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RapidDisk is an advanced Linux RAM Disk which consists of a collection of modules and an administration tool. Features include: Dynamically allocate RAM as block device. Use them as stand alone disk drives or even map them as caching nodes to slower local disk drives. Access those drives locally or export those volumes across an NVMe Target network.

Somewhat recently, a very committed contributor to one of my open source projects noticed an issue when trying to import NVMe exported Targets from a Linux machine into a VMware ESXi host. It didn’t work. He was using version 7.0U3 which supposedly supports importing NVMe Targets over TCP.

I am not entirely sure how I stumbled onto this open source project. It all seems like a blur. The project name is GB Studio and it is a more user-friendly IDE (Integrated Development Environment) that allows game creators to create Gameboy and Gameboy Color games that can be exported into a ROM (to load into an emulator), flashed onto a game cartridge (with the write tools), or to HTML5 (to work on mobile devices).

RapidDisk is an advanced Linux RAM Disk which consists of a collection of modules and an administration tool. Features include: Dynamically allocate RAM as block device. Use them as stand alone disk drives or even map them as caching nodes to slower local disk drives. Access those drives locally or export those volumes across an NVMe Target network.

This past weekend and with the help of a very patient user, I was working through a set of bugs and enhancements for my RapidDisk project. This included adding support for the 5.15, 5.16 and release candidates of the 5.17 Linux kernels. This very helpful user was attempting to use my kernel drivers on Manjaro Linux and while Manjaro was not a requirement to reproduce his reported problems with my code, it did make it easier for me to troubleshoot and fix my code. That means, I downloaded the latest distribution release ISO for Manjaro with XFCE (manjaro-xfce-21.2.2-220123-linux515.iso), installed it and got to work.

The macOS user interface looks nice and it is very user friendly. Which is why many developers strive to replicate it. And that is why far too often, there is a *nix distribution which is specifically built modeling itself after what comes out of Cupertino.

Way back when in June of 2019, Linux Journal published one of its final issues of the digital magazine. The publications ceased its operations in the beginning of August. Anyway, some articles were not able to make it online and to the Linux Journal website. I just realized that two of those articles were mine.

The Ringo is an educational kit, a do-it-yourself build your own mobile phone set that actually functions with micro SIM cards. It is a really nice kit intended for a young audience and it did not feel too complicated. I believe it had the right amount of components with just the right amount of work necessary to put it together.

I recently watched a video posted by my good friend (and former Linux Journal colleague) Shawn Powers introducing viewers to Linux and Linux distributions. And it got me thinking about my own personal experience and when I first started to dabble in the world of open source operating systems.

Fast forward to the present and the graphical user interface of a modern desktop distribution has changed drastically. There are many reasons for these changes, one of which is adapting to modern technology. Mobile computing, touch input, etc. I look at GNOME today which is at version 40 and I am really struggling to get comfortable.

I remember when I first heard of CentOS (Community Enterprise Operating System) Linux all those many years ago. At the time, the latest release was at a 4.x. I did not initially touch the distro, nor was I an early adopter. I was subscribed to Red Hat and downloading / registering RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux). It would not be until 6 was released that I finally decided to opt for CentOS rather than RHEL.

Often, older or slower hardware remains in place while the rest of the environment or world updates to the latest and greatest technologies; so, what to do? Create a hybrid NVMe SSD and export it across an NVMe over Fabrics (NVMeoF) network to one or more hosts that use the drive as if it were a locally attached NVMe device.

Solid State Drives (SSDs) brought performance to the forefront of computing technologies, and their adoption is increasing not only in the data center but also in consumer-grade products. Unlike its traditional spinning hard disk drive (HDD) counterpart, SSDs comprise a collection of computer chips (non-volatile NAND memory) with no movable parts. Therefore SSDs are not kept busy seeking to new drive locations and, in turn, introducing latency. As great as this sounds, SSDs are still more expensive than HDDs. HDD prices have settled to around $0.03/GB; SSD prices vary but sit at around $0.13-$0.15/GB. At scale, that price gap makes a world of difference.

Will virtual machines disappear? No. Not anytime soon. This implies that the one day, container technology will eventually replace traditional virtual machines. So, I will save you from reading this entire piece to reach the conclusion of there being a clear winner. The answer is: no. There isn’t a clear winner primarily because both technologies are not one and the same. Each boasts their own respective features and functions and each solve their own set of problems. Understanding the problems in which each solves will better prepare you from misusing the technology.

In some ways, ZFS on Linux still falls short from the ZFS on Solaris. It is fully ingrained in the Solaris ecosystem, from the boot environment all the way to the graphical user experience. You could even manage your snapshots and more from GNOME. Adding root support for ZFS is a wonderful next step for the Ubuntu distribution. However, I am more intrigued to see what comes next in the integration of ZFS from within the Ubuntu operating environment.

RapidDisk is an advanced Linux RAM Disk which consists of a collection of modules and an administration tool. Features include: Dynamically allocate RAM as block device. Use them as stand alone disk drives or even map them as caching nodes to slower local disk drives. I just tagged release version 6.0-1 on GitHub.

This was originally intended for the September 2019 issue of Linux Journal Magazine focused around the theme of Cool Projects. Many months ago I stumbled onto an exciting kit in which one can assemble an Altair 8800 emulator (and at a fraction of the size and weight of the original Altair). I knew I had to purchase this. I also knew that I had to reach out to the individual (Chris Davis) designing and selling these emulator kits, to learn more about the motivation behind it.

This comes at a bittersweet moment in my career. For a couple of years now, I was moonlighting as an editor for Linux Journal. And literally, this week. Without warning or explanation, our parent company decided to cease all Linux Journal operations. The staff was immediately let go. And so, I am back! With yet another blog, and soon-to-be coming vlog. I will use this as an opportunity to continue sharing my passions for various technologies with the world.

RapidDisk is an advanced Linux RAM Disk which consists of a collection of modules and an administration tool. Features include: Dynamically allocate RAM as block device. Use them as stand alone disk drives or even map them as caching nodes to slower local disk drives. Enable Non-Volatile memory as high performing block devices and more.

RapidDisk is an advanced Linux RAM Disk which consists of a collection of modules and an administration tool. Features include: Dynamically allocate RAM as block device. Use them as stand alone disk drives or even map them as caching nodes to slower local disk drives. Enable Non-Volatile memory as high performing block devices and more.