Broken memory can manifest in new and interesting ways. That's why servers have ECC memory;)
And the only sure way to diagnose it is to run memtest86 for a long time - 24 - 48 hours, in order to be sure it's not a memory problem. Next step would be rule out each individual memory module, making diagnostics even worse.
In my case (company environment), we just replace all memory sticks after memtest86 confirmed an issue. It doesn't happen that often, and it's cheaper than finding the faulty memory chip.
We charge roughly 175$ per hour (185 CHF). No matter what exactly i'm doing.
Driving to a customers location? 175$ / hour Listening to a customers monologue about how bad Bill Gates & Microsoft is? 175$ / hour Installing RAM? 175$ / hour Reinstalling your computer? 175$ / hour
It works. It's fair. It's simple. No special fees. No complicated tariffs. Just work, charged by the hour.
Yeah, the EU's decision might've made sense and i would've supported it roughly 10 years ago.
Currently, there is heavy competition in the browser market and Microsoft isn't winning.
Since Windows XP SP2, using non-Windows programs for functionality shipped with Windows is actually easy to do with it's own control panel icon and everything.
Aunt Edna will not assemble a machine from parts and then install a system builder copy of Windows.
She will buy a pre-configured computer from a major OEM like Lenovo, HP, Dell, Acer, etc. These pre-configured computers ship with a browser and all sorts of crap in the preload.
I've never seen really big companies with a well-managed IT deployment. Most of them have _extremely_ strict guidelines, often getting into the way of actually doing businesses. This is usually the point where departments start getting their own PCs and their own internet access, not managed by IT. And as soon as that happens, it's all downhill from there.
I've seen several small-to-midsize companies that ran a tight ship but never forgot why they're running IT (to help the business). These companies couldn't afford the latest high-end threat protection services (prince, low number of people), but the fact that most employees were actually working WITH IT and not against IT got them a better environment than the really big companies with fancy gadgets.
I assume the newest 15,000 rpm drives are similarly noisy.
The current ones aren't as noisy as they used to be, especially the 2.5" drives. Older ones were pretty noisy, but current Nehalem 2U rackservers with a 8 or 12 2.5" 15kRPM drives are pretty quiet - and that includes the noise of the case fans.
Shadow Copies are _NOT_ A BACKUP! You cannot compare Shadow Copies to Time Machine. They're different tools, built for different scenarios. Shadow Copies (as known to the user) are snapshots (VSS can also be used to facilitate snapshot backups, but there it's just one part of the solution). Time Machine is a snapshot based backup tool.
RAID is worthless when memory corruption fucks with your file system, as are shadow copies.
Again, if you need a stable parts supply, don't go with a whitebox server. Software RAID doesn't help you in that regard - instead of an 8 year old SAS RAID controller you'll be looking for a generic 8 year old SAS controller. It'll still be shitty and not usuable in a production environment.
There are some important differences between server SATA drives and consumer SATA drives - for example the number of retries until an error is reported to the controller. The price difference of course is not really justified by that.
Consumer editions of Windows only ever supported Software RAID1. I've made a few experiences with SW RAID1 on WS03, and it's pretty much crap. Linux SW RAID on the other hand worked fairly well.
RAID is not a backup. This is the most important observation. RAID is a high availibility feature. If you lose your RAID array, you shouldn't lose any data. If you do, your backup strategy sucks.
Generally, skip RAID in a consumer setup. RAID is complicated, it's a PITA and especially the low end stuff can do more harm than good. Even expensive stuff can fuck your shit up (I'm looking at you, ServeRAID 8k). Better in invest in a proper backup - to a local harddrive and maybe offsite. Online backups make sense in a home office. For servers, i recommend LTO tapedrives.
Yeah, i'm not sure if rolling your own Distribution is the way to go from a TCO/Long Term cost standpoint. It sure makes you more independent, but it's also high maintenance.
In other words, don't be surprised if LimuxWatch blog has a hidden agenda.
Hidden agenda? Are you kidding me? The author is flat out stating that Limux is failing hard, that Microsoft reigns supreme and that Linux is no alternative. The only hidden agenda they could have is to sell Apple computers, but i'm failing to see how that's playing into it.
Weren't they still running NT4 when the migration started? Does this mean 90% of Munich's computers are still running on NT4? If so, a rush job is probably badly needed.
Slashdot Mirror
Broken memory can manifest in new and interesting ways. That's why servers have ECC memory ;)
And the only sure way to diagnose it is to run memtest86 for a long time - 24 - 48 hours, in order to be sure it's not a memory problem. Next step would be rule out each individual memory module, making diagnostics even worse.
In my case (company environment), we just replace all memory sticks after memtest86 confirmed an issue. It doesn't happen that often, and it's cheaper than finding the faulty memory chip.
45$ for an onsite visit?
We charge roughly 175$ per hour (185 CHF). No matter what exactly i'm doing.
Driving to a customers location? 175$ / hour
Listening to a customers monologue about how bad Bill Gates & Microsoft is? 175$ / hour
Installing RAM? 175$ / hour
Reinstalling your computer? 175$ / hour
It works. It's fair. It's simple. No special fees. No complicated tariffs. Just work, charged by the hour.
Well, i think plugging a HDMI cable into the graphics card, and the other end into the TV is about as complicated as pressing next-next-finish.
Yeah, the EU's decision might've made sense and i would've supported it roughly 10 years ago.
Currently, there is heavy competition in the browser market and Microsoft isn't winning.
Since Windows XP SP2, using non-Windows programs for functionality shipped with Windows is actually easy to do with it's own control panel icon and everything.
The manual browser update was the only way in the days prior to AU that, i believe, came in Windows 2000 SP2/3 or 4.
Aunt Edna will not assemble a machine from parts and then install a system builder copy of Windows.
She will buy a pre-configured computer from a major OEM like Lenovo, HP, Dell, Acer, etc. These pre-configured computers ship with a browser and all sorts of crap in the preload.
Yeah, you don't "need" to reboot after glibc updates. It's just that you should in order for all programs to get the fixes.
I've never seen really big companies with a well-managed IT deployment. Most of them have _extremely_ strict guidelines, often getting into the way of actually doing businesses. This is usually the point where departments start getting their own PCs and their own internet access, not managed by IT. And as soon as that happens, it's all downhill from there.
I've seen several small-to-midsize companies that ran a tight ship but never forgot why they're running IT (to help the business). These companies couldn't afford the latest high-end threat protection services (prince, low number of people), but the fact that most employees were actually working WITH IT and not against IT got them a better environment than the really big companies with fancy gadgets.
The current ones aren't as noisy as they used to be, especially the 2.5" drives. Older ones were pretty noisy, but current Nehalem 2U rackservers with a 8 or 12 2.5" 15kRPM drives are pretty quiet - and that includes the noise of the case fans.
Or the multi-process Explorer.exe on Windows 7 :)
Yes:
http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/dataprotectionmanager/en/us/default.aspx
The RC does. So did the Vista RC. You point?
Shadow Copies are _NOT_ A BACKUP! You cannot compare Shadow Copies to Time Machine. They're different tools, built for different scenarios. Shadow Copies (as known to the user) are snapshots (VSS can also be used to facilitate snapshot backups, but there it's just one part of the solution). Time Machine is a snapshot based backup tool.
RAID is worthless when memory corruption fucks with your file system, as are shadow copies.
Again, if you need a stable parts supply, don't go with a whitebox server. Software RAID doesn't help you in that regard - instead of an 8 year old SAS RAID controller you'll be looking for a generic 8 year old SAS controller. It'll still be shitty and not usuable in a production environment.
RAID is not a backup or archival solution.
If you need a study supply of replacement parts, buy a server from a well known vendor like IBM, HP or Dell.
There are some important differences between server SATA drives and consumer SATA drives - for example the number of retries until an error is reported to the controller. The price difference of course is not really justified by that.
Please, read this changelog:
ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/systems/support/system_x/ibm_fw_aacraid_5.2.0-15427_anyos_32-64.chg
If this doesn't make you fucking afraid of RAID controllers, i don't know what will :)
Yeah, blame broken applications on the filesystem. Seems like a good idea.
Fakeraid is software too.
Get a real hardware RAID controller, or don't use RAID. Windows SW RAID or a Fakeraid controller is just plain stupid.
Consumer editions of Windows only ever supported Software RAID1. I've made a few experiences with SW RAID1 on WS03, and it's pretty much crap. Linux SW RAID on the other hand worked fairly well.
RAID is not a backup. This is the most important observation. RAID is a high availibility feature. If you lose your RAID array, you shouldn't lose any data. If you do, your backup strategy sucks.
Generally, skip RAID in a consumer setup. RAID is complicated, it's a PITA and especially the low end stuff can do more harm than good. Even expensive stuff can fuck your shit up (I'm looking at you, ServeRAID 8k). Better in invest in a proper backup - to a local harddrive and maybe offsite. Online backups make sense in a home office. For servers, i recommend LTO tapedrives.
You can install SEP with Antivirus only, without the network threat protection bullshit and all the other bullshit.
You got your tinfoil hat on?
Yeah, i'm not sure if rolling your own Distribution is the way to go from a TCO/Long Term cost standpoint. It sure makes you more independent, but it's also high maintenance.
Hidden agenda? Are you kidding me? The author is flat out stating that Limux is failing hard, that Microsoft reigns supreme and that Linux is no alternative. The only hidden agenda they could have is to sell Apple computers, but i'm failing to see how that's playing into it.
Weren't they still running NT4 when the migration started? Does this mean 90% of Munich's computers are still running on NT4? If so, a rush job is probably badly needed.