I have run into a performance problem with one of my databases at work. We are constantly adding new records to the database and the system runs fine. When we try to augment the normal load with some extra data, the system slows to a crawl and I have been trying to figure out why.
I have a tool that will help me monitor performance. Every 2 seconds, it queries the program sending data into the database and asks how many packets of data are waiting to be saved. When the system is keeping up, this number is 0. When it is running slow, the number grows. Yesterday I got tied up with other things and turned my monitoring program off. I wasn't really paying close attention, but the performance seemed to increase because I wasn't watching.
This morning I wanted to see if there was a true performance increase or if it just seemed that way. I started loading data and made a note of the time. Yesterday it took almost exactly 2 hours to complete. This morning it took 1 hour and 40 minutes. I thought that was interesting and so I ran the test again. Sure enough, the second test completed in 1 hour and 50 minutes. While my monitoring of the system didn't slow things down too much, it did have an effect.
I guess you could say that the old cliche about a watched pot never boiling can be true. In Physics, this is called the Observer Effect, where merely observing something changes what is being observed.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Back From Vacation
My wife, son, and I just got back from 3 days in southern Utah at a nice little retreat. It was a wonderful mini vacation with a bunch of friends from the neighborhood. While I enjoy spending time in front of the computer, it is nice to get away and leave electronics behind. I did have my laptop with me, but only used it twice. Both times were to make sure I didn't have any pressing e-mails. In hindsight, I could have left it home.
Someone else planned the entire vacation for me so I just needed to show up. The place we stayed is called the Summit Chateau Lodge and is located near Brian Head ski resort. Naturally I checked out their website before heading down. They didn't mention if they had an Internet connection and so I gave them a call. The owner answered the phone and said that Verizon had data coverage in the area and he had a MiFi device that could allow up to 5 devices to connect to the Internet at the same time. That was all I needed as I didn't plan on doing much work.
As we prepared to leave on the trip, I needed to figure out what car to take. I prefer to do long drives in my sedan, but it is low to the ground and not very good on dirt roads. I plugged in "Summit Chateau Lodge" into maps.google.com and selected satellite view to see that it was a 3 to 4 mile dirt road leading to the resort. That meant my car was out of the question. As it was only 3 to 4 miles of dirt road, I opted for my wife's Subaru instead of the Jeep. While the Jeep would have been fun, the 200 miles of pavement getting to the dirt would have been less than comfortable. Besides, the Subaru Outback Sport gets much better gas mileage. Now that I am back I can say that the Subaru was the best choice. We had fun playing rally-car driver on the dirt road and my sedan would have had a difficult time making it up several steep sections without bottoming out.
Sure I could have gone on vacation without the Internet. Some of my fellow neighbors did. However it sure helped to go down prepared.
Someone else planned the entire vacation for me so I just needed to show up. The place we stayed is called the Summit Chateau Lodge and is located near Brian Head ski resort. Naturally I checked out their website before heading down. They didn't mention if they had an Internet connection and so I gave them a call. The owner answered the phone and said that Verizon had data coverage in the area and he had a MiFi device that could allow up to 5 devices to connect to the Internet at the same time. That was all I needed as I didn't plan on doing much work.
As we prepared to leave on the trip, I needed to figure out what car to take. I prefer to do long drives in my sedan, but it is low to the ground and not very good on dirt roads. I plugged in "Summit Chateau Lodge" into maps.google.com and selected satellite view to see that it was a 3 to 4 mile dirt road leading to the resort. That meant my car was out of the question. As it was only 3 to 4 miles of dirt road, I opted for my wife's Subaru instead of the Jeep. While the Jeep would have been fun, the 200 miles of pavement getting to the dirt would have been less than comfortable. Besides, the Subaru Outback Sport gets much better gas mileage. Now that I am back I can say that the Subaru was the best choice. We had fun playing rally-car driver on the dirt road and my sedan would have had a difficult time making it up several steep sections without bottoming out.
Sure I could have gone on vacation without the Internet. Some of my fellow neighbors did. However it sure helped to go down prepared.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Flight Simulators
Last week I found myself monitoring numbers on a screen. It was one of those tasks that didn't require 100% of my attention but kept me from getting any other work done. It was the perfect scenario for improving my video game skills. I went to our in-house library and picked up a copy of Battlefield 3. I started playing this game around Christmas and did a quick write-up of it. Since then, I have not been able to get back to the game and so it was fun to start playing again.
As I was on one of my work video game consoles, I had to start from the very beginning and that acted as a good refresher for me. Then I got to the mission where I stopped playing at home: a flight mission. When flight simulators first came out, I thought they would be fun. Then I played a few and they were incredibly boring and/or incredibly hard to figure out. Part of the problem with a simulator is that you are in a chair with gravity always keeping your seat planted firmly in said chair. There is no sensation of movement other than what you see and that makes it tough to play the game. When Battlefield 3 got to the flight simulator during my Christmas break, I just lost interest and went on to play another game.
This time I decided to give it a shot and I am glad I did. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed the mission. In fact, I came home and had my son play it because it was so entertaining. One thing they did right is have a pilot fly the plane while you concentrated on using missiles and flares. You get to dogfight other planes and then take out ground targets. Both my son and I enjoyed it a lot. The only disappointment was that we now know they lied to us in the movie "Top Gun." In the movie they make it seem like Goose is just along for the ride and Maverick does all the fun stuff. In reality, the guy in back gets to shoot stuff too.
As I was on one of my work video game consoles, I had to start from the very beginning and that acted as a good refresher for me. Then I got to the mission where I stopped playing at home: a flight mission. When flight simulators first came out, I thought they would be fun. Then I played a few and they were incredibly boring and/or incredibly hard to figure out. Part of the problem with a simulator is that you are in a chair with gravity always keeping your seat planted firmly in said chair. There is no sensation of movement other than what you see and that makes it tough to play the game. When Battlefield 3 got to the flight simulator during my Christmas break, I just lost interest and went on to play another game.
This time I decided to give it a shot and I am glad I did. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed the mission. In fact, I came home and had my son play it because it was so entertaining. One thing they did right is have a pilot fly the plane while you concentrated on using missiles and flares. You get to dogfight other planes and then take out ground targets. Both my son and I enjoyed it a lot. The only disappointment was that we now know they lied to us in the movie "Top Gun." In the movie they make it seem like Goose is just along for the ride and Maverick does all the fun stuff. In reality, the guy in back gets to shoot stuff too.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Form vs Function
I was driving in Utah this weekend and pulled up next to a beautiful black Ferrari. I have always wanted one and so it surprised my wife when I told her I would rather have my buddy's tricked-out Jeep (see the picture below). "Why?" was all she could ask once she recomposed herself. I explained that it all boils down to functionality. While I like the idea of owning a fast Italian sports car, it really isn't all that practical for the things I am doing in my life right now. I am happily married and so I don't need an expensive car to help beautiful young women see past my bald head and chubby belly. The speed limit is easily reached in even the most basic car. Yet a vehicle capable of operating in the worst travel conditions comes in handy when you spend as much time in the mountains as I do. Yep, right now I would take the Jeep.
What does this have to do with computers? Well I recently had a conversation with one of my coworkers who is in the process of upgrading one of his computers. He is really into music and so he purchased some expensive sound equipment. No, he didn't just get a high-end sound card, he picked up top-of-the-line studio speakers, mixing equipment and stuff that most normal people would never use, let alone be able to afford. While we were talking, I realized that it would be fun to do the same thing to my computer, but I don't need it. That made me think about how I really use my computer.
To be completely honest, I hardly ever really use my desktop computer. Instead, I use it to connect to other computers that are much more powerful and do the real processing on them. That means I need a fast network connection, which I already have. I also have a lot of windows open into these other servers and so it is nice to have a lot of screen real-estate. That means I need a graphics card capable of displaying to multiple large monitors. That graphics card requires a lot of memory to run well. So while my coworker built his computer for audio, I should concentrate on video.
A Ferrari is a beautiful car that most people would love to own. There are a lot of computers out there that are similar. They are really fast and look amazing. However it is important to look at your needs before buying one. If you are doing a lot of number crunching and need to be "seen" with the latest and greatest, I encourage you to get one. Otherwise if you are like me or my coworker, you might be better suited with a Jeep-like computer that is specialized for specific tasks.
Now that I think about it, I actually have both . . . computers that is. I am typing this blog tonight on my high-end Mac laptop (the Ferrari) while I also have the really fast computer with multiple large-screen monitors in my home office (the Jeep). Now I just wish I could afford both cars.
What does this have to do with computers? Well I recently had a conversation with one of my coworkers who is in the process of upgrading one of his computers. He is really into music and so he purchased some expensive sound equipment. No, he didn't just get a high-end sound card, he picked up top-of-the-line studio speakers, mixing equipment and stuff that most normal people would never use, let alone be able to afford. While we were talking, I realized that it would be fun to do the same thing to my computer, but I don't need it. That made me think about how I really use my computer.
To be completely honest, I hardly ever really use my desktop computer. Instead, I use it to connect to other computers that are much more powerful and do the real processing on them. That means I need a fast network connection, which I already have. I also have a lot of windows open into these other servers and so it is nice to have a lot of screen real-estate. That means I need a graphics card capable of displaying to multiple large monitors. That graphics card requires a lot of memory to run well. So while my coworker built his computer for audio, I should concentrate on video.
A Ferrari is a beautiful car that most people would love to own. There are a lot of computers out there that are similar. They are really fast and look amazing. However it is important to look at your needs before buying one. If you are doing a lot of number crunching and need to be "seen" with the latest and greatest, I encourage you to get one. Otherwise if you are like me or my coworker, you might be better suited with a Jeep-like computer that is specialized for specific tasks.
Now that I think about it, I actually have both . . . computers that is. I am typing this blog tonight on my high-end Mac laptop (the Ferrari) while I also have the really fast computer with multiple large-screen monitors in my home office (the Jeep). Now I just wish I could afford both cars.
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