these processes require the input of large sets of readable data.
Businesses need a data normalization process to store and filter raw data into useful information that can inform these valuable processes.
Data normalization is an automated process that organizes information into a database or table. As a result of normalization, data is searchable and verifiable. Normalized data is also easier to scan for errors, such as missing data or redundancies.
Most data normalization tables categorize data by recognizable fields. For example, a table of customer information would most likely contain their names, contact information, and job titles. Company data may contain labels such as product SKUs or employee identification numbers.
Data normalization tables prevent a phenomenon known as inconsistent dependency. This occurs when unrelated data items are entered in the same table. Data input should be logical so that anyone searching for a piece of information knows exactly where to find it.
Many software-as-a-service platforms, such as invoicing or customer management solutions, automatically normalize data. To reduce errors in automated normalization, companies must set a standard format for inputting data. Some commonly used conventions are abbreviations for addresses and job titles, or no hyphens or spaces in telephone numbers. Once data is normalized, it is easier to carry out important data analysis processes, including cleaning and interpretation.
Normalization tables come in several normal forms, known as NFs. Each NF has its own rules for organizing and displaying data. For example, a 1NF table restricts any cell from containing more than one piece of data. Additionally, no entry can be duplicated.
For example, if a data table contains a product that comes in several sizes, each size will be listed as a separate row rather than a distinct column. In a 2NF table, the searcher can pull up a separate table to view all of the color options for a particular product.
As normal forms advance, they build off one another. A 2NF pulls data from 1NF tables, a 3NF from a 2NF table and so on. While there are many normal forms to choose from, most databases only need up to 3NF to process and store data.
Choosing the correct normal form and preparing the data can be time-consuming. As a result, more developers opt to outsource this process to automated software.
As data collection has become ubiquitous, data normalization has become indispensable. Firstly, normalization corrals data into one depository. This reduces storage space by eliminating duplicate information. Browsing through normalized data also saves time as databases contain search functions that quickly identify the needed information.
Normalized data also lends itself well to segmentation. During segmentation, the analyst will filter the data through parameters, such as location, gender, or average purchase value.
Segmentation allows marketers to target specific demographics with tailored messaging. This process can also benefit internal business processes. For example, human resource departments may search for employees demonstrating signs of burnout, such as higher than normal call-outs, and connect them to resources.
Data normalization is also essential for monitoring metrics and performance. Normalization makes it possible to create visual dashboards to measure common indicators such as sales targets, vendor costs, and revenue.
Data normalization is an essential step in any business’s data strategy. As a developer, you can make you and your client’s jobs much easier by considering normalization as you create your projects and database structures.
Most developers follow the decades old principles created by relational database pioneer Edgar Codd. Codd’s 12 rules, since expanded to more than 300, outline the existential criteria for relational database management systems. While no system follows every rule, they are a foundational step for approaching normalization projects.
Almost all designers agree that Adobe Illustrator is the best tool for creating vector graphics. You can use the software to create artwork, logos, infographics, artwork, icons, and pretty much anything else you like. Adobe Illustrator uses mathematical formulas to scale images as opposed to pixels, which means resizing might strain your computer, but you get seamless and infinite resizing.
Adobe Illustrator is not free. You get a free seven-day trial and then have to pay $20.99 per month after that.
Affinity Designer is regarded by many as the best Adobe Illustrator alternative. It is great for beginners and experienced designers alike, offering an intuitive interface and user-friendly features. You can also use it for almost all design work, and its two notable features are its 8,000X history steps and 1,000,000% zoom. Both of these features make it perfect for working with clients who want even the smallest details to be perfect.
In the past few years, stickers have grown exponentially in popularity, and it is almost impossible to go a day without seeing at least one sticker in real life or on social media. They are great promotional tools because they can be added to books, flasks, guitars, laptops, social media, and so many other places. With stickers being such useful marketing tools, designers need a way to create them easily.
Picsart Sticker maker makes it easy to make your own stickers, you only have to upload your photo and work on it using the tool. The platform also makes it easier to share all your stickers online or print physical copies for distribution.
Canva is an all-around online design tool that you can use to design almost anything. It uses a drag-and-drop interface that is familiar to many people, and that makes it easy even for beginners to whip up some quick and professional-looking designs.
The tool also comes with lots of backgrounds, templates, fonts, and images to get you started. Do note that you need to pay to get access to some of the assets on the platform.
Canva also stands out due to its social media integration; you can post designs directly from Canva to your accounts.
Pixlr is an image editing tool that is a little different; it does not come with all the tools other apps do. It provides all the basic and essential tools you need without requiring you to learn how to use new tools or integrate them into your workflow. Because of this, Pixlr is perfect if you are looking for a tool to help you complete quick edits.
Pixlr is part of an ecosystem of complementary design tools and supports many of the popular design file formats. It also uses a drag-and-drop interface which makes things a lot easier, even for beginners. As with Canva, it also comes with numerous design tools and templates to get you started quickly.
There are different graphic design tools, apps, and platforms available depending on what you are looking for. For beginners, there are online apps with simple features that get simple products done, while for professionals there is software that makes it easier to handle and complete massive and complex design projects.
Data loss or inaccessibility after a natural disaster is a significant concern. After Hurricane Sandy in 2012, data centers in Manhattan had to extract water from the generator rooms and restore switchgear to become operational. In the U.K., flooding in Leeds caused immense water damage to a Vodafone facility that it had to close for several days.
According to the Insurance Information Institute, over 25% of businesses never reopen after an extreme weather event. Fortunately, preventing disaster-related downtime is possible through proper monitoring systems and a disaster recovery plan.
Knowing which natural disasters to expect based on your server room and data center location can make the difference. Here’s how to protect your facility from the most common natural disasters.
Three levels of fire protection exist.
Your country will have specific fire suppression system standards. Typically, data centers choose between two sprinkler systems, wet pipes or pre-engineered. The former will have water in its pipes which automatically flow once you trigger the fire alarm. The only con is that wet pipe sprinklers can suffer leakage, damaging the servers.
On the other hand, pre-engineered sprinklers require two-point activation to disperse water. It’s also the preferred choice for many businesses. Depending on the model, some pre-action sprinklers operate on a quadrant level. Therefore, they will only disperse water in that specific area once activated. Like the wet piping, this system poses a risk of water damage, so you should consider installing a gaseous system instead.
Gaseous systems employ a clean agent or inert gas. The latter uses nitrogen and argon to reduce the oxygen in the server room, thereby putting out the fire. Note that you will need to install sound muffling equipment to prevent damage to hard drives.
Clean agent systems like FM-200 are a better option. They eliminate the fire through absorption. Also, they have low emissions and are non-conductive and non-corrosive, making them environmentally friendly.
Regular inspections ensure you stay compliant. Typically, the expert will confirm that the suppression systems and fire alarm is in good condition. More importantly, they’ll inspect whether the fire protection interface meets the sensitivity prerequisites.
Flooding can cause grave consequences from short circuits to corrosion. Besides rainfall-related flooding of a server room, several water sources can threaten the data security of your server room. These include:
Before taking action, you’ll need to perform a risk assessment to determine areas that require water leakage detection.
Monitoring systems are the simplest way to detect water leakage to prevent water damage. Various systems are available in the market. Typically, businesses choose between zone leak and distance-read leak monitoring systems. Zone leak detection is the ideal choice for small server rooms. In comparison, distance-read monitoring systems are suitable for large server rooms precisely because they can pinpoint the exact location
Which system should you choose? We recommend a centralized one that detects water leakage and humidity, motion, plus ambient temperature. A vital aspect of this system is a distribution list for fire alerts. Emails, SNMP, and SMS are excellent circulation, monitoring, and reporting channels.
Different leak detection cable runs range between two and fifty meters. These cables can go under power cables. And if any water starts leaking from the air conditioning systems or backup drains, these cables can detect with pinpoint precision and let you know the exact floor tile.
In case of leakage, swift action is paramount to save equipment and other items in the server room. An experienced water damage remediation company will perform immediate water extraction and contents restoration.
Earthquakes impact the most damage to server rooms and data centers than any other natural disaster. Approximately 500,000 incidents occur globally. The double aftermath of IT equipment damage and downtime can result in business closure. And although the world is yet to come up with tech that would predict the exact time and location of an earthquake, there are seismic planning activities you can do to protect your servers.
Rigid bolting is the most common server protection approach. Doing so secures equipment racks to the floor. And as a result, it prevents the server racks from vibrating during an earthquake. While you may want to perform cabinet bolting instead, this method only protects the employees, and servers can only escape damage if it’s a mild earthquake.
Base isolation technology is a more effective earthquake protection method. It works by significantly decreasing the path through which vibrations pass. As a consequence, it channels the seismic motions away from your servers. If your data center is located in an earthquake-prone area, base isolation systems ensure your business achieves tier 4 classification, i.e., zero disruption to the critical load.
Preventing power outages in your server room is perhaps the primary focus when preparing for hurricanes.
Here’s what you can do.
Natural disasters have proven to be a significant threat to data centers. For some businesses, the equipment damage is beyond repair, and for others, the downtime results in loss of customer trust. Having robust monitoring and report systems can mitigate disaster-related damage, thereby ensuring business continuity. Preparedness always pays off. Ultimately, leaving your servers unprotected with such high stakes would be a miscalculation.
The kind of data generated in every business environment varies, and these data sets only become useful once they are harnessed to give useful insights. Data engineers are the professionals often tasked with building and maintaining key systems that collect, manage and convert these data sets.
The huge amount of data generated in different industries has expanded the data engineering profession to cover a wide range of skills, including web-crawling, distributed computing, data cleansing, data storage, and data retrieval.
Over the years, data storage has become a subject of interest in the data engineering field, thanks to the rise of modern data storage options. Most data engineers and scientists are familiar with SQL databases such as MSSQL, PostgreSQL, and MySQL, but the shift in preference is slowly changing this narrative.
The need for speed, flexibility, and adaptability has also become apparent in data handling, and non-conventional data storage technologies are now coming to market. Several businesses are also embracing storage as a service solution, and the trend is just getting better. Below, we have discussed the three data storages that are increasingly becoming popular among data engineers.
Search engines, documents stores, and columnar stores are the three technologies that are seeing wider adoption in the data handling field. Here’s a quick overview of how they operate and why they are becoming storage options of choice.
When defining data storage in the data engineering field, three critical aspects are used to score the best storage solutions. These are data indexing, data sharing, and data aggregation.
Ideally, each data indexing technique improves specific queries but undermines others. So knowing the kind of queries used can often help you choose the right data storage option.
Data sharding is a process in which a single dataset is split and distributed across multiple databases so they can be stored in various data nodes. The goal is often to increase the total storage capacity of a given system. Sharding determines how the data infrastructure will grow as more data is stored in the system.
On the other hand, data aggregation is the process where data is collected and expressed in a more summarized manner before they are ready for statistical analysis. The wrong data aggregation strategy can limit the performance and the types of reports generated. Below, we’ve broken down the three data storage types based on the data indexing, sharding, and aggregation capabilities.
Search engine storage Elasticsearch is a data store that specializes in indexing texts. Unlike the traditional data stores that create indices based on the values in the field, this storage type allows for data retrieval with only a fragment of the text field. This is also done automatically through analyzers. The latter are modules that create multiple index keys after evaluating the field values and breaking them into smaller values.
Elasticsearch is built on top of Apache Lucene and provides a JSON-based REST API that refers to Lucene features. Scaling is often done by creating several Lucene shards and distributing them to multiple servers/nodes within a cluster. Therefore, each document is routed to its shard through the id field. When retrieving data, the master server sends each shard/ Lucene instance a copy of the query before it finally aggregates and ranks them for output.
Elasticsearch is document-based storage whose content can be bucketed by ranged, exact, or geolocation values. The buckets can also be grouped into finer details through nested aggregation. Metrics such as mean and standard deviations can be calculated easily for every layer, making it easy to analyze several parameters in a single query. However, it suffers the limitation of intra-document field comparisons. A solution is often to inject scripts as custom predicates, a feature that works for one-off analysis but is often unsustainable due to degraded performance in production.
MongoDB is a generic data store with lots of flexibility for indexing a wide range of data. However, unlike Elasticsearch, it’s designed to index the id field by default; hence you’ll need to manually create indices for the commonly queried fields. MongoDB’s text analyzer is also less powerful than that of Elasticsearch.
MongoDB’s cluster contains three types of servers: shard, config, and router. The servers will accept more requests when you scale the router, but most workloads are often directed to the shard servers. Like Elasticsearch, MongoDB documents are routed by default to their specific shards. When you execute a query request, the config server communicates to the router and shards the query. The router server then distributes the query and retrieves the results.
MongoDB’s Aggregation Pipeline is fast and very powerful. It operates on returned data in a stage-wise fashion, where each step can filter, transform and combine documents or unwind previously-aggregated groups. Since the operations are done step-by-step, the final documents are filtered, which minimizes the memory cost. Like Elasticsearch, MongoDB lacks the intra-document field comparison; hence it can’t use distributed computing.
Unlike MongoDB, Elasticsearch, and even the traditional SQL databases, Amazon Redshift doesn’t support data indexing. Instead, it reduces the query time by consistently sorting data on the disk. That is, each table has its sort key that determines how rows have been stored once the data is loaded.
Amazon Redshift’s cluster has one leader node and multiple compute nodes. The leader node computes and distributes queries before sampling intermediate results. Compared to MongoDB’s router servers, this leader node is very consistent and cannot be scaled horizontally. This creates some limitations but allows efficient caching for specific execution plans.
Since Amazon Redshift is a relational database that supports SQL, it’s quite popular among traditional database engineers. It also solves the slow aggregations common with MongoDB when analyzing mobile traffic. However, it doesn’t have the schema flexibility that Elasticsearch and MongoDB have. It’s also optimized for reading operations and hence suffers from performance issues during updates.
From the three alternative storage options above, choosing the ultimate best isn’t as obvious as it may seem. Depending on your unique data storage needs, one storage option is always better than the other. So instead of narrowing down to the ultimate best, you want to compare the different features and capabilities against your needs and then choose those that work best for you.
The majority of these companies need skilled developers and engineers to build safe and robust eCommerce sites to house their businesses. If you are interested in specializing in eCommerce development, you would be remiss to ignore the advantages and disadvantages of each payment gateway option.
Payment gateways allow online customers to purchase products seamlessly and securely. However, they are not all created equal. As an engineer or site developer, you should understand the technical and practical implications of each payment gateway type.
All businesses need a way to collect money from their customers. While a brick-and-mortar shop uses a cash register and payment terminals to manage its transactions, online retailers must use web-based options.
To protect customer information from being hacked during the transaction, eCommerce shops use payment gateways to encrypt user data and authorize the transaction.
Gateways can also perform functions that you may have encountered when paying with a credit card. For example, gateways can automatically calculate tax, shipping costs, and custom fees based on the customer’s location and accept payments in multiple currencies.
Since the first payment gateway came online in 1996, there have been numerous innovations in technology and software. Today, customers and retailers can choose from dozens of options, including providers that operate in specific regions of the world. Many gateways do not even interact with banks, and instead, draw and deposit money from virtual wallets or accounts.
When integrating a payment system for a client, you must consider how each gateway type will impact the customer experience and the retailer’s bottom line.
Systems that are flawed, appear unprofessional, or constantly crash can put off customers and lower sales. Relatedly, while customers prefer to select from multiple payment options, having too many integrated into one shop can also make customers wary. It is essential to understand your client’s business and end clients to select the best class of payment gateway for their eCommerce site.
This payment gateway moves customers from the eCommerce site to the payment service provider’s web page to complete the transaction. If the provider is widely-known and trusted, such as PayPal, this can increase customer confidence. However, this will have the opposite effect if the provider is not a household name.
Further, while leveraging the name recognition and secure infrastructure of a large payment service provider can help boost sales, retailers are reliant on a third party to handle transactions. Customers will have to go through the payment service provider to handle issues with payment processing, refunds, and other transactions. If the third party does a poor job, it can affect your clients’ businesses.
Clients can also maintain a payment gateway directly on their website. When a customer pays, the transaction through an embedded payment gateway is connected directly to the retailer’s account.
Many invoicing and bookkeeping software offer this type of payment gateway. Onsite providers give retailers more control over the customer’s experience, but there is no outside support for handling issues.
Retailers who want complete oversight of their payment gateway may prefer an Application Programming Interface hosted system. The look and feel of the system can be designed to fit the company’s branding and culture.
However, if you build this type of gateway, you are also responsible for ensuring it meets all of the security requirements for handling customer financial data. You can ensure compliance under the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard by following a PCI DSS compliance checklist.
Finally, small-scale vendors may opt for the security, ease, and reputation of a bank-integrated payment gateway. These systems are integrated within the banking system to facilitate virtual bank-to-bank transactions. Zelle, one of the largest such gateways in the U.S., is compatible with more than 30 national banks, including Bank of America and Chase.
While bank integrated payments are instant and often incur no fees, they are only accessible to customers with an account at a participating bank. This can greatly reduce accessibility, especially on the international market. Also, many of these gateways cannot handle high-volume transactions.
If you are working with an established payment service provider like PayPal, Apple Pay, or a bank integrated gateway, you can rest assured that the system is compliant and secure.
However, if your client is interested in an API-hosted gateway, you will need to be much more diligent. In addition to adhering to the PCI DSS, you will need to install a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate to ensure the website can transmit and receive encrypted data securely. The highest quality SSL certificate runs about $1,000 per year, but affordable and secure options cost around $60 per year.
