Exam Code: IL0-786 Practice test 2023 by Killexams.com team
Designing Flexible Wireless LAN Solutions
Intel Designing benefits
Killexams : Intel Designing benefits - BingNews https://killexams.com/pass4sure/exam-detail/IL0-786 Search results Killexams : Intel Designing benefits - BingNews https://killexams.com/pass4sure/exam-detail/IL0-786 https://killexams.com/exam_list/Intel Killexams : Let’s Talk Intel, Meltdown, And Spectre

This week we’ve seen a tsunami of news stories about a vulnerability in Intel processors. We’re certain that by now you’ve heard of (and are maybe tired of hearing about) Meltdown and Spectre. However, as a Hackaday reader, you are likely the person who others turn to when they need to get the gist of news like this. Since this has bubbled up in watered-down versions to the highest levels of mass media, let’s take a look at what Meltdown and Spectre are, and also see what’s happening in the other two rings of this three-ring circus.

Meltdown and Spectre in a Nutshell

These two attacks are similar. Meltdown is specific to Intel processors and kernel fixes (basically workarounds implemented by operating systems) will result in a 5%-30% speed penalty depending on how the CPU is being used. Spectre is not limited to Intel, but also affects AMD and ARM processors and kernel fixes are not expected to come with a speed penalty.

Friend of Hackaday and security researcher extraordinaire Joe Fitz has written a superb layman’s explanation of these types of attacks. His use of the term “layman” may be a little more high level than normal — this is something you need to read.

The attack exploits something called branch prediction. To boost speed, these processors keep a cache of past branch behavior in memory and use that to predict future branching operations. Branch predictors load data into memory before checking to see if you have permissions to access that data. Obviously you don’t, so that memory will not be made available for you to read. The exploit uses a clever guessing game to look at other files also returned by the predictor to which you do have access. If you’re clever enough, you can reconstruct the restricted data by iterating on this trick many many times.

For the most comprehensive info, you can read the PDF whitepapers on Meltdown and Spectre.

Update: Check Alan Hightower’s explanation of the Meltdown exploit left as a comment below. Quite good for helping deliver better understanding of how this works.

Frustration from Kernel Developers

These vulnerabilities are in silicon — they can’t be easily fixed with a microcode update which is how CPU manufacturers usually workaround silicon errata (although this appears to be an architectural flaw and not errata per se). An Intel “fix” would amount to a product recall. They’ve already said they won’t be doing a recall, but how would that work anyway? What’s the lead time on spinning up the fabs to replace all the Intel chips in use — yikes!

So the fixes fall on the operating systems at the kernel level. Intel should be (and probably is behind the scenes) bowing down to the kernel developers who are saving their bacon. It is understandably frustrating to have to spend time and resources patching these vulnerabilities, which displaces planned feature updates and improvements. Linus Torvalds has been throwing shade at Intel — anecdotal evidence of this frustration:

“I think somebody inside of Intel needs to really take a long hard look at their CPU’s, and actually admit that they have issues instead of writing PR blurbs that say that everything works as designed.”

That’s the tamest part of his message posted on the Linux Kernel Mailing List.

Stock Sales Kerfuffle is Just a Distraction

The first thing I did on hearing about these vulnerabilities on Tuesday was to check Intel’s stock price and I was surprised it hadn’t fallen much. In fact, peak to peak it’s only seen about an 8% drop this week and has recovered some from that low.

Of course, it came out that back in November Intel’s CEO Bryan Krzanich sold off his Intel stock to the tune of $24 Million, bringing him down to his contractual minimum of shares. He likely knew about Meltdown when arranging that sale. Resist the urge to flame on this decision. Whether it’s legal or not, hating on this guy is just a distraction.

What’s more interesting to me is this: Intel is too big to fail. What are we all going to do, stop using Intel and start using something else? You can’t just pull the chip and put a new one in, in the case of desktop computers you need a new motherboard plus all the supporting stuff like memory. For servers, laptops, and mobile devices you need to replace the entire piece of equipment. Intel has a huge market share, and silicon has a long production cycle. Branch prediction has been commonplace in consumer CPUs going back to 1995 when the Pentium Pro brought it to the x86 architecture. This is a piece of the foundation that will be yanked out and replaced with new designs that provide the same speed benefits without the same risks — but that will take time to make it into the real world.

CPUs are infrastructure and this is the loudest bell to date tolling to signal how important their design is to society. It’s time to take a hard look at what open silicon design would bring to the table. You can’t say this would have been prevented with Open design. You can say that the path to new processors without these issues would be a shorter one if there were more than two companies producing all of the world’s processors — both of which have been affected by these vulnerabilities.

Wed, 08 Feb 2023 10:00:00 -0600 Mike Szczys en-US text/html https://hackaday.com/2018/01/05/lets-talk-intel-meltdown-and-spectre/
Killexams : Introducing the Redis/Intel Benchmarks Specification for Performance Testing, Profiling, and Analysis

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Wed, 08 Feb 2023 04:16:00 -0600 en text/html https://www.infoworld.com/article/3687091/introducing-the-redis-intel-benchmarks-specification-for-performance-testing-profiling-and-analysis.html
Killexams : The Mac Studio never really made sense

At one point, Apple offered a range of compelling desktop computers for its professional users.

The Power Mac G4 and G5, and the earliest Intel Mac Pro machines, all offered the winning combination of performance and upgradability. Designers, game developers, and musicians lapped them up.

But things went awry a few years into the Tim Cook-era of Apple, with the poorly-designed “trashcan” Mac Pro, which sacrificed the all-important quality of upgradability on the altar of aesthetics.

Since then, Apple has struggled to regain its footing in this market, and now it’s weighing up its future options. 

Case in point: According to Mark Gurman, a Bloomberg reporter with a solid track record for predicting Apple’s future, the company is currently mulling the future of its new (and pricey) Mac Studio

Per Gurman, Apple is considering dropping the Mac Studio from its future lineup — or, arguably worse, allowing it to stagnate until the release of the M3 series chips, with few (if any) upgrades until then.

The limits of the Mac Studio

To be fair, either scenario doesn’t feel unlikely. The Mac Studio is a gorgeous-looking machine and delivers some genuinely impressive performance benchmarks.

But it lacks some of the most basic elements of a professional desktop workstation. Upgradability is the main one. 

The Mac Studio is basically a bigger, meaner Mac mini. Competent, sure, but still a Mac mini.

It lacks the upgradable memory, storage, and graphics normally found in a desktop workstation. This machine is only as powerful as its original configuration. 

And that’s an issue when you consider that the system requirements for high-end professional tasks — like deep learning, AI development, CAD/CAM, and video production — are only increasing.

As our capabilities grow in these fields, so are the demands on our hardware. The lack of upgradability gives these machines an artificially-short lifespan. 

A new Mac Pro

But more importantly: Apple is reportedly developing a new Mac Pro that remains (relatively) faithful to the design principles that made the originals so incredibly valuable for professional users. 

I say “relatively” for good reason. While the upcoming Mac Pro is expected to offer a degree of modularity, it’ll likely be limited to the storage*. That’s disappointing but also entirely unsurprising.

A significant factor behind the stellar performance of Apple Silicon is the fact that RAM is contained in the same package as the CPU.

By doing so, Apple reduces the latency (or, put simply, the time) it takes for a message to travel from the CPU to the RAM.

Similarly, Apple Silicon packages the GPU alongside the CPU. While this doesn’t allow for any type of long-term upgradability, it does deliver some key performance and power consumption benefits. 

While it’s tempting to imagine that the next Mac Pro will be a modernized version of the iconic Power Mac lineup, or the earliest Intel Mac Pro models, that’s not just realistic.

It would effectively require Apple to change its entire design philosophy for its homegrown ARM processors, ditching the attributes that made Apple Silicon so compelling in the first place.

Silver linings

It’s not all bad news. First, I wouldn’t discount the possibility of AMD or Nvidia providing GPU driver support for Apple Silicon, thereby allowing power-hungry users to deploy an eGPU. 

Hell, Intel could even sweep in, bringing an Apple Silicon-compatible flavor of its Arc discrete GPUs, in the process beating its biggest rivals to the finish line and enjoying exclusive control of a highly-lucrative market. 

No, the Mac Pro never sold well. But the people who bought it typically had deep pockets, and they were prepared to spend big on upgrades.

And the people who are likely to buy the next Mac Pro will almost certainly need a lot of GPU processing power. 

Another positive about the rumored Mac Pro

It’ll be physically bigger than the Mac Studio. Even if every square inch of its internals isn’t filled with components, this is undoubtedly a good thing for those who buy it.

The bigger the machine, the more effectively it can dissipate heat. 

Heat, as we all know, is kryptonite to performance. When a component reaches a certain temperature, it’ll throttle performance to cool down.

High temperatures, sustained over a period of time, have the potential to damage your hardware. 

That’s an especially pressing concern for machines like the Mac Studio (and likely also the upcoming Mac Pro), where all the core components sit on the same bit of PCB.

If your GPU fails, or your RAM dies a death, you’ve no option other than to throw away the entire computer.

Or find someone with strong micro-soldering skills and pay them a lot of money to fix your machine, often using components sourced from other defective computers.

A bright-ish future

While we can lament the passing of Apple’s once-upgradable hardware, and perhaps also the impending departure of the Mac Studio, we can at least take comfort in knowing that the upcoming Mac Pro will be a more powerful, more upgradable piece of hardware.

Editors’ Recommendations:

*Although the Mac Studio had removable SSD modules, they used a proprietary design. You couldn’t just, for example, throw in a new M.2 drive. Apple’s modules lacked the additional circuitry that comprises a normal SSD — namely an on-board memory controller. 

Additionally, security features in the Apple T2 chip made it impossible to use SSDs from donor computers. The genuine mechanism that prevented this is yet unknown, although it wouldn’t be surprising to learn that the drives were serialized (linked, essentially) to the original machine’s logic board.

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

Tue, 07 Feb 2023 03:36:00 -0600 Matthew Hughes en-US text/html https://knowtechie.com/the-mac-studio-never-really-made-sense/
Killexams : Top Analyst Reports for Intel, Synopsys & FedEx

Monday, February 13, 2023

The Zacks Research Daily presents the best research output of our analyst team. Today's Research Daily features new research reports on 16 major stocks, including Intel Corporation (INTC), Synopsys, Inc. (SNPS) and FedEx Corporation (FDX). These research reports have been hand-picked from the roughly 70 reports published by our analyst team today.

You can see all of today’s research reports here >>>

Shares of Intel have underperformed the Zacks Semiconductor - General industry over the past year (-41.6% vs. -14.8%). The company is facing uncertainty over the over-supplied chip markets that are weighing on its near-term outlook. More than other players in the space, the market is skeptical of Intel's ability to profitably operate and execute in this unfavorable environment. In addition, production delays remain a concern for the company.

Imposition of fresh lockdown restrictions in some markets, forex woes and high debt burden are other headwinds. It is witnessing intensifying competition in the server, networking and storage markets, while inflated raw material costs and signs of market saturation are worrisome. The Sino-US trade war is also adversely impacting its growth prospects.

However, Intel is gaining rapid strides in the data center business with integrated solutions that are highly competitive in prices. The company is also focusing on developing a complete product range targeting different segments of the market.     

(You can read the full research Intel here >>>)

Synopsys shares have outperformed the Zacks Computer - Software industry over the past year (+21.8% vs. -10.5%). The company is benefiting from strong design wins owing to a robust product portfolio. Growth in hybrid working trend is driving demand for bandwidth. Strong traction for Synopsys’ Fusion Compiler product boosted the top line.

Growing demand for advanced technology, design, IP and security solutions is also creating solid prospects. Rising impact of artificial intelligence, 5G, internet of things and big data is driving investments in new compute and machine learning architectures. Our estimates suggest that Synopsys’ revenues will grow at a CAGR of 9.3% through 2023-2025.

However, Synopsys is hurting from supply-chain disruptions stemming from the pandemic. The company is also witnessing stiff competition. Geopolitical challenges coupled with uncertainties related to restrictions over trade with Huawei are other woes.

(You can read the full research report on Synopsys here >>>)

Shares of FedEx have declined -8.4% over the past year against the Zacks Transportation - Air Freight and Cargo industry’s decline of -13.0%. The company’s volumes are being hurt due to the decline in shipping demand, particularly in Asia and Europe. Weakening of e-commerce demand as economies re-open is another concern.

To navigate the weaker-than-expected business environment, FDX is actively cutting costs. FedEx anticipates generating cost savings of nearly $3.7 billion in fiscal 2023. The fiscal 2023 estimate for capital expenditure has been slashed by $400 million to $5.9 billion.

However, efforts to reward shareholders of FDX, through dividends and buybacks, are encouraging as well. In June 2022, FedEx raised its quarterly dividend by 53% to $1.15 per share. During fiscal 2022, FedEx repurchased shares worth $2.2 billion. FedEx's liquidity position is also impressive.

(You can read the full research report on FedEx here >>>)

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include CNH Industrial N.V. (CNHI), First Solar, Inc. (FSLR) and Synchrony Financial (SYF).

Director of Research

Sheraz Mian

Note: Sheraz Mian heads the Zacks Equity Research department and is a well-regarded expert of aggregate earnings. He is frequently quoted in the print and electronic media and publishes the weekly Earnings Trends and Earnings Preview reports. If you want an email notification each time Sheraz publishes a new article, please click here>>>

Today's Must Read

Intel (INTC) Likely to Gain from Healthy Mobileye Traction

Synopsys (SNPS) Banks on Strong Product Menu, Contract Wins

FedEx (FDX) Benefits From Dividends & Buyback, Expenses Ail

Featured Reports

Strategic Buyouts to Aid CNH Industrial (CNHI) Amid Debt Woes

While buyouts of Raven Industries and Sampierana will boost CNH Industrial's prospects, the Zacks analyst is concerned over the firm's elevated leverage of 76%.

Strong Investments Boost First Solar (FSLR) Growth Prospects

Per the Zacks Analyst, First Solar's expansion plan in terms of manufacturing capacity will it to duly achieve these targets. This in turn should bolster its long-term growth trajectory.

Synchrony Financial (SYF) Gains on Buyouts, Balance Sheet

Per the Zacks Analyst, buyouts have enhanced the company's capabilities and diversified the business, which, in turn, has offered it a competitive edge. A healthy balance sheet enables investments.

Lamar (LAMR) to Grow on Portfolio Upgradation and Expansion

Per the Zacks Analyst, Lamar's portfolio upgradation efforts will aid raise display occupancy and advertising rates while strategic buyouts bode well. However, stiff competition from peers is a woe.

GSG Segment to Benefit Tetra Tech (TTEK) Amid Forex Woes

Per the Zacks analyst, solid traction of Tetra Tech's Government Services Group (GSG) Segment, led by robust water and environmental programs should drive its growth. Forex woes are an added concern.

National Vision (EYE) Store Growth Solid Amid Stiff Rivalry

The Zacks analyst is impressed with National Vision's third-quarter results benefiting from new store openings in America's Best and Eyeglass World brands. Yet, Stiff rivalry remains a concern.

Red Rock (RRR) Banks On Las Vegas Operations, High Costs Ail

Per the Zacks analyst, Red Rock is likely to benefit from Las Vegas operations, cost saving initiatives and development pipeline. However, supply chain disruption and inflationary pressure remain woes

New Upgrades

Solid Customer Demand Drives Archer Daniel's (ADM) Growth

Per the Zacks analyst, Archer Daniel's is gaining from robust demand and solid product portfolio which has been driving growth in all segments. It expects to continue the momentum in 2023.

Rise in Digital Subscribers to Lift NY Times' (NYT) Revenues

Per the Zacks analyst, The New York Times Company benefits from increase in digital subscribers. Management anticipates digital-only subscription revenues to rise 13-16% in first-quarter 2023.

Pro-Investor Steps Aid H&R Block (HRB), Low Liquidity Hurt

Per the Zacks analyst, H&R Block has been consistent with dividends & share repurchases. However, decreasing current ratio is worrisome.

New Downgrades

SM Energy (SM) to Incur Potential Losses Through Hedging

Despite a strong hedging position, SM Energy is likely to incur massive hedging losses due to high commodity prices. This can affect its future cash flow generation, concerning the Zacks analyst.

Focus on Multiple Basins to Hurt Ovintiv (OVV)

The Zacks analyst believes that there appears to be a case for Ovintiv to narrow its focus by divesting some non-core acreages to concentrate more on its core operations.

Silicon Motion (SIMO) Hit by Supply Woes, Production Delays

Per the Zacks analyst, Silicon Motion is likely to be plagued by pandemic-led production delays,, supply chain constraints, sluggishness in the global economy and tense geo-political conditions.

To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

Mon, 13 Feb 2023 06:37:00 -0600 en-US text/html https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/topstocks/top-analyst-reports-for-intel-synopsys-andamp-fedex/ar-AA17qWLT
Killexams : Apple execs discuss how M2 Apple Silicon pushes tech to the limit

Apple's M2 chipset

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Apple's platform architecture VP Tim Millet and product marketing VP Bob Borchers weigh in on the benefits of bringing chip design in-house.

In an interview with TechCrunch, Apple executives sat down to discuss Apple's shift to silicon and what it means for consumers, and where they hope to take the technology.

Millet notes how important a role the iPad Pro played in Apple's choice to switch its Mac lineup to M1.

"Once we started getting to the iPad Pro space, we realized that 'you know what, there is something there.' We never, in building the chips for iOS devices, left anything on the table," Millet says. "But we realized that these chips inside these other enclosures could actually make a meaningful difference from a performance perspective."

When it came time to release its next line of chips, the company wanted to push the boundaries of what was possible. Apple wanted to go bigger and better rather than offer meager performance gains with each new chip.

"The M2 family was really now about maintaining that leadership position by pushing, again, to the limits of technology. We don't leave things on the table," says Millet. "We don't take a 20% bump and figure out how to spread it over three years... figure out how to eke out incremental gains. We take it all in one year; we just hit it really hard. That's not what happens in the rest of the industry or historically."

Millet also touches on Apple's relationship with Intel and how the companies helped each other create better products.

"Intel was a great partner through the years where we shipped the Intel machines. They were very responsive; they really actually were inspired by the direction that Apple pushed them," says Millet. "And I think our products benefited from that interaction. Of course, our competitors' products benefited from that interaction as well sometimes."

Ultimately, though, the design teams at Apple realized there were significant benefits to bringing chip design in-house.

The pair also discussed gaming on Mac, which they admit has been somewhat limited. Still, Borchers believes that strides are being made with each new iteration of the M-series chips.

He cites Capcom's Resident Evil as proof that AAA developers are willing to bring their titles to Mac.

Millet says that Apple hasn't forgotten about gamers, either. The company has been mindful of the market since before the shift to silicon.

"The story starts many years ago, when we were imagining this transition. Gamers are a serious bunch. And I don't think we're going to fool anybody by saying that overnight we're going to make Mac a great gaming platform. We're going to take a long view on this."

The interview closes out with how Apple views getting its systems to as many consumers as it can. This is especially true of its entry-level offerings like the M2 Mac mini, which is priced $100 less than the M1 Mac mini — and $200 cheaper for students.

"We're product people at the end of the day, and we want to put our systems in as many hands as possible," says Borchers. "We feel like the Mac mini form factor is such a great way to unleash creativity and, frankly, goodness in the world that we wanted to be able to put it in as many people's hands as possible."

Mon, 06 Feb 2023 22:40:00 -0600 en text/html https://appleinsider.com/articles/23/02/07/apple-execs-discuss-how-company-pushes-technology-to-the-limit-with-m2
Killexams : MacBook Pro 14-inch (2023) review: portable power

While it arrived later than everyone had hoped and expected, the complete MacBook line up for the M2 generation of Apple silicon has arrived, and confidently so. 

Though neither the 14-inch MacBook Pro we’re reviewing here, nor the 16-inch MacBook Pro for 2023 that we previously looked at, have had the same industrial design makeover that the M2 MacBook Air so stylishly delivered last summer, both arrive with a significant and worthy spec bump to make working on Mac smoother and faster than ever before. It’s a familiar design, but one still a cut above the competition from any other laptop manufacturer.

A 2023 14-inch MacBook Pro on a wooden counter, near a retro lamp.

(Image credit: Gerald Lynch / Future)

And even if there’s little reason for someone with a 2021 M1 MacBook Pro to upgrade to one of the 2023 iterations, there’s lots to consider and be excited about for those making the jump from an Intel MacBook Pro — not to mention some tough choices to be made for anyone with their eye on the gorgeous newer MacBook Air, too, as it slides right up against the 14-inch MacBook Pro for a prime position in your backpack and on your desk.