Archive for June, 2008
How to setup up an IT infrastructure from scratch
Working at a startup, you literally start with nothing. NOTHING! The full effect of “nothing-ness” doesn’t hit you until you sit down and start to plan out what you’ll need. Since I’m the tech guy, this post will focus on the technical side of starting up a company. If you’re here looking for information on operations, well… better find another blog. 
Once you realize you have nothing, that’s when when you realize how much work the IT department of a company does to setup an IT infrastructure. Luckily if this is something you’re interested in, as I am, then it’s also quite fun to pick and choose your new toys.
So what kind of IT resources does a start up need? Let’s see…
- Web Server
- Email Server
- File Server
- Backup Resources
- Test Servers
- Production Servers
- Network Services
- Hosting Services
- Networking Equipment.
- Source Control System
- Issue Tracking System
- Workstations
- Laptops
- Wireless Communication
Of course whether you need all these resources depends on your company. For my start up, we definitely needed all of these. Technology is so essential in any modern-day business, you’ll most likely need at least one or two of these items no matter what kind of company you’re starting.
Now that you have a list of technologies you’ll need, it’s time to take the next step: cut as much as you can! Yep, you read that right. Since a start up starts with very limited funds, you’ll need to do your best to save on everything. Thus it’s crucial that you save, scrimp, clip, do whatever it takes to get by with the bare minimum, even with technology. Ideally, you want to save as much as you can now, while also picking the right technology that will allow you to easily scale down the road. Stay tuned as that will be the topic of the next post. 
LINQ to SQL in SQL Server
Posted by eric in Programming on June 20, 2008
I’m writing some code that will be in a .NET 3.5 assembly running in SQL Server 2005. Since I’ll need to retrieve data from the database, I figured I might as well try out LINQ to SQL running inside SQL Server while I’m at it. The good news is that it will work, however you will have to add a couple more assemblies into SQL Server than just your assembly.
This post won’t go through the basics of SQLCLR integration. You can read about SQLCLR in this super long MSDN article or these 2 short and succinct articles instead (TIP: take the 2 short articles ).
So to get LINQ to SQL working inside SQL Server 2005, you’ll need to add the following assemblies first (shown in hierarchical dependence order):
- System.Core
- System.Data.Linq
-
- System.Runtime.Serialization
-
- SMDiagnostics
Run the following script to register these assemblies (assuming default installation locations):
CREATE ASSEMBLY [SMDiagnostics]
AUTHORIZATION dbo
FROM 'C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.0\Windows Communication Foundation\SMDiagnostics.dll'
WITH permission_set = unsafe
CREATE ASSEMBLY [System.Runtime.Serialization]
AUTHORIZATION dbo
FROM 'C:\Program Files\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\v3.0\System.Runtime.Serialization.dll'
WITH permission_set = unsafe
CREATE ASSEMBLY [System.Data.Linq]
AUTHORIZATION dbo
FROM 'C:\Program Files\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\v3.5\System.Data.Linq.dll'
WITH permission_set = unsafe
CREATE ASSEMBLY [System.Core]
AUTHORIZATION dbo
FROM 'C:\Program Files\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\v3.5\system.core.dll'
WITH permission_set = unsafe
Once these assemblies are in SQL Server, you’ll be able to add your LINQ-ified assembly into SQL Server.
With all those assembly registrations, is it worth it? I don’t think so. After I tested it out, I got rid of all those assemblies and replaced my LINQ code with a few simple calls to SqlCommand to get my small piece of data. This just goes to show you: the newest technology is not necessarily the best technology. Don’t just blindly follow whatever is the latest that Microsoft pitches to you!
Firefox 3
Just installed Firefox 3 and so far I’m impressed. I opened up a bunch of tabs (28 to be exact) right away just to test out the speed and memory usage. I’m glad to say all the tabs loaded really quick and used about ~100mb of RAM. Not too shabby!
Only one addon that I regularly use didn’t make it past the upgrade: CTC. That’s not too bad and hopefully an update will be on the way.
One thing I noticed with FF3 for Windows is that it will hijack your default browser. Um.. where’s my dialog box that disables this? I thought we were over this browser-war-hijack-default-browser-stuff? FF3 for Mac doesn’t have this problem. Whoever created the Windows installer needs to be fired (that is if he’s being paid)!
All in all, my first impression of FF3 is that it’s a great upgrade for everyone who uses Firefox. Too bad the Windows version is marred by the setup faux pas. Remember to download your copy today to help Mozilla’s attempt at the world record!
EDIT: Just downloaded FF3 again and noticed a default checkbox that would let me disable default functionality. Much better!
Homecoming
Posted by eric in Miscellaneous on June 14, 2008
See what life changing emails do to you? After hitting the pause button on my blog for the last few months, I’ve decided it’s time to hit play again.
So what’s new? Here’s some of the things that I’ve been working on these past few months which I’ll be posting about:
- Moving from California to Taiwan to Utah.
- Setting up an IT infrastructure from scratch.
- Setting up an IT infrastructure on the cheap (being a start up after all…).
- Life in a start up.
And of course, I’m typing this post on a brand new computer.
More to come!
[Image from graphicstyles.org]
Learning on the web
Posted by eric in Commentary, Software on June 26, 2008
Being an on-off amateur photographer, one of the first things I installed on my MacBook Pro was Aperture. Since I’m new to Aperture, I decided to check out the tutorials link.
Clicking the link opened up my browser and navigated me to the Aperture Tutorial website with numerous videos about 1 to 3 minutes long. After watching a couple of videos, I realized how easy it is to learn from this website.
Now I’ve seen many webcast/video tutorials before, especially Microsoft ones. What makes the Apple one different, and better than the Microsoft ones?
The tutorial website is really well designed. True to Apple’s design, there is no clutter on the website and it is clear where you go and how to select videos to watch. Compare this with Microsoft’s Office website:
Seriously, how long will it take you to find the tutorials link on that page? There’s even advertisements on the Office homepage!
Another important factor to easy web learning is short and to the point videos. There is no marketing fluff in Apple’s tutorial videos. When you click on a video, you know exactly what you are watching. Each video shows you what the feature is and how to perform it and quickly ends.
Once again, let’s compare to Microsoft’s Office website. After 20-30 seconds of hunting, I finally find the Training link. From there I click on the “Popular” link showing a video on “SharePoint document libraries”. Now being on a Mac, I don’t have Windows Media Player to play the video, but just looking at that page with the “20-30 minutes” timer makes me want to close the browser. This is actually pretty good for a Microsoft video as normally Microsoft videos that I’ve watched in the past are over an hour long minimum!
Why are long videos useless? First of all, everyone is busy so no one has the time nor the patience to sit through an hour-long lecture. Second, long videos are long typically because it’s jam packed with lots of information. Thus it’s really easy to get overwhelmed and forget most of what was discussed in the video.
Another nice feature of Apple’s tutorial website is this:
Since there are numerous videos, Apple’s website helps you keep track of videos you have seen, have not seen. Wow, nice touch! These check marks even persist after you close the browser (through cookie’s I’m assuming). Come back to the website a few days later and you’ll see your check marks still there! Good luck trying to remember which videos you’ve seen/not seen on Microsoft’s website.
I used to dread watching video tutorials based on bad past experiences. Apple’s Aperture tutorial website has completely changed my perception. Now, I rather enjoy watching Apple’s video clip tutorials: I don’t have to waste time finding the videos and I get to control how much time I want to spend. And if i decide to take a break and come back the next day, I won’t have to waste time watching the same videos because I forgot I had already watched them!
No Comments