grep life by Jeremy Glover

Software RAID 1 Performance on Ubuntu Server 8.04

A generous gift was bestowed upon me last week — Dell’s PowerEdge SC420 server. It came with two (2) 80GB hard drives which I have since replaced with two (2) 1TB hard drives. I decided to mirror these drives for the sake of redundancy using Linux’s built-in software RAID drivers.

While synchronizing the drives, I decided to monitor the progress. What I saw was truly amazing.


jeremy@fileserver1:~$ cat /proc/mdstat
Personalities : [linear] [multipath] [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10]

md0 : active raid1 sda1[0] sdb1[1]
879084736 blocks [2/2] [UU]
[=>...................] resync = 8.1% (71688192/879084736) finish=116.2min speed=115709K/sec


Holy cow! 116MB/s!

That means the SATA bus is processing at least 332MB/s since it has to read the data from one drive and then write the data to the other drive. That’s 2,656Mb/s or 2,656,000,000 bits per second which equates to 2.7 bits per picosecond! I’d like to see anyone do anything 2.7 times in one picosecond.

I figured with this much throughput the CPU would be chugging away. Nope. 4%.

Posted in Amazing, Hardware, Hosting, IT, Linux, Ridiculous, Software, Technology, Ubuntu | No Comments »

Install SSH Server on Ubuntu

It really couldn’t be any easier than this:

sudo apt-get install openssh-server

You’re done. Now you can use ssh to remotely connect to your Ubuntu box.

Posted in Amazing, DIY, IT, Linux, Security, Software, Ubuntu | No Comments »

Ever had a problem with JavaScript’s setFullYear method in the Date object?

Me too.

While writing a JavaScript countdown timer the other day I ran into a very peculiar issue. Every time I refreshed the page, the countdown had 0 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds remaining, regardless of the current time, but it had the correct number of days.

To set the future date I used the setFullYear method of the JS Date object as such:

var futureDate = new Date();
futureDate.setFullYear(2009, 0, 1);


The above sets futureDate to January 1, 2009. The problem is that the hours, minutes, and seconds are not being set with that method. So what values do they inherit? They are populated with the hours, minutes, and seconds of the current time stamp. This doesn’t make any sense to me. In my humble opinion they should default to 0, 0, and 0 (respectively).

To remedy the issue I used the following code:

var futureDate = new Date();
futureDate.setFullYear(2009, 0, 1);
futureDate.setHours(0);
futureDate.setMinutes(0);
futureDate.setSeconds(0);


This is the same as the previous code except I am explicitly setting the hours, minutes, and seconds so they don’t inherit the current time stamp’s values.

Posted in Annoying, Bugs, Depressing, JavaScript, Programming, Ridiculous, Web Development | No Comments »

LogMeIn: Control Your PC From Your PC

As I was piddling around on LogMeIn today, I noticed that the PC I was currently using was on the list of online computers. I tried to remote control it and received a warning message, but beneath it was a button that allowed me to control it anyway.

This was the result:

It’s a DIY infinity mirror!

Posted in DIY, IT, Software | 3 Comments »

Dream Gaming Computer - 2008

Every year my desktop gets older, our mortgage gets smaller, the games get better, and I crave new hardware. The 1st step is to admit you’re addicted, right? Without further adieu, I present you with my pick for the best gaming desktop of 2008. My picks were based on price and ratings from Newegg.com. I’ve had great luck with them for years.

Do you have recommendations? Show off in the comments.

Now I’m sure you’re wondering why there are six (6) hard drives in this system.

• This system would double as a storage server for me.
• The motherboard supports striping and mirroring (RAID 0+1), so I would setup the drives to mirror and stripe for redundancy and for performance benefits.
• As cheap as drives are, why not?

My guess is that this system should last for about 8 years which puts it at $520.10 per year. Not bad at all…

Posted in Amazing, DIY, Entertainment, Gaming, Hardware, IT, Money, Reviews, Ridiculous, Software, Technology | No Comments »

DD-WRT’s Quality of Service Works Really Well

The advent of YouTube, Hulu, Netflix’s watch instantly feature, torrents, and offsite/online backup has made good bandwidth crucial to an enjoyable experience. The first time my wife got me killed by hogging the bandwidth while I was playing World of Warcraft I immediately cranked up the DD-WRT control panel and setup Quality of Service (QoS). I instantly noticed a huge improvement in my ping times and overall game responsiveness. But I never tested just how well DD-WRT’s QoS feature worked.

Tonight I used Speakeasy’s speed test and the DD-WRT’s bandwidth monitor to determine if the QoS was obeying my settings. I think the results speak for themselves.

Up: 300 kbps
Down: 5000 kbps

Down: 4809 kbps
Up: 292 kbps

Down: 4819 kbps
Up: 294 kbps

In this graph you can see both tests. The two pieces of each test are the download and upload portions which ended up being about 4815 down and 293 up. Not bad at all!

I really couldn’t ask for more from my $50 router. Thanks again, DD-WRT!

Posted in DIY, Gaming, Hosting, IT, Reviews, Software, Technology, Web Development | No Comments »

I Feel Like a Cannibal

Today I had the strangest experience ever. My dentist decided I needed a root canal so I went to the endodontist to have the operation. They put a rubber dam around the tooth which was no fun because it covered my mouth, so my only breathing option was through my nose.

As the doctor began drilling, a cloud of bone dust and bone chips filled the air. Because of the position in which I was situated, my choice was to breathe in this horrific material or suffocate. I reluctantly inhaled the dust and was utterly disgusted by both the smell and how it clogged my nose, making it even harder to breathe. This carried on for a good four or five minutes. After the drilling subsided I exhaled forcefully through my nose and a spray of white dust covered the protective apron I was wearing.

While the operation wasn’t painful…yet (my anesthetics are still working)…it was such a strange sensation breathing my own body in and out. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. Yuuuuuuck!

Posted in Depressing, Health, Life, Ridiculous, Scary | No Comments »

World of Warcraft Subscription Successfully Cancelled

I finally kicked my habit!

Turdrangus

• Level 70: 17 days, 19 hours, 27 minutes, 32 seconds
• Total: 35 days, 23 hours, 48 minutes, 52 seconds

Jorina
Total: 4 days, 21 hours, 35 minutes, 38 seconds

Total
40 days, 21 hours, 24 minutes, 30 seconds

Start Date: August 2007
End Date: October 2008
Range: 400 days

Average Time Per Day: 2 hours, 27 minutes, 13 seconds

It’s so nice to have my life back!

Posted in Entertainment, Gaming, Money, Software, WoW | 8 Comments »

Jamestown Oven & Grill

Kara and I decided to try someplace new for dinner tonight so I started the “Find Food” feature on my GPS unit. As we were driving along, Jamestown Oven & Grill popped up so we checked it out.

In the parking lot there were two vehicles: a delivery car and an old beater. At this point I was very skeptical and almost drove away but I figured since we were already there we might as well find out for sure whether this place was a keeper. It turned out that the building was an old Pizza Hut that had recently been reacquired. We opened the door and were met by a burst of hot air and a rather strange odor. I walked up to the counter and asked for a menu.

*In a thick Greek accent* “You eating here or taking with you?”

We surveyed the crowd (well, lack thereof), glanced over the menu, and decided to stay. I ordered a 16″ extra-large pepperoni and pineapple pizza which was on special for $10.99. It was spectacular. I would rank it on par with the Mellow Mushroom which is better than all of the large pizza chains.

They also have lunch specials for $4.99 that include french fries and a drink. Not bad considering my combo meal at Chick-fil-a costs over $7. My advice would be to get your food to go so you can eat it in a nicer environment.

Jamestown Oven & Grill is located at
705 #C W. Main Street
Jamestown, NC 27282
(336) 454-9001

Bon Appetit!

Posted in Food, Reviews | 3 Comments »

Google Chrome: The installer encountered error 4.

I decided to give Google Chrome another chance today, hoping there would be an update to fix the scrolling issue I previously discovered.

The following steps produce the following error message—if you can call it that.

1. Using Google Chrome, navigate to http://www.google.com/chrome/
2. Click “Download Google Chrome”
3. Check the box labeled “Optional: Help make Google Chrome better by automatically sending usage statistics and crash reports to Google.”
4. Click “Accept and Install”
5. The Google Chrome Installer will launch, download, and attempt to install the program.
6. The following error message is displayed: The installer encountered error 4.
   

7. When you click “Help me fix this.” the following, worthless help screen is displayed.
   

I’ll be sticking to Firefox until Google gets their act together.

Posted in Annoying, Bugs, Depressing, Google, IT, Programming, Software, Technology, Web Development | No Comments »