Looking for an 8-port gigabit switch for my home office, to connect and network all of the computers... after a bunch of surfing and review-scanning, I decided to kick it up a notch from an ordinary "desktop" switch to a "managed" switch.... the NetGear GS108T. It seemed that all but the most technical network gearhead reviewers thought that the GS108T is a great value in a switch. Although it's only about US$110, one can't go throwing a tenth of a grand around -- especially when there's so much else to buy with US$110. What tipped the scales in favor was my interest in distributed commodity computing (a la Google's computing clusters made up of cheap, second-generation computers). Not only is a managed, "smart" switch more similar to a real production environment -- the smart-ness referred to is the switch's ability to send network traffic directly to its destination, vs. the standard of broadcasting all network data to all computers -- but it gives a much more detailed view of network traffic. I'll learn how to monitor traffic on my own home network, detect problems or bottlenecks, and maybe prototype a distributed computing cluster of my own.
NetGear GS108T product link
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Thursday, July 31, 2008
PC to HD TV
Looking for how to hook up a PC to a HD TV and get great results. This way, you could leverage investment in an HDTV. I have a 720p Panasonic Plasma 42" and hooking up my PC via the supplied VGA input was abysmal.
Here's a chart showing all the various video and computer resolution "standards."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Video_Standards.png
This writer has a Sharp Aquos LCD, suggests simply getting a TV that advertises compatibility with PC resolutions, and connecting using a DVI cable (since it's a digital signal). Note that full HD, or 1080p, contains 1920 x 1080 pixels. It also has some advancing tuning advice using PowerStrip software.
How to Connect Your TV to Your HDTV (Engadget)
http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/02/08/how-to-connect-your-pc-to-your-hdtv/
Update: found this article, very good, argues that 720p is fine for most (vs. 1080p), with the exception of those choosing to use it for a computer monitor:
720p vs. 1080p HDTV: The final word (David Karney, CNet, December 2007)
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6449_7-6810011-1.html
Here's a chart showing all the various video and computer resolution "standards."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Video_Standards.png
This writer has a Sharp Aquos LCD, suggests simply getting a TV that advertises compatibility with PC resolutions, and connecting using a DVI cable (since it's a digital signal). Note that full HD, or 1080p, contains 1920 x 1080 pixels. It also has some advancing tuning advice using PowerStrip software.
How to Connect Your TV to Your HDTV (Engadget)
http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/02/08/how-to-connect-your-pc-to-your-hdtv/
Update: found this article, very good, argues that 720p is fine for most (vs. 1080p), with the exception of those choosing to use it for a computer monitor:
720p vs. 1080p HDTV: The final word (David Karney, CNet, December 2007)
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6449_7-6810011-1.html
HDTV Resolution Explained (David Katzmaier, CNet)
Saturday, March 15, 2008
What's in Your Bag?
I was putting together a list for this year's Jack Daniels Open in Mesquite, NV... a list of stuff to pack in my golf bag. You'd think the things to include in a golf bag would be fairly obvious, but it's been surprising over the years what I didn't have in my bag.
http://thesandtrap.com/columns/bag_drop/the_other_stuff_in_your_bag
http://thesandtrap.com/columns/bag_drop/the_other_stuff_in_your_bag
My informal list:
- Tees - long and short
- Balls - 6-9 soft/feel, 6-9 hard/distance
- Tape (for fingers cracked raw after many rounds in the desert)
- Sunscreen
- Insect repellent
- Rain cover
- Rain gear - I keep a Microsoft Great Plains water resistant pullover
- Lighter, cigar punch, portable cigar case (with cigars, naturally)
- Ibuprofen / anti inflammatories / aspirin
- Eye drops. In case you have to play soggy ground and catch the ball fat -- and you get a blast of grit, grass, and mud in your eye.
- Ball mark repairer - and a spare one
- Ball markers / dimes
- Spare change-- be prepared - maybe keep a $20 bill stashed for emergencies
- Towel - maybe add a spare for rainy days
- Water - at least 28 oz/liter
- Energy bar - I carry an apple if it's hot or I had to jump out without proper breakfast
- Also great for high energy and protein is turkey jerky. Maybe some gum
- Whisky flask
- Um... clubs. I carry three wedges (Cleveland 56 sand, Cleve 60 lob, Titleist PW). My driver is a King Cobra, and my three-wood and five-wood are Callaway Steelhead Plus (love them).
- Spare pencils -- for scorecards
- Sharpie -- for marking balls
- Spare cleats and cleat tool... although in truth you should get any cleats replaced or changed at the pro shop prior to your round. And I have never had to replace cleats during a round.
- Glove and spare
- Bandages -to repair blisters
- Groove / club cleaner
Want golf balls with an image on them for a special occasion?
http://www.logoballz.com/golf_balls.html
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Espresso and other links
http://coffeegeek.com/guides/howtobuyanespressomachine
"The grinder is an integral, necessary part of making good espresso in the home.
... a quality grinder to freshly grind the coffee to the very precise particle sizes necessary to good extraction. Often, the grinder is the rock star of their little espresso show."
I've often said that I can make a better shot of espresso with a $200 espresso machine and a $400 grinder than I can with a $2,000 espresso machine and no grinder (or a blade grinder)... and it's absolutely true."
[Later added: a good article on the size to grind for espresso, for anyone using a manual grinder or a cheap blade grinder: http://www.espressopeople.com/guides/grinders/grinderjob)
http://coffeegeek.com/guides/frothingguide
http://coffeegeek.com/guides/frothingguide/advancedguide
http://coffeegeek.com/guides/frothingguide/latteartguide
http://coffeegeek.com/guides/frothingguide/examples
http://www.coffeeresearch.org/espresso/potential.htm
"The grinder is an integral, necessary part of making good espresso in the home.
... a quality grinder to freshly grind the coffee to the very precise particle sizes necessary to good extraction. Often, the grinder is the rock star of their little espresso show."
I've often said that I can make a better shot of espresso with a $200 espresso machine and a $400 grinder than I can with a $2,000 espresso machine and no grinder (or a blade grinder)... and it's absolutely true."
[Later added: a good article on the size to grind for espresso, for anyone using a manual grinder or a cheap blade grinder: http://www.espressopeople.com/guides/grinders/grinderjob)
http://coffeegeek.com/guides/frothingguide
http://coffeegeek.com/guides/frothingguide/advancedguide
http://coffeegeek.com/guides/frothingguide/latteartguide
http://coffeegeek.com/guides/frothingguide/examples
http://www.coffeeresearch.org/espresso/potential.htm
Monday, February 11, 2008
Uninstalling Visual Studio 2005
In the aftermath of one of many hard disk crashes, I was determined to fix a problem that has long beset me. I had installed the then-cutting-edge-and-just-released MS Visual Studio 2005 on hard drive "F:". Well, drive "F:" bit the dust one fine day, and to make things worse, it was the entire hard drive which showed failure, and both drives E: and F: were housed on this single mortally wounded Fuji 36GB SCSI hard drive.
All this happening to my beloved development box (Dell PowerEdge 400SC). Eventually it was proven that the disk had not really failed; for some reason, the controller had failed to support the second disk. The first drive, C:, on a different physical hard drive, worked fine. So all this put a crimp in my efforts to replace the "failed" drive with another, working SCSI disk.
In other hardware puzzlings and in reviewing the official Dell technical specs for my two PowerEdge servers (400SC and 1600SC), I noted with surprise and growing delight that the slightly newer 400SC supported SATA natively, via a connector directly on the motherboard. Working with Acronis TrueImage (hard drive backup & restore and general disk utility software -- very good -- about $75 at Office Depot), and applying assiduous and diligent study to the science of hard drives, their mechanisms and physical characteristics (out of interest), SATA vs. SCSI benchmarks and reviews (Tom's Hardware), logical and extended partitions under Windows, boot and primary partitions, and backup and restore software, I managed to recreate and relocate the entire system image onto a single, newer, faster SATA 320GB Seagate Barracuda ES drive, their "enterprise extra-duty" version. (At $99 on NewEgg.com, this was a great deal.)
A side note of surprise on this migration to SATA: I was moving from a solid server-class Fuji MAP3367NP SCSI drive on a LSI Logic controller (the one that failed) to this Seagate Barracuda. It used to take the computer a good while to boot up; part of this, it's true, was the action of the SCSI controller interrogating the SCSI bus for devices (about 10 seconds alone). I would ballpark the total boot time at around 35 to 40 seconds. But with the new SATA drive, the boot and restore-from-hibernation is breathtaking: it's easily less than fifteen seconds from machine being off to booted and at the Windows Server 2003 login screen. Hibernation is equally inspiring, taking around 10 seconds to snapshot everything running to disk and shut down.
But I digress... I had vowed that tonight would be the night that I restored Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, which had been installed on the now-absent F: drive. It currently wouldn't run, and it wouldn't uninstall or repair -- I got an error about a program file directory that didn't exist -- so I was stuck. A few Googles later, I found a Microsoft article explaining how to do it, and though relatively tedious, was also straightforward, took about 15 minutes, and did the job.
How to Remove Visual Studio 2005
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/907965
All this happening to my beloved development box (Dell PowerEdge 400SC). Eventually it was proven that the disk had not really failed; for some reason, the controller had failed to support the second disk. The first drive, C:, on a different physical hard drive, worked fine. So all this put a crimp in my efforts to replace the "failed" drive with another, working SCSI disk.
In other hardware puzzlings and in reviewing the official Dell technical specs for my two PowerEdge servers (400SC and 1600SC), I noted with surprise and growing delight that the slightly newer 400SC supported SATA natively, via a connector directly on the motherboard. Working with Acronis TrueImage (hard drive backup & restore and general disk utility software -- very good -- about $75 at Office Depot), and applying assiduous and diligent study to the science of hard drives, their mechanisms and physical characteristics (out of interest), SATA vs. SCSI benchmarks and reviews (Tom's Hardware), logical and extended partitions under Windows, boot and primary partitions, and backup and restore software, I managed to recreate and relocate the entire system image onto a single, newer, faster SATA 320GB Seagate Barracuda ES drive, their "enterprise extra-duty" version. (At $99 on NewEgg.com, this was a great deal.)
A side note of surprise on this migration to SATA: I was moving from a solid server-class Fuji MAP3367NP SCSI drive on a LSI Logic controller (the one that failed) to this Seagate Barracuda. It used to take the computer a good while to boot up; part of this, it's true, was the action of the SCSI controller interrogating the SCSI bus for devices (about 10 seconds alone). I would ballpark the total boot time at around 35 to 40 seconds. But with the new SATA drive, the boot and restore-from-hibernation is breathtaking: it's easily less than fifteen seconds from machine being off to booted and at the Windows Server 2003 login screen. Hibernation is equally inspiring, taking around 10 seconds to snapshot everything running to disk and shut down.
But I digress... I had vowed that tonight would be the night that I restored Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, which had been installed on the now-absent F: drive. It currently wouldn't run, and it wouldn't uninstall or repair -- I got an error about a program file directory that didn't exist -- so I was stuck. A few Googles later, I found a Microsoft article explaining how to do it, and though relatively tedious, was also straightforward, took about 15 minutes, and did the job.
How to Remove Visual Studio 2005
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/907965
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Darwin Visits My Desk
Ever noticed how your electrical and computer cords always seem to become tangled? Especially the coiled ones like a headphone cord... this might be exactly the same mechanism by which DNA interacts; it's the well-known double-helix that "slides" against other DNA strands and other things.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
The Zen of MP3 and other stories
Still struggling to get my 8,000+ music library synced to the newly endowed 120GB Zen jukebox... although it got through about 6600 of the tracks, WMP experienced an i/o timeout or something.
Dennis Burton's new Develop Using .Net blog:
http://developusing.net/
A good treatise on multi-booting OS's. Clears up the confusion between primary, extended, and logical hard drive partitions. Boot loaders as well.
http://www.vsubhash.com/writeups/multiboot_os.asp
PC World: Avoid Static Damage to Your PC
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,82184-page,1/article.html
"Static electricity is much more common than you might think... Walk across that rug and touch a grounded metal object, and the voltage can be in the 10,000-to-12,000-volt range.... But for PC upgrades, the important thing to remember is that while a static shock must be 3500 to 4000 volts before you can feel it, it's the voltage below that level that is common, and insidious. It's entirely possible that you'll open up your PC, plug in an add-in card or some RAM, never have any sensation of static, and still have zapped the electronics. That's because the integrated circuits can be damaged or destroyed by static voltages as low as 400 volts."
"What's worse is that the component you installed may appear to be fine, but days, weeks, or months later your PC may lock up or start acting strangely... it's essential that PCs be unplugged when you work with them."
Also:
http://www.ontrackdatarecovery.com/static-hard-drive/
http://www.build-your-own-cheap-computer.com/static-electricity.html
http://www.google.com/search?q=static+damage+computer+components+hard+drive&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
Dennis Burton's new Develop Using .Net blog:
http://developusing.net/
A good treatise on multi-booting OS's. Clears up the confusion between primary, extended, and logical hard drive partitions. Boot loaders as well.
http://www.vsubhash.com/writeups/multiboot_os.asp
PC World: Avoid Static Damage to Your PC
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,82184-page,1/article.html
"Static electricity is much more common than you might think... Walk across that rug and touch a grounded metal object, and the voltage can be in the 10,000-to-12,000-volt range.... But for PC upgrades, the important thing to remember is that while a static shock must be 3500 to 4000 volts before you can feel it, it's the voltage below that level that is common, and insidious. It's entirely possible that you'll open up your PC, plug in an add-in card or some RAM, never have any sensation of static, and still have zapped the electronics. That's because the integrated circuits can be damaged or destroyed by static voltages as low as 400 volts."
"What's worse is that the component you installed may appear to be fine, but days, weeks, or months later your PC may lock up or start acting strangely... it's essential that PCs be unplugged when you work with them."
Also:
http://www.ontrackdatarecovery.com/static-hard-drive/
http://www.build-your-own-cheap-computer.com/static-electricity.html
http://www.google.com/search?q=static+damage+computer+components+hard+drive&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
Saturday, January 19, 2008
More storage tech...
Bicameral day... having firmware issues with the Zen Jukebox after failing to sync my library with it in a number of ways (WMP 10, NotMad). Tried updating the firmware to "Plays for Sure" and that for sure didn't play -- the Nomad boots into Rescue Mode and the computer won't recognize it any more to upgrade the firmware.
On the storage side of things, still trying to figure out whether I should invest in SCSI or SATA, as well as whether to buy a new box (e.g. with faster CPU, SATA RAID built-in, etc).
On storage: AnandTech's Server Guide Part 2, which explains seek time vs. latency, as well as compares a SATA drive with a SCSI drive:
http://www.anandtech.com/IT/showdoc.aspx?i=2859
FireWire vs. USB 2.0:
http://www.cwol.com/firewire/firewire-vs-usb.htm
On the storage side of things, still trying to figure out whether I should invest in SCSI or SATA, as well as whether to buy a new box (e.g. with faster CPU, SATA RAID built-in, etc).
On storage: AnandTech's Server Guide Part 2, which explains seek time vs. latency, as well as compares a SATA drive with a SCSI drive:
http://www.anandtech.com/IT/showdoc.aspx?i=2859
FireWire vs. USB 2.0:
http://www.cwol.com/firewire/firewire-vs-usb.htm
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Swapping out hard drives
The Zen JukeBox hard drive upgrade to 120 GB was as simple as pie... syncing my entire collection to it now...
Regarding upgrading my lowly 36 GB SCSI drive:
Swapping your board without so much as a reinstall
http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/77909774/m/1400925745
http://www.mostlycreativeworkshop.com/Article11.html
How to replace the motherboard on a computer that is running Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, or Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;824125
Regarding upgrading my lowly 36 GB SCSI drive:
Swapping your board without so much as a reinstall
http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/77909774/m/1400925745
http://www.mostlycreativeworkshop.com/Article11.html
How to replace the motherboard on a computer that is running Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, or Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;824125
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Upgrading my Creative Zen Jukebox
Found out that I could upgrade my 40GB Zen Jukebox Xtra to 80, 100, or more GB via published "hacks."
http://www.aoaforums.com/forum/general-hardware-discussion/36570-upgrading-your-creative-zen-xtras-hard.html
http://monkeybum.pierceitshop.co.uk/2007/05/upgrading-30gb-zen-xtra-to-60gb.html
http://home.mchsi.com/~sallad/zen/tutorial.html
Bought a 120GB WD Scorpio for $70 + shipping from NewEgg.com:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136130
http://www.aoaforums.com/forum/general-hardware-discussion/36570-upgrading-your-creative-zen-xtras-hard.html
http://monkeybum.pierceitshop.co.uk/2007/05/upgrading-30gb-zen-xtra-to-60gb.html
http://home.mchsi.com/~sallad/zen/tutorial.html
Bought a 120GB WD Scorpio for $70 + shipping from NewEgg.com:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136130
Monday, January 07, 2008
Hard drive wanderings
Explanations of hard drives and their use that reach down to the level of electronic ciruitry and rotational platter dynamics:
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/op/cacheCircuitry-c.html
Cache size: http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/perf/perf/spec/other_Cache.htm
SATA vs. PATA: http://pcworld.about.com/magazine/2206p164id115629.htm
Basically the best hard drive overview I have ever read. It includes details about everything from heads, areal densities, platters, read-write mechanism, and more: http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/op/index.htm
My Dell PowerEdge 1600SC server: http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/pedge/en/1600sc_specs.pdf
A guy taking apart his Quantum Fireball:
http://www.takeitapart.net/archives/quantum-fireball-ex-hard-drive/
A cogent post on why it's better to leave your computer on most of the time. I will have to put my power meter on my NAS (has 3 x 500 GB drives in it) to see how much it really does use.
http://www.pcguide.com/care/care/gen/power_PM.htm
But another opinion (from the same guide) that seems to suggest that even powering up & down 10x per day for years is not close to the duty cycle of most drives:
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/perf/qual/spec.htm
Canvas prints at Shutterfly:
http://www.shutterfly.com/shop/product_c10065-p2004/Prints_Posters_Canvas_Prints
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/op/cacheCircuitry-c.html
Cache size: http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/perf/perf/spec/other_Cache.htm
SATA vs. PATA: http://pcworld.about.com/magazine/2206p164id115629.htm
Basically the best hard drive overview I have ever read. It includes details about everything from heads, areal densities, platters, read-write mechanism, and more: http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/op/index.htm
My Dell PowerEdge 1600SC server: http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/pedge/en/1600sc_specs.pdf
A guy taking apart his Quantum Fireball:
http://www.takeitapart.net/archives/quantum-fireball-ex-hard-drive/
A cogent post on why it's better to leave your computer on most of the time. I will have to put my power meter on my NAS (has 3 x 500 GB drives in it) to see how much it really does use.
http://www.pcguide.com/care/care/gen/power_PM.htm
But another opinion (from the same guide) that seems to suggest that even powering up & down 10x per day for years is not close to the duty cycle of most drives:
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/perf/qual/spec.htm
Canvas prints at Shutterfly:
http://www.shutterfly.com/shop/product_c10065-p2004/Prints_Posters_Canvas_Prints
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Declutter Your Office
An excellent site sharing how to declutter your home office of high-tech equipment in a cheap & effective way.
http://www.decluttered.com/
"Organized gadget owner Van Mardian cleared his desktop by mounting all his peripherals - external hard drives, USB hubs, network router - under his desk with pegboard and wire" (via LifeHacker)
http://www.decluttered.com/
"Organized gadget owner Van Mardian cleared his desktop by mounting all his peripherals - external hard drives, USB hubs, network router - under his desk with pegboard and wire" (via LifeHacker)
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
SharePoint event log errors
I found my event log on COGNAC chock full of SharePoint errors, almost one every five seconds!
Event Type: ErrorEvent Source: Windows SharePoint Services 2.0Event Category: NoneEvent ID: 1000Date: 11/14/2007Time: 10:27:58 PMUser: N/AComputer: COGNACDescription:#50070: Unable to connect to the database SPS01_Config_db on COGNAC. Check the database connection information and make sure that the database server is running.
For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
I have been trying to use the SharePoint Central Admin web gui to rectify or turn off this condition for the last 20 mins, to no avail. Before I uninstall SharePoint Services from this box (I don't really use them), i figure a quick Google search is in order:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%2350070%3A+Unable+to+connect+to+the+database+SPS01_Config_db
Which lead me to
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=900498&FR=1
But better resource looked to be the blog
http://blogs.msdn.com/cgideon/archive/2006/05/24/605454.aspx
which lead me to another Microsoft support article:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;833183
None seems to have the sanwer. I'm just about ready to uninstall...
Then I tried turning off the SharePoint Timer service... This worked. I assume that no SP services will be active, but a little easier than uninstalling.
Event Type: ErrorEvent Source: Windows SharePoint Services 2.0Event Category: NoneEvent ID: 1000Date: 11/14/2007Time: 10:27:58 PMUser: N/AComputer: COGNACDescription:#50070: Unable to connect to the database SPS01_Config_db on COGNAC. Check the database connection information and make sure that the database server is running.
For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
I have been trying to use the SharePoint Central Admin web gui to rectify or turn off this condition for the last 20 mins, to no avail. Before I uninstall SharePoint Services from this box (I don't really use them), i figure a quick Google search is in order:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%2350070%3A+Unable+to+connect+to+the+database+SPS01_Config_db
Which lead me to
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=900498&FR=1
But better resource looked to be the blog
http://blogs.msdn.com/cgideon/archive/2006/05/24/605454.aspx
which lead me to another Microsoft support article:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;833183
None seems to have the sanwer. I'm just about ready to uninstall...
Then I tried turning off the SharePoint Timer service... This worked. I assume that no SP services will be active, but a little easier than uninstalling.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
RAID 5 and Other Stories
How does RAID 5 actually work? It might have implications on distributed computing architectures.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_RAID_levels#RAID_5
Parity, Hamming codes, distance-based checks, CRCs and polynomial codes of construction, error-correcting codes (ECC, the same stuff used for computer RAM memory and hard drives), TCP/IP:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Error-correcting_code
Interesting article on the effect of enclosures on the reliability of hard drive storage:
http://www.wiebetech.com/whitepapers/Storage_Enclosure_Reliability.pdf
Interesting link on nanotech from my brother:
http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/18514/page1/
Cool link of the week (or whatever):
http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_RAID_levels#RAID_5
Parity, Hamming codes, distance-based checks, CRCs and polynomial codes of construction, error-correcting codes (ECC, the same stuff used for computer RAM memory and hard drives), TCP/IP:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Error-correcting_code
Interesting article on the effect of enclosures on the reliability of hard drive storage:
http://www.wiebetech.com/whitepapers/Storage_Enclosure_Reliability.pdf
Interesting link on nanotech from my brother:
http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/18514/page1/
Cool link of the week (or whatever):
http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Home NAS Solution
If you know me, you are probably familiar with the freak occurrence that took down in succession a RAID card channel, an IDE RAID drive (or two), and a Dell PowerEdge server SCSI boot drive… After a lot of research (over days and weeks), as well as some key advice from a trusted IT advisor (thanks Steve), I selected and ordered a network storage solution that while not cheap, is pretty affordable and pretty well guarantees that my pictures, docs, and other data will always be available. Hope this is useful… -- Keith
Infrant ReadyNAS NV+ RNV2-S2-0000, no pre-installed HDD with 4 empty disk trays, support X-RAID and RAID 0/1/5, 256MB memory, Silver, SFF desktop - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822329023
This guy is hot-swappable, gigabit-connected, low form factor, low power, and has 4 SATA slots supporting up to 750 GB each (up to 3 TB); and in addition to supporting RAID-5 etc has a cool feature called X-RAID, where you can add disks as you go and it will automatically expand the array.
Following the grit-your-teeth project mandate (“data is valuable”), I opted to start with two enterprise-class server drives (Seagate Barracuda ES drives, below), paying a premium. While you can get consumer SATA drives of 500GB for around $140/ea plus shipping at NewEgg.com, one reads a lot about drives that are DOA, failed after a month, etc. This makes sense and actually matches my experience with the cheaper consumer drives.
With RAID overhead, etc. this should give me a working NAS of around 650 GB. Not bad…
Seagate Barracuda ES ST3500630NS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $199
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148151
Got two of these; can take advantage of price drops in the future to pick up a couple more.
The ReadyNAS has a USB 2.0 output to allow a preconfigured backup, so I bought a USB enclosure and another, smaller enterprise Barracuda ES 250GB. This I will use to back up critical stuff (pictures, documents). I will use Microsoft Backup (or similar) to schedule local computer backups to the NAS, and possibly something like Acronis TrueImage to “image” boot drives to the NAS (so I can simply re-image a new hard drive if a boot drive fails).
To leave no power issues (quality, spikes/surges, brownouts, failures, etc) to chance, I got a APC Smart-UPS 750VA, which not only provides power backup, but a little power conditioning as well as power graphs showing history and quality.
Anyway, I pasted the whole order below for your convenience if you’re interested. -- Keith
Products
Qty.
Product Description
Total Price
Item(s) shipped from CA Tracking Number:
2
Seagate Barracuda ES ST3500630NS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEMItem #: N82E16822148151 Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy
$399.98
2
OKGEAR SATA II cable with metal latch,UV Model GC10AUBM12 - RetailItem #: N82E16812123108 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$5.98
Item(s) shipped from NJ Tracking Number:
1
Seagate Barracuda ES ST3320620NS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEMItem #: N82E16822148215 Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy
$99.99
1
Infrant ReadyNAS RNV2-S2-0000 Diskless System The Superior NAS for Office and Home - RetailItem #: N82E16822329023 Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy
$615.99
1
AMC VGA, With dual ferrites Male to Female Monitor Cable Model CSV-F25MF - OEMItem #: N82E16812105804 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$9.99
1
OKGEAR 20" SATA Power Cable Model GC20ATA - RetailItem #: N82E16812123168 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$3.99
1
OKGEAR SATA II CABLE-UV BLUE Model GC10AUBM - RetailItem #: N82E16812123107 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$2.99
2
OKGEAR 6" molex 4pin male to two 15pin SATA Power Cable Model GC6ATAM2 - RetailItem #: N82E16812123119 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$3.78
2
Link Depot UV Power Cord into SATA Power Cable Model POW-UV-SATA - RetailItem #: N82E16812189005 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$3.98
Item(s) shipped from TN Tracking Number:
1
AZiO ENC311SU41 3.5" eSATA + USB 2.0 External Enclosure - RetailItem #: N82E16817106097 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Infrant ReadyNAS NV+ RNV2-S2-0000, no pre-installed HDD with 4 empty disk trays, support X-RAID and RAID 0/1/5, 256MB memory, Silver, SFF desktop - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822329023
This guy is hot-swappable, gigabit-connected, low form factor, low power, and has 4 SATA slots supporting up to 750 GB each (up to 3 TB); and in addition to supporting RAID-5 etc has a cool feature called X-RAID, where you can add disks as you go and it will automatically expand the array.
Following the grit-your-teeth project mandate (“data is valuable”), I opted to start with two enterprise-class server drives (Seagate Barracuda ES drives, below), paying a premium. While you can get consumer SATA drives of 500GB for around $140/ea plus shipping at NewEgg.com, one reads a lot about drives that are DOA, failed after a month, etc. This makes sense and actually matches my experience with the cheaper consumer drives.
With RAID overhead, etc. this should give me a working NAS of around 650 GB. Not bad…
Seagate Barracuda ES ST3500630NS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $199
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148151
Got two of these; can take advantage of price drops in the future to pick up a couple more.
The ReadyNAS has a USB 2.0 output to allow a preconfigured backup, so I bought a USB enclosure and another, smaller enterprise Barracuda ES 250GB. This I will use to back up critical stuff (pictures, documents). I will use Microsoft Backup (or similar) to schedule local computer backups to the NAS, and possibly something like Acronis TrueImage to “image” boot drives to the NAS (so I can simply re-image a new hard drive if a boot drive fails).
To leave no power issues (quality, spikes/surges, brownouts, failures, etc) to chance, I got a APC Smart-UPS 750VA, which not only provides power backup, but a little power conditioning as well as power graphs showing history and quality.
Anyway, I pasted the whole order below for your convenience if you’re interested. -- Keith
Products
Qty.
Product Description
Total Price
Item(s) shipped from CA Tracking Number:
2
Seagate Barracuda ES ST3500630NS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEMItem #: N82E16822148151 Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy
$399.98
2
OKGEAR SATA II cable with metal latch,UV Model GC10AUBM12 - RetailItem #: N82E16812123108 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$5.98
Item(s) shipped from NJ Tracking Number:
1
Seagate Barracuda ES ST3320620NS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEMItem #: N82E16822148215 Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy
$99.99
1
Infrant ReadyNAS RNV2-S2-0000 Diskless System The Superior NAS for Office and Home - RetailItem #: N82E16822329023 Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy
$615.99
1
AMC VGA, With dual ferrites Male to Female Monitor Cable Model CSV-F25MF - OEMItem #: N82E16812105804 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$9.99
1
OKGEAR 20" SATA Power Cable Model GC20ATA - RetailItem #: N82E16812123168 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$3.99
1
OKGEAR SATA II CABLE-UV BLUE Model GC10AUBM - RetailItem #: N82E16812123107 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$2.99
2
OKGEAR 6" molex 4pin male to two 15pin SATA Power Cable Model GC6ATAM2 - RetailItem #: N82E16812123119 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$3.78
2
Link Depot UV Power Cord into SATA Power Cable Model POW-UV-SATA - RetailItem #: N82E16812189005 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$3.98
Item(s) shipped from TN Tracking Number:
1
AZiO ENC311SU41 3.5" eSATA + USB 2.0 External Enclosure - RetailItem #: N82E16817106097 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Amazon Wish Lists
Looks like a fascinating post on Amazon wishlists... I was just up on my wish list, poking around -- especially trying to understand its security and privacy features, which it doesn't seem to have -- and came across this article after a web search.
Data Mining 101: Finding Subversives with Amazon Wishlists
http://www.applefritter.com/bannedbooks
A link from Boing Boing:
http://www.boingboing.net/2006/01/04/data_mining_101_find.html
Data Mining 101: Finding Subversives with Amazon Wishlists
http://www.applefritter.com/bannedbooks
A link from Boing Boing:
http://www.boingboing.net/2006/01/04/data_mining_101_find.html
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Studying photography... and Digging for "dirt"
Read the "levels" tutorial at http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/levels.htm (really a well-done site). Would love to be able to print some nice-quality large format prints to put up in my office.
Other sites of interest, found while trawling:
GanttPV - Open Source Project Management
http://www.pureviolet.net/ganttpv/index.html
A blog post: 30 Essential Open Source Packages for Windows
http://www.digg.com/software/30_Essential_Open_Source_Software_Packages_for_Windows
Another link to it: http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2006/12/01/30-essential-pieces-of-free-and-open-software-for-windows/
Digg.com. Off the hook on Digg: Stack and Swarm -- these innovative interfaces show what is happening on the site in real time.
http://labs.digg.com/stack/
http://labs.digg.com/swarm/
For fun... FreeMind - free Mind-Mapping Software
http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
True Combat: Elite. Not that I support violent games, but I cannot deny that my brother Derek and I spent many a night after work at StratosWare, hunched over Wolfenstein and Doom. I was surprised to find a free, open-source version on the net.
http://www.truecombatelite.net/
Detecting air leaks in your home. A couple easy suggestions for reducing or eliminating drafts and cold air in your house in the winter months. Makes it comfortable and saves energy.
http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/insulation_airsealing/index.cfm/mytopic=11250
Other sites of interest, found while trawling:
GanttPV - Open Source Project Management
http://www.pureviolet.net/ganttpv/index.html
A blog post: 30 Essential Open Source Packages for Windows
http://www.digg.com/software/30_Essential_Open_Source_Software_Packages_for_Windows
Another link to it: http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2006/12/01/30-essential-pieces-of-free-and-open-software-for-windows/
Digg.com. Off the hook on Digg: Stack and Swarm -- these innovative interfaces show what is happening on the site in real time.
http://labs.digg.com/stack/
http://labs.digg.com/swarm/
For fun... FreeMind - free Mind-Mapping Software
http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
True Combat: Elite. Not that I support violent games, but I cannot deny that my brother Derek and I spent many a night after work at StratosWare, hunched over Wolfenstein and Doom. I was surprised to find a free, open-source version on the net.
http://www.truecombatelite.net/
Detecting air leaks in your home. A couple easy suggestions for reducing or eliminating drafts and cold air in your house in the winter months. Makes it comfortable and saves energy.
http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/insulation_airsealing/index.cfm/mytopic=11250
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Electronics
Surfing up to learn about electronics, in preparation for waging assault on our non-functioning dimmable kitchen low-voltage pendant lights. Primarily, I was motivated by a desire to avoid powerful electric shocks, showers of sparks, or other things involving singeing or smoking.
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-16,GGLD:en&q=current+hose+voltage+resistance+electronics+electricity+electrons
Actually, I believe I was investigating light sensors and other realms of automation, such as computer-controlled machines or devices that interacted with the real world. I stumbled across a site that began its discourse on the electronic control ofthings with a study of the underlying foundation of electricity. What a nice confluence of events: have always wanted to play with this kind of stuff, plus learning about electricity might help me with my future kitchen lighting repairs. So for about an hour I studied the nature of electrons (large numbers of them), voltage, current, resistance, and work.
"... we have learned that charge is present in matter in the form of nuclei and electrons. Evidently all these electrical phenomena boil down to the motion of charged particles in matter."
LightAndMatter.com
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-16,GGLD:en&q=current+hose+voltage+resistance+electronics+electricity+electrons
Actually, I believe I was investigating light sensors and other realms of automation, such as computer-controlled machines or devices that interacted with the real world. I stumbled across a site that began its discourse on the electronic control ofthings with a study of the underlying foundation of electricity. What a nice confluence of events: have always wanted to play with this kind of stuff, plus learning about electricity might help me with my future kitchen lighting repairs. So for about an hour I studied the nature of electrons (large numbers of them), voltage, current, resistance, and work.
"... we have learned that charge is present in matter in the form of nuclei and electrons. Evidently all these electrical phenomena boil down to the motion of charged particles in matter."
LightAndMatter.com
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Grocery shopping on Amazon
Amazon is now selling groceries... how cool is that? I went up and ordered a ton of stuff -- the prices are great. It's a bulk-sale concept --most of the items come in four-packs, six-packs, twelve-packs, etc. But what's nice is that instead of humongous packages (like Sam's Club and Costco), the packages are smaller size, which is easier to store, take to work, picnic, etc.
In addition, since I signed up for Amazon Prime, all two-day shipping is free. (See my earlier post on Amazon Prime.)
I returned the next day to find that they also have a personalized "shopping list." One of the reasons this online venture is so exciting to is that I was thinking about it in the early 90's... even prior to the Webvan debacle. With Amazon joining in a sensible, sustainable, usable way, online grocery shopping may be about to hit its prime.
Amazon Grocery beta:
http://www.amazon.com/b/103-5521853-8669441?ie=UTF8&node=16310101
In addition, since I signed up for Amazon Prime, all two-day shipping is free. (See my earlier post on Amazon Prime.)
I returned the next day to find that they also have a personalized "shopping list." One of the reasons this online venture is so exciting to is that I was thinking about it in the early 90's... even prior to the Webvan debacle. With Amazon joining in a sensible, sustainable, usable way, online grocery shopping may be about to hit its prime.
Amazon Grocery beta:
http://www.amazon.com/b/103-5521853-8669441?ie=UTF8&node=16310101
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Sharpening the Saw
Today was the day to tackle computer hardware issues.
My trusty power-forward Dell PowerEdge 400SC would hang on a normal boot and would require manual intervention to boot, using the "Boot Logging" option under WS2003. Then Google KeyHole (the earth viewing software) complained about OpenGL (advanced graphics stuff) not being enabled (makes everything faster). This wasn't a big problem, as the system has been rock-solid stable, and I never have to restart unless a new software app requires it.
But I had installed a pretty capable graphics card -- an ATI RADEON 9600 Pro 256 MB -- and I suspected the display driver. I uninstalled all ATI and Omega drivers, then installed only the ATI display driver (not the Catalyst management package). This worked great -- but now the Dell was freezing occasionally after loading the LSI Logic SCSI driver. Hmmm... not especially good.
I investigated the LSI Logic MPT IS BIOS... not especially clear on their web site, but there was a warning about "IS" BIOS: get your upgrades from your vendor (Dell in my case). A search of the Dell site yielded little. But I checked the PowerEdge 400SC downloads and noticed that the current bios (version A05) was out of date (newest is A10). A system BIOS issue could cause any number of boot issues, so I downloaded the update. Trying to install (flash) the new bios, I received the error "Flash access denied". I will save you the gory details, but I had to burn a bootable DOS CD to be able to run the update... thanks to Nero, it was easy. I also installed a new "backplane driver" from Dell that seemed to be out of date.
The result... Success! The PowerEdge is back to booting normally, and the system is taking full advantage of the power of the ATI graphics card. A very satisfying result for that much playing with drivers: usually the going is a lot rougher.
My trusty power-forward Dell PowerEdge 400SC would hang on a normal boot and would require manual intervention to boot, using the "Boot Logging" option under WS2003. Then Google KeyHole (the earth viewing software) complained about OpenGL (advanced graphics stuff) not being enabled (makes everything faster). This wasn't a big problem, as the system has been rock-solid stable, and I never have to restart unless a new software app requires it.
But I had installed a pretty capable graphics card -- an ATI RADEON 9600 Pro 256 MB -- and I suspected the display driver. I uninstalled all ATI and Omega drivers, then installed only the ATI display driver (not the Catalyst management package). This worked great -- but now the Dell was freezing occasionally after loading the LSI Logic SCSI driver. Hmmm... not especially good.
I investigated the LSI Logic MPT IS BIOS... not especially clear on their web site, but there was a warning about "IS" BIOS: get your upgrades from your vendor (Dell in my case). A search of the Dell site yielded little. But I checked the PowerEdge 400SC downloads and noticed that the current bios (version A05) was out of date (newest is A10). A system BIOS issue could cause any number of boot issues, so I downloaded the update. Trying to install (flash) the new bios, I received the error "Flash access denied". I will save you the gory details, but I had to burn a bootable DOS CD to be able to run the update... thanks to Nero, it was easy. I also installed a new "backplane driver" from Dell that seemed to be out of date.
The result... Success! The PowerEdge is back to booting normally, and the system is taking full advantage of the power of the ATI graphics card. A very satisfying result for that much playing with drivers: usually the going is a lot rougher.
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