May, 2012 | Elyas Thinks...

Archive | May, 2012

Incremental Backups with Google Drive

Elyas Kashfi / May 20, 2012 / Internet, Review, Software / Permalink

With Google Drive out (my take on it here), I was looking for what to do with the free 5 GB of storage. I do not want to store anything sensitive on it, neither do I want to use it to store media since I have much more than 5 GB worth of that. One thing I am paranoid about is having a backup of important stuff which I store in a folder that syncs across all of my computers (using Wuala, a great multi platform service).

I thought, how could I store a backup of this folder on Google Drive, while at the same time keep it encrypted with a password known to me only? Most importantly I need something that can do backups incrementally to save time and bandwidth. I could simply throw everything into an encrypted 7zip archive and password protect it. However, if changes are significant it might require uploading the archive over and over for simple changes (emphasizing the need for incremental). Then there is the issue of scheduling the whole backup process, logging into my Google Drive account and uploading the backup.

Then I came across an excellent backup program for Windows called Duplicati. In a nutshell Duplicati can:

Encrypt using 256-bit AES (which is very hard to crack, assuming the password is strong ).
Performs full and incremental backups.
Multiple upload destinations.
Rules and filters if you don't want certain file types to be uploaded.
Splitting files, better for unstable connections.
A wizard: Probably the most important feature to bind everything above!

The wizard is very easy to go through. You basically select what you want to backup, choose a password for encryption (optional), select the destination, enter authentication for destination and you're basically ready.

Tip: In case you want to backup to Google Drive, you should set the destination to Google Docs in the wizard (remember Google Drive is still being rolled out). Now you know how to backup safely to your Google Drive .

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The Environmental Impact of Googling

Elyas Kashfi / May 17, 2012 / Internet / Permalink

I've always wondered: is Google a burden to the environment? Think about it, Google is an Internet services company. In order to provide us with accurate search results, amazing email, social entertainment and networking they need computers. Many, many, many computers (aka servers) that are powered on 24/7! Then comes the actual building housing these servers, Google have many around the world (here are a few "official" ones) that require not only power for servers, but for cooling, lighting, staff work etc… So every time you use some Google service (or any other service for that matter) your carbon footprint is actually a bit bigger. There is even a market for green search engines: Gigablast (green power) and Blackle (black background = lower energy) to name a few.

Like any other ethical company, especially one as large as Google, they have to run their stuff efficiently and in an energy conscience manner. If you think about it, being green does not only save the environment but also money, and money = more profits.

As a result, Google have decided to share some information about how they continue to provide great services without impacting negatively on the environment through Google Green. On the front page they state some interesting facts: they have ELIMINATED their environmental impact since 2007, their datacenters use 50% less energy, they've invested almost $1b in renewable energy and the most interesting: the impact of a business using Gmail is 80 times less than not using Gmail.

The most interesting page is the "The Big Picture" page. Did you know that the average annual carbon footprint of a Google user is only 1.46 kg of CO2? Or what about 3 days of YouTube is the same as making and delivering a DVD? Oh and you know when you threw a message in a bottle! That's about a year of Gmail (so use Gmail, its quicker and more efficient than that bottle )!

You will find much more interesting information about Google's greenness in the rest of the Google Green site. I will sure be less guilty sending an email or watching Keyboard Cat.

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WinGrooves for Grooveshark

Elyas Kashfi / May 16, 2012 / Internet, Technology / Permalink

I love Grooveshark, and I'm pretty sure there are many out there that love it too. Ever since music services started restricting access to users outside of X or Y country or region (Pandora and Last.fm for example), Grooveshark has become one of the best on demand music services.

One convenient feature of Grooveshark is their desktop application (also a selection of apps for other devices) so that you can listen to Grooveshark without having your browser open. It even supports shortcuts that you can use to forward, pause music etc… Unfortunately it is only available for premium users (Grooveshark Plus and Anywhere), which to me seems unfair for an application that simply wraps the Grooveshark site within an interface (powered by Adobe AIR). Though you can sometimes get a great offer on Grooveshark's premium plans, like this one from the past, I haven't seen one for quite some time.

wingrooves WinGrooves for Grooveshark

This is where a nifty Windows application called WinGrooves comes into play. It is basically a wrapper for the Grooveshark website, but with the keyboard shortcuts. You can even mark songs you like or dislike so that Grooveshark can tailor its music library to your liking! Best part, it's free! If you don't feel like using Grooveshark's Adobe AIR app you can login with your premium Grooveshark through WinGrooves (since it is just a frame around the site) and enjoy the ad free interface.

So if you like Grooveshark and you're looking for a desktop application, WinGrooves is probably the best out there at the moment.

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Linode’s Impressive Uptime

Elyas Kashfi / May 15, 2012 / Internet, Technology / Permalink

It has been more or less 6 months since I've moved this blog to a Linode VPS (512MB Xen in London) and I must say that I am quite impressed with its performance, uptime and most importantly support. Here is a breakdown of the uptime since I started (using Pingdom, checking every minute):

November 2011: 100%
December 2011: 99.99%
January 2012: 99.98%
February 2012: 100%
March 2012: 99.91% (migration downtime, read about it below)
April 2012: 100%

March had the worst uptime and this was due to a configuration I made that required a reboot (less than a minute down) and a migration of my Linode to another node (within the same DC).

The Linode migration process is quite simple. I basically received an email that said that the node I am currently on requires maintenance and there would be a scheduled migration in a week. Then you either have 2 options: wait for the migration or start it yourself. I opted for option 2. I logged in to the Linode manager and the big green box they use for important stuff explained the upcoming migration with the option to start it. A few clicks later the process started. They provide you with details of everything from shutdown to boot on the new node:

Shutdown: 14 seconds
Initial configuration: 1 second
Migrating disk: 9 minutes 59 seconds
Migrating swap: 9 seconds
Cleanup: 2 seconds
Boot: 24 seconds
Done! Total time: 10 minutes and 49 seconds

The VPS came up with no problems, the IP addresses remained the same (since this was within the same DC) and I even turned on IPv6 since it requires rebooting the VPS.

Linode may be expensive compared to other VPS providers ( starting from $19.95), but in my opinion they are worth it, and I recommend them if you need to host something that deserves excellent performance and uptime.

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Google Drive: Too Late or Innovation?

Elyas Kashfi / May 14, 2012 / Android, Internet, Review, Software, Technology / Permalink

It has been a few weeks since Google launched their new service, Google Drive and I decided to give it a try. I actually found out about it a week after it was launched. The signup process is painless if you already have a Google account since all you need to do is sign in. At the time I signed up however, the signup was not immediate and it told me that the service was not widely available yet but I would receive an email once I get "invited". A day later I checked my email and it confirmed that I could now use Google Drive, not as bad as other Google services when they launched (remember Google+ ?).

It might be surprising to see Google decide to launch Google Drive these days since there are a plethora of services that basically do the same thing as Google Drive: Dropbox, SugarSync, Wuala just to name a few (check out my Wuala review here). There was a rumor going around about Google Drive for many years.since 2006 (6 years, an eternity on the Internet!). Note, Google Drive has nothing to do with GMail Drive (not officially from Google) which is a Windows application that can be used to store files on your GMail account. So is it too late for Google to be joining the online storage and sync market?

The Good Stuff About Google Drive

1. They are giving away 5 GB worth of storage for free. Other services offer considerably less, though you can earn more storage if you invite your friends to use as well. Odds are your friends are already using such services making it difficult to get storage through referrals. This is already a big plus compared to the others.

2. You can use Google Drive on a wide range of devices: Windows, Mac, Chrome OS (the OS in Chromebooks) and Android at the moment. A Linux version is coming soon (3rd reply down by Teresa Wu), so is a version for iOS for iPhones and iPads. Depending from which device you visit, Google Drive will let you know if there is an application for your OS:

3. Easier sharing and integration with other Google services. Once your Google account is Google Drive approved, you will no longer have Google Docs since it turns into Google Drive. Google are eventually going to convert Docs accounts into Drive (as shown on the Docs login page). Additionally you will have all and more of the collaboration features that were available on Docs.

4. Feature rich web interface. The interface is quite similar to GMail's default theme and you can use it to upload files AND entire folders if you need to. On some services it can be quite a pain uploading several files (you might need to do it individually) or have a folder upload feature.

5. Developers, developers, developers, developers… Google Drive has created a new ecosystem of applications for the Google Chrome browser. At the moment there are several applications in the Chrome Web Store developed by 3rd party services that allows integration between their stuff and Google Drive.

The Possibly Bad Stuff About Google Drive

1. Privacy. Google Drive shares Google's single privacy policy. Some aspects of the policy includes what they do with the data, how they can use it, who they share it with and more. It is well known that GMail emails are scanned in order to show relevant ads. Some people slam the policies while others say it is similar to those in other services. You be the judge and read the fine print.

2. Some features are missing. Other services allow you to sync multiple folders, perform scheduled backups and more. Though Google Drive is still new and we will see what comes down the road.

3. Related to privacy is encryption. The link between your computer and Google is encrypted, however the files are likely sent as it is to be stored in Google's servers. Wuala for example, encrypts data on YOUR computer before being sent for storage on their servers, making it impossible for them to decrypt the data, unless you give them your password.

4. Loss of data control. When you store data on your computer you know exactly where it is, on your drive. Once you start using cloud based storage you basically no longer know where your data may be stored. Remember that Google have many data centers spread across the world. Is your data in the US or India now? Does Google need to disclose data in those countries?

5. Due to points 1, 3 and 4 I would not store anything sensitive on Google Drive. Actually I would go as far as saying if you value the privacy of your data do not store it online at all!

Although it may seem that Google has joined the cloud sync/backup market a bit late, I believe they have the potential (and money) to improve Google Drive's functionality and features. Time will tell.

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A Tranquil Birthday

Elyas Kashfi / May 13, 2012 / Bahrain, General, Life / Permalink

Yesterday was a Saturday, just like any other Saturday. I woke up at the usual 5 AM (shocking huh?), fed the cat, started the coffee machine and turned on my computer. The usual routine. An hour or so later my dad comes in and gives me a present, a few minutes later its my mom giving me a present. The difference of this Saturday from the others? It was my birthday.

Birthdays, everyone has one. Even things have birthdays, except they are called "production date" or "manufactured on". In my younger years I loved birthday parties, except for one thing: singing happy birthday. I remember that no matter whose birthday it was (mine or others), when it came to the cake and singing I would hide under the table in fear. Until this day I still don't know why and never bothered trying to find out. My birthdays then transitioned to the "invite all your friends to McDonald's" style of birthdays. The good thing is that you get to see everyone, but just a bit noisy. The parties then transitioned to those where you only invite your closest of friends and just hang out. Then at some point, I decided to enjoy my birthday as a regular day. I get the usual calls, messages and emails from family and friends. I hang out with friends if it's on the day's schedule. Other than that, my birthday is a regular day like no other.

Birthdays do have their perks. People treat you extra special that day, the food is different, the atmosphere is jolly and of course there is the cake!

Or what's left of it !

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The Samsung 830 SSD

Elyas Kashfi / May 8, 2012 / Review, Technology / Permalink

It's been a while since I've gotten my hands on some serious computer hardware, likewise it has been ages since I've upgraded either one of my computers. A couple of years ago I used to take my netbook since my needs did not justify carrying the much heavier notebook. Then I started working on some serious computing applications, from cloud computing to programming and virtualization, I needed something to help me work on the go. That was when I got my notebook. That was also the last time I bought computer hardware (just over a year ago!), until now…

I decided it was time for me to upgrade my notebook, however with notebooks you are usually limited to either RAM or the hard drive. It already came with RAM filled to its max capacity. I don't store a lot of stuff on the hard drive anyway so I don't really need all the extra space. Instead, I decided to eliminate the hard drive and instead get an SSD (Solid State Drive). Sure they are more expensive (cost to storage ratio) and store less, but they are insanely fast!

After lurking around Amazon and reading reviews, I decided to go for a 256GB Samsung 830 series SSD. It was just under $300 ($299 lol) and at the time it seemed like the best buy given the reviews I read. Samsung boasts the 520MB/s read and 400MB/s write speeds but I know those numbers are theoretical.

I was waiting eagerly for Aramex to deliver it and finally, yesterday afternoon I had my hands on the SSD. Let me say that it has been a looooong time since I have unboxed something as exquisite as this SSD. Stuff bought these days usually come in not so impressive packaging, even if you paid an arm (and a leg) to get it. It actually felt like unpacking a luxury item (for geeks).

As I opened the shiny box, the precious SSD was there nice and secure (and damn hot from the delivery…), it actually took some force to take it out. They definitely didn't want this thing to be wobbling around during transit. At the lower left corner the capacity was confirmed to be the 256GB I ordered.

The Samsung 830 is definitely a SSD given how thin it was between my fingers. Since this was the laptop version, a spacer was included just under the SSD in the box (the thing that looks like a frame inside the box below) to make the drive thicker in your laptop's drive bay. I flipped it over and was satisfied that it really was a Samsung since the label mentioned "Made in Korea". Beneath the plastic shell was a black-on-the-outside-grey-on-the-inside envelope that contained the documentation and CDs (Samsung software and a licensed copy of Norton Ghost).

The last thing in the box that Samsung have included is a SATA to USB cable in case you ever wanted to use your SSD as an ultra light weight external drive! Given the sleek design and lack of moving parts you don't really need a case to protect whatever components you fear, or worry about the ugly looks of a conventional, meant to be internal, hard drive.

Once the thing was nice and safe within my notebook (which is also a Samsung by the way), I decided to give Windows a try. The installation process was just as fast as on a regular drive since the slowest component now is my optical drive. Once the installation was over, I was ready for the ultimate test, rebooting. The shutdown process took only 3 seconds! Once the POST screen was gone, I was at the Windows login screen in a around 8 seconds! This was a clean installation of Windows, so I decided to start installing the software I usually use. Just about everything installed in a flash compared to the old mechanical drive days. I now had several services running and a few applications that would start at boot time. Now would be the ultimate test… This time I was at the login screen in about the same amount of time. After entering my password, Windows had loaded everything in under 5 seconds. Windows also conveniently detected the drive as a SSD and enabled TRIM. This SSD is worth every penny!

For the sake of getting real numbers, I decided to run a test using CrystalDiskMark and get real numbers, and here they are in a production environment:

The values above are just about half of what Samsung originally advertised, not sure how they base their tests, but it is still impressive. It is also 2nd place in PassMark's HDD benchmark site. Although I haven't tried any other SSD, I am quite amazed at how much difference mechanical parts can slow your computing down. I can also conclude that the Samsung 830 is a great option for those who want to upgrade their drives to SSD.

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