Abstract: A valve actuation system and method for use in an internal combustion engine including at least one combustion cylinder having a piston and an engine valve. The valve actuation system includes a hydraulic pump, a high-pressure reservoir, and an electro-hydraulic valve actuator. The hydraulic pump is configured to produce a hydraulic output based on a valve-piston clearance profile of at least one cylinder of the combustion engine. The high-pressure reservoir is coupled with the hydraulic pump. The electro-hydraulic valve actuator is coupled with the high-pressure reservoir via a first control valve and configured to actuate at least one engine valve of the combustion engine according to an output of the hydraulic pump.

Abstract: A method and system for parallel back-up of a plurality of client computers on a network, in particular, a local area network or wide area network. Each client computer has a local storage device that stores files. A number of back-up storage devices are organized into groups, with each back-up storage devices being a member of one group. A server computer is coupled to the plurality of back-up storage devices by a bus and is also coupled to the network. The server computer for executing a back-up job. The server computer accepts parameters for the back-up job, the parameters including a source parameter specifying a set of the client computers and a destination parameter specifying a group. The server computer receives files from each one of the set of client computers specified in the source parameter in parallel. Each received file is stored on one of the back-up storage devices being a member of the group specified in the destination parameter.