… that’s the solution to many problems! only the OS (and somehow the user that might be in charge here) would know the following:
–> what files need to be accessed quickly (in how many milliseconds) e.g. logfiles, config files, databases etc
if needed the OS could create several copies all over the disk (coherency problems!) so you can reach the file within a “short stroke” (make a note in RAM that IF you’re not busy all copies need updating)
–> what files need to have fast transfers (in bytes per second) e.g. for hibernating, video-editing (HD demands!)
look for some nice real estate around the outer cylinders, and do NOT allow remapping to ruin the dataflow
–> what files are important e.g. email, OS files etc so that the OS can make sure those are safe areas (NO read or ECC errors in the past, check frequently, make auto-backup copies someplace else)
a normal disk controller would not know anything about the quality of the data that gets sent to him. several categories need to be established, see above, e.g. transferspeed/reliability/accesstime with different weights so an intelligent choice could be made even if the disk is getting totally filled up
the OS needs to make the decision to remap or not, or how to use the remapped areas, e.g. for unimportant files that gets accessed only once in a while
disk controllers could be smaller, cheaper, and overall you get more flexibility and speed!
even SSDs would benefit: low speed, high capacity areas are cheaper (smaller) to make than high speed areas, so even within the same die you could seperate the two and offer the OS to choose
that’s the only really safe thing to do – when you’re in trouble, or you got a worm/trojan/virus/hacker etc (or, more recent, the conficker-virus, about 5M victims)
as long as you’re unplugged, you can do ALL the troubleshooting, pinging, DNSing etc that you want to do, mostly without messing things up more than they are already
most admins are somehow helpless without any network, but for that case you carry a few different Boot-CD/DVD with you (with various OS, just in case one won’t boot because of some BIOS compability issue etc)
unfortunately the whole activation/serial number issue is keeping admins from doing their work – being online is dangerous with an unpatched system, but to fully run the system you need to activate, but to do that you gotta be online … don’t you just learn to love linux?
most schematics i’ve seen recently convert the 110V AC into DC right away and then go thru capacitors & inductive circuits to go down in voltage. from what i’ve read some bricks would work on DC right away – if the voltage is high enough … i’ll run some tests here
would be great if we had some 24V DC outlets in our homes (easy 2 car batteries in line for backup!) – that seems to be the highest volts any of my PC/laptop/screens/mp3/DVD player needs … and that nicely coinicides with the 26V from the solar panels :)
think how much gets lost thru conversion:
12V backup battery -> 110V AC upconverter -> powerbrick to 19V DC -> internal 1.2/3.3/5V DC for the circuits
let’s say you got 3 conversions with 90% efficiency each: overall you got .9 x .9 x .9 = .729 means you got about 73% at the end! the rest is HEAT
my favorite panel comes from kyocera with a 200W rating – at a max of 26.3V at 7.6A. the thing has 6×9 little segments. so why can’t we have several outputs to switch the Voltage so your home does NOT require ANY switching power supply to charge your in-house batteries etc – the efficiency might improve since there’s no conversion necessary? i think you can have several different power supply voltages thrughout the home – e.g. for A/C, computers, flatscreen, heaters – 5,12,24,110 V
that would work best if every segment had it’s own connector, i admit, and here you would have 108 wires sticking out … but let’s say you got only 9×2, one pair per stripe on the panel, and you got 10 panels on your roof (for max 2kw), that’ll give you some possibilities to switch the array according to the needs
think of it as a smart power-grid that gets reconfigured as needed!
wiki tells you that each cell has about .4-.6 V, so i guess here all 54 cells are ‘in line’ to reach the 26.3 V
February 3rd, 2009 in
solar, cng and electrons |
Comments Off on solar panel split-power
real security needs advanced software solutions: just a simple firewall and blocking a few ports here and there will slow down the casual scriptkid, and slow down portscans, but you’ve gotta have open ones IF you care to have some data go thru
my guess is that either deep packets inspection will do the trick, or some kind of AI … that might be some years away. IF my provider would scan packets (i encrypt if i care for privacy!) they could compare thousands of IP/port combinations for usage patterns and prevent DDoS etc. like a spam filter works best if you can scan thousands of email adresses. of course the hacker comes up with some randomization, but what hosts send random packets on random ports to MY systems without me requesting data from those???
most security solutions require smart endpoints in the infrastructure, so every system has to scan its own packets, but has no comparison to what other attacks are going on in the neighborhood!
January 31st, 2009 in
software stuff |
Comments Off on deep pockets … and packets
looking at several DC/AC converters etc i think one should generate DC power with solar panels, store it as DC, and use it as DC
every half-way decent and affordable converter comes only with some 80-90% efficiency, and the waste is always heat! that’s ok in winter, but realistically: who will heat their water or room with that heat?
one could easily have their A/C rebuilt using a DC motor, use DC for lighting with LED lights, install a DC outlet for the computers etc – apparently a regular PC powersupply can work with a (higher voltage) DC input as they are right now, even without any changes! (got to verify that though)
September 21st, 2008 in
solar, cng and electrons |
Comments Off on DC for your home?
one could save some gas if:
-charge the battery only if the car is in a ‘pushed’ state, e.g. rolling downhill with no foot on the accelerator
-run the A/C compressor s.above, have a bigger reservoir for the liquid coolant
– have a little electric motor run the water pump only really fast when necessary (got to run a little bit all the time to equalize temps)
– run the power steering only when necessary (speed adaptible, already done in some cars)
– replace DRL (daytime running lights) with CFL or LED, cause during the day it doesn’t matter so much where exactly the light goes, it’s just to increase the chances someone else sees you
– have a bigger battery to store electricity (in pushed state) to run the radio, fan etc off it
– have a solar panel, you need about 8 sqft for 100W, could be enough to replenish the battery to run a cooling fan before you start the car (=less A/C needed)
– have a remote that starts a fan (s.above) a few minutes before you get to the car, so it’s already cooler when you get there
– is it possible to run a little steam turbine on the exhaust heat, e.g. some working liquid that boils at a much lower temp than water?
– better coating on the windows to keep infrared out = less heat to get rid off thru the A/C
– have a full flow radiator w/o a thermostat ( = less resistance for the pump ), and regulate the air flow into it, so if no air is needed there will be less drag
September 10th, 2008 in
solar, cng and electrons |
Comments Off on energy management … in cars?!
why do we have fridges that pump their hot air exhaust into the cool indoor air, that gets cooled by an A/C??? one needs a fridge that 1) in summer ventilates to the outside and 2) in winter into the house to help warm it up!
also we could need heat pumps that extract heat from our waste-water before it enters the pipes outside: it would enable you to save gas for the water-heater and also reduce smells from the gutter cause the temp down there is lower and therefore bacteria work less hard!
if one would have two water heaters, one for low-temp water that gets heated thru roof panels or heat-pumps, and then the water goes into the gas-water-heater to gain a few more degrees … water comes into our house at around 50F, so going from 50 to 80 is a lot of energy needed right there!
it seems to be peak demand for electricity is between 12pm and 4pm – whether for cooking lunch or your A/C to keep you cool. those are exactly the times solar panels could provide you with their peak output, and some could come from batteries that get charged at other times during the day
also worth exploring: other ways of storing energy! for example one could built A/C units that use el. at night to freeze water (like beer-dispensers) and circulate a liquid thru it during the day extract heat from the indoor rooms … or one sets his freezer on a timer that is is colder at night and only runs at daytime if really necessary
my parents home has a heater that consists of half a ton of vulcanic rock that gets heated electrically at night to a max 1000F and during the day a fan transfers hot air into the house’s heating pipes – it’s built in 1979! no need for fancy batteries etc!
i don’t know how much sun a regular panel can take before it gets damaged, i’m sure there’s a limit due to the heat and UV etc rays (breakdown the material?) … but what about mirrors that tilt and shuffle more sunlight on the panel? at noon the mirrors would be turned away to avoid overload, later in the day you get 2 or 3 times the light, so the power output stays the same (at max hopefully) till late in the day
that way you get more max peak hours out of one panel, and mirrors are soo much cheaper (though not 100% effective). besides one could get even peak power on a cloudy day with all light on the panel?
there are companies that built lenses (e.g. fresnel) for panels to get more power per sqft, but i think a plain old mirror is cheaper to make – except the tracking might be more $
think of those old cardboard box type thingys that are coated with aluminum foil and wrap around your face to give you a really good tan!