Oliver Aaltonen

It's that time of year again, when Dell refreshes their server configurations with new components. This time around, the previous "Mainstream SSD" solid-state storage options have been replaced with new, vaguely-named "Value MLC" parts:

100GB Solid State Drive SATA Value MLC 3G 2.5in HotPlug Drive-Limited Warranty Only [$1,007.00]
200GB Solid State Drive SATA Value MLC 3G 2.5in HotPlug Drive-Limited Warranty Only [$1,870.00]

While there are few technical details to be found on Dell's website, I was able to confirm the identity of the OEM drives: they are the new Samsung SM825 drives.

I haven't had much time to test the new drives, but initial benchmarks using Oracle ORION are in line with the manufacturers' specs:

For technical details and more than enough marketing double-speak, head to Samsung's product page (warning: annoying auto-play video ahead).

Here's my take on the changes:

Resist the knee-jerk reaction to be turned-off by the MLC designation: you'll find the same eMLC NAND components in the class-leading Fusion-io ioDrives and IBM's POWER7 servers. Samsung gives these drives the same MTBF rating as the previous-generation SS805 SLC drives -- not that MTBF is terribly useful. Regardless, you're still deploying these with some type of software or hardware redundancy, right?

This change beefs up the lowest of Dell's three SSD tiers by doubling IOPS and capacity at the same price points:

• Light Speed: 100GB, 200GB Samsung SM825 2.5" SATA SSDs
• Ridiculous Speed: 149GB Pliant Lightning LB 2.5" SAS SSDs
• Ludicrous Speed: 320GB, 640GB and 1.28TB Fusion-io ioDrives

All three are excellent offerings, and I've seen many a customer nearly faint in disbelief at the real-world performance increases they've brought to their servers. They all have their own benefits and trade-offs (price, performance, manageability, etc.), and the best choice will be dictated by your specific workload -- and wallet.

What would you say to an unlimited plan for $45 per month? With no contracts? Running on the same nationwide AT&T network? Do I have your attention yet? Introducing Straight Talk's unlimited plan:

That's a savings of over $70 per month from AT&T's postpaid offerings, and you'll be free of any contracts. There was little doubt that it was possible, but I can now confirm that there are no issues using the new iPhone 4S with the $45 unlimited everything (talk, text, data) Straight Talk prepaid plan. This doozie of a deal has been around for quite a while, but it's worth a quick review for those who haven't heard about it before. Here's what you'll need:

• Any iPhone that works with AT&T. It doesn't even have to be unlocked, because we'll be using Straight Talk's AT&T-powered MVNO.
• A Straight Talk smartphone. I recommend the Nokia E71, because it has been widely tested and confirmed to contain the correct TF64PSIMC4 SIM for use with the AT&T MVNO. Those in a rush can pay a premium for the smartphones available at your local Walmart, or you can order a refurbished E71 from their website for $99 with free shipping.

The procedure is quite straightforward:

• Activate your Straight Talk smartphone from their website with the included SIM.
• Verify that your Straight Talk smartphone can make an outgoing call.
• If you're using the iPhone 4 or 4S, take our that SIM and punch it down to size. (If you don't already have one, I have had good luck with this inexpensive Noosy micro SIM cutter.)
• Pop that slimmed-down SIM into your iPhone. It will take a moment to acquire service, after which you should see "HOME" displayed in the carrier field.
• To enable Internet access, email yourself this configuration file and open it. (If you don't trust me, go to unlockit.co.nz or help.benm.at and generate your own configuration file using att.mvno as the APN.)
• Done. Enjoy the same AT&T service for a new, low price.

• If you're going to port your number from your current carrier, do so when you first activate the phone. You will not be able to do so after you've activated the SIM.
• If you want to use "classic" MMS with this plan, you'll need to jailbreak your phone. I didn't bother, because I only send pictures via iMessage or email.
• Don't push it with the "unlimited" data consumption. I'm certain they monitor your bandwidth, and I guarantee there's some fine print somewhere that says that unlimited is actually quasi-limited. Just use your phone as a smartphone, and don't go nuts with tethering and BitTorrent, and you should be fine.
• I know you're tempted to unload that unused Straight Talk smartphone on eBay or Craigslist. Resist the temptation. If you ever need to deal with Straight Talk support, they may require you to use their handset to duplicate the issue. The cost of the phone is a small price to pay, and it will pay for itself in just a few months of savings.

All things considered, it's an excellent deal. Is anyone else using Straight Talk with their iPhone? What are your thoughts?

Ever find yourself locked out of an Apple with OS X? Or perhaps you bought a used MacBook Pro from a dude on the street and don't know the login information. Either way, here's a quick way to get yourself back in:

• Reboot
• Hold  (Command)-S when you hear the chime
• At the root prompt (#) enter the following:

mount -uw /
rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
reboot

After rebooting, you will find yourself back at the new installation setup wizard. Follow the prompts to register the system and create a new administrator account. When you log in to your new account, you may use it to reset the old account's password or delete either account.

Here's a tip for anyone hosting a CrashPlan Pro server and intending on having external clients back up via the Internet. Because it's a fairly common practice to firewall strange and unknown traffic, port-forwarding traffic to the CrashPlan Pro backup service's port (4282) over a known good port can be accomplished with the following iptables statement:

iptables -A PREROUTING -t nat -i eth0 -p tcp --dport 443 -j REDIRECT --to-port 4282

Additional information: CrashPlan Pro Network Requirements

I'm no fanboi. There are some tools that run best on Mac, and others that only run smoothly on Windows. As such, I've begun to use my MacBook Pro more and more often in the office. Here's a process for setting up Synergy to share your keyboard and mouse between both systems, while retaining the original monitors, native performance and keyboard functionality (copy/paste, etc.):

On the Windows server side:

• Download and install synergy-plus for Windows: synergy-plus-1.4.1-Windows-x86.exe 
• Launch Synergy+ 
• Check Server

• Select Configure interactively and click Configure Server… 
• Drag the monitor icon(s) to the grid, indicating the relative location of each computer.

• Double-click each monitor to set the screen name.

• Set the server to automatically start with Windows by selecting Edit and Services, then clicking Install button in the Server box.

• Click Start and close Synergy+ 

On the Mac client side:

• Download and extract the most recent synergy-plus package: synergy-plus-1.3.5-rc+-Darwin-Universal.dmg 
• Run the installer. 
• Open a terminal and launch the synergy client, using the syntax below (where client-screen-name is the screen name of the client computer configured previously on the synergy server): 

synergyc -f --name client-screen-name server-host-name