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Snickering at the Emachine

Dave Farquhar Hardware, War Stories June 22, 2013August 12, 2018datacenter, DCS, dell, emachine, hp

For several years, I administered a command and control system for the U.S. Air Force. I sat in a datacenter, surrounded by racks jam-packed full of servers, and they kept the building at 64 degrees year round. I quickly learned to keep a jacket handy. I did several things, but mostly patch management.

Our system consisted of a diverse collection of Dell 1U and 5U servers, HP blades, and a couple of Sun SPARC boxes. It was a professional-looking setup, and except for the times we were doing massive system upgrades, the system generally worked as well as it looked.

Then we got a neighbor.

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He has written professionally about computers since 1991, so he was writing about retro computers when they were still new. He has been working in IT professionally since 1994 and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He holds Security+ and CISSP certifications. Today he blogs five times a week, mostly about retro computers and retro gaming covering the time period from 1975 to 2000.

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Windows vs. Linux kernel performance

Dave Farquhar Linux, Windows May 13, 2013December 3, 20181990s, acer, amd, apple, dell, hp, intel, lenovo, NSA, oracle, sp3, unix, vista, windows 8, windows nt, Windows XP

An anonymous Microsoft developer spilled some juicy opinions about why Windows kernel performance isn’t all it could be and answered some longstanding questions about Windows vs. Linux kernel performance in the process. Although he has recanted much of what he said, some of his insights make a ton of sense.

Dave Farquhar

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Notes on the Compaq Presario SR2011WM

Dave Farquhar Hardware May 12, 2013December 11, 2016compaq, garage sale, hp, micro atx, pentium d, windows 7, windows 8, Windows XP

I’ve been working on a Compaq Presario SR2011WM. It’s a basic, low-end, single-core Celeron D system from 2006 or so. It can take up to 2 GB of RAM, runs Windows XP adequately, and has SATA ports, so you can put an SSD in it if you want. But don’t be fooled by the name–the Celeron in this machine is single core, and has a Prescott-era Pentium 4 core in it at that, not a low-TDP, Pentium D-style core.

In case you’re wondering, the easiest way to get it to boot from USB is to plug in a USB drive, hit ESC as the system runs POST, then select your USB drive from the menu.

Now let’s talk about options for upgrades. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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The trouble with bringing your own software

Dave Farquhar security, Software May 3, 2013November 22, 20181990s, adobe creative suite, apple, hp, macintosh, micron, Microsoft Office, Missouri, office 2007, pc magazine, university of missouri, windows 2000, windows 7

PC Magazine is advocating a bring your own laptop, with your own software approach to business. It likens it to mechanics who bring their own tools.

The trouble is that while mechanical tools in a toolbox operate autonomously and don’t interfere with one another, software residing on a computer does. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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Mark Hurd doesn’t sound like he’s just what Dell needed

Dave Farquhar Hardware March 25, 2013March 24, 2013apple, asus, compaq, dell, hp, IBM, macintosh, mark hurd, Michael Dell, oracle

Word on the street is that Blackstone Group has a plan for turning around Dell: Buy the company, take it private, and install Mark Hurd as CEO. The thinking is that he’s available, has experience, and would have baggage keeping him from being the CEO of a public company.

I just see one glitch. Available != good fit.

Dave Farquhar

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Commodore was more than a stock scam

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing March 15, 2013May 1, 20251980s, 1990s, amiga, apple, atari, Chuck Peddle, commodore, debts, dell, hp, IBM, intel, irving gould, jack tramiel, stock scam, Texas Instruments, TI

From time to time, I see the phrase “Commodore stock scam” or something similar come up in discussion or in books. Commodore, in case you don’t know, was a high-flying computer company in the 1980s that was literally making computers as quickly as they could sell them while Apple struggled for its survival, and was in the enviable position of being the main supplier of chips for its competitors. Imagine if Intel sold computers at retail next to HP and Dell, while still selling chips to Dell. That was Commodore in 1984. I don’t have 1984 figures, but in 1985, Commodore had 38% of the computer market all to itself. IBM and its clones, combined, had 49%. Apple had 13%.

But a decade later, Commodore had squandered all of that away and was out of business. That’s why Robert X. Cringely sums up Commodore as Irving Gould‘s stock scam, then goes back to writing about Apple.

The real story is more complicated than that. More interesting, too.

Dave Farquhar

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HP knows Android

Dave Farquhar Hardware February 24, 2013android, asus, hp, polaroid, samsung

HP unveiled its first Android tablet this weekend. They’re not playing in the Polaroid or Archos space, but for $170–neatly between Amazon’s and Google’s prices–you get Android 4.1, a 1024×600 display, and a microSD slot. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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The benefits of doing IT at home, too

Dave Farquhar Hardware February 9, 2013November 30, 2018apache, apple, firewall, hp, MCSE, os x, unix, windows 7, Windows Server

Earlier this week, The Register touted the benefits of having a home lab.

That lab doesn’t necessarily have to be elaborate. But there is definitely something to be said for having some equipment that you can learn and experiment on, and that can break without the world ending. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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How the previous week’s headlines flow together

Dave Farquhar Hardware January 27, 2013amd, asus, dell, hp, intel, IPO, nvidia, pentium ii, unix, whirlpool, x86

Here are some headlines I read this past week: Dell is trying to take itself private. Microsoft is investing in Dell. Intel is pulling out of the motherboard market. AMD is considering ARM CPUs. And the PC is dead.

It’s all related.
Read more

Dave Farquhar

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Follow-up on the Insignia NS20EM50A13 monitor

Dave Farquhar Hardware January 20, 2013January 20, 2013acer, hp, insignia, Micro Center, VGA

After about a month with an Insignia NS20EM50A13 monitor, I still mostly like it, but can note one annoyance. When booting up a system, the monitor sometimes likes to switch from the DVI input to VGA, without warning. If you happen to be sitting there when it happens, you notice it and can switch it back. But more than once I’ve rebooted, walked away, come back a few minutes later and wondered why I have a weird black screen in front of me instead of a logon screen. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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