Unless you're surrounded by a monopoly, or other 'choices' that are vastly substandard. Such as 56k or very-slow adsl, versus high-speed, low-latency cable. 'Choices' -- I'd have to move to get another choice. Hogwash to that point, I say.
Sorry..I clicked "submit" instead of "preview." I had to clarify this a little bit because there was some redundancy . Also, "HTML Formatting" was selected instead of Plain old text. I replied again below which is more readable. =)
This is database architecture and IS used.
It works like this: You tier where your data is stored based on how often it is read.
Depending on your database load, you could use a tier similar to..
1+ reads per second
1+ reads per day
1+ reads per month
1+ reads per 6 months
1+ reads per year (this is your archive/old data level)
Based on your needs, you make data more available; data that isn't used is eventually shelved further back. Eventually unused data migrates toward 'old data' and takes increasingly more time/energy to read, but is still available when needed. Whereas your frequently accessed data is available immediately.
It depends. I had an atheros card with madwifi and I spawned multiple virtual devices, and I could connect to multiple networks at a time. As well as connect to a network and host an AP at the same time. Was pretty easy. (on Debian)
Indeed. I am actually excited about their research in managed operating systems. Which I think will come before 128bit. That's for sure.
With your bare hands?!?