tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29421193252773470772023-11-15T06:07:24.760-08:00The Beautiful GigabitGeneral blog info from a IT veteran that cannot spell worth a damn.TheBeautifulGigabithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846445214559941381noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942119325277347077.post-64644622189490722912016-01-14T15:53:00.001-08:002016-01-15T15:28:49.778-08:00A Media Server with Xen, Ubuntu and Docker<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The post is about building a media server for myself and I'm just getting started so I thought I'd document what I am planning and the progress I make toward my planned objectives.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First the objective: A media server that is...</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Small and quiet (fan-less) yet powerful enough to handle serving video, audio and pictures as well as transcoding video files.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Total SSD preferred. 1TB min</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Support for Xen hypervisor</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intel based (keeping it simple).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">100BaseT full duplex (two would be good)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Runs headless</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">64G RAM</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">USB3</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DisplayPort</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wifi</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Xeon or i3 min (net 8 cores with hyperthreading)</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My plan is to load this box with Xen and Ubuntu for both the privliged kernel and the hosted OS's. From there I plan on running the media server(s) in Docker VM's</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm off to Fry's the evening to see if I can get the hardware together...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2016-01-14 22:00 EDT </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After visiting Fry's and looking at the compact PC they had, I began to question my approach. First off the biggest little box is a two core, four thread i7 with a max of 16GB of memory. It did have a SATA stick position and a standard laptop sized drive bay. The 500 GB Samsung stick was 179 if I remember, I'm pretty sure the 500GB drive was about the same price. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That seems to be a lot of storage in that little box for the amount of CPU it has. Would it be better to put the media on some sort of NAS rather than the local system? If so does it make since to invest in one of these Intel systems for sale at Fry's or possibly find something on eBay? The price of this mini powerhouse was going to exceed one thousand dollars and that's what caused me to reevaluate what I'm am trying to do.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2016-01-15</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After reconsidering my purchase decision I began to think about what I'm really trying to do. That is building a Home DVR/DVP setup. The bulk of the set up is software and one of my objectives is to make this a virtualized, Docker based servers. As I thought about it I realized I was really being driven my my old school ways. My first thought was to go out and buy hardware. As it turns out I already have it. It's my Macbook Pro. It has i7 4 core, 16 GB, & 1 TB SSD.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I won't get to play with Xen with Ubuntu running on separate system but I can run VirtualBox on OSx so I think I'm good for now. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next steps:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Install the Sage DVR</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Get off-air recording using Ethernet based TV tuner </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Install Plex Player</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Configure home router to map ports to the ports for Plex</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This will keep me busy for awhile... </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BTW: I'm a been home-brewing for the past two years and I'm brewing this weekend. Brewing Fusty's Number 21 American Pale Ale.</span><br />
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TheBeautifulGigabithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846445214559941381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942119325277347077.post-41706621274795751602014-01-10T17:28:00.000-08:002014-01-10T17:28:00.099-08:00It's been too longMan am I a slow poster...TheBeautifulGigabithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846445214559941381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942119325277347077.post-86424400641818599362011-10-18T07:23:00.001-07:002011-10-18T07:27:07.873-07:00AT&T buys T-Mobile? NOT!<div>Well I guess there are to many folks that think this merger will shrink the market players to the point that it impacts us consumers. Well, I have to say I understand this. What would we do if we didn't have four national PCS carriers? OMG! ;-)</div><div><br /></div><div>AT&T and Verizon will continue to grow but having T-Mobile and Sprint nipping at their heals with lower prices and -- in some places -- better coverage will keep them from resting on their butts too much. Let's hope anyway.</div>TheBeautifulGigabithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846445214559941381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942119325277347077.post-87949422560775098762011-03-21T19:02:00.000-07:002011-03-23T18:16:29.815-07:00AT&T buys TMobile. Well done AT&T!AT&T's acquisition of TMobile is a really strong home run. This acquisition means that AT&T will control all of the current 3G GSM/TDMA technology in the US. They have a technology that is compatible and with this merger they will leapfrog Verizon Wireless in subscribers and more importantly bandwidth. Over time this could have a bigger boost to AT&T in the form of a better reputation in network coverage and reliability. <div><br /></div><div>To date Verizon Wireless has for the most part been on top when it comes to bandwidth and reliability. Now with the combined networks of the existing AT&T (formarly Cingular [or SBC and Bellsouth Celluar]) and TMobile, AT&T may actually have the upper hand.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now all of this is of course pending approval of both the SEC and the FCC so there is going to be some talk about this in all of the media channels used by politicians. My take is that it's a smart move. It's not too big to be blocked this time but another merger of this size would be more difficult and protracted. In other words a merger of the two CDMA networks in the US will have more scrutiny than this one will.</div><div><br /></div><div>That said, I'm not so sure Verizon Wireless is really interested in going after Sprint. They just acquired Alltell Wireless in 2009 and they are busy deploying their new nationwide 4G network based on the latest TDMA technology called LTE. It is being deployed using the new 700 MHz spectrum license bought at auction from the FCC. The folks at Verizon Wireless have enough on their plate right now and the new spectrum will compete nicely with combined AT&T/TMobile network.</div><div><br /></div><div>My guess is that it will go through. It will take some time, like until 2013 or later but it will go through. Overall this is a much better deal than a TMobile/Sprint deal if simply for the compatibility of the networks. Not to sound to ominous I think we are headed towards a duopoly of national cellular carriers. The winners are AT&T and Verizon Wireless. Vzw will buy Sprint or Sprint will go under. That might take another five years or more but ultimately we'll end up those two carriers so get used to it.</div><div><br /></div><div>There's my two cents.</div><div><div><br /></div></div>TheBeautifulGigabithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846445214559941381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942119325277347077.post-82017700377347465192011-03-21T19:00:00.000-07:002011-03-21T19:02:18.941-07:00Fail! Yes Dorthy there is a CDMA iPhoneOK so I said that there wouldn't be a CDMA iPhone and I admit it I was wrong. Hey I don't <i>always</i> get it right.TheBeautifulGigabithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846445214559941381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942119325277347077.post-55385933642689560242011-03-13T18:48:00.000-07:002011-03-13T20:10:34.282-07:00Hotel Resin - You can sign in but you can't sign out.I'm working on a project that uses resin 3.0.6 and have found that there is a bug in session management. The server won't always notify HttpSessionListeners of a session timing out. The fix is to upgrade to Resin 4.0.13. Great idea. Oh I've got an idea. Howa about fixing the version we've got?TheBeautifulGigabithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846445214559941381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942119325277347077.post-43619913350850477292010-03-30T11:24:00.000-07:002010-03-30T19:12:44.628-07:00A CDMA iPhone? NOT!<div style="font-family: arial;"><br />I think this new iPhone is a 4G LTE iPhone, NOT CDMA 3G as reported.<br /><br />Actually Verizon is switching from CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access).Their 4G network is based on LTE (Long Term Evolution) which, I believe is a GSM standard. Regardless it is a TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) technology not CDMA. It will probably take somewhere close to 10 years to retire their 3G CDMA network.<br /><br />This makes since because Verizon has said that they will deploy their 4G/LTE infrastructure through 2010 and 2011. Major markets will have LTE on Vzw by the end of this year. Once a standardized voice profile is established for LTE, voice calls can be made. Spell that Skype.<br /><br />So my guess is there is no CDMA iPhone coming and there are a number of reasons for that.<br /><ol><br /><li>It's the old technology (I like CDMA better but I liked BetaMax better too).</li><br /><li>To produce a CDMA phone you have to pay (one way or another) Qualcomm royalties. Not something Jobs want to do.</li><br /><li>The Vzw LTE network is fast on it's way and will probably get here before Apple could make a CDMA iPhone. </li><br /><li>Why would Apple be putting engineering talent on this old CDMA technology that Steve doesn't want when LTE is on it's way for both Vzw and AT&T?</li><br /></ol><br />My bet is It's an LTE iPhone not a CDMA iPhone.<br /><br />Update:<br />I started this as a comment on <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/03/30/analysts-dont-expect-verizon-iphone-until-2011/tab/comments/#comment-87093">WSJ's Digits</a> site. A couple of responses to my comment questioned the point about VzW switching to LTE. I believe the premise of their comments went to the point of Vzw abandoning their 3G CDMA network. I think we all know that's not going to happen at least for 10 years and maybe more. The network is still good and reliable and will be for many more years.<br /><br />But Verizon is adding LTE quickly and as quoted in <a href="http://www.wirelessweek.com/Articles/2010/02/Technology-Shaking-Up-4G/">Wireless Week "Verizon is set to deploy LTE in 25 to 30 different markets later this year."</a><br /><br />As I understand it the voice profile for transferring voice data across LTE may not be standardized yet and there could be continued delay for handset development (total speculation on my part). If Apple comes out with a device that works on LTE and works with the closest thing to the current gold stanadard for the voice profile they could walk away with the new LTE phone market. But my guess is that HTC, Nokia, Motorola and LG are all working on the handset technology as well and we will see handsets that are compatible with LTE maybe sooner than later.<br /><br />As these handsets come onto the market many of them will work with the new LTE networks in the same way as analog/digital model of the last several years. The iPhone may be a bit of a maverick and only work (because their Apple) with the LTE network. The advanced network throughput will be a real consumer draw. If Apple can get it out quickly… (the first LTE handset is the iPhone?) How sweet would that be for Apple! That’s the way Jobs thinks. “Let’s do a little leapfrog from where we are in this tech landscape and shake things up a bit.” The iPhone itself is the proof of this kind of culture at Apple.<br /></div><br /><br /><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">So yeah I still think the new iPhone will be the iPhone 4G not a CDMA version of the iPhone 3G</div>TheBeautifulGigabithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846445214559941381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942119325277347077.post-40088077246461379482010-03-23T19:28:00.000-07:002010-03-23T20:18:44.931-07:00Where's my VzW Nexus One?<span style="font-size:large">Nexus One on Verizon Wireless on April 23rd 2010?<b> FAIL!</b></span><br/><br /><br />So the rumors about the Nexus One being available on the Verizon Wireless network today were obviously disproved. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Bummer! </span>I want one and I have been waiting and waiting. Like someone waiting on a new Apple product or something!<br /><br />And you know that the Android OS and phones are <i>soooo</i> much cooler than the MAC OS based iPhone. The iPhone is consumer techie cool. Yeah, yeah I heard <i>"Anybody can use one.What manual? Who needs a manual."</i> <br /><br />The Android phones(and more importantly the Nexus One) are developer techie cool and that's <span style="font-weight:bold;">WAY</span> cool. That is in part because it is based on Linux and is open source software. <i>"Who wrote <b>this</b> god awful manual!"</i> It's also cooler from a developer's perspective because of the development environment and the relative ease of distribution.<br /><br />The iPhone uses an arcane computer language called Objective C and developers must work within that environment. That work would best be done on a Mac with the Apple proprietary (and expensive) development environment. After buying all the gear you then have to learn how to program in the language (of the Apple gods! But I digress :-)).<br /><br />With Android your development environment is Java based and supported by the most widely used and freely available IDE, Eclipse. I have one friend that has done some game development for the Android OS and has told me that it relatively easy to develop applications for the Android OS. Oh yeah, did I mention that I'm a Java developer?<br /><br />Then there's distribution. I don't own an Android phone and don't know if there is anyway to get privately published applications easily loaded on an Android phone but my guess is that it is way easier than it is with an iPhone. Do you have to "jail break" an Android phone? My first guess is no, but hopefully I'll find out soon.<br /><br />Anyway, these are some of the reasons I think the Google phone market is going to <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">EXPLODE!</span></span> Yeah I really mean it. This could be the biggest thing to come along in a long time (or not).<br /><br />Verizon Wireless: <span style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;"><br />I want my Nexus One!</span>TheBeautifulGigabithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846445214559941381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942119325277347077.post-75791518625235239062010-01-11T17:58:00.000-08:002010-01-15T15:09:43.019-08:00The iPhone's best days are here, now.The iPhone is a real hit; there is no doubt about that. "Duh," you say. So do you think Apple is just going to run away with the smart phone market? Not so fast...<br /><br />The <a href="http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/10/28/rim-and-apple-top-u-s-smartphone-market-share/" target="_blank">Boy Genius Report (or BGR as it prefers now) on October 28th of last year produced a nice graph</a> that shows the iPhone quickly growing it's market share in the smart phone market to 30% in September of '09. That's pretty respectable; so what's to keep that growth in market share from just going and going and going? There is one good reason, Google and their new Andriod OS for smart phones.<br /><br />The Android OS has been out for over 2 years now but the handsets that use them have only been around for about a year. Though 2009 there were a few new offerings of smart phones that sported the Android moniker but there wasn't a lot of attention focused on it until Verizon began their Droid ad campaign. The media blitz really put Android on the map and has raised the level of exposure. Verizon offers the Motorola Droid and the HTC Eris handsets, both running Android. The Droid runs Android Eclair 2.0.(.1) and the Eris runs Android 1.6.<br /><br />The Android 2.x release is the break out winner in the marketplace and Google has added fuel to this fire by releasing their new HTC based phone the Nexus One. The Nexus One does the Droid one better because it is using the latest Android 2.1 (not 2.0.1) OS.<br /><br />Enough background and history about Android. Why is it going to overtake the iPhone? The answer is simple, the iPhone runs the MacOS and like everything Apple, they control everything about the iPhone from the materials that go into it, to the OS, to the carrier that can offer it.<br /><br />Google on the other hand has taken the approach that any phone maker can take and use the Android OS on any phone. This is very similar to what Microsoft did in the early 80's with DOS and then later with Windows. Back then any PC maker that made an IBM compatible PC based on the Intel (and later the PowerPC) microprocessor could run<br />the OS.<br /><br />This created a commodity market for the PC and allowed market forces to drive down the price of the IBM compatible PC. The Mac on the other hand was still a PC that was completely controlled by Apple. To this day it means that if you want a Mac and the MacOs, you have to go to Apple and pay whatever they ask for that PC.<br /><br />Given the fact that the Mac architecture (both hardware and software) is completely controlled by Apple, the environment is very stable. There are very few compatibility issues because there are relatively few permutations of the Mac hardware and software. This is one of the major reasons that people are willing to pay up to 50% more for a Mac today than a PC.<br /><br />As the market for smart phones heats up over the next few years Apple will continue to market the iPhone the same way they market the Mac. And like the Mac, they will continue the policy of asking the consumer to pay a premium for the Apple name.<br /><br />Google on the other hand is giving away the Android OS to all who want it without charge. Manufacturers can even add proprietary enhancements to the OS without releasing the source for those enhancements, thus giving them differentiation in the smart phone marketplace. This will contribute to the flood of Android phones in the marketplace with the phone hardware becoming a commodity, much like IBM compatible PC hardware.<br /><br />The standardization of Android smart phones also has the potential of offering some degree of portability for users. The use of the phone and the applications developed for it will work on multiple phone models from multiple vendors giving the consumer a wider choice of phones to choose from. In a few months when Verizon Wireless comes out with it you can pick up a Nexus One if you don't like the Droid.<br /><br />This is the beginning of the Android era of smart phones. Within the next three years the Android OS will become the dominant OS in the smart phone market. Apple will still have the iPhone and who knows, maybe by then all the major carriers will offer it on their new 4G, LTE networks.<br /><br />As I said before, the best days for the iPhone are here and now.TheBeautifulGigabithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846445214559941381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942119325277347077.post-41689225229526668662010-01-07T20:06:00.000-08:002010-01-07T20:22:35.749-08:00Domain name TheBeautifulGigbit.com... I got it!<div style="font-family: verdana;">You know I really hate having to come up with screen names but I think I kind of like this one. So I decided to try getting the domain name. Hey It hadn't already been grabbed by someone. Cool now I've got the blog <b>and</b> the domain name. I'm going to try to link the domain name up to this blog next week after the domain registration has gone through. Until then, it will most likly take you to my primary domain <a href="http://www.compucafe.com/">ComputCafe.com</a>. That's nothing more than a glorified bookmark page for my personal use. But anyway...</div>TheBeautifulGigabithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846445214559941381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2942119325277347077.post-13873587632605367082010-01-07T19:48:00.001-08:002010-01-07T20:02:01.126-08:00Hello World!<span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><span style="font-family:verdana;">Hey who remembers K &R? Don't know what that is? Don't feel bad, just Google it.<br /><br />Anyway, I created this blog because a friend asked me how to and how much it would cost to set up a blog. There is one he really likes called <a href="http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/">CalculatedRiskBlog.com</a> and he was interested in trying his hand at building a blog. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Well I've been doing computer programming for 30 years and have been in the thick of the whole internet 'thing' for lack of a better term. And when someone asks me a question like that I either know the answer or know how to get one quickly. And sure enough I saw the blogspot icon pop up on the Firefox tab when I went and looked at <a href="http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/">CalculatedRiskBlog.com</a>.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I then went to <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.blogspot.com">blogspot.com</a> (which redirected me to blogger.com, but so what) and found that it was all free! Great! I sent my friend an email and gave him the good news. Now he is getting up the momentum to get a blog of his own. So I know the next question is something like "Hey I want to do so and so on my new blog. Can I do that?" So I thought I'd best get a first hand look at how this is done and here I am.</span>TheBeautifulGigabithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846445214559941381noreply@blogger.com0