30something geek blog

Is 1Gbit Lan fast enough for the home any more?

brianballard — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 17:08:28 +0000

The other day I had the misfortune to have a dodgy 1.5TB disk in my main desktop development machine… Now I keep a backup of this drive on a secondary 1.5TB drive… however at the time I wasn’t sure the basis of the problem, so I figured I would make a second copy of my data across my network To my RAID-5 server. Now sadly I forgot the server only had a 100Mb card in it… and over 20 hours later to copy the 900GB+ of data it was done. So I swapped it out later to GB Lan to improve timescales for emergency backups. But even then, I realized that real world performance across my network still means this is hours of time to back up the data… I never thought I would think GB lan too slow, but these days I have every CD I Own ripped, every DVD I own ripped for use in my WDTV Live, I have 50GB+ of photographs, RAW DV footage from my HD video camera… The requirements to move data across a home network have changed… suddenly Gbit doesn’t seem so fast any more.

its hard being a Git

brianballard — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 04:03:58 +0000

So through my development years I’ve evolved in the source control I have used from RCS to SCCS, to CVS…and aside from horrible sidetracking to PVCS, Synergy and a few other nasty solutions I stuck with CVS. I stuck with CVS after looking at Subversion repeatedly… the “Improvement” wasn’t in my opinion. Atomic commits were about all I wished on top of CVS…but to be honest being CM to a team of developers I think we only had an issue with that once or twice in over 5 years. SVN lost me so much, the loss of true TAGs and Branching… forcing version numbers on all files instead of just those changing… enough to make my CM life hell. So anyway times have changed and i’m a recent convert to Git… Or rather try to be. Git seems great if you are hacking on Linux…. working on smaller projects but support within boring old Java based enterprise development seems less integrated. So far working with eclipse and/or netbeans im finding it less fun than I hoped. Rather i’m trying to find a clear and easy path so that in future new developers can come up to speed fast and work well from within their IDE of choice. I’m hoping everything becomes clearer soon… guess im just an old Dog, hate learning new tricks

Sometimes Linux is the only answer

brianballard — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 05:28:22 +0000

So ive been a linux user since early 1995…. and its been my business for years for server management and development. But being an older jaded IT guy I just use the best tool for the job these days, no evangalising. But occasionally something reminds me why I love Linux. So a few nightmare moments with new WD 1.5TB Green drive that seems to have data issues in Windows 7. So I needed to move about 850GB of data across my network, and keep it in sync over several days till I can re-install onto a new drive. Stupidly I tried just doing it via SMB…. but I should know better, Windows 7 was stuttering due to bad data, even cygwin wasnt the answer

So in intead I boot an Ubuntu boot disk, fire up a terminal session…and rsync saves the day… all I can say is never forget rsync, what a lovely tool.

rsync -ave ssh folderonthismachine username@server:/folder/
what a lovely command!

Google docs – what a dissapointment

brianballard — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 18:32:58 +0000

Well as I move into a new business venture focusing on services provided within the cloud. I was feeling the “love” for Google have a great time working with Google App Engine and GWT. So… silly me I thought I would go one step further, lets create all documentation from within Google Docs. It’s up to the task right?

Sadly, I would have to say the answer after two or three days trying to cope is a big NO. first impressions made me feel that it really was going to be ok. Sadly after my third table inserted I realized I had no ability format the table to look at least basically presentable. Where is the ability to format the table. Or remove borders? Then the font limitation hit me, then picture and diagram limitations became issues. I soon realised that sure its OK for basic document/note management but its in no way a real word processor.

That’s ok I guess… but I guess I will switch back to Open Office for now, it was also a timely reminder that gloss and a 5 minute play around don’t give you a true impression of any tool you use.

Stepping BACK into the world of Windows 7.

brianballard — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 06:49:28 +0000

As with all things new and shiny… the novelty wears off. Or rather in the case of Windows 7, the RC time period ran out. So for the 6 or so months its been back to the world of XP. Not that it bothers me, I still have a lot of respect for XP, it gets the job done. But I finally decided to run with Windows 7 again…so here I am.

I love it, and I hate it. Or rather, I hate the fact that my DFI Lanparty NF4 motherboard seems slightly flaky under Windows 7, as does my trusty old X800 based ATI card. So basically much of my kit is officially supported in Windows 7 and no-one seems to want to release drivers… Some things never change (shudders at the thought of money wasted many many moons ago when my parallel scanner was no longer supported after W98). It would seem my internal soundcard causes some instability.. My gfx is limited back in DX9 days if I choose the ATI driver the price of progress I guess. A shame as on paper its still dual core 4200+ based machines with 2 GB of OCZ ram… and actually runs Windows 7 well….or rather would without odd stuttering and lockup sometimes. But in raw horsepower for a development machine it would otherwise be good.

But on the whole I like windows 7. I think I would like it a whole lot more with 6 cores, 8GB ram, an SSD drive… a man can dream!

Stepping into the world of Windows 7

brianballard — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 22:34:00 +0000

Ok, in the IT profession it pays to keep ahead of technologies you know you will have to face one day. So far I have managed to mostly dodge the Vista bullet both at home and in the office. But I fear the same cannot be said of Windows 7. As much as I think XP does a fine job of being windows, its getting older and for hardware and software companies alike is no longer their major focus. So I know I will be dragged away from XP eventually kicking and screaming. or so I thought….

I finally downloaded the Windows 7 Release Candidate the other day to see if the pain I suffered at the hands of Vista were less evident… and after 48 hours use, well, im actually Ok with it.

So here is my checklist for plus/minuses of a new Windows 7 RC install. The machine is an older Athlon 64 dual core 300+ with 2GB ram and a cheap 7300GS gfx card.

Positive:

Fast install. I was up and running on the machine much faster than XP would install
Machine response was very impressive. Much fast than historical Vista usage in similar spec’ed machine.
Startup time from bootup very impressive.

Negative:

Control panel / Systems management still a mess. I still miss the old style of control panel for just getting admin done.
restore time from sleep can take an age. I like OSX that is usually about 3 seconds to be usable. Windows 7 is nearer 15 seconds once its truely woken up.
Still seems to have a very heavy memory footprint.

So at this stage, I haven’t done much work/development against the box so I dont know it well yet. Will its stop me using OSX and my XP install as my primary desktop environment. Not yet, for sure. I will report back on this in a months time.

If you want to try Windows 7 you have till Agust 20th to download the Release Candidate for free. It will stop working June 1st Next year.

When to buy an iMac?

brianballard — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 02:29:29 +0000

So here I am now almost decided on buying a 24″ iMac…. but as usually the “cool” edge has slipped from the current iMac offerings when comparing to the latest offerings in the PC world. I guess I just have to wait till the iMac range is update. Last thing I want is a 2 month old machine when the next revision comes out… well lets say I hope its only another couple of months till there are revisions.

From Hackintosh to iMac

brianballard — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 06:25:22 +0000

well only about 2 weeks after I built my hackintosh my wife finally got her repreive from vista and is now the proud new owner of an iMac (20″ Model). Funny enough she never had to fight me off her machine when it was a Vista laptop, but now I keep finding excuses to go “tune” her iMac.

So the ability to run a hackintosh has led to apple getting one more sale, also im wishing I had the spare cash to splurge out on a 24″ iMac for myself too. Been reading up on how to pull the thing apart. So i could upgrade the drive if I wanted….yeah im still a hardware hacker at heart! Be sure that if I do get one and do upgrades I will post here.

A homemade Mac – Part 2

brianballard — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 04:40:43 +0000

Just some further details I forgot from yesterday post. The case itself (and motherboard) isn’t much wider the back panel on an ATX panel. Also the photo shows that i added an old firewire card I had (to the right) and it works perfectly!

Hackintosh back panel

Was checking the Macs today at the local Apple store and I must say the new Macbook seems a bit of an expensive change from the old Macbook… no firewire, bit more disk and a slightly nicer display and for $$$100s more. I hope Apple know what they are doing in these financially troubled times. I cant imagine as many students/parents splashing out fr the new Mac prices compared to the old Mac deals from last month.

A homemade Mac – for $155

brianballard — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 05:53:23 +0000

This project has been coming for a while. im a linux guy at heart, but work with Windows much of the day. Well since experiencing Vista on my wifes laptop (thank god my workplace sticks with XP) I know my future for a good GUI lies with either Linux or Apple. Being too tight to just splash out a couple of Thousand $$ to get into Mac to see if I like it I decided a try before I buy. So browsing the local weekly sale at one my favourite local online computer retailers (http://www.ncix.com) I saw an Intel Mini-ITX board and case/PSU, and some RAM…. Figuring I already had A SATA drive and DVD drive for A total extra outlay of $155 im up and running with OSX…

The machine I built is based on the intel Atom D945GCLF2 Mini ITX Motherboard with a dual core Atom chip.

Intel Mini ITX motherboard

It comes as one complete unit with integrated GMA950 gfx chip. Only has a space for 1 DIMM, so I added a 2GB stick. It has 2 SATA and 1 PATA device, onboard sound, graphics, network and USB. Every thing worked on the OSX install, the only thing not working is the mic in on the soundcard. I also dropped in an old cheapo firewire card in the single PCI slot and it was supported!

As to how I installed OSX on this device, I used the really handy guide at http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=113623 This guide got me a fully working 10.5.4 install and ive been playing with it ever since.

Doesnt look like an Apple

The case my deal came with was a little bit of a tight fit, but with patience I fitted everything in. Noise is low and heat is manageable too. The case is strong to stand an LCD monitor on. Doesn’t look like an Apple but hey that’s not what this about.

So final conclusions, performance probably way below current Mac standards. Compatibility, so far seems about 99% and it serving its purpose, its slowly convincing me of the merit of Macs without risking a serious amount of hard earned cash on the deal. Do I feel guilty? Not a bit, Apple has a long way to go to earn my trust and my $$$. I had the misfortune to be forced to use Macs a couple of time in the mid to early 90s….. I’m breaking a lifelong vow NEVER to use a Mac again. So old bad scars take a long time to mend. But i’m saving for a Mac Pro now…..