Aug 31
Aug 28
I’ve been collecting scaling stories for some time now and last week I came across the following run down on Fliker scaling: Federation at Flickr: Doing Billions of Queries Per Day by Dathan Vance Pattishall, the Flickr database guy.
The Flickr DB Architecture is sharded with a PHP access layer to maintain consistency. Flickr users are randomly assigned to a shard. Each shard is duplicated in another database that is also serving active shards. Each DB needs to be less than 50% loaded to be able to handle failover.
Shards are found via a lookup ring that maps userID or groupID to shardID and photoID to userID. The DBs are protected by a memcached layer with a 30 minute caching lifetime. Slide 16 says they are maintaining consistency using distributed transactions but I strongly suspect they are actually just running two parallel transactions with application management rather than 2pc.
Maintenance is done by bringing down ½ the DBs and the remaining DBs will handle the load but it appears they have no redundancy (failure protection) during the maintenance periods.
They have 12TB of user data in aggregate and they appear to be using MySQL (slide 25 complains about an INNODB bug).
Other web site scaling stories:
· Scaling Linkedin: http://perspectives.mvdirona.com/2008/06/08/ScalingLinkedIn.aspx
· Scaling Amazon: http://glinden.blogspot.com/2006/02/early-amazon-splitting-website.html
· Scaling Second Life: http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2006/04/web_20_and_databases_part_1_se.html
· Scaling Technorati: http://www.royans.net/arch/2007/10/25/scaling-technorati-100-million-blogs-indexed-everyday/
· Scaling Flickr: http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2006/04/database_war_stories_3_flickr.html
· Scaling Craigslist: http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2006/04/database_war_stories_5_craigsl.html
· Scaling Findory: http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2006/05/database_war_stories_8_findory_1.html
· MySpace 2006: http://sessions.visitmix.com/upperlayer.asp?event=&session=&id=1423&year=All&search=megasite&sortChoice=&stype=
· MySpace 2007: http://sessions.visitmix.com/upperlayer.asp?event=&session=&id=1521&year=All&search=scale&sortChoice=&stype=
· Twitter, Flickr, Live Journal, Six Apart, Bloglines, Last.fm, SlideShare, and eBay: http://poorbuthappy.com/ease/archives/2007/04/29/3616/the-top-10-presentation-on-scaling-websites-twitter-flickr-bloglines-vox-and-more
Aug 25
These are some awesome photos I’ve downloaded over time as my wallpaper. If you know where they are from I’ll post the info, I can’t really remember.
Aug 22
- Resign from a commitment you’re not passionate about.
- Stop trying to be perfect.
- Implement a basic cleaning schedule.
- Sign up for automatic billpay.
- Automate a portion of your investing.
- Clean out your media collection and keep only the items you love.
- Plant perennials that will automatically bloom next spring.
- Clean out your purse or wallet.
- Put a paper shredder next to your mail spot.
- Winnow your wardrobe down to pieces that work together.
- Delete any social networking accounts you don’t actually use.
- Add your number to the do-not-call list.
- Create a car maintenance schedule and post it somewhere you’ll see it.
- Design a filing system that you can stick to.
- Start your day with a healthy meal.
- Turn your phone off when you need quiet time.
- Invest in a programmable thermostat.
- Set one good goal, and go achieve it.
- Record your good “shower” ideas and then implement them. (Don’t we all get our best inspirations in the shower?)
- Write to a friend with (gasp!) pen and paper.
- Set limits on your bad habits, and reward yourself when you stick with them.
- Stop trying to be a saint and indulge yourself every once in a while.
- Pay off your credit card debt.
- Avoid watching commercials and reading advertisements.
- Rediscover the pleasure of reading purely for enjoyment.
- Plan two weeks of delicious meals ahead of time and skip the nightly grocery run.
- Go to your doctor for a preventative checkup.
- Remember the joys of doing nothing.
- Singletask as much as possible.
- Learn to ask for help.
Aug 21
- Don’t work yourself to death. Set some boundaries when it comes to your work life. Predetermine certain days of the weeks, or hours of the day when you only focus on yourself or your family. Instead of causing you to fall behind, this will actually help you work more efficiently during the rest of the week.
- Don’t let regret enter your life. The things in your past have already occurred. You have no power to change these things. Why then, do so many of us allow regret to throw us off of our balance? Living in the present, and enjoying each moment as it occurs, is one of the easiest ways to enjoy more spiritual and mental balance in your life.
- Don’t take on too much. It is hard for many of us to delegate responsibility to others. Whether it is at work or in the home, we become victims of the “I’ll just do it myself” mentality. The result is that we spend too much time focusing on certain aspects of our lives while neglecting others. We quickly forget that everything is a trade-off. Learn to delegate to co-workers, family members and your spouse. Return the favor for them to achieve an even greater balance.
- Treat yourself to something nice. Many times we don’t reward ourselves enough. While it is kind and decent to always try to put other people first, this should not come at the expense of our own well-being. If you work hard, reward is the proper balance to putting forth that effort.
- Be nice to others. In order to achieve real spiritual fulfillment, one must rise above the fray and…just be a nicer person. Acting with kindness to other human beings has a “pay it forward” effect that not only makes you feel good, but improves the world around you as well.
- Get organized and reduce clutter. Sometimes, we look back on a particularly busy day and ask ourselves, “what, exactly just happened here?” Lives filled with too much clutter and racing around from Point A to Point B are going to lead to stress and health issues. Take a day and get organized. Prioritize your life. Like a garage sale, it may be time to get rid of some things that are cluttering up the corners of your life.
- Get back to basics. For many people seeking balance, there’s nothing better than the traditional arts of meditation, yoga or acupuncture. All three can provide a pathway to spirituality and greater union of the mind, body and spirit. In a stressful, ever-changing world, constants such as these can be an ideal way to achieve balance.
- Be positive. Far too often, a negative attitude can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Or to put it another way, when we keep focusing on bad things, they often end up happening. Positive, upbeat people have a clearer point of view and generally speaking get more of what they want out of life…including proper balance.
- Exercise often and eat right. A healthy body is the quickest way to a healthy mind and spirit. Proper nutrition provides the fuel for exercise, which in turn enhances every aspect of your life.
- Have more fun. Many experts assert that consulting with your “inner child” as often as possible is the key to striking a harmonious balance in life. You remember your inner child, right? The little person who understood the simple pleasures of life and the importance of play? Get back to that child today and find out how you can inject some activities that aren’t so serious into your day to day existence.
Aug 20
1 - First Important Lesson - Cleaning Lady.
During my second month of college, our professor
gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student
and had breezed through the questions until I read
the last one:
“What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?”
Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the
cleaning woman several times. She was tall,
dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name?
I handed in my paper, leaving the last question
blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if
the last question would count toward our quiz grade.
“Absolutely,” said the professor. “In your careers,
you will meet many people. All are significant. They
deserve your attention and care, even if all you do
is smile and say “hello.”
I’ve never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her
name was Dorothy
2. - Second Important Lesson - Pickup in the Rain
One night, at 11:30 p.m., an older African American
woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway
trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had
broken down and she desperately needed a ride.
Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car.
A young white man stopped to help her, generally
unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960s. The man
took her to safety, helped her get assistance and
put her into a taxicab.
She seemed t o be in a big hurry, but wrote down his
address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a
knock came on the man’s door. To his surprise, a
giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A
special note was attached..
It read:
“Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway
the other night. The rain drenched not only my
clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along.
Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying
husband’s bedside just before he passed away… God
bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving
others.”
Sincerely,
Mrs. Nat King Cole.
3 - Third Important Lesson - Always remember those
who serve.
In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less,
a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and
sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in
front of him.
“How much is an ice cream sundae?” he asked.
“Fifty cents,” replied the waitress.
The little boy pulled is hand out of his pocket and
studied the coins in it.
“Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?” he inquired.
By now more people were waiting for a table and the
waitress was growing impatient.
“Thirty-five cents,” she brusquely replied.
The little boy again counted his coins.
“I’ll have t he plain ice cream,” he said.
The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on
the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice
cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress
came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the
table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish,
were two nickels and five pennies..
You see, he couldn’t have the sundae, because he had
to have enough left to leave her a tip.
4 - Fourth Important Lesson. - The obstacle in Our Path.
In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a
roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if
anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the
king’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by
and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the
King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did
anything about getting the stone out of the way.
Then a peasant came along carrying a load of
vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the
peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the
stone to the side of the road. After much pushing
and straining, he finally succeeded. After the
peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed
a purse lying in the road where the boulder had
been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note
from the King indicating that the gold was for the
person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The
peasant learned what many of us never understand!
Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve
our condition.
5 - Fifth Important Lesson - Giving When it Counts…
Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a
hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who
was suffering from a rare &serious disease. Her only
chance of recovery appeared to be a blood
transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had
miraculously survived the same disease and had
developed the antibodies needed to combat the
illness. The doctor explained the situation to her
little brother, and asked the little boy if he would
be willing to give his blood to his sister.
I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a
deep breath and saying, “Yes I’ll do it if it will
save her.” As the transfusion progressed, he lay in
bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did,
seeing the color returning to her cheek. Then his
face grew pale and his smile faded.
He looked up at the doctor and asked with a
trembling voice, “Will I start to die right away”.
Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the
doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his
sister all of his blood in order to save her.
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