Everyone hates it when their computer crashes, reboots randomly, or shows the
dreaded blue screen of death. For the average user, though, this isn't really
the end of the world. But some systems, like cloud servers or supercomputers,
rely on being operational for 24 hours a day. And a fatal crash could mean the
loss of data, service outages, or cost the company millions of dollars. But for
some IT professionals, this may seem like a catastrophic server outage is
actually the end of the world. The likelihood of it happening thanks to
technologies like ECC memory can actually be quite slim. ECC memory is a
term you've probably heard floating around our channel before. But what does
it really mean? ECC stands for error correcting code. And the principle
behind it using mathematical methods to check data for errors quickly has
actually been around since about 150 BC
when Jewish scribes developed a process in which they looked at the number of
words in a page or line to quickly determine if there were transcription
errors. ECC memory works much the same way as it can quickly check and correct
for the most common types of data corruption which often are the cause of
crashes and data loss. Okay, so why is this so important? Well, the more that
we use cloud services and virtual machines for massive calculations and
computing means servers are not only important to large corporations but also
to the average consumer. Take your Dropbox or iCloud account for instance.
The servers which store your precious data rely on ECC memory to prevent
memory failures which may otherwise leave your data inaccessible or worse
lost altogether. Many things like electrical, magnetic, or even cosmic
interference can cause a single bit whose value is either one or zero to
spontaneously flip to the opposite state. As you may know, each bite in
your memory is made up of eight bits, which in the case of your computer's
native software language might represent a letter or a number. If a single bit is
switched to its opposite position, the result might be garbled data. And if
this bite is critical to a systems operation, it can cause a crash or a
failure. ECC memory corrects for this by first performing what is called par
checking, which involves storing an extra par bit that represents the sum of
all the ones in an 8 bit group. The result of this is either an odd or even
number, one or zero. If the sum doesn't match up with the par bit the next time
the RAM accesses the data, then the system will know that at least one part
of the bit must have been corrupted. Then in this case, ECC RAM will refer
back to code it generated using a special algorithm when the good data was
first stored in memory and use this code to correct the error restoring the
original 8-bit block of data. So that's cool, right? But if you're asking,
should I buy ECC memory for my next build? And you aren't making some kind
of server where zero downtime is absolutely necessary, then the answer is
likely no. ECC memory comes at a higher cost with worse performance due to the
greater processing required and isn't even compatible with most consumer
motherboards. Not to mention, if you're going for that flashy RGB dream rig, you
might be disappointed to note that ECC memory PCBs are usually green and
typically lack a heat sink or in certain scenarios and stuff, which might make
the next dream build of yours look a little less special to the untrained
eye. Speaking of untrained eye, FreshBooks is on a mission to make
freelancers less stressed and more organized through their easy to use tool
for crafting and creating and sending professional invoices in seconds. What
What do What does this mean by untrained eye? Well, if you're not an accountant
and you're trying to run some form of business, this could actually help you a
lot. Fresh Books helps you track your hours. So, when it comes to create an
invoice, you know exactly what you did, when you did it, who you did it for, and
you can even accept deposits from those people that you did it for through their
platform, so your work is paid for on your schedule, which is super important.
They also have a tool to manage your expense reports. Their mobile app lets
you take a picture of your receipts and pretty much handles the rest. Getting
started on FreshBooks is extremely simple, even if you're not a numbers
person, especially if you're not a numbers person. FreshBooks says you can
try FreshBooks for free for 30 days by going to
freshbooks.com/tequickie and entering techquicky in the how did you hear about
us section. All right guys, like the video if your computer's stable. Maybe
dislike it if you crash all the time and might need some ECC memory. I don't
know, man. Do the button thing. Uh down in the comments down below, give me
suggestions for other videos we should cover on fast as possible. There's a lot
of stuff to cover, but we've done a lot of it already. Slight problem. Also
check out Channel Super Fun if you want to laugh at things. This is like the
serious channel where we do serious stuff and we try to like teach people stuff. That is the not serious channel.
We don't do serious things over there. Doesn't happen. Thanks for watching.
I'll see you guys next time.