So after building a recent cluster I was looking at time it took to failover and failback. I noticed that it took a long time to bring the “SQL Network Name” resource online. After doing some searches on the internet I found this:
If you uncheck “Register this connection’s address in DNS” for the Network Properties of the Client Access / Public Network interface it would go to a few seconds to fire this up this resource.
I have seen a lot of these app lists in the past but they are never complete. Since I seem to rebuild my Blackberry all the time I thought it would be nice to share a complete list of what applications I install for the BlackBerry Storm each time. They are all free unless otherwise noted. Also a lot of these applications will work on standard Blackberries as well.
Must Have Applications for the BlackBerry Storm:
Honorable Mention Applications:
Quick post, was building a SQL 2008 Active / Passive cluster today on Windows 2003 x64 and got stuck when adding the second node.
Turns out to be a bug in the install media. Microsoft has a hotfix posted but that doesn’t seem to work correctly.
Got the correct fix from here:
http://forums.techarena.in/server-cluster/1032365.htm
The Workaround:
In the install media folder under \x64 find the DefaultSetup.ini file.
Just comment out the key (while you’re in the file copy the key) and put the key in during the installation.
Worked perfectly.
I had a HP MSA 500 G1 and G2 Storage array lying around that I got with some DL380 G3’s. I figured I would buy new DL380 G5’s add in a HBA and I would have a nice shiny new cluster for SQL 2008 x64.
I was dead wrong. First the MSA500 with HBA is not even recognized by the OS. Then I used a Smart Array 6402 Storage Controller card and was able to see the MSA500 in the OS. Still no go, Clustering services in Windows 2008 requires some sort of SCSI protocol v3 which the MSA500 cannot do.
Just figured I would save anyone else the pain of having to order and return all of those parts.
I ended up installing Server 2003 x64 and that’s working great.
Not new news but I wanted to post a link to the BlackBerry YouTube application that was developed by Google. For some reason people (including me) have a hard time locating it.
This client is awesome, full rich UI (not the mobile web pages.) It’s the most iPhone feeling app for blackberry.
Direct your Blackberry over to http://m.google.com/youtube and it should offer a version 1.6 or greater.
Also you can check out more by visiting there product page:
http://www.google.com/mobile/default/youtube.html
Only works for the BlackBerry Storm.
So I recently got a new Dell Mini 10 notebook. I had always planned to rebuild it on Windows 7 but before I did I thought I would take a benchmark test. Everyone thought that Windows 7 would be slower on a Netbook. The following test shows otherwise.
Turns out it was almost twice as fast.
| Windows XP | Windows 7 | |
|
Total Performance Rating |
99.1 |
172.2 |
I don’t have much to explain it. The only thoughts I have are that Windows 7 was designed to run on Netbooks. Also given that selling point they may have tweaked Windows 7 to run better on benchmark tests giving an inflated result. Also the XP benchmark was taken with all of the Dell preloaded software on it which could have been slowing the system down.
In any event, that should show everyone that if you are thinking of upgrading to Windows 7 but are worried about speed, you have nothing to worry about.
| Test Name |
Windows XP |
Windows 7 |
| CPU – Integer Math |
17.7 |
21.6 |
| CPU – Floating Point Math |
81.5 |
94.9 |
| CPU – Find Prime Numbers |
54.4 |
65.0 |
| CPU – Multimedia Instructions |
0.9 |
1.1 |
| CPU – Compression |
618.7 |
708.3 |
| CPU – Encryption |
2.3 |
2.6 |
| CPU – Physics |
14.7 |
16.3 |
| CPU – String Sorting |
307.4 |
382.1 |
| Graphics 2D – Solid Vectors |
1.7 |
0.6 |
| Graphics 2D – Transparent Vectors |
1.0 |
0.7 |
| Graphics 2D – Complex Vectors |
31.2 |
17.2 |
| Graphics 2D – Fonts and Text |
18.4 |
21.8 |
| Graphics 2D – Windows Interface |
21.4 |
11.5 |
| Graphics 2D – Image Filters |
74.1 |
72.9 |
| 2D Graphics – Image Rendering |
73.0 |
83.8 |
| Graphics 3D – Simple |
8.9 |
62.4 |
| Graphics 3D – Medium |
3.4 |
6.4 |
| Graphics 3D – Complex |
1.0 |
1.6 |
| Memory – Allocate Small Block |
681.2 |
682.1 |
| Memory – Read Cached |
626.8 |
715.5 |
| Memory – Read Uncached |
569.1 |
597.8 |
| Memory – Write |
559.6 |
616.5 |
| Memory – Large RAM |
75.2 |
76.1 |
| Disk – Sequential Read |
43.4 |
38.3 |
| Disk – Sequential Write |
47.0 |
43.3 |
| Disk – Random Seek + RW |
2.2 |
2.0 |
| CPU Mark |
254.2 |
305.2 |
| 2D Graphics Mark |
139.8 |
87.3 |
| Memory Mark |
173.9 |
186.2 |
| Disk Mark |
334.7 |
302.1 |
| 3D Graphics Mark |
9.1 |
31.4 |
| Total Performance Rating |
99.1 |
172.2 |
Dude I got a Dell! Thanks to my work I was able to get a Dell Mini 10 fully loaded for around $125. Because I was buying two other very expensive computers they were giving away a Mini for 50$. After I added extra features it ended up costing me $125.
Here are the quick specs.
What is a Netbook?
A Netbook is simply a really small and low cost computer. Now if you are telling yourself that sounds really good, there is a catch. Its really slow by design. They should only be considered a good idea if all you do is browse the web and check your email. Even installing office on a Netbook may be too much for it to handle.
So how slow is it?
Well it seemed very sluggish but Dell had loaded a lot of junk software on it. It definitely could be used for the home research terminal. You know, looking up stuff on Google, keeping some recipes, that kind of thing.
Why the Dell Mini?
It was Dell because of the deal I got, however, I had my choice of the Dell 9, 10, or 12. There was two reasons why I picked the 10. First was that it’s a Netbook and the smaller the better. The only reason I didn’t pick the 9 was that it doesn’t have the function key row and the keys are too tiny for my fingers. The second reason was because it has an HDMI port.
What did I want it for?
My plan was to use it with a software called Boxee to watch Hulu and other internet TV. However the Video card (Intel GMA 500) just isn’t strong enough to stream video. Real bummer.
Other bad things?
Yeah the touch pad sucks, the buttons are built into it and because of that you keep moving the mouse by accident.
The bad video card really sucks, and the other downside is it’s the only Netbook in the world with non-removable memory. With most you can take out the 1GB stick and upgrade to 2GB.
What now?
Well its useless to me for what I really wanted it for but I got lucky. I found out they make a Dell Mini 1010v which ironically is cheaper and has a better video card (the Intel GMA 945) and can be upgraded to 2GB. The only downside? Can’t get the HD screen, but if my real goal is to hook it to the TV then I am cool with it. I will be returning this one and should have the new one next week.
Below is a comparison between the two.
So with Facebook for Blackberry in version 1.5 they introduced three new options.
They are really cool features. The Contacts Application sync’ed all my Facebook profile images with my contacts in BlackBerry. When someone calls, their profile photo shows on the caller ID.
Anyways, when I upgraded to 1.6, the Calendar and Contacts options grayed out and were no longer able to be selected.
UPDATE: The following directions are for a BES 4.x server, if you have a BES 5.x server please follow these directions: http://digitaljive.wordpress.com/2010/02/19/facebook-for-blackberry-contact-and-calendar-sync-disabled-options-grayed-out/
After some research I came across this:
http://www.blackberry.com/btsc/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=KB15535
Basically RIM (who makes the Facebook app) decided that this functionally would be controlled by your IT admin (fortunately that’s me.) I followed the directions but I still couldn’t figure out where the new settings were in the IT policy.
I finally found them here:
Lastly, once the settings are configured you need to restart the BES services before the devices can take the new settings.
So I had a blog previously on blogger. The reason I went with Blogger was because it was bought by Google and I thought it would be the best.
However it started to be a huge pain to attach images. I am a screenshot kind of guy. I think any story is better told with a screenshot. Take this awesome speed test from my house as an example:
Now I could have just told you I got over 20MB buts the picture is worth a thousand words.
Here is how you do it:
First you have to use Word Press, other than SharePoint (which is really an option for consumers) it’s the only blogging site with build-in support for image attachment.
