Thursday, February 19, 2009

Life with a Netbook & Ubuntu- a few months in..

I love my netbook. I have a Dell Mini 9, 1GB RAM, 16GB SSD, ubuntu Linux OS. I jumped on it as soon as they were announced and was on a 2 month back order. Very un-Dell-like, but worth the wait. As with everything, it is always good to wait until something matures, but in this case I was eager. Below is a screenshot of my desktop with twhirl opened so you can get a sense for the size.


I know some folks are in the market for a netbook and figured I'd give a list of some advice/experiences.

  • I have the 16GB SSD drive, it was the biggest that they offered at the time. You can get way bigger now. I wanted to try life living in the clouds and so far so good. Majority of my files are in the clouds, only thing installed locally are applications. But, I'd go bigger if I had the choice today.
  • I went with Linux as something I just wanted to do. ZERO regrets. I am very interested in Linux but was worried how I would interact with the world, ubuntu is truly amazing. It is a completely new way of thinking about Linux. I use it as much for work - office, online interaction.
  • It came installed with ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) with the netbook remix interface. I have since upgraded to 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) without much issue and have skipped the remix interface.
  • Fantastic support can be found here and here.
  • Know what to expect. A netbook is just that. A computer primarily intended to be used as for web browsing, light office application work.
  • Watching tv, movies. Works like a charm if downloaded, 70% of the time it works streaming, but sometimes delays etc. Boxee is not working, hulu most of the time.
  • Expect to pay $400-500. The $200 being advertised, you will quickly find are very low end machines. Pay the extra cash, its worth it. Extra cash comes with large storage, more memory, integrated camera and bluetooth.
  • I am getting used to blogging now, but it wasnt ideal initially. I was lost without SnagIt (linux issue, not netbook). Also the tiny keyboard takes some getting used to. I still fat finger it alot.
  • Really think about how you will access work, other files. I have settled on box.net, but still not perfect. There are a whole list out there.
  • Google docs is a fantastic tool. I couldn't use it all the time, but its awesome. Great tool for netbook users. Collaboration is nice. Downside is if another collaborator doesn't have a google account. They claim otherwise, but that's been my experience. Also, no "review" tools.
  • BIGGEST disappointment is the lack of 3G integration with the mini9, no excuses at all. It should be a requirement if you have a netbook. Live and learn for me.
  • Most netbooks do not come with a CD/DVD drive, I purchased an external one and it was a total waste of money. I used it once to watch a movie.
  • I have the Timbuk2 bag, really nice but it fits exactly the netbook and power cord, no room for a pen even.
  • Battery life is pretty solid-- I get ~4hr with the larger Dell battery.
  • I also bought speakers and a mouse. I would skip both next time. The creative speakers are nice, but they are now attached to my desktop. The mouse is still in the packaging.
  • Web browsing takes some getting used to as the screen size is tiny. It is working ok for me, but I'd also take a look at the soon to be released mini10.

Here is a shot of the CFdesign home page in Firefox. Should give you an idea of the aspect ratio. I have both the netbook and the iphone. I couldn't imagine life without either. I know there is a trend that smaller is better and everything is going toward the handheld. I agree up to a point, but if I had to choose one, I'd go with the netbook, no question.

Friday, February 13, 2009

An Upfront CAE "Computing Engine" for the Common Man

The beauty of the hardware vendors making strides in technology is a great thing for all. It simply drives the market to a point where really powerful computing power is available to the common man, not just the elite early adopters.

It was only a few years ago that the idea of parallel computing was really only available to a select few. Parallel computing, of course, is the ability to leverage multiple machines connected together via a VERY high speed network connection for the purposes of doing some sort of computation FAST. Really fast.

Those of us in the Upfront CFD world or anyone in the CAE world for that matter, can always benefit from a bit more horsepower. Whether it is to help solve a really large model that can't be solved on a standard workstation due to its size OR to reduce the amount of time a monster model takes to solve OR to speed up the process of your multiple what-if scenarios. In other words, all in an effort to SAVE TIME.

With Microsoft jumping into this world with Server 2008 HPC Edition, it now makes it possible for mainstream engineering companies to enter the world of High Performance Computing (HPC). This is clearly not a dig on Linux computing farms. I am a huge Linux fan, writing this post directly from my Linux netbook.

So why is Microsoft a game changer? Simple answer- they are familiar to people. But there is more to the story- the hardware needed is becoming mainstream. So it is really a combination of the two. Any engineer or IT professional can now setup a "cluster" or a "computing engine" and take advantage of the power in numbers.

So, here are two scenarios that you can consider when looking at hardware for your computing engine.

You can look at purchasing 2, 3 maybe 4 workstations or (equivalent servers) from Dell or HP or whoever. You will need to ensure that they have an infiniband connection to hook the two together. Fancy word for saying that each machine has a card and special cable for the processors to communicate to each other. Don't bother trying to connect via Ethernet, you'll use Ethernet to put them on your network so that you can communicate to them from a remote machine (laptop, workstation etc). Connecting 2 machines would require a cable, more than 2, you will need a "switch". The more you want the more it will cost, BUT the quicker the solve, the bigger the return.

Here are a few pics of my multiple machine computing engine.

Here is the front- obviously.


Here is a look at the back. Pointing to the two infiniband connections (not ethernet) "hooking" the machines together to form the cluster. This whole configuration is in the $10k price range. This specific configuration are Dell Precisions with dual dual core processors and 8GB RAM each. The setup is fairly straightforward and is worth the effort for the cost.

But, if you have a bit deeper pockets, not super deep - but deeper. You could go with the "cluster in a box". This is literally, unpack it and plug it in. Really nice. The "infiniband" type connections are all built into the box. In this configuration, each computer is referred to as a "blade".


Here is a shot of the back of the box. Each one of the "slots" with a green light is the individual blade(computer). This box has 5 blades in all. The beauty is that this works as 2 clusters - one with 3 and one with 2 computers each. Essentially, the same speed/config as above.

Extremely exciting times right now for Design Engineers that are currently in or thinking about getting into the Upfront CAE space. There is massive potential for doing way more than we have ever been able to do before.

Personally, I am anxious to see where the MCAD world, MCAE space in general, finds itself leveraging various forms of cloud computing in the near future.

Monday, February 09, 2009

How to Virtually Attend SolidWorks World 2009 via Twitter

Unfortunately, I will be missing SolidWorks World 2009 this year. Not to worry, fortunately, many of the SW fanatics and even some employees will be delivering the blow by blow commentary via Twitter.

For those not familiar with Twitter, dig in and try and catch up. For those that are familiar, check out the little beauty below that I snagged from Gabi Jack's site (yea, thankfully, she is tweeting from #SWW09).

Leave it to the crew at SolidWorks and their legion of dedicated users to yet again, be thinking out of the box and leading the charge. Surely not the only vendor leveraging twitter, but there is a fairly large presence of SW folks tweeting. Check out this SolidSmack list..

Saturday, February 07, 2009

Trends of Computing Power in the Upfront CAE Industry

Since the beginning of time, Upfront CAE engineers have always been pushing the limits of computing power. The CAE industry has always been leading the charge in maximizing computer resources in attempt to solve larger and more sophisticated problems. Even in the early days when solving a simple 2D stress analysis, the computing power required was much greater than what was available to the average user.


The battle is on two fronts: "get more with less" and "get more with more".

GET MORE WITH LESS

There are some of us in the world that are using workstation class laptops, such as the Dell M6300. This is a powerhouse machine that is capable of handling fairly large CAD models and can run fairly large CFD models. The benefits of a workstation laptop are pretty obvious: ability to have all engineering AND office applications all on one machine, with the ability to take your work on the road or simply having the ability to work at home/remote etc.


So what are the negatives???
  • Machines and power supplies are a bit bulky and HEAVY- not the most ideal for traveling
  • Battery life is SUB-par even for basic office applications; near useless for CAD or CFD work
  • Durability is questionable- I have had about 7 of these machines and everyone has had hardware failures in less than 2 years
  • The "all-in-one" machine becomes unusable when a simulation is running.
  • There is a risk to having your number cruncher mobile. If the machine drops or is damaged, you risk losing valuable information that sometimes takes hours to days to compute.
Progressive companies that understand the need for speed, budget accordingly and provide engineers access to a second machine. Sometimes this secondary machine is shared. Some companies have grand-visions of having a computing "server". I like to call this the "machine in the corner". The idea is that users can work locally on their laptop or mortal desktop and have the big ole' "machine in the corner" to crunch the numbers. Many organizations pull this off, but many have come up short. Why is this?

The fact is until recently, the "machine in the corner" was expensive and could do more than the laptops or smaller desktops but were always plagued with out-dated memory, limited access when outside the company firewall and unreliable means of interacting with the "machine in the corner" efficiently. So, what inevitably happened was that machine was often monopolized by one or two guys and the machine would just crank away for hours. Or WORSE, the investment is made and the only thing happening in the corner is dust collecting.

GET MORE WITH MORE

This methodology is what I refer to as maximizing the investment. Just when we were seeing a slow down in the "machine in the corner" way of life, it is having a bit of a resurgence.

Let's take a look at why...
  • People are "connected" more now than ever before
  • It is a common way of life in companies to provide access from "outside"
  • Computing power is increasing everyday
  • CAE vendors are automating sophisticated analyses; making things easy today that were not even possible only a few years ago
  • FEA and CFD are becoming mainstream; therefore the demand is increasing everyday
  • Engineers want to solve larger and more sophisticated models
  • CAE is becoming part of the design process, so the need to run multiple cases as part of a design study is becoming mainstream
  • Hardware prices are now within everyone's reach
  • Hardware performance is increasing everyday
But as the "machine in the corner" is becoming popular, so are the "MACHINES in the corner" OR the "cluster in the corner". But, don't panic, it is not your father's compute farm that I am talking about. Parallel computing, distributed computing or High Performance Computing has been around for quite some time and is heavily used by the elite companies in the world that have 16, 32, infinite number of Linux computers at their disposal to run models for their superstar analysts. These clusters are very sophisticated, require a dedicated team of analysts and IT professionals to maintain and utilize its immense power.


What I am talking about are simple, 2, 4, maybe 6 basic nice windows machines that are networked together using Windows Server 2008 and an Infiniband network connection that can run multiple models in a fraction of the time it would take on one machine. For organizations that are seeing the value of leveraging FEA and CFD simulation as part of the design process and have a need to do multiple "what-if" scenarios or have always felt limited in what could be run due to hardware limitations, can easily justify the cost of a few machines to speed up the process and deliver results that used to take all night. These models can now be run in a few hours.

So, let's say it takes on average 6 hours per simulation and even on your most efficient week you were able to run 2 models/night. You were getting ~10 simulations done a week or 10 what-if scenarios a week. Imagine if you had 2 dedicated machines making up your "cluster in the corner" and you were able to run 45 simulations a week. Or think of it a different way, what took you a week, you can now get done in a little bit more than a day. That payback on efficiency can easily justify the cost of the additional hardware and the software licensing required to access the increase in speed.

This idea of a plug and play cluster will be a game changer for those companies that have felt as if their hands were tied. This is the next generation way of thinking about Upfront CAE. Keep your eyes peeled for the trends from the various vendors.

It is no secret that CFdesign is very focused on High Performance Computing (HPC) and providing a means to solve larger models and more what if scenarios FAST. This doesn't mean that the doing "more with less" crowd will be left in the dark. The needs of the Upfront market are vast, and the technology out there is constantly changing. All of the chip maunfacturers are promising performance boosts in the near future. Quite frankly, the R&D that happens in the area of performance benefits everyone. Getting just a bit more from what we already have is just as important as anything.

Thursday, February 05, 2009

My "Getting Things Done" System

Finally, after all these years, I think I have a system. I have never been more buried in email than in the last few months. I used to LOVE email, obsessed with it, checked it constantly- drove my wife nuts. Now, I am quickly beginning to hate email. My obsession(s) have simply grown to texting, instant messaging & tweeting. I can't have my info fast enough. And I surely don't want to miss anything.

To support a greener lifestyle and reduce clutter, I try to work in a paperless. environment. I have been looking for an electronic way to capture and store, "my stuff". I have a ton of it and you never know when you might need it. Believe it or not, I find that I need alot of it often.

So, one of the best self-help books I ever read was given to me by my good friend, Jeff. Getting Things Done is hardcore, I am not as good as others, but I have learned to keep my inbox to a minimum. GTD says zero each day, my goal is less than 20. There is quite a bit more to GTD but this was a huge takeaway for me.


Anything I want to store as part of an ongoing "project" goes in Evernote. I have developed a very simple system for organizing. I use the notebooks in Evernote for projects or sub-projects. I name them by @projectname ( I wish they had subnotebooks). The way to organize data in Evernote is via "tags". I didn't get it initially and I am not sure I am 100% sold, but I am running with it. So, I place multiple tags on each posting in a notebook, usually with a #subject, *contactname, keyword. Seems insane, but it remembers all my tags, so many of the @, #, * are very similar. I simply pick them from a list. So, lets say I have a call scheduled with *jim. I can sort by "*jim", all the topics are then listed by #subject and I have all my notes, clippings, attachments (with Evernote Premium) and things that are high priority I tag with a #1. Seems complicated, but it is working really well. Any files stored other places, no problem, hyperlinks handle that.

Now, all "other" email, not pressing,"FYI stuff" I delete and use Xobni to search, sort, find attachments etc. It is the coolest "find" of last year. I saw a post thought the name was cool, INBOX backwards and it is a SCORE! Go grab it, trust me.

Working in the CAE world on multiple computers and being a globetrotter I deal with massive file sets (CAD, CFdesign, images etc), bigger picture stuff then stuff I'd store into Evernote. I used to carry around a 100GB external drive and though I was bad ass, found that this did nothing but get filled with data. So, I still have that (3 actually) but for the important documents I use 2 systems. The first is Live Mesh. Very cool way to flag a folder on one machine, upload the content to the web and include a folder on another machine. So, I have the data in 3 locations, seems like overkill, but it allows me to work seamlessly on local drives (external drives) are shady when dealing with CAD and Simulation files. Live Mesh is free and allows 5GB, not too bad. Live Mesh used to be all I used when I had a Windows Mobile phone. As there was a mobile version as well.

BUT I just jumped on the iPhone bandwagon and Live Mesh is no dice for iPhone. I also use my beloved Ubuntu Netbook, doesn't play nice with Mesh. So, I use my trusted box.net as well to share mostly Office docs back and forth among all my devices. It has an awesome iPhone client and Open Office works like a charm on my netbook.



Last but not least is Jing Pro. I used to be a fancy SnagIt/PPT guy, still am for some things, but my new way of communicating is to use Jing to grab a quick screen capture and pop it up to my free screencast.com account and shoot you the link. It is like receiving an audio/video voice mail, text or email Nothing more powerful to clicking a link, I am talking to you and showing you exactly what my question is, no heavy file transfer etc-- just a simple link. Jump in for free with Jing, upgrade to Jing Pro as needed.

When I read all of this back, it even looks overwhelming to me. BUT, I feel like my efficiency has gone WAY up, everything is nice and orderly. No major effort keeping everything in synch, all the tools seem to just do it for me.

I am not sure that David Allen had this in mind when he developed GTD, but this is how I make it work for me.

What's your system like?