Sometimes we need to reduce the granularity of date ranges by combining serveral contiguous rows into one. While this is a common classic SQL problem, I was unable to find an elegant solution that also performs well, and came up with my own. This article explains the problem and outlines the solution using a Common [...]
In an earlier post I presented the network throughput results of my tests with the Synology RS-407 NAS and IPerf in various configurations. I had a Windows XP x64 client in the mix with a bad network driver that messed up my test results. During these earlier tests I contacted Synology support about the odd [...]
The issue is that SQL Server’s DateTime data type appears to be able to resolve milliseconds – but it really does not. It rounds to the nearest 0, 3, or 7. Consider the following:
Why do I find all the examples of how to use recursion in SQL Server 2005 too complicated (including the one in the Microsoft help)? Here is mine that does the bare minimum.
Others have shown how to copy music files from an iPod to the local harddrive without costly software. If you follow these instructions, you find yourself with a huge number of files in a single directory. All the files on the iPod have 4-letter names, such as BQEH.mp3. This is easy enough to fix, for [...]
I wanted to know exactly how much throughput I get from my new switch (HP ProcCurve 1400-24G) and found a network performance test tool that is available on many platforms – iPerf. I installed it on my Pc (Asus P5NSLI MB with dual-core Intel Pentium 4 3.4 GHz, a Raid 0 configuration, and a Marvell [...]
August 21, 2009 There is an old saying, “The jug goes to the well until it breaks”. The jug started to break as recent as last year, in March 2008. One of the large American investment firms, Bear Stearns, went belly-up in the wake of a crisis of the world’s financial markets. This crisis was [...]
When you have a query that does complex calculations, maybe even has function calls in the select list select costly_function_A() as result_A, costly_function_B() as result_B from table_T and you want to return the result of the calculation or function call, but also manipulate it further and return the result of this operation as well, select [...]
I installed the Synology Rackstation last night and so far I like it a lot. . I installed four Seagate Barracuda ST3500630AS (500GB each) and, let me tell you, this configuration is anything but quiet. I have it sitting in a 42U rack cabinet in my basement, which is now filled with the airplane-like hum [...]
The Globe reports that the MBTA is making Wifi mobile internet access available on one of its commuter rail lines. The Boston commuter rail infrastructure is so derelict – it is stunning that Wifi was a priority. Here are the top 3 things that should have been addressed instead: Speed up slower trains Some trains [...]
