Define these failure types: minor, normal, major, critical, catastrophic.
What are the chances of ____ failure? What is an acceptable downtown for _____ failure?
These are the questions one needs to ask (and others) before saying "Raid" or "Tape" or "Enterprise Solution" or.... whatever.
If we don't have answers to these questions, then the discussion is simply an exercise in mental masturbation. Simply put, we have to be able to effectively mitigate against the types of disasters by appropriate counter measures weighing against the cost of replacing the data and the likelihood of that disaster.
Losing data is critical to everyone. How much effort is needed to protect it, varies widely.
RAID is simply one level of protection. It isn't a backup, it isn't redundant data. It is just a means to mitigate against a certain kind of failure, nothing more, nothing less.
"Professional Journalists know nothing of the news of the day, unless someone else tells them".
People have been screaming that ACORN was crooked, and where was the media. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 500,000-2,000,000 people were in DC last weekend and some "Professional Journalists" were reporting "10,000". 10k people, REALLY?
Where was the "professional journalism" checking the facts, investigating the story? THAT is what I'm talking about.
When cast members from High School Musical can infiltrate ACORN and show up ABCCBSNBCCNNPBS because they didn't investigate ANYTHING.
Then you compare this with things like RATHERGATE which clearly shows that the so-called "Professional Journalists" can't even fact check their own sources to find out that the whole thing was a freakin hoax and Dan Rather still believes it to be true, even AFTER the facts are out.
So, yes, I AM JADED. And Pissed off. And the only people who don't seem to give a damn are the very people who believe "Professional Journalists" are infallible. Go figure.
And no, I'm not a Republican. I'm just not a blind ideologue who sees everything in (R) or (D) colored glasses.
Yes. That is also why jurors are not supposed to reach decisions on matters of law, only matters of fact. If the jury members need to understand the legalese someone is doing something wrong.
Actually, Juries CAN decide the matters of law, it is just frowned upon. It is called Jury Nullification, where a jury, despite of the facts, simply ignores the law.
Honestly, a lot of our really bad laws can be and should be nullified by juries, and until we get widespread informed juries, bad laws will continue to be enforced.
Professional Journalists know nothing of the news of the day, unless someone else tells them. It is Amateur Journalists doing REAL investigative work these days, and the stupid elite media can't figure out why they are hemorrhaging viewers/subscribers to the blogs and FoxNewsChannel.
Welcome to the new age of journalism. Where the bloggers correct the mass media errors (Rathergate), scoop the media on corruption (Acorngate).
The hard drives are desktop class, not designed for 24x7 operation.
I've had better luck with desktop class drives than I have with enterprise class drives. I suspect that enterprise class drives are just spinning faster(10K/15K vs 7.2K/5K), and thus burn out faster. Yeah the bearings might be higher class, but I suspect everything else is off the same production lines. I could be wrong, that is just my "gut" opinion.
AND my guess is that magnetic drives will be mostly gone in 5 years, and we'll be using SSD for just about everything by then. So we're probably arguing over the proper length of a buggy whip while Ford is just now building Model A.
Are you backing up just data, or configurations or what? Backup Solutions are nice and all, but you're still missing something.... all the crap^H^H^H^H configurations that you've collected over the years of using that particular setup.
And once you go to VMWARE (or other VM product) you'll quickly realize that the abstraction away from specific Hardware is very nice indeed.
However, if one is REALLY concerned about backups, a duplicate Hardware setup in a seperate location sitting idle (or cold) is a necessity. And having a VMWare snapshot ready to load on backup hardware is just tits when things REALLY go south. You end up looking like a genius, and get to play Scotty (over engineered everything).
The difference between amateurs and professionals is not when things are going well, it is when the shit hits the fan. A weekend Geek can built the $8000 backupsever or whatever of storage, but once the drives start to fail (and they will) that solution starts to REALLY suck because you can't get to the freaking drives easily (and I doubt it will tell you that the drive even failed).
Let me just say it this way, if you can't afford "over engineered" equipment, you can't afford to do it right.
So, VMware, snapshots and spare hardware offsite are the way to go. Anything less these days is simply weekend geek pride.
This is why one ought to have more than double blind tests.
I suggest Quad blind semiblind and misleading tests, to test the placebo effect AND the real. For each sample, double it; one blind, one with clearly marked labels which may or may not be correct. Then measure and compare the results of all.
One of the things I suggest that might be happening is that certain things do have a "difference" that one cannot measure accurately with scientific equipment.
Let us say for the sake of argument that it is not fully possible to measure all the subtleties of a AUTHENTIC Stradivarius verses an otherwise high grade violin. Then what? What if humans CAN detect things like "warmth" that a scientific measuring instrument can't fully quantify because we aren't able to measure it with scientific instruments?
The only way to be able to fully able to know for sure, is by a test such as I have suggested. Is simply calling a violin a Stradivarius enough to sway people, or is there something else to these things which eludes measurement?
I work at middle schools (a few) and I can assure you, they are "Fucking" but not necessarily at Middle School. Not a year goes by without some girl disappearing having been impregnated by her 14 year old boyfriend.
And I bet that would not be as "fun" as you think it was.
Your original implication was that it was better than it is now. Promoting the idea that the old ways were "sustainable" is nothing more than smokescreen.
(people will do their best to adapt, but that adaptation may involve going back to a lifestyle of 200 years ago, with a strong focus on manual agriculture and labour).
The problem with your reasoning, is this. 200 years ago, they said the same things as you're saying now, only it was other things that we were using up at astonishing rates. Some where predicting cities buried in horse manure.
Things always look unsustainable, and the world is always on the brink of destruction. Has been for thousands of years.
Our current lifestyle is based on consumption of resources that we can't replace.
Love it when people talk like this. I usually ask them "are you willing to give up modern life". You know, cars, fresh food year round, no fridge, modern medicine (universal healthcare) etc.
They all claim to want it, but fail when someone asks them to step up to the plate and put their money where their mouth is.
So, are you ready to give up TVs and other appliances and live in a tent or mud hut you made yourself? You willing to not have a new Cell phone every 1.75 years? WHAT are you doing to REALLY cut your consumption to nothing?
Now, welcome back to modern world. You can't have MODERN without the baggage it comes with. And good luck with that.
This may be part of the reason why NYT is in trouble. Think about it, they are desperate for cash, sneak in a little malware here and there into web ads, real Advertisers get wind of it, and pull their ads from the Dead Tree version.
If I were an advertiser in the NYT, I wouldn't be happy being associated with malware distribution center.
Well, from an IT administrator that manages McAfee Enterprise, it does indeed suck royal balls at doing its primary job (catching virii).
However it does excel at pointy hair boss reporting, which is often key to getting funding for said product. It is also easy to manage and update via ePolicy Orchestrator (ePO).
The other "corporate" option is Norton/Symantec product which sucks balls and then licks colons.
And this weeks "AV" "best" choice which then "sucks" next week isn't really an option for TRUE enterprise management. I can't manage 5000 computers running twenty something versions AV, and expect any sanity.
But what is worse than McAfee, is NO AV at all. And trust me, plenty of windows boxes out there don't have ANY AV, because people don't know what to choose, and will end up clicking the first "you're infected" popup because it is "convenient".
Stupid should hurt, but it rarely does. McAfee only seems to be stupid, but it is much better than nothing. I know, I've seen those reports, and I would hate to run my network Naked (no AV), even as bad as McAfee is.
I actually believe that this is the false dichotomy problem.
We see this in all sorts of places, and it things tend towards this false dichotomy structure.
This is the false structure of the false Dichotomy, you only have two choices (mainstream). You have Democrat or Republican (forget odd balls Green, Libertarian, American Independant etc). You have Windows or Mac (forget about Linux, BeOS etc). You have Sprint or ATT, Dish or DirectTV
This really fits many many areas, where there are a dominant two, and a bunch of also rans.
In this case, BeOS died because it couldn't live in the world of the also-rans. Those that can live there, tend to do okay right there. BeOS can re-emerge as an "also ran" and as someone mentioned in other places might actually be a good choice for "netbooks". Just as long as people don't want it to be "Windows" or "Mac" it can do quite fine.
Your statement is only partially iCorrect. Yes it is iTrue that the second letter needs to be iCaps, it isn't the iMarketing department, it is the iUsability department which has set forth the proper iCaps rules that should be adhered to.
Actually this is quite easy with networked computers. However, it is much more difficult to manage with unlinked computers and computers on other networks, which often times you have no control over.
And if you were going to do this with a network, say using LDAP or something, you're probably using an Active Directory Server to do it because that is probably the easiest LDAP infrastructure to use.
Yes, you CAN use Linux only LDAP, but Linux LDAP server management sucks compared to Windows. I use a single AD server for LDAP, because I don't have to mess with it at all, and it works against all my Linux LDAP applications just fine.
However, now that you using LDAP(windows or linux), user mapping and authentication only works on my network(s). Other networked machines and people with standalone workstations cannot read my media, so now what?
Oh Right, move to a FAT32 filesystem where it just works.
What most semi-techinical people forget is that when all else fails, we go back to a common denominator, in this case FAT32.
Which is why most people will just start there, because then we don't have to "go back" and futz with shit that should just work.
My carrier pigeon rep just informed me that he is the Nephew of one Ngobe Ngayaka, a formerly high ranking member of the Nigerian Government, and he has access to $23.45 Million in secret funds. He needs help getting the funds out of the country. I get to keep 10% if I help. It is a can't lose proposition!
Slashdot Mirror
What is it(data) worth?
Define these failure types: minor, normal, major, critical, catastrophic.
What are the chances of ____ failure?
What is an acceptable downtown for _____ failure?
These are the questions one needs to ask (and others) before saying "Raid" or "Tape" or "Enterprise Solution" or .... whatever.
If we don't have answers to these questions, then the discussion is simply an exercise in mental masturbation. Simply put, we have to be able to effectively mitigate against the types of disasters by appropriate counter measures weighing against the cost of replacing the data and the likelihood of that disaster.
Losing data is critical to everyone. How much effort is needed to protect it, varies widely.
RAID is simply one level of protection. It isn't a backup, it isn't redundant data. It is just a means to mitigate against a certain kind of failure, nothing more, nothing less.
People have been screaming that ACORN was crooked, and where was the media. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 500,000-2,000,000 people were in DC last weekend and some "Professional Journalists" were reporting "10,000". 10k people, REALLY?
Where was the "professional journalism" checking the facts, investigating the story? THAT is what I'm talking about.
When cast members from High School Musical can infiltrate ACORN and show up ABCCBSNBCCNNPBS because they didn't investigate ANYTHING.
Then you compare this with things like RATHERGATE which clearly shows that the so-called "Professional Journalists" can't even fact check their own sources to find out that the whole thing was a freakin hoax and Dan Rather still believes it to be true, even AFTER the facts are out.
So, yes, I AM JADED. And Pissed off. And the only people who don't seem to give a damn are the very people who believe "Professional Journalists" are infallible. Go figure.
And no, I'm not a Republican. I'm just not a blind ideologue who sees everything in (R) or (D) colored glasses.
I simply state ... I'll uphold the law. Jury Nullification is one silent aspect of the law. ;)
Of course, if I was a bastard, I'd say something like, "Do you uphold the law? You NEVER go over the speed limit?"
Jack Sparrow: I thought you were supposed to keep to the code.
Mr. Gibbs: We figured they were more actual guidelines.
Yes. That is also why jurors are not supposed to reach decisions on matters of law, only matters of fact. If the jury members need to understand the legalese someone is doing something wrong.
Actually, Juries CAN decide the matters of law, it is just frowned upon. It is called Jury Nullification, where a jury, despite of the facts, simply ignores the law.
Honestly, a lot of our really bad laws can be and should be nullified by juries, and until we get widespread informed juries, bad laws will continue to be enforced.
Professional Journalists know nothing of the news of the day, unless someone else tells them. It is Amateur Journalists doing REAL investigative work these days, and the stupid elite media can't figure out why they are hemorrhaging viewers/subscribers to the blogs and FoxNewsChannel.
Welcome to the new age of journalism. Where the bloggers correct the mass media errors (Rathergate), scoop the media on corruption (Acorngate).
John Stewart was right.
9) ???
10) Profit!!!!
I've had better luck with desktop class drives than I have with enterprise class drives. I suspect that enterprise class drives are just spinning faster(10K/15K vs 7.2K/5K), and thus burn out faster. Yeah the bearings might be higher class, but I suspect everything else is off the same production lines. I could be wrong, that is just my "gut" opinion.
AND my guess is that magnetic drives will be mostly gone in 5 years, and we'll be using SSD for just about everything by then. So we're probably arguing over the proper length of a buggy whip while Ford is just now building Model A.
VMWare Snapshots
Are you backing up just data, or configurations or what? Backup Solutions are nice and all, but you're still missing something .... all the crap^H^H^H^H configurations that you've collected over the years of using that particular setup.
And once you go to VMWARE (or other VM product) you'll quickly realize that the abstraction away from specific Hardware is very nice indeed.
However, if one is REALLY concerned about backups, a duplicate Hardware setup in a seperate location sitting idle (or cold) is a necessity. And having a VMWare snapshot ready to load on backup hardware is just tits when things REALLY go south. You end up looking like a genius, and get to play Scotty (over engineered everything).
The difference between amateurs and professionals is not when things are going well, it is when the shit hits the fan. A weekend Geek can built the $8000 backupsever or whatever of storage, but once the drives start to fail (and they will) that solution starts to REALLY suck because you can't get to the freaking drives easily (and I doubt it will tell you that the drive even failed).
Let me just say it this way, if you can't afford "over engineered" equipment, you can't afford to do it right.
So, VMware, snapshots and spare hardware offsite are the way to go. Anything less these days is simply weekend geek pride.
Well, there is always RFC 1149
This is why one ought to have more than double blind tests.
I suggest Quad blind semiblind and misleading tests, to test the placebo effect AND the real. For each sample, double it; one blind, one with clearly marked labels which may or may not be correct. Then measure and compare the results of all.
One of the things I suggest that might be happening is that certain things do have a "difference" that one cannot measure accurately with scientific equipment.
Let us say for the sake of argument that it is not fully possible to measure all the subtleties of a AUTHENTIC Stradivarius verses an otherwise high grade violin. Then what? What if humans CAN detect things like "warmth" that a scientific measuring instrument can't fully quantify because we aren't able to measure it with scientific instruments?
The only way to be able to fully able to know for sure, is by a test such as I have suggested. Is simply calling a violin a Stradivarius enough to sway people, or is there something else to these things which eludes measurement?
I work at middle schools (a few) and I can assure you, they are "Fucking" but not necessarily at Middle School. Not a year goes by without some girl disappearing having been impregnated by her 14 year old boyfriend.
And I bet that would not be as "fun" as you think it was.
Libertarian truly values liberty.
And instead of taxing the crap out of us, why not ... you know ... cut the bloat of Government!
Okay, I read that last part as 700 lb humans ...
Your original implication was that it was better than it is now. Promoting the idea that the old ways were "sustainable" is nothing more than smokescreen.
The problem with your reasoning, is this. 200 years ago, they said the same things as you're saying now, only it was other things that we were using up at astonishing rates. Some where predicting cities buried in horse manure.
Things always look unsustainable, and the world is always on the brink of destruction. Has been for thousands of years.
In other news, showers are full of Dihydrogen Monoxide. This must be stopped. Won't somebody please think of the CHILDREN!
Coyotes
Not always. Nice try though.
Love it when people talk like this. I usually ask them "are you willing to give up modern life". You know, cars, fresh food year round, no fridge, modern medicine (universal healthcare) etc.
They all claim to want it, but fail when someone asks them to step up to the plate and put their money where their mouth is.
So, are you ready to give up TVs and other appliances and live in a tent or mud hut you made yourself? You willing to not have a new Cell phone every 1.75 years? WHAT are you doing to REALLY cut your consumption to nothing?
Now, welcome back to modern world. You can't have MODERN without the baggage it comes with. And good luck with that.
This may be part of the reason why NYT is in trouble. Think about it, they are desperate for cash, sneak in a little malware here and there into web ads, real Advertisers get wind of it, and pull their ads from the Dead Tree version.
If I were an advertiser in the NYT, I wouldn't be happy being associated with malware distribution center.
Well, from an IT administrator that manages McAfee Enterprise, it does indeed suck royal balls at doing its primary job (catching virii).
However it does excel at pointy hair boss reporting, which is often key to getting funding for said product. It is also easy to manage and update via ePolicy Orchestrator (ePO).
The other "corporate" option is Norton/Symantec product which sucks balls and then licks colons.
And this weeks "AV" "best" choice which then "sucks" next week isn't really an option for TRUE enterprise management. I can't manage 5000 computers running twenty something versions AV, and expect any sanity.
But what is worse than McAfee, is NO AV at all. And trust me, plenty of windows boxes out there don't have ANY AV, because people don't know what to choose, and will end up clicking the first "you're infected" popup because it is "convenient".
Stupid should hurt, but it rarely does. McAfee only seems to be stupid, but it is much better than nothing. I know, I've seen those reports, and I would hate to run my network Naked (no AV), even as bad as McAfee is.
But that is my $.02 worth
I actually believe that this is the false dichotomy problem.
We see this in all sorts of places, and it things tend towards this false dichotomy structure.
This is the false structure of the false Dichotomy, you only have two choices (mainstream). You have Democrat or Republican (forget odd balls Green, Libertarian, American Independant etc). You have Windows or Mac (forget about Linux, BeOS etc). You have Sprint or ATT, Dish or DirectTV
This really fits many many areas, where there are a dominant two, and a bunch of also rans.
In this case, BeOS died because it couldn't live in the world of the also-rans. Those that can live there, tend to do okay right there. BeOS can re-emerge as an "also ran" and as someone mentioned in other places might actually be a good choice for "netbooks". Just as long as people don't want it to be "Windows" or "Mac" it can do quite fine.
Your statement is only partially iCorrect. Yes it is iTrue that the second letter needs to be iCaps, it isn't the iMarketing department, it is the iUsability department which has set forth the proper iCaps rules that should be adhered to.
Actually this is quite easy with networked computers. However, it is much more difficult to manage with unlinked computers and computers on other networks, which often times you have no control over.
And if you were going to do this with a network, say using LDAP or something, you're probably using an Active Directory Server to do it because that is probably the easiest LDAP infrastructure to use.
Yes, you CAN use Linux only LDAP, but Linux LDAP server management sucks compared to Windows. I use a single AD server for LDAP, because I don't have to mess with it at all, and it works against all my Linux LDAP applications just fine.
However, now that you using LDAP(windows or linux), user mapping and authentication only works on my network(s). Other networked machines and people with standalone workstations cannot read my media, so now what?
Oh Right, move to a FAT32 filesystem where it just works.
What most semi-techinical people forget is that when all else fails, we go back to a common denominator, in this case FAT32.
Which is why most people will just start there, because then we don't have to "go back" and futz with shit that should just work.
I'm a Cavem^H^H^H^H^H basement dweller you insensitive clod
My carrier pigeon rep just informed me that he is the Nephew of one Ngobe Ngayaka, a formerly high ranking member of the Nigerian Government, and he has access to $23.45 Million in secret funds. He needs help getting the funds out of the country. I get to keep 10% if I help. It is a can't lose proposition!
Obviously not!