It has been a few years since I have been able to attend the annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. That is a travesty considering I work for a video game company. I joined my current company just a few days after GDC and so I didn't attend that year. The next year, I was busy implementing a new system and couldn't break away for an afternoon to attend. Last year I was set to attend, but had to babysit a sick database machine that kept overheating (adding a 1-U space between a networking switch and one of the database servers solved that problem).
I decided that this year I would make every effort to attend GDC simply to see the state of the industry. Monday and Tuesday were filled with class sessions and I only had an Expo pass. Wednesday was busy with yet another product rollout. Thursday looked like it was going to be the day and so I planned accordingly. I went to the office and made sure there were no issues to fix. I waited for my team to show up and nothing seemed out of the ordinary, so I headed to downtown San Francisco. Things were looking good as I headed to the show.
I enjoyed the show and it was good to see what other companies are doing. The most enlightening section was where gaming companies are looking to hire. Everyone is having trouble finding the right talent. There were a number of people looking for jobs but the majority of them seemed to be students and companies want people with experience. I continued through the rest of the conference but didn't see anything groundbreaking. Just as I finished with the last booth, I got a call from our network operations center and there was a problem I needed to address. I jumped on a BART train back to my office and then spent most of last night fixing some configuration issues related to our recent product rollout. I was able to get everything working correctly and am now at the airport ready to board my flight back to Salt Lake City. It was hectic but at least I was able to attend the show this year.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Performance Tuning in the Cloud
I have been spending the last couple of days working on performance tuning for our big project at work. We are moving the software from ancient hardware and migrating it into our own private cloud. What is the difference? With the old system, we had a fixed number of servers and had to manually spread pieces of the application across them. With our own private cloud, we have a number of servers that we make look like a single machine. Then we divide up that machine so that each piece of the application looks like it is running on its own server. One thing that we are discovering is that performance problems can be much more difficult to solve.
Yesterday we ran into an interesting problem that we spent today figuring out. In the video gaming world, people don't like it when the game crashes. To combat this issue, we run redundant systems and so there are always two of everything. The problem we came across was that one server was processing more data than the other, even though they were configured identically. Everyone looking at the problem suggested going through both configurations line by line. We did and verified the two systems were set up identically. Then we all sat around scratching our heads wondering what to look at next. We tried twisting some nobs and pushing various buttons only to have more questions after looking at the performance numbers.
It turns out that the process of taking a bunch of machines and combining them together to form this computing cloud obfuscates what is happening on the raw hardware underneath. To figure out what is really taking place, one has to look there. We are still in the midst of improving performance but now have a much better handle of what is going on. Amazingly this new system already is running circles around the old one, we just want it to run faster.
Yesterday we ran into an interesting problem that we spent today figuring out. In the video gaming world, people don't like it when the game crashes. To combat this issue, we run redundant systems and so there are always two of everything. The problem we came across was that one server was processing more data than the other, even though they were configured identically. Everyone looking at the problem suggested going through both configurations line by line. We did and verified the two systems were set up identically. Then we all sat around scratching our heads wondering what to look at next. We tried twisting some nobs and pushing various buttons only to have more questions after looking at the performance numbers.
It turns out that the process of taking a bunch of machines and combining them together to form this computing cloud obfuscates what is happening on the raw hardware underneath. To figure out what is really taking place, one has to look there. We are still in the midst of improving performance but now have a much better handle of what is going on. Amazingly this new system already is running circles around the old one, we just want it to run faster.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
3D Printers
There has been a lot of news about 3D printers and how they are going to revolutionize the manufacturing world. Prices are coming down to the point where you can pick one up for under $700. Of course you will have to assemble it, but that is a lot less than they were even a few months ago.
My youngest son would love it if I purchased a 3D printer as he is taking a robotics class in school and they use a 3D printer to make one-off parts. He uses Autodesk Inventor to design parts. When he is done, he prints them out and has them after a few hours of watching plastic dots get layered on top of each other.
I don't think the manufacturing world has much to worry about right now as most objects are made from more than plastic. It would be tough to print a new laptop or even a new iPod. About the best you can do with current technology is create a new case for your iPod. Even then, it will probably be very brittle.
I wonder if this will revitalize the hobby kit industry? Perhaps you will be able to buy a kit for a remote-control car that comes with a bunch of downloadable body designs. Perhaps a manufacturer will sell the parts for high-end headphones and then you will be able to print the plastic parts so they fit your head perfectly. When that happens, then manufacturers need to start worrying.
My youngest son would love it if I purchased a 3D printer as he is taking a robotics class in school and they use a 3D printer to make one-off parts. He uses Autodesk Inventor to design parts. When he is done, he prints them out and has them after a few hours of watching plastic dots get layered on top of each other.
I don't think the manufacturing world has much to worry about right now as most objects are made from more than plastic. It would be tough to print a new laptop or even a new iPod. About the best you can do with current technology is create a new case for your iPod. Even then, it will probably be very brittle.
I wonder if this will revitalize the hobby kit industry? Perhaps you will be able to buy a kit for a remote-control car that comes with a bunch of downloadable body designs. Perhaps a manufacturer will sell the parts for high-end headphones and then you will be able to print the plastic parts so they fit your head perfectly. When that happens, then manufacturers need to start worrying.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Online Purchase Problems
I was finally able to get my taxes done and discovered that I have a few dollars coming back to me. In anticipation of my refund, I have made one or two online purchases. If you know what you are looking for and have the correct size information, it can be a very economical way to buy things. Yesterday I got bit by the size bug.
Last month I purchased a new ham radio capable of talking with people all around the world. Unfortunately the radio is the simplest purchase as there are a number of other accessories also required. The most important accessory is the antenna. While I could buy one, I thought I would try my hand at making a number of different types. I picked up a bunch of wire from Home Depot and have been having fun making dipoles for several different frequency bands. I am experimenting at this point and so my antennas are not that robust. In other words, they keep breaking. In an attempt to create a more permanent antenna, I went online and ordered a few parts.
I have been reading a lot of antenna building instructions and wanted to pick up some insulators. They are used to help hang dipole antennas without having the support structure become part of the antenna. I located some nice dog-bone insulators that looked to be the right size and ordered them from a reputable online store. They arrived yesterday and surprised me with how big they are. The online picture had no reference and so I assumed they were about an inch long. It turns out they are not 1 but 3 inches long. I didn't realize when I ordered them that they would be the size of an actual dog bone.
The insulators were only a dollar each and will work for my project. Furthermore they are very robust and will help me create an antenna that should survive a hurricane. I'm glad I wasn't ordering a shirt as I would have gotten a tent.
Last month I purchased a new ham radio capable of talking with people all around the world. Unfortunately the radio is the simplest purchase as there are a number of other accessories also required. The most important accessory is the antenna. While I could buy one, I thought I would try my hand at making a number of different types. I picked up a bunch of wire from Home Depot and have been having fun making dipoles for several different frequency bands. I am experimenting at this point and so my antennas are not that robust. In other words, they keep breaking. In an attempt to create a more permanent antenna, I went online and ordered a few parts.
I have been reading a lot of antenna building instructions and wanted to pick up some insulators. They are used to help hang dipole antennas without having the support structure become part of the antenna. I located some nice dog-bone insulators that looked to be the right size and ordered them from a reputable online store. They arrived yesterday and surprised me with how big they are. The online picture had no reference and so I assumed they were about an inch long. It turns out they are not 1 but 3 inches long. I didn't realize when I ordered them that they would be the size of an actual dog bone.
The insulators were only a dollar each and will work for my project. Furthermore they are very robust and will help me create an antenna that should survive a hurricane. I'm glad I wasn't ordering a shirt as I would have gotten a tent.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Chinese Crap
I had hoped to write something here last week but got stuck late at work every night. Just when we were ready to go live with a new release of some software hosted on our new hardware infrastructure, we lost one of our networking switches and had to delay. It is probably a good thing as waiting to replace our hardware gave us time to fix some configuration issues with our software. However it was really frustrating to have everything ready to go, only to have quality issues because one of our vendors decided to move all manufacturing to China. It seems like I am seeing an astronomical failure rate for products made in China.
Unfortunately it is impossible to buy anything these days that isn't made in China. If you want the best price for computers and electronics, you can bet that a lot of the components come from there. I have decided that I can no longer afford to blindly purchase goods. The first question I ask myself before purchasing a product is, "Where is it made?" If the answer is China, then I look around for the next 2 or 3 competing products. If they are also made in China, then I don't really have much of a choice. If they are made somewhere else, then there better be a significant price break or I will buy the competitor. In fact, I would much rather purchase a bicycle built in the USA than an automobile built in China. Trust me when I tell you that you will get more miles out of the bike than the car.
Unfortunately it is impossible to buy anything these days that isn't made in China. If you want the best price for computers and electronics, you can bet that a lot of the components come from there. I have decided that I can no longer afford to blindly purchase goods. The first question I ask myself before purchasing a product is, "Where is it made?" If the answer is China, then I look around for the next 2 or 3 competing products. If they are also made in China, then I don't really have much of a choice. If they are made somewhere else, then there better be a significant price break or I will buy the competitor. In fact, I would much rather purchase a bicycle built in the USA than an automobile built in China. Trust me when I tell you that you will get more miles out of the bike than the car.
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