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Your Mileage May Vary: Lies, Damn Lies, and Benchmarks

September 22, 2015 By Stephen 3 Comments

The hot story in the news this week is Volkswagen’s reported brazen cheating in diesel engine emissions testing. This brought to mind a host of similar occurrences, from Samsung/HTC cheating at benchmarks to alleged cheating in SPC enterprise storage performance testing. Cynics say we should just assume we’re being cheated, but is this a world in which we want to live?

In Praise of Performance Comparisons

May 14, 2010 By Stephen Leave a Comment

I’ve long been critical of poorly-executed performance comparisons and the “fastest is always best” mentality behind them. But, although it sounds inconsistent, I still love reading the performance “comparos” in Car & Driver, and I am committed to the belief that the enterprise IT world needs lab tests and performance comparisons.

GPS Time Rollover Failures Keep Happening (But They’re Almost Done)

This is week “1111111111” in the GPS system. Tomorrow morning it will roll over to week “0000000000”. How well will various systems handle this change? Not well, judging by what we’ve seen so far!

Ranting and Raving About the 2018 iPad Pro

I remain enthusiastic about the iPad Pro, despite getting a scratched screen and my concerns about durability. It’s a worthy successor to the original and offers enough improvements that I’d recommend the upgrade for just about anyone who uses their iPad for serious work. It’s still not yet a laptop replacement, but this is due more to a lack of desktop-class software for iOS than anything in Apple’s control.

The Fat Middle: Today’s Enterprise Storage Array

August 31, 2014

Ask any project manager if it’s possible to deliver something that is fast, good, and cheap, and they’ll laugh. The phenomenon known as the Iron Triangle limits just about everything in the world from meeting all three conflicting requirements. Yet, for the last two decades, enterprise storage array vendors have been trying to deliver just this. How’s that working out?

Deduplication Coming to Primary Storage

September 16, 2008

Although deduplication of storage is nothing new, with Data Domain and other making hay with the technique for years, it has never been ready for prime time – reduction of active primary storage applications like email and databases. Instead, deduplication has been relegated to second- or third-tier status, deduplicating archives and backup data. But change is in the air, and deduplication vendors are starting to bustle towards the bright lights of primary storage.

Aerobie AeroPress Review: The Hacker Coffee Maker

February 7, 2011

Computer geeks like me love coffee, the stronger the better. We computer folks are also known for experimentation and a do it yourself ethic. Some of us even love to get outdoors and toss around a flying disc or football. What happens when you mash up all of this? You get the Aerobie AeroPress, the hacker coffeemaker.

Thoughts on the Modern Miracle of 3D Printing

July 28, 2015

Although I enjoy my AIO Robotics Zeus 3D printer, I’m under no illusions that it’s an economical or practical device. It’s a toy that takes me into the future, and I love being there!

Thinking About Storage In a New Way, From Cloud to Flash, with Dropbox and Fusion-io

July 23, 2013

I’ve been a storage revolutionary for quite a while, looking for new ways of data storage rather than technologies that perpetuate the same old approaches. That’s why I’m excited about the implications of two very different API access methods announced by Dropbox at DBX and by Fusion-io today at OSCON.

What’s the Difference Between a Jailbroken and an Unlocked Phone?

May 5, 2012

If you’ve traveled much, you’ve probably run across â€œunlockedâ€ mobile phones and devices. If you own an Android or iPhone smart phone, you probably also heard about â€œjailbreakingâ€. It seems like lots of people are confused about these two things, so I decided to write down a quick post explaining them.

Infographic: Real-World Port Throughput Relative To Thunderbolt (Formerly Light Peak)

February 21, 2011

Just how fast is 10 gigabits per second anyway? To help out, I’ve prepared another napkin-tastic infographic!

On the Death of Innovation, or “These Kids These Days!”

May 21, 2012

An obnoxious meme has returned to the fore lately, claiming that innovation is dead. The hippies did it, or maybe it was the Internet, or even a decline of America. But nothing could be further from the truth, and statements like this make me question the perspective of the speaker.