Jekyll2022-09-22T16:43:42+00:00/feed.xmlBryan’s BlogBryan LarsenQuito2017-10-21T00:00:00+00:002017-10-21T00:00:00+00:00/galapagos/2017/10/21/quito<p>Unlike our Galapagos expeditions, we got to sleep in a little bit today, our tour didn’t start until 10AM. Destination, the old city.</p>
<p>Our tour guide, Daniel is very voluble, so we’re getting a good sense of the history of Quito and Ecuador, as well as some pretty nice views.</p>
<p>The tour started at a vantage point overlooking the old city before heading down into it. Dominating the view is the cathedral, built by taxpayers during most of the the 20th century. It’s still not done; the government has finally separated church and state and cut off funds for buliding it. It’s basically done, though, it’s mostly just missing some gargoyles and statues.</p>
<p>The gargoyles of this gothic cathedral are very interesting. Rather than using the traditional demons and such, they’re using statues of wildlife from Ecuador and the Galapagos.</p>
<p>Even though it’s not complete, it was consecrated over twenty years ago by Pope John Paul II, and services are regularly held, so we didn’t get to go inside.</p>
<p>We then drove through the old city. The entire old city is a designated UNESCO heritage site, with classical colonial architecture throughout.</p>
<p>Our destination was another very impressive cathedral. This one took 120 years to build, ending very early in the 18th century by the jesuits just before they were kicked out of the country by the monarchy in 1721. I guess educating the natives was causing problems for the leaders.</p>
<p>Of course I say it was built by the Jesuits, but of course it was basically native slave labour that did the building. The Jesuits are praised for building and running schools and hospitals in the country, but of course it was delivered with a heavy dose of religion.</p>
<p>One particularly horrifying story is about a carving of Jesus on the cross; it was done by a famous sculptor who convinced one of his students to be crucified so that the sculptor could accurately capture the expressions, posture and wounds of a crucified man.</p>
<p>But by far the most impressive aspect of the cathedral is that the interior seems to be almost entirely covered in gold leaf. According to our guide, it totals about 68 pounds of gold. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take pictures in the cathedral.</p>
<p>We then walked to the presidential palace. It’s no longer used as such, a former president decided that it was not a good place for his drug-fuelled orgies, so instead took over three floors of the Hilton. He didn’t last long, but ever since presidents have arranged their own accomodation.</p>
<p>After walking through more of the picturesque old town we returned to our hotel, grabbed some lunch and then headed to a local market for some souvenir shopping.</p>Bryan LarsenUnlike our Galapagos expeditions, we got to sleep in a little bit today, our tour didn’t start until 10AM. Destination, the old city.Galapagos to Quito2017-10-20T00:00:00+00:002017-10-20T00:00:00+00:00/galapagos/2017/10/20/galapagos-to-quito<p>Short entry today, since we spent most of the day travelling from the Galapagos to Quito.</p>
<p>We really didn’t have much idea of when our flight would be, everything has been handled by the travel agency. We were hoping for a later flight so we’d have more time in the Galapagos, but it was a mid-morning flight.</p>
<p>So after breakfast, we caught a water taxi to cross the bay to Peurto Ayora, took a 45 minute taxi ride across Santa Cruz island, took the ferry across the channel to Balta island, took the bus to the airport, flew to Guayaquil, waited 45 minutes on the plane for Guayaquil bound passengers to disembark and for Quito bound passengers to embark, and then we met at the airport by travel agency personnel and driven into Quito. No particular leg of the journey was very long, but add up enough of them and you’ve killed a day.</p>
<p>First impressions are very favourable: it’s a city of 2.5 million built on the side of several volcanoes, so it has some spetacular views. The airport was a good ways out of the city; it was a 45 minute drive or so to the hotel. The airport used to be right in the middle of the city, but it had no room to expand, and the city’s traffic was choked by trucks carrying roses to the airport for export.</p>
<p>Our hotel room is very nice – the bed is massive, but it does not dominate the room, there’s a nice sitting area too. Hopefully we sleep well to help us adjust to the altitude, we’re at 2850 meters!</p>Bryan LarsenShort entry today, since we spent most of the day travelling from the Galapagos to Quito.Charles Darwin Research Centre2017-10-19T00:00:00+00:002017-10-19T00:00:00+00:00/galapagos/2017/10/19/charles-darwin<p>Today was our last full day in the Galapagos. The time has gone quickly and it is unfortunate that we didn’t have more time to spend in the archipegalo and see a few more islands. For the most part we have seen a good variety of the animals unique to Galapagos. But there are many amazing sites that we will not be able to visit.</p>
<p>Today we switched up our itinerary from the original. We were meant to do a tour of the local bay by boat and then see the Charles Darwin Research Centre. When we mentioned that we were interested in trying to find time to kayak, which could only be done during high tide, the concierge suggested that perhaps our guide on Thursday could take us kayaking instead of the boat tour. That sounded fabulous so we made the switch.</p>
<p>Today we had our guide Valetin to ourselves again. A quick water taxi ride and land taxi ride through Puerto Ayora, we were dropped off at the Charles Darwin Research Centre which is a Foundation working to breed the giant tortoises to try to increase their dwindling numbers. They are bred, incubated here, and release back into the wild/reserves when they are 3 years old. At the Santa Cruz site they breed tortoises from Santa Cruz anda few other surrounding areas. We were able to appreciate the differences of the tortoises from other islands where vegetation isn’t found at ground level: the shell gets a more saddle-shape which allows for the tortoise to reach its head up to eat. This does leave the tortoise more vulnerable to attack but there are little natural predators.</p>
<p>There is a taxidermy preserved tortoise called Lonesome George. He was the last known Tortoise of his variety from his island. They tried unsuccessfully for years to breed him until he died. His exact age is unknown but he was OLD. They thought that his breed had gone extinct with his death but have found hybrids of his type on another island. It is believed that they were translocated to another island by a shipwreck when they were taken as a food sources. Tortoises were common for the seamen to take onboard alive for a food source as it can take up to a year for the tortoise to starve without food or water.</p>
<p>There is another tortoise, Diego, at the Centre who was taken from the islands in 1890’s and eventually found himself in the San Diego Zoo. Diego has since been returned to the Galapagos and is estimated to be at least 150 years old.</p>
<p>After our tour, our guide left us to wander back to the port through the town. We looked at a few of the shops and bought a few souvenirs. We saw the small fish market which was fascinating by the amounts of pelicans and frigate birds who were waiting for some scraps to be tossed their way. There was also a sea lion lying across the feet of the workers patiently waiting for his or her share. In the evenings when the boats come in with their catch, there is a fish fry on the dock. Alas we aren’t going to partake on this time but I’m sure it would have been interesting.</p>
<p>We made our way back to the hotel and had lunch. Bryan had Red Snapper and Bethany decided to try out the burger which was surprisingly good.</p>
<p>After a change of clothes, it was time to meet Valetin again for the kayak excursion. The hotel has beach access and a single and double sit-on-top kayak had already been pulled out – we generally have more experience with kayaks with spray skirts so we knew it was going to be tippy. Our guide headed out with a good pace across the top of the adjacent bay. The tide was high and the route would have been impassable at other times given the reef and surf. From the far side of the bay we made our way back along the shoreline, stopping for a brief snorkel with a friendly sea lion. We did see crabs and a number of birds including some blue-footed boobies. There were some white-tipped reef sharks, turtles, and a ray of some sort that we could see breaking the surface of the water when we were back in the kayak.</p>
<p>On the way back to the hotel we tried to catch some of the waves and surf back. We had a couple of almost successful attempts at catching the wave but then got broadsided and were dumped into the brink. Bryan could stand in the water so he stabilized the boat while Bethany clambered back on. It was decided that Bryan could just swim from there instead of trying out his wet entry skills. It really wasn’t too far so don’t feel too badly for him.</p>
<p>As we were wet already we decided to take a swim in the pool. There is definitely a huge buoyancy difference between the ocean and the pool. But it is so nice not to be spitting salty water. The hotel is beautiful. It is considered to be the most ecofriendly resort in the Galapagos and is listed in the National Geographic as one of the most Unique Lodges in the world. The rooms are pleasant. The common space and poolside lovely and very clean and well-kempt. The service friendly. It is noticeably a quieter time for the hotel, which we like. And a bit cooler, which we don’t mind.</p>
<p><img src="/assets/2017-10-19\/image_0.jpg" alt="image alt text" /></p>
<p><img src="/assets/2017-10-19\/image_1.jpg" alt="image alt text" />no no v<img src="/assets/2017-10-19\/image_2.jpg" alt="image alt text" />by bus no v b B</p>Bryan LarsenToday was our last full day in the Galapagos. The time has gone quickly and it is unfortunate that we didn’t have more time to spend in the archipegalo and see a few more islands. For the most part we have seen a good variety of the animals unique to Galapagos. But there are many amazing sites that we will not be able to visit.Santa Fe Island2017-10-18T00:00:00+00:002017-10-18T00:00:00+00:00/galapagos/2017/10/18/santa-fe<p>This morning started off with a change of plans. The weather forecast for Thursday was showing some pretty rough waves, so the hotel suggested that we do the boat ride originally scheduled for Thursday today.</p>
<p>So Bethany took some gravol with breakfast, and then we boarded the same boat that made her sick yesterday for a two hour journey to Santa Fe island.</p>
<p>Whether it was the gravol, the chewing gum, a resolute fixation on the horizon or a combination of all three, Bethany stayed healthy during the journey, so we boarded the Zodiac for the transfer to the island, where we met some sea lions on a nice sand beach.</p>
<p>We had to keep our distance from the two bulls that had the beach divided between them, as well as the newborn babies and their protective mothers, but the other members of the colony were friendly.</p>
<p>After learning more about sea lions we took a small hike onto the island to observe some land iguanas, a Galapagos hawk as well as some sea lions that were hiding from the bulls.</p>
<p>During breeding season, September through December, sea lion bulls stake out and claim a small section of beach, barking fairly regular to scare off other males and attract females. But while doing this they have no opportunity to eat or rest, so get tired. After two to three weeks their bark gets weaker and a fresher sea lion comes in to successfully challenge the bull. After being chased off, the sea lion will climb up an inhospitable beach and up into the higher rocks to rest, recuperating for his next beach challenge.</p>
<p>We then got back on the Zodiac to get our wetsuits and snorkels for perhaps the highlight of the entire trip: playing with the baby sea lions.</p>
<p>The baby sea lions loved playing games with us. One of them was like chicken. They’d race towards us at full speed, flipping away when they got within in inch or two of us. Sometimes they’d be close enough that they’d brush us with their whiskers!</p>
<p>After playing with the sea lions for a while, we switched to deeper ocean to view a variety of fish in various sizes and colors. I did catch a quick glance of a ray, but after I popped my head up to call Bethany over who had the camera it was gone.</p>
<p>We saw another shark or two, but no sea turtles. By the time we were down to about five of the original twelve swimmers. Our guide asked us if we’d like to find some sea turtles, so we headed off on an extended swim through what seemed like half the bay in search of some turtles. Eventually we gave up and headed back to the boat for some lunch.</p>
<p>I had a nice lunch; Bethany limited herself to plain spaghetti and a little bit of dessert to try and prevent sea sickness on the ride home.</p>
<p>My best defence against sea sickness is taking a nap, so I did that while I left Bethany to her own defenses for the ride back to Santa Cruz island.</p>
<p><img src="/assets/2017-10-18\/image_0.jpg" alt="image alt text" /><img src="/assets/2017-10-18\/image_1.jpg" alt="image alt text" /><img src="/assets/2017-10-18\/image_2.jpg" alt="image alt text" /><img src="/assets/2017-10-18\/image_3.jpg" alt="image alt text" /></p>Bryan LarsenThis morning started off with a change of plans. The weather forecast for Thursday was showing some pretty rough waves, so the hotel suggested that we do the boat ride originally scheduled for Thursday today.South Plaza Island2017-10-17T00:00:00+00:002017-10-17T00:00:00+00:00/galapagos/2017/10/17/south-plaza<p>Our first full day in the Galapagos started out with our alarms not going off on time, or so we thought. It turns out that the Galapagos are in a different time zone than Guayaquil. Fly 600 miles west and you’re in a different time zone. Who’da thunk it? Actually Bethany’s phone was the correct time but Bryan’s never updated to the local time.</p>
<p>So we had an extra hour to have breakfast and prepare for the day’s expedition. This hotel also had a lavish breakfast spread, no surprise.</p>
<p>Our first order of business was a 45 minute bus ride to the north side of the island where we met our yacht. Today our group was eight people. Not the private tours we’ve previously been getting, but still a nice small group. A couple from the Netherlands, one from Italy and another from New York and Montreal.</p>
<p>We were on the yacht for just a few minutes before we transferred back to the Zodiac to go snorkelling for an hour or so. Instead of a mask, I wore some prescription swim goggles that Bethany’s cousin gave me when he was closing down his shop a few years ago. It was the first time I’ve ever been able to see properly while snorkelling, what a treat!</p>
<p>We saw a bunch of different kinds of fish darting in and out of the algae covered volcanic rocks that they were feeding on, as well as a few small white-tipped reef sharks.</p>
<p>After snorkelling, we got back on the yacht for a trip to South Plaza island for a walking tour of the island.</p>
<p>Before we reached the island, the first thing we saw were sea lions. They were playing, sunning, honking and nursing. They seem to really enjoy playing, you’d almost think they were dolphins. We saw sea lions of all sizes, from large territorial males to pups only a few days old.</p>
<p>Greeting us on arrival at the island were a swarm of Sally Lightfoot crabs. These crabs were named after a famous English dancer, known for her fast footwork.</p>
<p>We saw a good variety of sea birds: frigate birds, red-billed tropic birds, swallow-tailed gulls, pelicans, white boobies and more.</p>
<p>Both marine and land iguanas are present on the island in good number, although we didn’t see too many marine iguanas nor did we see them spitting salt out of their nostrils which they do to clear the salt they consume while driving to eat seaweed. Hopefully we’ll get a chance to see that before we leave. The male land iguanas on South Plaza have quite a beautiful yellow colour.</p>
<p>With the exception of the land iguanas, most of the animals we met get their food from the sea; the vegetation is quite sparse – any island in the Galapagos without a substantial volcano to catch some rain has desert vegetation, especially in the dry season. We’re nearing the end of the dry season now. But it wasn’t brown. There are three main species of vegetation: some sort of bush which had long lost all of its leaves and was dormant for the dry season was grey, the portulaca was a brilliant dry-season red and the prickly pears were green.</p>
<p>GIven that the portulaca and bushes are currently unpalatable, the iguana live on prickly pear. We have some pictures of one chomping on some needles. Yum!</p>
<p>After circumnavigating the island on foot, we returned to the yacht where they had prepared a nice tuna meal. You’d think we’d get some sort of picnic lunch while on an excursion like this, but of course we know better by now: a full meal it was.</p>
<p>After lunch, the boat we started on our two hour trip back to the hotel. And if you know Bethany, you’ll know that a two hour boat ride on a full stomach is not a pleasant experience. She got violently ill and is presently in our hotel room sleeping it off.</p>
<p>No boats tomorrow, though!</p>
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<p><img src="/assets/2017-10-17\/image_3.jpg" alt="image alt text" /><img src="/assets/2017-10-17\/image_4.jpg" alt="image alt text" /></p>Bryan LarsenOur first full day in the Galapagos started out with our alarms not going off on time, or so we thought. It turns out that the Galapagos are in a different time zone than Guayaquil. Fly 600 miles west and you’re in a different time zone. Who’da thunk it? Actually Bethany’s phone was the correct time but Bryan’s never updated to the local time.Puerto Ayora, Galapagos Islands2017-10-16T00:00:00+00:002017-10-16T00:00:00+00:00/galapagos/2017/10/16/Puerto-Ayora<p>Today it was off to see the main event: the Galapagos Islands. Why did we want to go to the Galapagos Islands? The islands have always been on my dream destination list due to their Charles Darwin fame. I never actually thought that I would get there but when the opportunity arose to travel somewhere, we wanted to go somewhere different, something activity heavy, and not Europe. I have known a couple of people who had made the trip to Galapagos and they highly recommended it. So we went for it.</p>
<p>The morning started early in Guayaquil with breakfast and then a transfer to the airport. The airport is very close to the centre of town and is new and modern. However, it is too close to town and they need more space for more runways, so they are planning to build a new one further out. Seems a shame.</p>
<p>The plane to Galapagos was larger than I expected: an Airbus 319. As part of the protection of the delicate ecosystem of Galapagos, an insecticide was sprayed throughout the plane prior to landing. Also on arrival, the bags were examined by a police dog prior to being released.</p>
<p><img src="/assets/2017-10-16/image_0.jpg" alt="image alt text" /></p>
<p>The flight to Galagpagos was about 1-½ hours. Then we started to see islands of the volcanic archipegalo. The first island was brown and barren looking and the phrase “Hell on Earth” as the early seamen described seemed very apt. It is currently the dry season and many trees have lost their leaves and have become dormant. It looked like a desolate land for which we were heading. And Balta, the island where the airport is located, is definitely barren and brown right now.</p>
<p>We landed, cleared the customs, obtained our bags, and headed to meet our guide and driver for the day. First we needed to get off the island and cross a narrow channel to the Island of Santa Cruz, which we did so by small water taxi. Then it was into a small white Toyota Hilux which served as our land taxi. It is 42 km from the north end of Santa Cruz to the town of Puerto Ayora in which our hotel is located.</p>
<p>Along the drive, we started in barren and dry land with a dominance of cacti. But as we climbed in elevation, more and more green came into view and the vegetation changed to deciduous trees. We had a brief stop at Los Gemelos which are 2 volcanic sinkholes. We were introduced to the finches (for which Galapagos are famous because of Darwins Theory of Evolution) and some invasive plant life were pointed out such as blackberries.</p>
<p>Onwards we climbed and then started down the windward side of the island which was noticeably lusher. For lunch we stopped at a Giant Tortoise Reserve where we were able to view these mammoth reptiles from up close. Many of the largest were over 100 years-old. They moved slow and steadily and didn’t seem to mind blocking the road.</p>
<p>We then proceeded to the town of Puerto Ayora from which we caught a water taxi towards our Hotel, Finch Bay. The hotel is a nice complex: rooms are neat and the common area very appealing. We quickly changed into bathing suits and headed out walking through volcanic trails past a salt marsh to La Grieta, a rift popular for swimming. La Grieta is a series of three pools formed by a chasm in the land. The water is salty and deep in the middle. The middle pool was small and needed to be reached by climbing over rough and slippery volcanic rocks. There were three small marine iguanas eating away at the seaweed on the rocks which were not bothered by our presence. The third pool could be reached by an underwater tunnel about 3 feet below the surface and about 3 feet long. Alas without goggles, we opted to go over the surface rocks. Those who did do the tunnel said the the going was easier than the return as the tunnel slanted up going but down on the return. We made it to the end of La Grieta and then returned to the hotel, showered, and ate supper.</p>
<p>This first day, we have already seen many animals: frigate birds, a heron, Galapagos dove, giant tortoises, finches, marine iguanas, and a sea lion. Tomorrow, we are off to see more marine life.</p>
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<p><img src="/assets/2017-10-16/image_5.jpg" alt="image alt text" /></p>Bryan LarsenToday it was off to see the main event: the Galapagos Islands. Why did we want to go to the Galapagos Islands? The islands have always been on my dream destination list due to their Charles Darwin fame. I never actually thought that I would get there but when the opportunity arose to travel somewhere, we wanted to go somewhere different, something activity heavy, and not Europe. I have known a couple of people who had made the trip to Galapagos and they highly recommended it. So we went for it.Guayaquil2017-10-15T00:00:00+00:002017-10-15T00:00:00+00:00/galapagos/2017/10/15/guayaquil<p>Guayaquil is the largest city in Ecuador. It is a port city, although it is not directly on the ocean; It is about 100 miles inland where two extremely large rivers meet.</p>
<p>The hotel provided a huge spread for breakfast: continental, American and traditional breakfast options. I had ceviche and a pork sandwhich along with an omelette, a pastry and fruit.</p>
<p>At 10AM we were provided a personal three hour guided tour of the city. Normally the tour is up to about fifteen people; we were lucky to have Fernando to ourselves! Fernando is very personably, even though he is currently dealing with a recent tragedy in the family.</p>
<p>We visited two of the main parks in the city as well as a cathedral and the waterfront. The first park commemorated the independence of Ecuador and contained various fruit and nut trees like mango, almond and avacado and other trees such as banyans. Fernando is very adept at pointing out birds and lizards in the tree that are tough for us to spot. I guess it was movement in the trees that alerted him to the presence of a red-headed parrot, since except for a touch of red, the rest of the bird is the same shade of green as the leaves of the tree it was feeding in.</p>
<p>The second park was informally known as “iguana park” due to the large number of tame iguanas living there. Most of them were hiding in the trees today, but there were still many on the ground who tolerated petting. The pigeons were competing for attention too. There was a small pond with turtles and Tilapia fish. The fish fight for territory by testing their strength against each other head-to-head. It looks like they are kissing!</p>
<p><img src="/assets/2017-10-15/image_0.jpg" alt="image alt text" /><img src="/assets/2017-10-15/image_1.jpg" alt="image alt text" /></p>
<p>The park adjoins the cathedral. Being a Sunday, the cathedral was busy, but we did get to visit it between services.</p>
<p><img src="/assets/2017-10-15/image_2.jpg" alt="image alt text" /></p>
<p>The waterfront was recently developed and contains lots of activities for kids. There was a monument commerating a meeting between Bolivar, who led the independence movement in Colombia and other northern South American countries, and San Martin, who led the movement in Argentina and other sonuthern countries. Not particularly fruitful, since San Martin did not share Bolivar’s enthusiasm for a grand united Colombia.</p>
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<p>We headed back to the hotel for a small lunch and a nap.</p>
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<p>After our nap we walked up the street to a park on a large canal. They had some live music there; well at least partially live, it was some singers with a karaoke machine. It was entertaining though, and we got some dancing in. It was pleasant sitting along the waterfront as the heat of the day passed.</p>Bryan LarsenGuayaquil is the largest city in Ecuador. It is a port city, although it is not directly on the ocean; It is about 100 miles inland where two extremely large rivers meet.Ottawa to Guayaquil2017-10-14T00:00:00+00:002017-10-14T00:00:00+00:00/galapagos/2017/10/14/ottawa-to-guayaquil<p>A long day of travel was ahead of us. Ottawa to Ecuador isn’t a particularly long ways for global travelling, but it does make for a long day when you have three different flights and have to clear two different customs.</p>
<p>We left the house at 5:30 AM. Not super early for me, but it was quite early for Grandpa, who’s body is still on Saskatchewan time.</p>
<p>With three connections, we thought it’d be a good idea to carry on all of our luggage. So we each had a small suitcase and a backpack that we had to find space for on the airplane. Ottawa to Philadelphia was easy – it was a small plane so everybody had to gate check their carry on suitcases. But Philadelphia to Atlanta was harder: it seemed that everybody had a suitcase that had to find a home. We found a place for one of ours, but the other had to go into the seat in front of us, making a crowded seat even more crowded. The flight was only a couple of hours, though, so it wasn’t too bad.</p>
<p>We had a four hour layover in Philadelphia. There is a good selection of stores and restaurants behind security, so that makes passing the time easier. We ended up taking a very long lunch at Legal Seafood, which is a high-end chain out of Boston. Quite an enjoyable meal with good company.</p>
<p>The flight from Atlanta to Guayaquil was our longest flight, almost four hours. I must be getting older, because that’s too long to sit in one place without moving around. We did manage to nap some on this flight.</p>
<p>Once we cleared customs we met the largest crowd I’ve ever seen at an airport; throngs of people there to greet their arriving friends and relations, I assume. At first we couldn’t see our tour guide in the throng; he had ducked out to grab an ice cream! He did arrive just as we were reached the end of the throng – no harm done.</p>
<p>He drove us to the hotel. The room is nice, but the beds are hard. Just the way I like it, but Bethany would prefer something softer.</p>Bryan LarsenA long day of travel was ahead of us. Ottawa to Ecuador isn’t a particularly long ways for global travelling, but it does make for a long day when you have three different flights and have to clear two different customs.Installing and Optimizing an SSD with Ubuntu Jaunty2009-03-23T16:19:00+00:002009-03-23T16:19:00+00:00/technical/2009/03/23/using-a-vertex-ssd-with-ubuntu-jaunty<div class="body">
<p>
With
<a href="http://anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3531">
Anand's latest review of SSD's
</a>
and
<a href="http://torvalds-family.blogspot.com/2009/03/ssd-followup.html">
Linus' endorsement of that review
</a>
, it seemed like a good time to move my noisy hard drives to the basement and switch to an flash based hard drive (AKA solid state drive: SSD).
</p>
<p>
The 30GB Vertex SSD is currently CAD$ 160. Getting anything other than the smallest one seems very silly - I assume that prices are going to drop like a rock, so it'd be very painful to spend much more than that on anything that will be worthless in a year or two.
</p>
<p>
Luckily, Linux will fit very easily into 30GB. The plan is to put just about everything except for the operating system and work onto the NFS server in the basement.
</p>
<p>
The process did not go very smoothly at all. I highly recommend staying away from the Vertex drives for a few months to let them mature. But if you insist, here's the procedure I went through.
</p>
<p>
The first thing I had to do was
<a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds">
upgrade my kernel to 2.6.29
</a>
. The SSD worked for a little while, and then failed completely. It appeared to work on an Intel based machine, but my AMD 780G machine was not happy at all. I even went through the hassle of installing Windows XP to see if it worked there, but XP didn't even see the drive. Note that my other machine appeared to work fine with the SSD, so I think it's sort of SB700/SSD interaction. Others have reported issues on the forum as well.
</p>
<p>
The first thing you'll probably want to do is a secure erase of the drive. SSD's slow down as they're used, so starting fresh is essential. Warning, this will completely erase any ATA drive, so make sure you have that drive letter right!
</p>
<pre>
<code>
hdparm --security-erase NULL /dev/sda
</code>
</pre>
<p>
Following
<a href="http://thunk.org/tytso/blog/2009/02/20/aligning-filesystems-to-an-ssds-erase-block-size/">
Ted Tso's instructions on how to properly align the partitions for maximum speed
</a>
:
</p>
<pre>
<code>
fdisk -H 224 -S 56 /dev/sda
# enter 'n, p, 1, 1, 5082' at the prompts to create a partition covering the entire drive
# enter 'x, b, 1, 256, w' to move the start of the partition into alignment
mke2fs -t ext4 -E stripe-width=32,resize=50G /dev/sda1
mkdir /mnt/ssd
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/ssd
</code>
</pre>
<p>
Now follow
<a href="http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-6149142.html">
these instructions
</a>
to copy your operating system over to the new drive. We're going to copy over everything except for /home/blarsen, which we're going to mount over NFS.
</p>
<pre>
<code>
ls / > ~/root_files
vi ~/root_files # remove proc, sys, mnt, home et cetera
tar --create --one-file-system --file - `cat ~/root_files` | (cd /mnt/ssd ; tar xvf -)
mkdir /mnt/ssd/proc
mkdir /mnt/ssd/sys
mkdir /mnt/ssd/mnt
mkdir -p /mnt/ssd/home/blarsen
chown blarsen.blarsen /mnt/ssd/home/blarsen
</code>
</pre>
<p>
Let's set up our fstab to nfs mount /home/blarsen, and run tmpfs on /tmp and /var/tmp. The size parameter to tmpfs is a maximum size -- it doesn't use any RAM if it isn't needed. The default is half your RAM, so you'll probably want to limit down a bit.
</p>
<pre>
<code>
cat > /mnt/ssd/etc/fstab
bulti:/home/blarsen /home/blarsen nfs rsize=8192,wsize=8192,timeo=14,intr,noatime,nodiratime 0 0
none /tmp tmpfs size=500M,mode=777,auto 0 0
none /var/tmp tmpfs size=500M,mode=777,auto 0 0
^D
</code>
</pre>
<p>
Change your root partition in fstab:
</p>
<pre>
<code>
blkid # to determine the UUID
vi /mnt/ssd/etc/fstab
</code>
</pre>
<p>
Now, update the grub menu.lst. These instructions are missing from the tech republic link above. You want to look for the kopt= and groot= option lines. They look like comment lines, but they are actually instructions to update-grub. While you're at it, add "elevator=deadline" to your kopt.
</p>
<pre>
<code>
vi /mnt/ssd/boot/grub/menu.lst # update kopt, groot UUID's. Also add elevator=deadline to kopt
chroot /mnt/ssd
update-grub
exit
</code>
</pre>
<p>
And install grub on the new drive:
</p>
<pre>
<code>
grub-install --root-directory=/mnt/ssd /dev/sda
</code>
</pre>
<p>
Let's save our SSD by logging to our NFS server. See these
<a href="http://docs.sun.com/source/820-4893-11/chap_CF.html#50626577_57974">
instructions from Sun
</a>
.
</p>
<pre>
<code>
cat >> /mnt/ssd/etc/hosts
192.168.1.91 bulti loghost
^D
cat > /mnt/ssd/etc/syslog.conf
*.*; @loghost
*.err;*.emerg /var/log/messages
</code>
</pre>
<p>
On your loghost, edit /etc/default/syslogd to add the "-r" option and restart sysklogd.
</p>
<p>
Switch your network interface away from network-manager so it comes up earlier in your boot cycle:
</p>
<pre>
<code>
cat >> /mnt/ssd/etc/network/interfaces
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp
^D
</code>
</pre>
<p>
rsync your home directory to your NFS server.
</p>
<pre>
<code>
rsync -av /home/blarsen/ bulti:/home/blarsen/ # those trailing slashes are important
</code>
</pre>
<p>
Reboot and enjoy!
</p>
</div>
<div id="commentslist">
<h3 class="content">
Comments
</h3>
<ul>
<li class="comment" id="comment-709">
<p class="meta">
<strong>
<span>
Wayne
</span>
</strong>
on
<em>
23 Mar 20:09
</em>
</p>
<div class="body">
<p>
What’s your first impression? The
<span class="caps">
SSD
</span>
’s look pretty good against a fast desktop drive. Put them up against a slow notebook drive, and it becomes pretty damn tempting. On the other hand though, 30GB isn’t really enough for a standalone drive. And the 80GB
<span class="caps">
X25
</span>
-M is still $550. Oh well, I guess I can put up with Safari beachballing on me for a while yet.
</p>
</div>
</li>
<li class="comment" id="comment-711">
<p class="meta">
<strong>
<span>
Bryan
</span>
</strong>
on
<em>
01 Apr 11:45
</em>
</p>
<div class="body">
<p>
Hmmm, I can’t say I’ve noticed much. The big win is on boot—Ubuntu boots faster than my
<span class="caps">
BIOS
</span>
does. But my home directory is
<span class="caps">
NFS
</span>
mounted, so that’s slower, and counteracts my root and work directories being on
<span class="caps">
SSD
</span>
to a large degree. The new machine has a faster processor and more
<span class="caps">
RAM
</span>
, so that contributes to extra speed. But rails-dev-boost sped things up more than anything else! :)
</p>
<p>
P.S. I think it’s time to kill feedburner. Your comment never showed up on my feed.
</p>
</div>
</li>
</ul>
</div>Bryan LarsenWith Anand's latest review of SSD's and Linus' endorsement of that review , it seemed like a good time to move my noisy hard drives to the basement and switch to an flash based hard drive (AKA solid state drive: SSD). The 30GB Vertex SSD is currently CAD$ 160. Getting anything other than the smallest one seems very silly - I assume that prices are going to drop like a rock, so it'd be very painful to spend much more than that on anything that will be worthless in a year or two. Luckily, Linux will fit very easily into 30GB. The plan is to put just about everything except for the operating system and work onto the NFS server in the basement. The process did not go very smoothly at all. I highly recommend staying away from the Vertex drives for a few months to let them mature. But if you insist, here's the procedure I went through. The first thing I had to do was upgrade my kernel to 2.6.29 . The SSD worked for a little while, and then failed completely. It appeared to work on an Intel based machine, but my AMD 780G machine was not happy at all. I even went through the hassle of installing Windows XP to see if it worked there, but XP didn't even see the drive. Note that my other machine appeared to work fine with the SSD, so I think it's sort of SB700/SSD interaction. Others have reported issues on the forum as well. The first thing you'll probably want to do is a secure erase of the drive. SSD's slow down as they're used, so starting fresh is essential. Warning, this will completely erase any ATA drive, so make sure you have that drive letter right! hdparm --security-erase NULL /dev/sda Following Ted Tso's instructions on how to properly align the partitions for maximum speed : fdisk -H 224 -S 56 /dev/sda # enter 'n, p, 1, 1, 5082' at the prompts to create a partition covering the entire drive # enter 'x, b, 1, 256, w' to move the start of the partition into alignment mke2fs -t ext4 -E stripe-width=32,resize=50G /dev/sda1 mkdir /mnt/ssd mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/ssd Now follow these instructions to copy your operating system over to the new drive. We're going to copy over everything except for /home/blarsen, which we're going to mount over NFS. ls / > ~/root_files vi ~/root_files # remove proc, sys, mnt, home et cetera tar --create --one-file-system --file - `cat ~/root_files` | (cd /mnt/ssd ; tar xvf -) mkdir /mnt/ssd/proc mkdir /mnt/ssd/sys mkdir /mnt/ssd/mnt mkdir -p /mnt/ssd/home/blarsen chown blarsen.blarsen /mnt/ssd/home/blarsen Let's set up our fstab to nfs mount /home/blarsen, and run tmpfs on /tmp and /var/tmp. The size parameter to tmpfs is a maximum size -- it doesn't use any RAM if it isn't needed. The default is half your RAM, so you'll probably want to limit down a bit. cat > /mnt/ssd/etc/fstab bulti:/home/blarsen /home/blarsen nfs rsize=8192,wsize=8192,timeo=14,intr,noatime,nodiratime 0 0 none /tmp tmpfs size=500M,mode=777,auto 0 0 none /var/tmp tmpfs size=500M,mode=777,auto 0 0 ^D Change your root partition in fstab: blkid # to determine the UUID vi /mnt/ssd/etc/fstab Now, update the grub menu.lst. These instructions are missing from the tech republic link above. You want to look for the kopt= and groot= option lines. They look like comment lines, but they are actually instructions to update-grub. While you're at it, add "elevator=deadline" to your kopt. vi /mnt/ssd/boot/grub/menu.lst # update kopt, groot UUID's. Also add elevator=deadline to kopt chroot /mnt/ssd update-grub exit And install grub on the new drive: grub-install --root-directory=/mnt/ssd /dev/sda Let's save our SSD by logging to our NFS server. See these instructions from Sun . cat >> /mnt/ssd/etc/hosts 192.168.1.91 bulti loghost ^D cat > /mnt/ssd/etc/syslog.conf *.*; @loghost *.err;*.emerg /var/log/messages On your loghost, edit /etc/default/syslogd to add the "-r" option and restart sysklogd. Switch your network interface away from network-manager so it comes up earlier in your boot cycle: cat >> /mnt/ssd/etc/network/interfaces auto eth0 iface eth0 inet dhcp ^D rsync your home directory to your NFS server. rsync -av /home/blarsen/ bulti:/home/blarsen/ # those trailing slashes are important Reboot and enjoy! Comments Wayne on 23 Mar 20:09 What’s your first impression? The SSD ’s look pretty good against a fast desktop drive. Put them up against a slow notebook drive, and it becomes pretty damn tempting. On the other hand though, 30GB isn’t really enough for a standalone drive. And the 80GB X25 -M is still $550. Oh well, I guess I can put up with Safari beachballing on me for a while yet. Bryan on 01 Apr 11:45 Hmmm, I can’t say I’ve noticed much. The big win is on boot—Ubuntu boots faster than my BIOS does. But my home directory is NFS mounted, so that’s slower, and counteracts my root and work directories being on SSD to a large degree. The new machine has a faster processor and more RAM , so that contributes to extra speed. But rails-dev-boost sped things up more than anything else! :) P.S. I think it’s time to kill feedburner. Your comment never showed up on my feed.January 17th (again!) – Honolulu2009-01-26T04:15:00+00:002009-01-26T04:15:00+00:00/new-zealand-christmas/2009/01/26/january-17th-again-honolulu<div class="body">
<p>
Bryan from Honolulu
</p>
<p>
It’s interesting having an article for the same day twice. But we’ve crossed the date line, and it’s January 17th again.
</p>
<p>
Our Honolulu adventure started last night with our taxi ride back from the airport, when Bethany realized that we’d left a bag at the airport. We’d been travelling with two bags for the entire trip, but we added a third bag yesterday. Maybe if it had ended up right beside our two backpacks we would have remembered it, but with the hassle of customs, it just slipped our mind.
</p>
<p>
That’s not surprising in my case, but Bethany isn’t absent-minded like I am! Not surprisingly, it was Bethany who remembered while in the taxi on the way to the airport. So we asked the taxi driver to turn around. Pre 9/11 we could have just picked up the bag on the way home tomorrow, but in today’s environment, abandoned bags are likely to be discarded with extreme prejudice.
</p>
<p>
Our final taxi bill for our ride home from the airport ended up being $110 – essentially 3 times what it should have been. To make things even more painful, that’s about NZD220!
</p>
<p>
Today is our only full day in Hawaii, so we really only have time to do two things. We decided that our top two would be Pearl Harbor and the beach. We took a quick look at the beach (since our hotel is only a 1/2 block away) and then booked a shuttle to Pearl Harbor.
</p>
<p>
Pearl Harbor is very interesting to me – at once perhaps Japan’s biggest mistake, yet a stunning success for Yamamoto. For the Americans, Pearl Harbor was a huge loss that could have been easily minimized, yet in the end it mobilized the Americans and enabled their victories later in the war.
</p>
<p>
Pearl Harbor was viewed as an unjustified sneak attack by the American populace, yet it was entirely predictable. The Americans had almost completely cut off the Japanese access to oil. The United States has gone to war over much smaller disturbances to their oil supply. Talks to restore the oil had broken down, and the Japanese were directly threatening American territories in Guam and the Phillipines. War with the Japanese seemed inevitable. If it was inevitable, why was it surprising that the Japanese would attack the Pacific fleet?
</p>
<p>
The Japanese believed (erroneously) that an attack on British colonies in Asia would bring America into the war against them. They also believed that the American Phillipines were necessary for their plans. So even though Yamamoto believed that Japan could not defeat the US, he drew up plans to crush the American Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor. He believed that this would give Japan a three year window to complete their Pacific war and to negotiate a truce with the Americans from a position of strength. On the other hand, Prime Minister General Tojo believed that the “weak and divided” Americans could be defeated despite their sizable industrial advantage.
</p>
<p>
By the goals of the Japanese, the attack was overwhelmingly successful. All of the eight American battleships received significant damage, with five of them being sunk. Both the Americans and the Japanese believed that battleships were the most significant part of any navy. By that standard, the US navy was irreparably damaged. The Japanese also did very significant damage to the Pacific Air Fleet. In the end, it was aircraft carriers and submarines that won the naval war for the Americans. Luckily, their two carriers were away on delivery missions. Yamamoto should have (and probably did) know that the aircraft carriers were essential – he was a master of their use himself. The Japanese did not significantly damage the American’s shore facilities, which very quickly repaired most of the battleships, and proved much more important in the end than anything directly damaged.
</p>
<p>
The Japanese believed that a stunning upset would fracture the Americans. They believed that the homogeneous nature of Japanese culture and race gave them a huge advantage and were gleefully watching the debates between those who would have the Americans join the war in Europe and those who wished to stay out. But it was Pearl Harbor that united the nation.
</p>
<p>
After visiting the Arizona memorial, we toured a WWII submarine. Unfortunately we did not have time to tour the battleship or the aviation museum before our shuttle was supposed to arrive.
</p>
<p>
And I say supposed to arrive: we were there on time, but the shuttle wasn’t. After waiting 40 minutes we shared a taxi back with another stranded group. After we got back, we walked along the beach until the batteries in Bethany’s camera ran out, so we ran back to the hotel to grab the spare because sunset was just starting. After sunset we were able to take in a free Hula dance on the beach put on by a local dance school. Nice!
</p>
</div>Bryan LarsenBryan from Honolulu It’s interesting having an article for the same day twice. But we’ve crossed the date line, and it’s January 17th again. Our Honolulu adventure started last night with our taxi ride back from the airport, when Bethany realized that we’d left a bag at the airport. We’d been travelling with two bags for the entire trip, but we added a third bag yesterday. Maybe if it had ended up right beside our two backpacks we would have remembered it, but with the hassle of customs, it just slipped our mind. That’s not surprising in my case, but Bethany isn’t absent-minded like I am! Not surprisingly, it was Bethany who remembered while in the taxi on the way to the airport. So we asked the taxi driver to turn around. Pre 9/11 we could have just picked up the bag on the way home tomorrow, but in today’s environment, abandoned bags are likely to be discarded with extreme prejudice. Our final taxi bill for our ride home from the airport ended up being $110 – essentially 3 times what it should have been. To make things even more painful, that’s about NZD220! Today is our only full day in Hawaii, so we really only have time to do two things. We decided that our top two would be Pearl Harbor and the beach. We took a quick look at the beach (since our hotel is only a 1/2 block away) and then booked a shuttle to Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor is very interesting to me – at once perhaps Japan’s biggest mistake, yet a stunning success for Yamamoto. For the Americans, Pearl Harbor was a huge loss that could have been easily minimized, yet in the end it mobilized the Americans and enabled their victories later in the war. Pearl Harbor was viewed as an unjustified sneak attack by the American populace, yet it was entirely predictable. The Americans had almost completely cut off the Japanese access to oil. The United States has gone to war over much smaller disturbances to their oil supply. Talks to restore the oil had broken down, and the Japanese were directly threatening American territories in Guam and the Phillipines. War with the Japanese seemed inevitable. If it was inevitable, why was it surprising that the Japanese would attack the Pacific fleet? The Japanese believed (erroneously) that an attack on British colonies in Asia would bring America into the war against them. They also believed that the American Phillipines were necessary for their plans. So even though Yamamoto believed that Japan could not defeat the US, he drew up plans to crush the American Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor. He believed that this would give Japan a three year window to complete their Pacific war and to negotiate a truce with the Americans from a position of strength. On the other hand, Prime Minister General Tojo believed that the “weak and divided” Americans could be defeated despite their sizable industrial advantage. By the goals of the Japanese, the attack was overwhelmingly successful. All of the eight American battleships received significant damage, with five of them being sunk. Both the Americans and the Japanese believed that battleships were the most significant part of any navy. By that standard, the US navy was irreparably damaged. The Japanese also did very significant damage to the Pacific Air Fleet. In the end, it was aircraft carriers and submarines that won the naval war for the Americans. Luckily, their two carriers were away on delivery missions. Yamamoto should have (and probably did) know that the aircraft carriers were essential – he was a master of their use himself. The Japanese did not significantly damage the American’s shore facilities, which very quickly repaired most of the battleships, and proved much more important in the end than anything directly damaged. The Japanese believed that a stunning upset would fracture the Americans. They believed that the homogeneous nature of Japanese culture and race gave them a huge advantage and were gleefully watching the debates between those who would have the Americans join the war in Europe and those who wished to stay out. But it was Pearl Harbor that united the nation. After visiting the Arizona memorial, we toured a WWII submarine. Unfortunately we did not have time to tour the battleship or the aviation museum before our shuttle was supposed to arrive. And I say supposed to arrive: we were there on time, but the shuttle wasn’t. After waiting 40 minutes we shared a taxi back with another stranded group. After we got back, we walked along the beach until the batteries in Bethany’s camera ran out, so we ran back to the hotel to grab the spare because sunset was just starting. After sunset we were able to take in a free Hula dance on the beach put on by a local dance school. Nice!